Green Means Stop

Coal Doesn't Care

2011-05-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

May 10, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tackling Childhood Asthma Not Coal Industry Priority After All 

No more My Little Pony inhalers in stock.

Contact: asthma@coalcares.org, (314) 472-5539

A charitable initiative by the world's largest coal company to provide free “novelty-themed” inhalers to asthmatic children may have seemed for a moment like a (somewhat misguided) breath of fresh air, coming as it did from an industry whose emissions are directly linked to childhood asthma, and which is fighting to gut clean air legislation that would save children’s lives.

Coal Cares™ (www.coalcares.org) purported to “make asthma cool” with decorative and pop-culture inspired inhalers (“The Bieber,” “Harry Potter,” “My Little Pony,” and “My First Inhaler” were particular favorites). The site also announced that Peabody would offer $10 coupons towards asthma medication (about 5%-20% of the cost) for families living within 200 miles of a coal-fired plant. It featured a “Kidz Koal Korner” with asthma-related games for tots, an extensive asthma trivia section and FAQ (Peter the Great was asthmatic, who knew!), and a thorough condemnation of solar and wind alternatives.

It was, of course, a hoax, and it was aimed at Peabody Coal, which is lobbying ferociously against new pollution standards for power plants proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), standards the agency says will prevent 120,000 cases of childhood asthma each year in the United States. Peabody spent over $6 million lobbying Congress last year, and the industry has created a dizzying array of fake “grassroots” front groups to distort the public debate and fight legislation.

(Meanwhile, a new study by the American Lung Association notes that coal-fired power plants produce more hazardous air pollution in the United States than any other source, with the pollution killing 13,000 people a year. Coal-ash disposal alone increases risk of cancer, learning disabilities, birth defects and other illnesses due to exposure from heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury.)

The Coal Cares™ hoax was devised by a group called Coal is Killing Kids (CKK), a small environmental and public health group that aims to challenge Big Coal’s expensive lobbying against sensible updates to the Clean Air Act. “We don’t have their millions, but we do have a knack for incredibly tasteless jokes,” said Veronica Tomlinson, a pediatrician and member of CKK. CKK worked with the Yes Lab, which is a project of The Yes Men to help activist groups carry out media-savvy creative actions on their own.

"Sure, it’s kind of tasteless to say that ‘Bieber’ inhalers are a solution to childhood asthma," said Janet Bellamy, a spokesperson for CKK. "But it's a great deal more tasteless to cause that asthma in the first place, as coal-fired power plants have been proven to do." Added Justin V. Bond, another spokesperson for CKK: “It’s even more tasteless to disproportionately kill poor people.” Coal-fired power plants are very often built in areas populated by low-income citizens, who then bear the brunt of the health effects.

“People may laugh at our sick jokes,” said Bellamy, “but they also understand the real health impacts of burning coal. That’s exactly what the coal industry doesn’t\ want people to think about, because if enough of us were aware of it, we would shut these plants down once and for all.”

Did I say limited time?

2009-03-08T22:14:00.000-07:00

To celebrate the global financial meltdown predicted 18 years ago in this song, this song will remain a free download for a while longer. And it's currently not being sold anywhere. Enjoy!

Free Download for Earth Day

2008-04-21T08:47:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Earth Day "Don't Shoot" will be available as a free download here for a limited time. Enjoy!

"Don't Shoot" now available worldwide.

2007-12-07T21:07:00.000-08:00

US: Click here for iTunes or search for "Don't Shoot" by Green Means Stop. It's also available from Amazon here.

UK iTunes: Click here.

Canada iTunes: Click here.

Australia iTunes: Click here.

Ireland iTunes: Click here.

France iTunes: Click here.

Germany iTunes: Click here.

etc., etc.

Don't Shoot

2007-11-30T20:51:00.000-08:00

Your mom said, "Son, there's no more food 'cause the Earth got hot and killed everything that grew," and she blames it on government ineptitude, but you saw her stand by while your planet got screwed. Your dad said, "Son, there's no more cash. When the oceans rose up it made the market crash, but it really doesn't matter since we're out of gas." I guess he should have done more than recycle some trash. So they saved for your education, but they never saved the Earth. But just because you tried to warn them and just because you're going to get what they deserve, kids, please, don't shoot your mom and dad when you find out what a wonderful world they had. Don't kill your dad or mom just because they did everything wrong and now they tell you that your planet is gone. Your president said, "I had no clue. I thought it was great when the factories grew. I had no idea what they really do and now they've turned Planet Earth into chemical goo." Your folks could have made a difference, but they never really tried. So maybe you've got a reason, and my manager thinks that you've got the right, but kids, please, don't shoot your mom and dad when you find out what a wonderful world they had. Don't kill your dad or mom just because they did everything wrong and now they tell you that your planet is gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone - gone with the wind, gone with the sea, gone like everything that swims and breathes, gone to a sad final desolate place, just a lonely little rock lost in outer space that's heatin' up twenty-four hours a day. Your friends started up an army and you're their new recruit. You got a tattoo of their manifesto and all your parents said was, "Doesn't that look cute?" It says, "Green means stop. Growth means death. Is the end of the world the price of success? We should waste our folks before they waste our breath, 'cause green means stop and growth means death." And you tell all the girls on the beach that that means if you want to stop the rape of the world, you're called "green," and you can have unlimited economic growth or unlimited air, but you have both so don't shoot, don't pollute, don't kill, don't spill, don't surrender, but remember don't, don't, don't, don't shoot your mom and dad when you find out what a wonderful world they had. Don't kill your dad or mom just because they did everything wrong, and now you're going to miss your senior prom, and this will never be a number one song because the whole freaking planet is gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone, gone - gone with the wind, it's gone with the sea, it's gone like everything, it's gone, gone, gone, gone. Don't shoot your mom and dad when you find out what a wonderful world they had. Don't kill your dad or mom just because they did everything wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Don't shoot your mom and dad. Don't shoot.