‘Dispatches’ Interrupted for a Planned Pink Protest

This following isn’t a Marc Gauthier dispatch, but we thought a recent post by Diane Wilson from Code Pink, a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement, was appropriate to include here… I’m a fourth generation fisherwoman from the Gulf Coast who has been fighting corporate polluters all my life, and it breaks my heart to see the devastation caused by the BP disaster. That’s why I’m organizing a CODEPINK protest on Monday at BP corporate headquarters in Houston. Dripping with oil and dragging nets full of dead fish, we’ll put our bodies on the line to expose the naked truth of “Drill, baby, drill.” We will bring our outrage to BP’s doorstep, denouncing this criminal company that ignored crucial safety issues, cut corners, and spent millions lobbying Congress to fight regulations. BP has a sordid history of recklessly pursuing enormous profits at the expense of workers’ lives and the environment, and it’s got to stop. But we need your help. A Senate bill, the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act, would have spiked the maximum liability for oil companies from a pitiful $75 million to $10 billion-making sure that BP paid for this man-made catastrophe. Remember, this company reported a profit of $5.5 billion in just the last three months! But unbelievably, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) opposed the bill and blocked it from even coming to a vote. Please contact this lady’s office and tell her to stop protecting BP and instead protect the fishermen, the coastal residents and the wildlife. Let’s demand an end to the rape and plunder of our planet. Now is the moment to hold BP accountable and then go the next step—put an end to offshore drilling and build a 21st century energy system based on renewable sources instead of dirty oil!