THIS WEEK: Warning- millions are at risk, Public Citizen explains why; speculator hot seat; democracy convention and tweets we love
It’s a class of prescription drugs millions of Americans take every day. If you aren’t one of the millions, chances are you know someone who is. Tomorrow we will be calling for strong warnings everyone should stay tuned for.
Also on our list–stopping the Keystones Tar Sands Pipeline! The controversial 1,700-mile project would carry tar sands oil from Canada to the U.S. and has become the most important environmental decision facing President Obama before the 2012 election. We are a part of a coalition opposing the pipeline, and our Energy Program Outreach Director Allison Fisher will have more later this week about ongoing protests and how you can get involved.
Feeling the heat. It’s August and our Energy Program Director Tyson Slocum thinks it’s about time financial speculators started sweating too. No amount of climate-controlled corporate office suite air conditioning could quell the unease industry reps, who are already on the defensive, are feeling following the leak of three year old trading documents to Slocum and the Wall Street Journal. The docs underscore the role that Goldman Sachs and others played in the 2008 gas price spike and prompted Tyson Slocum to issue a statement calling for disclosure and saying, among other things: “Far from heeding the hysterical calls of corporations that are rushing to use the dissemination of three-year-old records as an excuse to crack down on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, lawmakers should work with the agency to shine light on the sordid business of oil speculation. For too long, major corporations have reflexively deemed vast swaths of data “proprietary,” thereby removing critical information from the public domain.”
On Wednesday, we will be joining with a few key allies to deliver a stinging analysis that anyone who is concerned about our debt should take to heart. ATTENTION: Super Committee members, you’ll want to put away your talking points and get out your notebooks on this one.
Also on our calendar, what will come of the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement, AIDS policy and access to lifesaving generic drugs? Peter Maybarduk will be representing Public Citizen at the Global Congress on Public Interest and Intellectual Property this week and raising just such questions.
This week, activists will be gathering in Wisconsin for the first Democracy Convention, which promises to be an exciting event as Americans sense the need to “reclaim” democracy for the people, not corporations more and more each day.
Thursday, Public Citizen’s Health Research Group will be calling for a ban on a dangerous medical device. Given the track record of Dr. Sidney Wolfe and his team, it’s sure to also be a hardhitting yet carefully deliberated recommendation.
Friday, we will be surveying the Twittersphere for great catches from reporters and activists alike on the issues we cover– so hit us up @Public_Citizen if you’ve got something good you want to be sure gets on our radar.
And remember if you are a blogger or reporter who wants to be added to one of outreach lists, follow Public Citizen on Twitter and direct message us or, email us at engage (at) citizen dot org.
Rachel Lewis is Public Citizen’s New Media & online outreach strategy coordinator.
Follow her on Twitter @CitVox .