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Beastie Boys, Alanis, Dave Matthews, others unite against Bush energy plan

Beastie Boys , Alanis Morissette , Dave Matthews Band and other artists have joined with the Save Our Environment Coalition to form the New Power Project, a group whose objective is to oppose President George W. Bush’s energy plan.

Other artists involved in the initiative include Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Moby, Barenaked Ladies, James Taylor, Trey Anastasio and Jackson Browne, according to a press release.

All of the artists involved in the New Power Project plan to use their websites, fan-email lists and tour stops to “rally hundreds of thousands of fans and other supporters to sign petitions and to fax their members of Congress and the Bush administration, expressing outrage over the plan's disregard for environmental protection and failure to support conservation and renewable energy programs,” according to a press release.

Beastie Boys’ Mike “Mike D.” Diamond said in the press release that "President Bush's energy plan recommends drilling for oil in the biological heart of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, increasing reliance on nuclear power, cutting research spending on alternative energy, and basically causing irreversible damage to the planet, heading us back to a time when humanoids dragged their knuckles on the ground.”

Diamond, Morissette and Dave Matthews Band have posted on their official websites letters urging fans to oppose Bush’s energy plan. The letters direct fans to a Save Our Environment webpage where users can send a fax opposing Bush’s plan to their respective senators and representatives.

In addition to the artists’ online efforts, recent shows by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in Atlanta, James Taylor on Long Island and Trey Anastasio in San Francisco have featured petition-signing and informational initiatives.

Similar initiatives are planned for Morissette’s Tuesday night (7/31) concert in Anchorage, Alaska.

Bush unveiled his administration’s energy plan in May. Details of the plan can be found at the White House’s official website.

The Save Our Environment coalition is a collaborative effort that comprises over a dozen environmental advocacy organizations, including Greenpeace, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Audubon Society and the National Parks Conservation Association.