We have already raised $66,000. Help us keep going with a monthly contribution of just $5 per month.We have already raised $66,000. Help us keep the momentum going by making a contribution of $50 or more today.We have already raised $66,000. Help us keep the momentum going by making a contribution of $100 or more today.We have already raised $66,000. Help us keep the momentum going by making a contribution of $250 or more today.We have already raised $66,000. Help us keep the momentum going by making a contribution of $500 or more today.We have already raised $66,000. Help us keep the momentum going by making a contribution of $1,000 or more today.

Dear Friend,

Over the past days, two of our priorities -- stopping the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline and ending the biggest tax giveaway for dirty corn ethanol -- have been hanging in the balance, and victory on each issue is in sight.

Saturday, the Senate passed a payroll tax deal that would give President Obama a 60-day deadline for making a decision on the Keystone XL.  If the House passes this deal, we will have a maximum of 60 days to campaign more aggressively than ever to pressure the president to keep his promises and reject the pipeline once and for all.

At the same time, a $6 billion tax giveaway for dirty corn ethanol is set to expire at the end of the year, and we are on the cusp of serving the corn ethanol industry its first major defeat in Congress in three decades.

As we prepare to take on the big oil and big agribusiness lobbyists, we are counting on your support and the people-generated power it brings. Will you help us reach our goal of $200,000 by making a monthly contribution of $5 or more today?  One of our most generous supporters has offered to match the amount you give today, doubling the impact of your gift.As we prepare to take on the big oil and big agribusiness lobbyists, we are counting on your support and the people-generated power it brings. Will you help us reach our goal of $200,000 by making a gift of $50 or more today?  One of our most generous supporters has offered to match your contribution, doubling the impact of your gift.As we prepare to take on the big oil and big agribusiness lobbyists, we are counting on your support and the people-generated power it brings. Will you help us reach our goal of $200,000 by making a gift of $100 or more today?  One of our most generous supporters has offered to match your contribution, doubling the impact of your gift.As we prepare to take on the big oil and big agribusiness lobbyists, we are counting on your support and the people-generated power it brings. Will you help us reach our goal of $200,000 by making a gift of $250 or more today?  One of our most generous supporters has offered to match your contribution, doubling the impact of your gift.As we prepare to take on the big oil and big agribusiness lobbyists, we are counting on your support and the people-generated power it brings. Will you help us reach our goal of $200,000 by making a gift of $500 or more today?  One of our most generous supporters has offered to match your contribution, doubling the impact of your gift.As we prepare to take on the big oil and big agribusiness lobbyists, we are counting on your support and the people-generated power it brings. Will you help us reach our goal of $200,000 by making a gift of $1,000 or more today?  One of our most generous supporters has offered to match your contribution, doubling the impact of your gift.

If I had only one sentence to convince you why being a member of Friends of the Earth matters, this is what I’d tell you: Your support gives us the strength to face down some of the most moneyed and connected polluter lobby forces in Washington -- and to win.

Two years ago, the political odds makers were saying that our fight to stop the Keystone XL pipeline would result in sure defeat.  But through tough and tenacious work -- including highlighting the pipeline’s dangers in hundreds of news stories, exposing cronyism in the State Department’s review process and working with activists like you to fill hearing rooms and street corners -- we forced President Obama to hit the reset button.  Now we have a real shot to win.

Likewise, before our campaign to end the $6 billion-a-year tax credit for dirty corn ethanol, Washington insiders told us that corn was king and the ethanol lobby couldn’t be defeated.  Their cynicism didn’t stop us.  We built one of the most ideologically diverse coalitions ever assembled in Washington to oppose this giveaway, and we’re now on the verge of victory.

Spokespeople for TransCanada, the corporation behind the Keystone XL, have lashed out against the media and public scrutiny we generated by complaining to journalists that we at Friends of the Earth are “professional activists,” as though it’s an insult.  If it means taking on an oil company with a multi-million dollar lobbying budget and coming close to killing its marquee project, that’s a label we proudly accept.

We couldn’t do it without your help.  I want to encourage you to give us the strength we need to go On Offense against polluters next year by making a monthly gift of $5 or more today.We couldn’t do it without your help. I want to encourage you to give us the strength we need to go On Offense against polluters next year by making a gift of $50 or more today.We couldn’t do it without your help. I want to encourage you to give us the strength we need to go On Offense against polluters next year by making a gift of $100 or more today.We couldn’t do it without your help. I want to encourage you to give us the strength we need to go On Offense against polluters next year by making a gift of $250 or more today.We couldn’t do it without your help. I want to encourage you to give us the strength we need to go On Offense against polluters next year by making a gift of $500 or more today.We couldn’t do it without your help. I want to encourage you to give us the strength we need to go On Offense against polluters next year by making a gift of $1,000 or more today.

Regardless of what happens on Keystone XL, the fight to head off climate catastrophe will continue, and it is becoming more urgent by the day.  Once we end handouts to the corn ethanol industry, we need to stop other federal policies that support this dirty fuel, including a federal mandate requiring 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022 -- and we need to stop subsidizing other polluters, including the oil, coal and nuclear industries.

We’ve accomplished a lot, but the path ahead is steep and we need you by our side.

I hope you will continue your commitment to this crucial work and help us achieve more wins for our planet in 2012.I hope you will continue your commitment to this crucial work and help us achieve more wins for our planet in 2012.I hope you will continue your commitment to this crucial work and help us achieve more wins for our planet in 2012.I hope you will continue your commitment to this crucial work and help us achieve more wins for our planet in 2012.I hope you will continue your commitment to this crucial work and help us achieve more wins for our planet in 2012.I hope you will continue your commitment to this crucial work and help us achieve more wins for our planet in 2012.

Thank you,
Erich Pica
President, Friends of the Earth