Tell Verizon: Don't Sponsor Mountaintop Removal Rally

Tell Verizon: Don't Sponsor Mountaintop Removal Rally

I pledge to...

~~This is a two part action~~<br /><br />PART I<br /><br />From the&nbsp;Center for Biological Diversity:<br /><br />What are you doing for Labor Day? Sponsoring a rally to cheer for blowing off the tops of mountains and destroying one of the world's most important biodiversity hotspots? If you're a Verizon Wireless customer, you may not know it, but you are.<br /><br />Verizon Wireless is cosponsoring a Labor Day rally dubbed "Friends of America," backed by the fourth largest producer of coal in the United States: Massey Energy. The rally supports dangerous mountaintop-removal coal mining, hosts a speaker who denies global warming is happening, and is aggressively anti-union.<br /><br />The Center for Biological Diversity is in an all-out fight to take on dirty-energy projects and stop destructive mining that harms our nation's wildlife and wildlands. So the news that Verizon supports this pro-mountaintop removal rally hit close to home -- because our staff use Verizon cell phones.<br /><br />We sent a letter to Verizon's CEO yesterday (see below) demanding the company immediately withdraw sponsorship and explain their support for mountaintop removal mining -- or we'd be forced to find a wireless service that isn't actively undoing our work to protect the environment and endangered species.<br /><br />This rally is a chance to bring much-needed attention to the corporate backing of this environmentally damaging practice. Please, demand that Verizon withdraw its irresponsible and alarming sponsorship of the rally.<br /><br />Verizon Wireless should not support this destructive mining practice or ignore the fact that greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants are the largest single contributor to our current climate crisis.<br /><br />Send an email right now to Lowell McAdam, president and CEO of Verizon Wireless, and demand Verizon withdraw sponsorship immediately from next week's "Friends of America" climate change-denying, anti-union rally. Insist the company explain its support for the ludicrously destructive practice of mountaintop removal.<br /><br /> <a href='http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2167/t/5243/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27825'>Click here to find out more and take action</a><br /><br />PART II<br /><br />From CREDO:<br /><br />Why is Verizon Wireless co-sponsoring a pro-coal, anti-environment rally on Labor Day?<br /><br />It's called the Friends of America Rally and over 25,000 people have already RSVPed to attend a political event to promote climate change denial and mountaintop removal mining. <br /><br />Massey Energy, a dirty coal company and the most egregious violator of the Clean Water Act in history, is the moving force behind the event. <br /><br />The rally features speeches by prominent global warming denier Lord Christopher Monckton and conservative pundit Sean Hannity. Ted Nugent will provide musical entertainment.<br /><br />Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey Energy, issued his invitation to the rally via a video onYouTube. In it he says: <br /><br />"Hello I'm Don Blankenship and I'd like to invite you to a Labor Day rally in West Virginia. We're going to have Hank Williams and have a good time but we're also going to learn how environmental extremists and corporate America are both trying to destroy your jobs."&nbsp;<br /><br />We are not making this up. For more information read check out <a href='http://www.thenation.com/blogs/actnow/468109/verizon_wireless_is_wrong'>this blog post</a> from our friends at The Nation.<br /><br />Companies like Verizon Wireless may say they are not making a political statement when they participate in events like these. But it's never just about marketing. After all this is the same company that made a decision to block NARAL Pro-Choice America's text messages from its network. Verizon Wireless has choices. And once again, it's made a very poor one.&nbsp;<br /><br /><a href='http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/verizon_massey/'>Tell Lowell McAdam, President and CEO of Verizon Wireless to issue a public apology and immediately withdraw all support from this extremist, anti-environmental rally.</a>

[Your name]