Green groups to take ‘CarnivOIL’ on the road next week

The campaign — designed to spur public resentment of the oil industry’s influence in politics — follows an initial “ CarnivOIL” staged one July morning at Washington’s Union Station, the Metro stop for many congressional staff.
 
Exact cities for the on-the-road version have not been announced, though the coalition is looking at states that are home to swing senators, including Missouri, Colorado, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Virginia, North Carolina and possibly Florida and South Carolina, Di Martino said.
 
The events come as the oil industry’s main trade association is starting a series of “citizen rallies” in September to convince the public that scaling back tax incentives for the industry would harm the economy and job growth.
 
At the same time, Clean Energy Works is participating in two other events to round out its message heading into the fall congressional debate, including a three-week bus tour environmental and labor groups began Monday promoting passage of climate and energy legislation as a way to lower the unemployment rate.
 
There will also be a series of four town-hall meetings organized by coalition member Operation Free — a group of veterans and natural security organizations pushing for legislation promoting greener energy production — that begins Aug. 24 in Norfolk, Va. There will be one town hall a week for four weeks in different parts of the country. While senators will be invited to attend, “the goal is about raising public awareness, not necessarily getting congressional involvement in the event,” Di Martino said.