SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
'Twitter Storm' Calls for End to $1 Trillion in Public Subsidies for Dirty Fossil Fuels
Campaign goes viral, makes subsidy debate highest trend on social network
Jun 19, 2012
An online 'twitter storm' initated by environmental groups and designed to coincide with the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil this week went viral Monday with nearly a million people signing a petition calling for the end of public subsidies to the fossil fuel industry that total more than a trillion dollars a year.
Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org who spearheaded the campaign, tweeted, "$1 trilllion is a lot of money--tired of the fossil fuel industry laughing at us, so joining the twitterstorm #endfossilfuelsubsidies."
The EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard, who is expected to play a key role at the Rio+20 negotiations, tweeted, "Fossil fuels subsidies have no place in today's world. They must be phased out as the G20 pledged. #EndFossilFuelSubsidies #Rioplus20."
The current draft of the Rio+20 agreement released on Saturday includes a paragraph on ending fossil fuel subsidies, but oil exporting countries like Canada and Saudi Arabia and the world's largest consumer, the United States, will likely attempt to delete any references to the proposal.
Activists with 350.org said tweets came in from cities around the world, including Sydney, London, New Delhi, and New York, as well as inside the Rio+20 negotations.
* * *
* * *
* * *
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
An online 'twitter storm' initated by environmental groups and designed to coincide with the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil this week went viral Monday with nearly a million people signing a petition calling for the end of public subsidies to the fossil fuel industry that total more than a trillion dollars a year.
Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org who spearheaded the campaign, tweeted, "$1 trilllion is a lot of money--tired of the fossil fuel industry laughing at us, so joining the twitterstorm #endfossilfuelsubsidies."
The EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard, who is expected to play a key role at the Rio+20 negotiations, tweeted, "Fossil fuels subsidies have no place in today's world. They must be phased out as the G20 pledged. #EndFossilFuelSubsidies #Rioplus20."
The current draft of the Rio+20 agreement released on Saturday includes a paragraph on ending fossil fuel subsidies, but oil exporting countries like Canada and Saudi Arabia and the world's largest consumer, the United States, will likely attempt to delete any references to the proposal.
Activists with 350.org said tweets came in from cities around the world, including Sydney, London, New Delhi, and New York, as well as inside the Rio+20 negotations.
* * *
* * *
* * *
An online 'twitter storm' initated by environmental groups and designed to coincide with the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Brazil this week went viral Monday with nearly a million people signing a petition calling for the end of public subsidies to the fossil fuel industry that total more than a trillion dollars a year.
Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org who spearheaded the campaign, tweeted, "$1 trilllion is a lot of money--tired of the fossil fuel industry laughing at us, so joining the twitterstorm #endfossilfuelsubsidies."
The EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard, who is expected to play a key role at the Rio+20 negotiations, tweeted, "Fossil fuels subsidies have no place in today's world. They must be phased out as the G20 pledged. #EndFossilFuelSubsidies #Rioplus20."
The current draft of the Rio+20 agreement released on Saturday includes a paragraph on ending fossil fuel subsidies, but oil exporting countries like Canada and Saudi Arabia and the world's largest consumer, the United States, will likely attempt to delete any references to the proposal.
Activists with 350.org said tweets came in from cities around the world, including Sydney, London, New Delhi, and New York, as well as inside the Rio+20 negotations.
* * *
* * *
* * *
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.