Indigenous and Climate Leaders Outraged Over Minnesota Permits for Line 3 Pipeline
13 November
Energy
Climate campaigners and Indigenous groups in Minnesota continue to fight against Enbridge's Line 3 Pipeline. honortheearth / Instagram
By Jessica Corbett
Environmental and Indigenous leaders on Thursday responded with alarm after Minnesota regulators approved key permits for Enbridge Energy's planned Line 3 Pipeline replacement, and called on Democratic Gov. Tim Walz to block any construction for the Canadian company's long-delayed multibillion-dollar project.
<p>"Gov. Walz has apparently decided that if Washington won't lead on climate, Minnesota won't either," said Andy Pearson, MN350's Midwest tar sands coordinator, in a statement about the permits. "Make no mistake. "This decision is a sharp escalation against water protectors and climate science."</p><p>The Associated Press <a href="https://wtop.com/national/2020/11/minnesota-grants-key-permits-for-line-3-crude-oil-pipeline/" target="_blank">reported</a> that "the approvals from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Department of Natural Resources clear the way for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to issue the remaining federal permits, which is expected to happen fairly quickly. The MPCA could then approve a final construction storm water permit that's meant to protect surface waters from pollutant runoff."</p><p>As Leo Golden, vice president of Line 3 execution, called it "a big day for Line 3 in Minnesota" and said that "these authorizations and approvals are an important step towards construction," Pearson and other <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/30/documents-show-police-using-private-security-firms-target-anti-pipeline-organizers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">critics</a> of the crude oil project reiterated their <a href="https://www.stopline3.org/#intro" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">opposition</a>, citing both treaty rights and climate science.</p>
<p>"Line 3 is facing multiple court challenges by Native nations, grassroots groups, and the Minnesota Department of Commerce," Pearson noted. "This decision means that Enbridge may launch construction while the overall need and legality of the pipeline are being fought in court, including by a state agency."</p><p>"There is a good chance that courts will find the pipeline was approved illegally," he said. "It's just common sense, then, to demand that the state immediately halt Enbridge's progress toward construction while those important legal challenges play out."</p>
<div id="9a7ba" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="956d3010cce9847c21f3033442e74ea3"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1326985189948420096" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We're beginning construction on an unnecessary, dangerous oil pipeline, in the middle of a climate crisis. In the m… https://t.co/1lpCIYHYrL</div> — Tim Schaefer (@Tim Schaefer)<a href="https://twitter.com/tharoldschaefer/statuses/1326985189948420096">1605212898.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In February 2019, Walz <a href="https://twitter.com/govtimwalz/status/1095374006071504896?lang=en" target="_blank">said publicly</a> that projects like Line 3 "don't just need a building permit to go forward, they also need a social permit." At the time, the governor was <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/12/what-dem-leadership-looks-minnesota-gov-praised-backing-fight-against-line-3-tar" target="_blank">praised</a> for "<a href="https://twitter.com/HonorTheEarth/status/1095329273932587008?s=20" target="_blank">working for the people first not a foreign pipeline company</a>" by deciding to renew a challenge launched by his predecessor against the project.</p><p>"It's clear now that Gov. Walz's wish for Line 3 to have 'a social permit' was all talk and no action," Pearson declared. "This is a deeply unpopular pipeline that is a disaster for our climate, and it will be fought every step of the way. The climate justice movement will still stop the pipeline, but the governor has made that unnecessarily harder."</p><p>The permits come less than a week after major news outlets called the presidential contest for President-elect Joe Biden. Though he has faced calls from campaigners to go even further, Biden has still put forth climate action plans that dramatically contrast with the pro-corporate polluter agenda of President Donald Trump.</p><p>"President Trump spent four years angling to protect the profits of Big Oil rather than protecting our planet," said Pearson. "Minnesota loudly rejected that kind of destructive leadership. The governor had all the legal tools he needed to stop this environmentally catastrophic pipeline. Why would he instead give Trump a parting gift like this in the last days of his term?"</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/12/nightmarish-indigenous-and-climate-leaders-outraged-over-minnesota-permits-line-3" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
'Finally': In Potential Nod To Biden Win, Federal Reserve Applies To Join Climate Network for Central Banks
12 November
Climate
Jerome Powell (R) takes the oath of office as he is sworn-in as the new chairman of the Federal Reserve (FED) by Randal Quarles (L) vice chair for supervision, at the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, DC on Feb. 5, 2018. SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
In a decision seen by some as a subtle acknowledgement of President-elect Joe Biden's victory even as President Donald Trump still refuses to concede, the Federal Reserve has applied to join what Bloomberg called "the climate change club for central banks," a group that requires participation in the Paris climate agreement.
<p>"We have requested membership. I expect that it will be granted," Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Randal Quarles said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing Tuesday, Bloomberg reported. Quarles added that the Fed may become a member of the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) before its annual meeting in April.</p><p>Launched in late 2017, the NGFS sets out to bolster the world's efforts to meet the goals of the Paris agreement and "to enhance the role of the financial system to manage risks and to mobilize capital for green and low-carbon investments in the broader context of environmentally sustainable development," <a href="https://www.ngfs.net/en/about-us/governance/origin-and-purpose" target="_blank">according to</a> its website.</p>
<p>The primary <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement" target="_blank">goal</a> of the Paris deal, which took effect in 2016, is to "strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius."</p><p>Just over a year ago, the Trump administration began the one-year process of withdrawing the United States from the agreement; the U.S. exit <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/04/us-officially-quits-paris-accord-amid-election-uncertainty-progressives-say-make" target="_blank">became official</a> last week, the day after the general election. While Biden has vowed to rejoin the deal, progressives around the world are urging him to go far beyond that and serve as a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/09/biden-urged-be-climatepresident-taking-these-10-game-changing-steps-first-10-days" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">#ClimatePresident</a>.</p><p>Bloomberg's Akshat Rathi suggested on Twitter Wednesday that by seeking NGFS membership, "the Fed tacitly accepts that Biden has won the presidency."<br></p>
<div id="3e95e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="661730efd6d56c7910fb7cbd0e3b7a48"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1326502869382651905" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Um... the Fed tacitly accepts that Biden has won the presidency.
Fed has requested membership of the NGFS, which… https://t.co/lO1Z0l6gQU</div> — Akshat Rathi (@Akshat Rathi)<a href="https://twitter.com/AkshatRathi/statuses/1326502869382651905">1605097903.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Although Biden's win may be a factor, earlier this year, before the U.S. officially ditched the Paris agreement, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell suggested the country could join the NGFS, Newsweek <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/federal-reserve-acknowledge-joe-biden-election-win-1546678" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">noted</a> Wednesday.</p><p>"We have been looking at joining in one form or another and talking to them about that," Powell said in late January. "We probably will do that at some point."</p><p>According to Newsweek:</p><blockquote>Powell's remarks led to some speculation the Trump administration might alter its approach to climate change, with the <em>Financial Times</em> reporting on January 31 that some at the Fed had been privately pushing for membership of the banking group.<br>"The Fed's interest is another sign of the importance of the work of the NGFS," Bank of France governor François Villeroy de Galhau told the <em>FT</em> at the time. "It's a coalition of the willing. Climate risk is clearly a part of financial risk."</blockquote><p>Quarles' comments about NGFS membership came a day after the Fed formally acknowledged for the first time that climate change potentially threatens the stability of the financial system and urged banks "to have systems in place that appropriately identify, measure, control, and monitor all of their material risks, which for many banks are likely to extend to climate risks."</p><p>"The Federal Reserve is evaluating and investing in ways to deepen its understanding of the full scope of implications of climate change for markets, financial exposures, and interconnections between markets and financial institutions," the central bank said in its semiannual <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/financial-stability-report.htm" target="_blank">report</a> on financial stability.</p>
<p>Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/11/10/fed-climate-change-risk-435685" target="_blank">pointed out</a> that the report followed related comments by Powell and was welcomed by another key leader at the Fed:</p><blockquote>Powell said last week that the "science and art" of incorporating climate change into financial regulation is new but that the Fed is "very actively in the early stages" of getting up to speed and working with officials around the world.<br>"I welcome the introduction of climate" into the semiannual report, Fed Governor Lael Brainard, who heads the central bank's financial stability committee, said in a statement. "A lack of clarity about true exposures to specific climate risks for real and financial assets, coupled with differing assessments about the sizes and timing of these risks, can create vulnerabilities to abrupt repricing events."</blockquote><p>Alan Zibel, research director of Public Citizen's Corporate Presidency Project, which focuses on corporate influence and conflicts of interest in the Trump administration, also praised the Fed's inclusion of climate risk in the analysis but noted that it "is a latecomer to this party and is still propping up the oil industry (and other giant corps) through huge purchases of debt."</p>
<p>Public Citizen, Friends of the Earth, and BailoutWatch <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/01/100-billion-lifeline-while-most-americans-are-being-left-behind-report-details" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">released</a> a report in late September titled Big Oil's $100 Billion Bender that showed "how the U.S. government provided a safety net for the flagging fossil fuel industry." The report said the Fed's emergency financing during the Covid-19 pandemic is "forestalling the demise of an industry that has always relied on government largesse."</p><p>Last month, as Common Dreams <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/21/merkley-unveils-pioneering-bills-make-financial-institutions-stop-bankrolling" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a>, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) introduced legislation to prevent banks and international financial institutions from financing fossil fuels. David Arkush, director of Public Citizen's Climate Program, declared that he "is showing real leadership by introducing the first-ever bills to cut the money pipeline fueling the climate crisis."</p><p>When unveiling the pair of bills, the senator referenced a September <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/09/while-trump-commission-warns-climate-risk-financial-system-recommendations-fall" target="_blank">report</a> from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission warning that the climate emergency endangers the U.S. financial system. In response to the report, Arkush said that "U.S. financial regulators have the authority to help mitigate the climate crisis, and they need to use it. The best way to protect anything from climate change, whether people in wildfire or flood zones or giant banks, is to stop climate change."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/11/finally-potential-nod-biden-win-federal-reserve-applies-join-climate-network-central" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Will We Be Able to Reverse Trump's Climate Damage? - EcoWatch ›
- Former Federal Reserve Governor Rebukes Fed for Fossil Fuel Bail ... ›
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Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
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The Dalai Lama has co-written a new book addressing the climate crisis. Kristian Dowling / Getty Images
The Dalia Lama really wants the world to act on the climate crisis.
<p>The Tibetan Bhuddist spiritual leader has co-written a book called <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/our-only-home-9781472980755/" target="_blank"><em>Our Only Home: A Climate Appeal to the World</em></a>, which urges world leaders and ordinary people to work together to stop global warming.</p><p>"Buddha would be green," he claims in the book, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/11/buddha-would-be-green-dalai-lama-calls-for-urgent-climate-action?CMP=twt_a-environment_b-gdneco&fbclid=IwAR19o899tMmpcVQ55oEDqNXfuDJFnurfuyEZ3obc8XdoUfmLQeCq8VkNEqk" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>.</p><p>To promote the book, the 85-year-old leader has been giving interviews from his home in Dharamsala, India, where he lives in exile from his native Tibet. In a talk with <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/11/933754512/the-dalai-lama-offers-a-warning-on-climate-change" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NPR's Noel King</a>, he spoke about the title of the book. He pointed to the recent discovery that there is more <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/moon-water-nasa-2648510521.html" target="_blank">water on the moon</a> than previously thought, but noted that settling there would still be "impossible."</p><p>"So now, therefore, we have to take care of our own planet," he said.</p>
<p>The Dalai Lama emphasizes the need for global action. He told The Guardian and <a href="https://www.channel4.com/news/dalai-lama-says-buddha-would-be-green" target="_blank">Channel 4 News</a> that the UN should take a leadership role and that the most powerful nations should step up to the plate.</p><p>"The big nations should pay more attention to ecology. I hope you see those big nations who spent a lot of money for weapons or war turn their resources to the preservation of the climate," The Guardian reported him saying.</p><p>The Dalai Lama has taken a firm stance against isolationism and told NPR he was very disappointed when President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> decided to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-begins-withdrawal-paris-agreement-2641223963.html">withdraw the U.S.</a> from the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris climate agreement</a>.</p><p>"America should think, not just 'America First,'" he said. He added that the U.S. had greater potential to help create a "happier world."</p>
<p><br><br></p><p>President-elect <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/joe-biden" target="_self">Joe Biden</a> has promised to return the U.S. to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/paris-climate-agreement-biden-2648649350.html" target="_blank">climate accord</a> and also encourage more ambitious international action, in a vision that appears more in sync with the Dalai Lama's advice.<br></p><p>In the book, the Dalai Lama also suggested that world leaders be locked in a room full of carbon dioxide until they understand the severity of climate change, Channel 4 News reported. </p><p>But while the Dalai Lama urges global solutions, he is also aware of how the climate crisis will impact his native land. He told The Guardian and Channel 4 News that Tibet is the "roof of the world" and its rivers supply water to at least a billion people. But, as temperatures rise, those rivers could dry up and Tibet could "become like Afghanistan."</p>
<p>The Dalai Lama has advice for what individuals can do as well. For example, he told NPR that people in Western countries eat too much <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/meat" target="_self">meat</a>.</p><p>"Not only is it a question of, a sense of lov[ing] these animals," he told NPR, "but itself is very bad for ecology."</p><p>He also urged the importance of educating people to hold a less individualistic attitude toward the planet.</p><p>He told Channel 4 that students should be taught how "taking care about [the] environment is ultimately taking care of yourself."</p>
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President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris salute the crowd after being declared the winners of the presidential election on Nov. 7, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. ANDREW HARNIK / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
Former Vice President Joe Biden defeated sitting President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election Saturday and is now set to become the 46th president of the United States.
<p>The election results, reported by several outlets including <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-wins-white-house-ap-fd58df73aa677acb74fce2a69adb71f9" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>, pave the way for a dramatic shift in U.S. policy on the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic. While Trump repeatedly <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-rejects-us-climate-report-2621629346.html" target="_self">denied the reality</a> of climate change and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-coronavirus-misinformation-2647879036.html" target="_self">downplayed the severity</a> of COVID-19, both Biden and Vice President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/kamala-harris" target="_self">Kamala Harris</a> emphasized tackling the two crises with a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/science/" target="_self">science</a>-based approach during their victory speeches Saturday.</p><p>"Americans have called on us to marshal the forces of decency and the forces of fairness. To marshal the forces of science and the forces of hope in the great battles of our time," Biden said during his speech in Wilmington, Delaware Saturday. "The battle to control the virus, the battle to build prosperity, the battle to secure your family's health care, the battle to achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism in this country, and the battle to save our planet by getting the climate under control."</p>
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<h3>COVID-19</h3><p>In his speech, Biden promised to hit the ground running on controlling the pandemic, which has killed more than 237,000 U.S. residents and infected nearly 10 million, according to The Associated Press. He said he would name a group of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a> experts Monday to be ready to guide his administration's coronavirus response once he takes office Jan. 20.</p><p>On Monday, Biden named the 13-member <a href="https://buildbackbetter.com/press-releases/biden-harris-transition-announces-covid-19-advisory-board/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board</a>. It will be co-chaired by former Bush Sr. and Clinton Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. David Kessler, former Obama Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and Yale public health expert Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.</p><p>Other notable members include surgeon and writer Dr. Atul Gawande and former Trump administration whistleblower Dr. Rick Bright. Bright was <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/doctor-bright-coronavirus-trump-drug-2645811981.html" target="_self">reassigned</a> from his position at the Health and Human Services Department after he objected to Trump's pushing of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for COVId-19.</p><p>"The inclusion of Bright, who said that he was met with skepticism by Trump administration officials when he raised concerns in the early throes of the pandemic about critical supplies shortages, is a clear signal of the contrasted direction that Biden intends to take his administration when it comes to dealing with the pandemic," <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/09/politics/biden-coronavirus-advisers-experts-rick-bright/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNN's Sarah Mucha pointed out</a>.</p><p>Biden is also expected to reverse Trump's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-world-health-organization-2646129342.html" target="_self">departure</a> from the World Health Organization upon taking office, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/biden-first-executive-orders-measures/2020/11/07/9fb9c1d0-210b-11eb-b532-05c751cd5dc2_story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>.</p>
<h3>Climate Change</h3><p>Even before a winner was declared in the election, Biden <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/paris-climate-agreement-biden-2648649350.html" target="_self">reaffirmed his commitment </a>to rejoining the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris climate agreement</a> on the first day of his presidency. His win means the Trump-initiated U.S. departure, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/paris-agreement-us-withdrawal-2648618695.html" target="_self">which went into effect Tuesday</a>, will be short lived.</p>
<div id="c7c8c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6482a6d7dbb8e573ba852f7de1b6b91b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1325188023257083904" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">For anyone who doesn't know, @CFigueres Christiana Figueres is a key architect of the Paris climate accords, which… https://t.co/g6IfvsYMWE</div> — Bill McKibben (@Bill McKibben)<a href="https://twitter.com/billmckibben/statuses/1325188023257083904">1604784420.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Biden's climate plan includes a $2 trillion dollar investment in greening infrastructure and achieving a zero-carbon energy sector by 2035, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/11/07/biden-climate-change-monuments/" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported further</a>. However, this will be difficult to pass if Republicans maintain control of the Senate, something which will be decided by two run-off elections in Georgia in January. If the Senate stays in Republican hands, Biden will have to rely more on executive actions to fulfill his climate agenda. He has promised to reverse the Trump administration rollback of 100 Obama-era environmental and public health regulations. He can limit oil and gas drilling on public lands, restore federal vehicle emissions standards and stop fossil fuel pipelines such as the controversial Keystone XL from being built, among other measures.</p><p>"Joe Biden ran on climate. How great is this?" Obama-era Environmental Protection Agency head and current <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defense Council</a> leader Gina McCarthy told The Washington Post. "It'll be time for the White House to finally get back to leading the charge against the central environmental crisis of our time."</p>
<p>There is evidence that Biden really does have a climate mandate from voters: 74 percent of Biden voters said that the climate crisis was a very important factor in their choice, according to <a href="https://morningconsult.com/exit-polling-live-updates/#section-77" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Morning Consult</a>.</p><p>Climate was also a key issue for the young voters who turned out for Biden by a large margin and may have played a deciding role in battleground states, as <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06112020/young-voters-climate-change-environmental-justice-joe-biden" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">InsideClimate News reported</a>.</p><p>"I fundamentally believe this is the first climate election, as far as climate playing a huge role during the election even with everything else going on," <a href="https://www.climatepower2020.org/" target="_blank">Climate Power 2020</a> Executive Director Lori Lodes told <a href="https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2020/11/09/stories/1063718033?utm_campaign=edition&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eenews%3Aclimatewire" target="_blank">E&E News</a>. "There's not going to be another election in U.S. history, another presidential election, where climate does not play as big or bigger of a role. This is only the beginning."</p>
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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris greet supporters in Wilmington, Delaware on August 20, 2020. Olivier Douliery / AFP / Getty Images
On Nov. 4, the U.S. officially left the Paris climate agreement, but its departure may be short lived.
<p>Former Vice President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/joe-biden" target="_self">Joe Biden</a>, who took the lead Friday morning in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-1243852669c8384493850f528534b2c7" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>, has reaffirmed his commitment to immediately rejoining the accord if he wins the 2020 presidential election against incumbent <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a>.</p><p>"Today, the Trump Administration officially left the Paris Climate Agreement. And in exactly 77 days, a Biden Administration will rejoin it," Biden tweeted late Wednesday.</p><p>The two candidates have taken opposite stances on how to address the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. Trump has <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-california-biden-climate-science-2647658093.html" target="_self">repeatedly</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-rejects-us-climate-report-2621629346.html" target="_self">denied</a> climate science and worked to roll back climate policies put in place by the Obama administration, including standards for <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/clean-power-plan-trump-epa-2638927020.html" target="_self">power plant</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-fuel-efficiency-proposal-2592345279.html" target="_self">vehicle emissions</a>. He has appointed former energy lobbyists to head both the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/interior-secretary-bernhardt-oil-2634420948.html" target="_self">Department of the Interior</a> and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/andrew-wheeler-epa-confirmed-2630358470.html" target="_self">Environmental Protection Agency</a>, and has completed or started the process of rescinding almost 100 environmental regulations, according to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks-list.html" target="_blank">New York Times tally</a>.</p>
<p>Biden, meanwhile, has <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/biden-climate-plan-green-new-deal-2648128471.html" target="_self">promised</a> to spend $2 trillion over four years to boost green jobs and infrastructure and achieve a carbon-free power sector by 2035 and net-zero emissions country-wide by 2050. While his plan is less ambitious and comprehensive than the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/green-new-deal" target="_self">Green New Deal</a>, it has received qualified praise from progressive climate activists who worked with his campaign on a Biden-Sanders Unity Task Force and helped improve the plan's ambitions.</p><p>Some of those same activists saw Biden's recommitment to the Paris agreement as a positive sign for his future administration's climate action.</p><p>"Pretty cool that<a href="https://twitter.com/JoeBiden" target="_blank"> @JoeBiden</a>'s most confident statement yet about being the next President of the United States is about Day 1 action to address the climate crisis," <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement</a> co-founder and political director Evan Weber tweeted. "Biden has a climate mandate, and our movement will make sure he acts on it."</p>
<p>Meteorologist and climate journalist Eric Holthaus also <a href="https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/status/1324159769268101120" target="_blank">noted</a> that climate change was featured on Biden's transition website.</p><p>"The American people will determine who will serve as the next President of the United States. Votes are still being counted in several states around the country," the <a href="https://buildbackbetter.com/" target="_blank">site reads</a>. "The crises facing the country are severe — from a pandemic to an economic recession, climate change to racial injustice — and the transition team will continue preparing at full speed so that the Biden-Harris Administration can hit the ground running on Day One."</p><p>The Paris agreement was passed in 2015 as a pledge to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and ideally to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Trump first <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/best-responses-trump-paris-agreement-2429353243.html" target="_self">announced</a> he would withdraw from the agreement in June 2017, and his administration <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-begins-withdrawal-paris-agreement-2641223963.html" target="_self">took action</a> to do so on Nov. 4, 2019, as soon as was possible under UN regulations. If Biden wins and rejoins Jan. 20, the U.S. would officially be back in 30 days later.</p>
<p>On his campaign website, Biden has pledged not only to rejoin the agreement, but to lobby for greater international climate ambition.</p><p>"He will lead an effort to get every major country to ramp up the ambition of their domestic climate targets," the <a href="https://joebiden.com/climate-plan/" target="_blank">site says</a>. "He will make sure those commitments are transparent and enforceable, and stop countries from cheating by using America's economic leverage and power of example."</p>However, even if Biden rejoins the agreement, it may be difficult for other countries to trust U.S. leadership on the issue, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54797743" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BBC News pointed out</a>. This is the second time the U.S. has helped to negotiate an international climate deal and then been unable to maintain support at home. The Clinton administration was not able to get the Senate to agree to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
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A man in the UK protests against Trump's stated intention to leave the Paris agreement, outside the U.S. Embassy in central London on Nov. 18, 2016. DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. has officially left the Paris climate agreement.
<p>However, the permanence of its departure hangs on the still-uncertain outcome of Tuesday's U.S. presidential election. While President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> made the decision to withdraw the U.S. from the agreement, his rival former Vice President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/joe-biden" target="_self">Joe Biden</a> has promised to rejoin "on day one," as <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/03/930312701/u-s-officially-leaving-paris-climate-agreement?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&fbclid=IwAR2odH2LfrRnFdr85IgiFXZpS8eZl6jmQgigZHCqWmRmhv5e8Z_M4mVwInI" target="_blank">NPR pointed out</a>. Either way, the U.S. withdrawal has hurt trust in the country's ability to follow through on climate diplomacy initiated by one administration when another takes power.</p><p>"Being out formally obviously hurts the US reputation," former Obama administration climate official Andrew Light told <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54797743" target="_blank">BBC News</a>. "This will be the second time that the United States has been the primary force behind negotiating a new climate deal — with the Kyoto Protocol we never ratified it, in the case of the Paris Agreement, we left it. So, I think it's obviously a problem."</p>
<p>The landmark 2015 agreement was designed to limit the global warming causing the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a> to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and ideally to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The U.S. is currently responsible for around 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, but it is historically the country that has contributed the most emissions to the atmosphere, NPR pointed out. Under the Paris agreement, the U.S. had pledged to reduce emissions around 25 percent by 2025 compared to 2005 levels, but it is now only on track to reduce them by 17 percent.</p><p>This is partly due to Trump administration environmental policies like the rollback of Obama-era emissions controls on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/clean-power-plan-trump-epa-2638927020.html" target="_self">power plants</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-fuel-standards-cost-2639723241.html" target="_self">vehicles</a>. Emissions rose during the first two years of Trump's presidency but have declined in 2020 because of the economic downturn caused by the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic.</p>
<p>The U.S. withdrawal has also affected a global fund intended to help poorer countries on the frontlines of the climate crisis adapt to rising seas and temperatures. The U.S. had originally committed to supplying $3 billion, but the Trump administration withdrew two-thirds of that amount.</p><p>"The U.S. was a major pledger to that first funding. When they never delivered, that certainly was an impact to us," Carlos Fuller, the lead climate negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, told NPR.</p><p>Trump first formally announced his intention to withdraw from the Paris agreement in 2017, arguing that it would harm U.S. jobs, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/climate/paris-climate-agreement-trump.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. His administration <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-begins-withdrawal-paris-agreement-2641223963.html" target="_self">formally began</a> the withdrawal process Nov. 4, 2019, the earliest date possible under UN rules. That process then took a year, which is why the U.S. is officially out today. If Biden wins and rejoins the agreement on Jan. 20, the reversal would be effective 30 days later.</p>
<p>The U.S. is now the only country to withdraw from the accord. It has been signed by 195 countries and ratified by 189. In the absence of U.S. leadership, other major players have pressed forward. In the past month, the European Parliament has voted to reduce emissions 60 percent by 2030, while <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/china-climate-action-2060-2648140974.html" target="_self">China has pledged</a> to reach net-zero emissions by 2060 and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/japan-carbon-neutral-2648499409.html" target="_self">Japan</a> and South Korea have both promised to do the same by 2050.</p><p>"There's momentum continuing to build even with the U.S. pulling out," Union of Concerned Scientists director Alden Meyer told The New York Times. "The question is, would it continue without the U.S. fully on board?"</p>
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Firefighters and paramedics continue to handle their normal 911 calls and COVID-19 calls in Brooklyn Park, Maryland on Oct. 27, 2020. Cases of COVID-19 continue to rise with Johns Hopkins reporting that U.S. cases have increased 41 percent in the last two weeks. ALEX EDELMAN / AFP via Getty Images
The U.S. topped nine million coronavirus cases Thursday as the pandemic continues to rage ten months since the first case was confirmed in January.
<p>Also on Thursday, the country broke its record for the most cases reported in a single day since the pandemic began: at least 89,000 new cases according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/29/us/coronavirus-nine-million-cases.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> and more than 91,000 according to <a href="https://www.cityam.com/us-breaks-daily-record-for-coronavirus-cases-as-total-infections-hit-nine-million/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">City A.M.</a> Together, the two figures suggest the country is no closer to getting the disease under control.</p><p>"I think it's surprising how quickly it happened," Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine infectious disease expert Dr. Larry Chang told The New York Times. "I thought we would do a better job as a country getting organized and coming up with evidence-based national plans for mitigating this epidemic. So, while I'm not surprised we reached this number, it happened a lot faster than I thought it would."</p>
<p>The U.S. continues to lead the world in both coronavirus cases and deaths, according to figures from <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Johns Hopkins University</a>. The pandemic has claimed nearly 230,000 U.S. lives. However, daily deaths, which tend to lag behind infections, are still much lower than they were in the spring, The New York Times pointed out. They are trending at around 780 a day.</p><p>There are several indications that the disease is spreading in the U.S. like never before. The country is averaging 75,000 cases a day, the worst average so far. More than 20 states reported more cases this week than at any other time during the pandemic, and no states reported a steady decline in cases.</p>
<p>Further, 12 states set individual records Thursday for the most new cases recorded, City A.M. reported: Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio and Oregon.</p><p>"This surge is larger than any other wave or surges that we've seen yet," University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee school of public health epidemiologist Amanda Simanek told The New York Times. "This is the pattern that may continue to happen if we don't suppress the infection down to levels that are manageable."</p><p>Simanek said she was worried that cases were increasing just as cold weather forced people inside, where the coronavirus spreads more readily.</p>
<p>National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci also warned about the upcoming holiday season. He said new infections were emerging because small groups of families and friends were gathering without masks and without practicing social distancing measures, and these types of get-togethers tend to increase around the holidays.</p><p>"We're going into a precarious situation," Fauci said, as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-sets-covid-19-record-election-day-looming-80k-n1245277" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NBC News reported</a>.</p><p>The pandemic in the U.S. has come in three main waves, The New York Times pointed out. In the spring, spikes were concentrated in large Northeastern cities. In the summer, the Sun Belt was the hardest hit. The current surge began in the Upper Midwest and Mountain West weeks ago but has now spread throughout the country to both rural and urban areas, putting a strain on local hospitals.</p>
<p>Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah nurse Dani Beebe told The New York Times she was worried her hospital would not have the staff to tend to patients in the extra beds they had put in. And Wisconsin is running out of both intensive care unit beds and nurses, NBC News reported.<br></p><p>New cases are also surging in several battleground states in the upcoming U.S. election, City A.M. pointed out.</p><p>That contest pits President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a>, who has <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-coronavirus-misinformation-2647879036.html" target="_self">repeatedly downplayed the virus</a> and now claims the U.S. is "rounding the turn" on the pandemic, according to NBC News, against former Vice President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/joe-biden" target="_self">Joe Biden</a>, who has <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-who-withdrawal-2646363849.html" target="_self">consistently criticized</a> Trump's response to the new disease.</p>
<p>One battleground state that saw an uptick in cases was Pennsylvania, which reported its 200,000th case Thursday.</p><p>"The news that Pennsylvania has passed the grim milestone of 200,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases is a tragic reminder that President Trump has failed at his most basic and essential duty, to keep American families safe," Biden said in response, as NBC News reported. "Rather than working to contain the spread of the virus, President Trump continues to peddle the lie that America is rounding the corner on this pandemic."</p>
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Donald Trump and Joe Biden arrive onstage for the final presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 22, 2020. JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
Towards the end of the final presidential debate of the 2020 election season, the moderator asked both candidates how they would address both the climate crisis and job growth, leading to a nearly 12-minute discussion where Donald Trump did not acknowledge that the climate is changing and Joe Biden called the climate crisis an existential threat.
<p>In response to the question from moderator Kristen Welker, "How would you both combat climate change and support job growth?" Trump insisted that he loves the environment and wants clean air and water. He said that his administration has started to plant trees and there have been record drops in carbon emissions during his administration. </p><p>Trump then made a rambling remark about air pollution in India, China and Russia, before touting that he took the U.S. out of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>, giving a false version of what the Paris agreement requires of the U.S. and insisting that it would have sacrificed "tens of millions of jobs."</p>
<p><br></p><p>By contrast, Biden noted that the climate crisis and a warming planet are "an existential threat to humanity."</p><p>"We have a moral obligation to deal with it and we're told by all the leading scientists in the world we don't have much time," he said and then pointed out that scientists say we have 8 to 10 years to tackle the crisis before we pass the point of no return, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/10/22/climate-change-biden-trump-debate/" target="_blank">The Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p>He then went on to list infrastructure investments in charging stations to promote the use of electric cars, and retrofitting older buildings so they do not leak their heating and cooling. Biden said those upgrades will save millions of barrels of oil, help clean the environment and create more than 18 million jobs.</p>
<p><br></p><p>Trump, in his response, insisted that Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and three other female Democratic lawmakers "know nothing about the climate." Trump then claimed the plan would cost $100 trillion, even though Biden's website says his plan will cost $2 trillion.</p>
<p>Biden turned his attention to the support he has received from both environmental groups and labor unions.</p><p>The moderator then asked Trump why people of color, who are disproportionately affected by pollution since their communities are often up against oil refineries and chemical plants, should give him four more years in office.</p><p>"The families that we're talking about are employed heavily and they're making more money than they've ever made," Trump replied. He then went on to claim that he saved the oil industry.</p><p>Biden replied by talking about the effect of living next to a fence line and how important it is to keep people safe by imposing restrictions on pollution.</p><p>Trump then stopped Welker from asking her final question and asked Biden if he would close down the oil industry. Biden insisted he would stop federal subsidies of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a> and usher in a transition to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a>.</p><p>"We have to move towards a net zero emissions," Biden said.</p>
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Trump Calls Fauci 'a Disaster,' Tries to Blame Science and Medical Experts for Failed Coronavirus Response
20 October
Politics
Trump arrives as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci looks on during a Coronavirus Task Force press briefing at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 4, 2020. JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images
President Trump attacked the nation's top infectious disease specialist in a call with campaign staffers that several reporters were allowed to listen to on Monday. In the call, Trump said that Dr. Anthony S. Fauci was "a disaster." He added that despite the evidence that coronavirus cases are once again rising across the country, the public was tired of hearing so much news about the virus, especially from "these idiots" in the government and scientific community, as The Washington Post reported.
<p>Trump seemed irked by an interview that Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, gave to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssiLlfGT9gg&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">60 Minutes</a> in which Fauci said he was not surprised that Trump contracted the coronavirus after attending a large event at the White House for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett where attendees were not masked.</p><p>In many interviews, Fauci has touted the efficacy of wearing masks and social distancing, while warning that a failure to follow those safety measures could lead to a very difficult fall and winter as coronavirus and influenza intersect. The evidence suggests Fauci is correct, as the U.S. saw more than 70,000 new cases on Friday, its highest total in months, while the virus is gaining strength in Europe once again, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/19/us/politics/trump-fauci-covid.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> reported.</p><p>In his broadside Monday, Trump dismissed those concerns about the virus, claiming that the public's interest has waned.</p>
<p>"People are tired of COVID," Trump said on the call, according to The New York Times. "I have the biggest rallies I've ever had. And we have COVID. People are saying: 'Whatever. Just leave us alone.' They're tired of it."</p><p>He tried to shift blame for the administration's response by saying, "People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots — these people, these people that have gotten it wrong," Trump said, as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/fauci-says-he-s-not-surprised-trump-contracted-covid-19-n1243857" target="_blank">NBC News</a> reported. "Fauci's a nice guy. He's been here for 500 years. He called every one of them wrong. And he's like this wonderful guy, a wonderful sage telling us how to respond to the pandemic. Fauci is a disaster. If I listened to him, we'd have 500,000 deaths. If we listened to him, we'd have 700-800,000 deaths right now."</p>
<p>At the same time that Trump was issuing his attacks on the government's medical experts, Fauci was receiving the National Academy of Medicine's first-ever Presidential Citation for Exemplary Leadership in a virtual event, as <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/19/politics/donald-trump-anthony-fauci-coronavirus/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>"We have a lot of challenges ahead of us and I can't help thinking that we're really going through a time that's disturbingly anti-<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/science/">science</a> in certain segments of our society," Fauci said in his speech as he accepted the award, according to CNN.</p><p>Trump was not done with his attacks on Fauci. Later in the day, Trump took to Twitter to mock Fauci for his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eD5xkn4WLA" target="_blank">errant ceremonial first pitch</a> for the Washington Nationals on opening day, as The Washington Post reported.</p><p>"Tony should stop wearing the Washington Nationals' Mask for two reasons. Number one, it is not up to the high standards that he should be exposing," Trump wrote on <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1318252740431155200" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a>. "Number two, it keeps reminding me that Tony threw out perhaps the worst first pitch in the history of Baseball!"</p>
<p>Trump's attack on one of the nation's most revered doctors generated a swift backlash from both sides of the aisle.</p><p>The Biden campaign responded by saying, "Mr. President, you're right about one thing: The American people are tired. They're tired of your lies about this virus," as The New York Times reported.</p><p>Senator Lamar Alexander, a Republican from Tennessee, called Fauci one of the country's most distinguished public servants.</p><p>"If more Americans paid attention to his advice, we'd have fewer cases of COVID-19, & it would be safer to go back to school & back to work & out to eat," Alexander wrote on <a href="https://twitter.com/SenAlexander/status/1318259834437906439" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.<span></span></p>
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White House Doctor With History of Misleading Statements Says Trump Likely Ready for ‘Public Engagements’ Saturday
09 October
Politics
White House physician Sean Conley updates reporters on the president's health on Oct. 5, 2020. SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images
President Donald Trump's doctor said Thursday that the president had completed his course of treatment after testing positive for COVID-19 and could most likely participate in public events safely starting Saturday. However, the statement follows a history of false or misleading updates on the president's health from White House officials and physicians and contradicts statements made by his health team earlier in the week.
<p>Trump and first lady Melania Trump <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-coronavirus-tests-positive-covid-2647887576.html" target="_self">tested positive</a> for the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> late last week, and the president spent the weekend in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center receiving treatment. However, his medical team, including White House physician Dr. Sean Conley, have been criticized for painting an overly rosy picture of his health over the course of his illness, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/trump-covid-confusing-statements/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Washington Post pointed out</a>. On Saturday, they did not mention that the president had been treated with additional oxygen or that he had been given a steroid usually prescribed for severe cases. Some health experts also said his team discharged him from the hospital too early on Monday.</p>
<p>"For someone sick enough to have required remdesivir and dexamethasone, I can't think of a situation in which a patient would be okay to leave on Day 3, even with the White House's medical capacity," Robert Wachter, chairman of the University of California at San Francisco's department of medicine, told The Washington Post at the time.</p><p>Now, Conley is saying that Trump responded "extremely well" to treatment and may be able to mingle with the public as soon as Saturday, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-trump/white-house-doctor-trump-has-completed-covid-19-therapies-can-do-public-events-saturday-idUSKBN26T0KU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reuters reported</a>.</p>
<p>"Since returning home, his physical exam has remained stable and devoid of any indications to suggest progression of illness," Conley wrote in a memo released by the White House. "Saturday will be day 10 since Thursday's diagnosis, and based on the trajectory of advanced diagnostics the team has been conducting, I fully anticipate the president's safe return to public engagements at that time."</p><p>This contradicts Conley's own assessment of the president's health on Monday, as <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/latest-updates-trump-covid-19-results/2020/10/08/921924919/trump-has-completed-covid-19-treatment-course-white-house-physician-says?fbclid=IwAR0tF2tlriwIgHXZAOvOaL7bxQ9ZYKM1Q02m6zeKIcfkEDVfTrr5RaIn8L47" target="_blank">NPR pointed out</a>.</p><p>"So we're looking to this weekend, if we can get through to Monday with him remaining the same or improving better yet, then we will all take that final deep sigh of relief," Conley said at the time.</p><p>Conley's remarks were also made the same day that <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-asked-walter-reed-doctors-sign-non-disclosure-agreements-2019-n1242293" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NBC News</a> revealed that medical staff at Walter Reed had been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements when Trump visited the hospital in November 2019.</p>
<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/end-home-isolation.html" target="_blank">advises</a> that anyone diagnosed with COVID-19 self-isolate for at least 10 days after testing positive or first experiencing symptoms. One should also not interact with others unless one has gone 24 hours without a fever and without taking fever-reducing medication. However, the agency notes that anyone with severe COVID-19 may need to self-isolate for longer than 10 days and as long as 20. Because it is unclear how severe Trump's illness was, it is also unclear how long he should self-isolate.</p><p>Conley did not say whether Trump has been tested again or would be tested before reappearing in public, according to NPR. White House officials have also refused to say when he last tested negative before his diagnosis, The New York Times reported.</p><p>However, in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity Thursday, Trump said he would likely take a test on Friday, as Reuters reported.</p><p>In the interview, Trump said he felt "very well." However, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/09/donald-trump-florida-rally-saturday-covid-test" target="_blank">The Guardian pointed out</a> that he sounded hoarse and paused throughout to cough.</p><p>"I think I'm going to try doing a rally on Saturday night if we can, if we have enough time to put it together," Trump told Hannity.</p>
<p>Trump has been criticized for his handling of the virus, both before and during his illness.</p><p>After testing positive, he <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-secret-service-suv-ride-2648098081.html" target="_self">drove in an SUV</a> with two Secret Service agents in order to greet supporters outside Walter Reed, an act some health experts said put the agents at unnecessary risk. He also downplayed the coronavirus by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-facebook-twitter-coronavirus-2648126137.html" target="_self">comparing it to the flu</a> on Tuesday, something he has done throughout the pandemic.</p><p>The coronavirus has so far infected more than 7.6 million U.S. residents and killed 212,789, according to the most recent figures from <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank">Johns Hopkins University</a>.</p><p>Including the president and first lady, nearly two dozen close affiliates of the White House have tested positive for COVID-19 as of this week, NPR reported. </p>
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New England Journal of Medicine Urges Readers to Oust Trump Over Bungled Coronavirus Response
08 October
Politics
Trump stands on the Truman Balcony at the White House on Oct. 5, 2020 in Washington, DC after receiving treatments for COVID-19 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post via Getty Images
For the first time in more than two centuries of publication, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) has taken a stand on a U.S. election.
<p>In an editorial titled "<a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe2029812" target="_blank">Dying in a Leadership Vacuum</a>" published Wednesday, the journal condemned the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trump-administration" target="_self">Trump administration</a> for its handling of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> pandemic.</p><p>"Covid-19 has created a crisis throughout the world," the editors wrote. "This crisis has produced a test of leadership. With no good options to combat a novel pathogen, countries were forced to make hard choices about how to respond. Here in the United States, our leaders have failed that test. They have taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy."</p>
<p>The editors pointed to the outsized U.S. caseload and death toll — the country still leads the world for both metrics. They compared the U.S. numbers with other countries that had greater vulnerabilities but much lower death tolls, such as China, where COVID-19 originated; Japan, which has a large elderly population; and Vietnam, which has fewer resources. They pointed out that the death rate in China was three per million, while in the U.S. it was more than 500 per million.</p><p>Further, they highlighted specific failures in pandemic response, such as an early delay in widespread testing and getting proper protective gear to frontline medical workers. They also railed against the politicization of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a>.</p><p>"[I]n much of the country, people simply don't wear masks, largely because our leaders have stated outright that masks are political tools rather than effective infection control measures," they wrote.</p>
<p>Finally, they argued that the U.S. had the ability to respond well to the pandemic, both because of its manufacturing capabilities and its many scientific institutions and experts. But instead of listening to these experts, the editors said, the current administration sidelined them. It either undermined, ignored or politicized government institutions like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health that could have led an effective response.</p><p>"Our leaders have largely claimed immunity for their actions. But this election gives us the power to render judgment. Reasonable people will certainly disagree about the many political positions taken by candidates. But truth is neither liberal nor conservative. When it comes to the response to the largest public health crisis of our time, our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs," the editorial concluded.</p>
<p>While the editorial does not mention President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> or his election rival former Vice President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/joe-biden" target="_self">Joe Biden</a> by name, it is a clear call to oust the president at the polls in November.</p><p>"The fact that @NEJM has taken a side in this Presidential election is telling as to how critical of a moment we are in," Joseph Sakran, a trauma surgeon and director of emergency general surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, <a href="https://twitter.com/JosephSakran/status/1314034223519543296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1314034223519543296%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=about%3Asrcdoc" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Wednesday, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/08/science-journal-endorsement-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>.</p><p>This is only the fifth time in the journal's 208-year history that all of its editors have signed an editorial. The previous four included an obituary for former editor in chief Arnold S. Relman and statements in <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1315461" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">support of contraception access</a>, in <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1910174" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">support of Roe v. Wade</a> and a <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMe1413296" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">comment</a> on a government draft policy on informed consent requirements for standard-of-care research. While three of these articles did weigh in on specific policies, the editorial board has never before taken a position on an election or candidate.</p>
<p>"It should be clear that we are not a political organization," NEJM editor in chief Dr. Eric Rubin told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/07/health/new-england-journal-trump.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR0_IYA5fDP1gEcQdR6WfIk1lIdTX7Ib2UomxWa317eslze4M-U2GTe0FP4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>. "But pretty much every week in our editorial meeting there would be some new outrage. How can you not speak out at a time like this?"</p><p>The NEJM isn't the first scientific publication to break with precedent ahead of the 2020 election.</p><p>On Sep.15, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientific-american-endorses-joe-biden1/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Scientific American</a> backed a presidential candidate for the first time in its 175-year history when it endorsed Biden.</p><p>"The evidence and the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/science" target="_self">science</a> show that Donald Trump has badly damaged the U.S. and its people — because he rejects evidence and science," the editors wrote.</p><p>In addition to his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the editors also pointed to Trump's rollback of environmental health measures designed to protect people from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/air-pollution" target="_self">air pollution</a> and his refusal to act on the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>.</p>
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Sunrise Movement
By Julia Conley
Weeks after the Sunrise Movement launched a swing state mobilization campaign with a plan to reach more than 1.5 million voters before Election Day, climate campaigners are showing no sign of slowing down their Get Out the Vote efforts — sending the message to young Americans that voting President Donald Trump out of office is the crucial first step in a greater effort to "build our political power in Washington."
<p>In a 12-minute ad released online Monday by the Sunrise Movement, former Bernie Sanders surrogate and climate activist Xiuhtexcatl Martinez begins by rejecting common tactics used for decades by political strategists and politicians to encourage young people to vote — from attempts to "make voting seem cool" through humor and celebrity endorsements, to efforts to shame them into going to the polls by accusing them of being "lazy and unengaged."</p><p>"While youth turnout has always been low, the stereotype that young people don't care about politics isn't true," says Martinez, one of 21 plaintiffs in <em>Juliana vs. United States</em>, in which teenagers and children <a href="https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/federal-plaintiffs/" target="_blank">sued</a> the federal government for not protecting them from the climate crisis.</p><p>Watch:</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fe6a0f037cee6e34e08f1de0f80771a1"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pbva38xskIc?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>While young people are <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgqymn/exclusive-poll-80-of-young-voters-think-global-warming-is-a-major-threat-to-life-as-we-know-it" target="_blank">keenly aware</a> of the issues facing their generation and are <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/young-people-really-really-want-a-green-new-deal/" target="_blank">supportive</a> of legislation to mitigate the planetary emergency, Martinez argues, their attempts to get involved in politics are often thwarted by a system rife with voter suppression and mass disenfranchisement.</p><p>"In the United States, the reality is that voting is not cool," Martinez says. "Cool would be a country that empowers its citizens to vote ... Cool would be a country where the candidate who gets the most votes wins the election. Cool would be a country where unpopular politicians couldn't dismantle basic voter protections just because they know they can't stay in office without disenfranchising young voters and people of color."</p><p>"Regardless, if enough young people vote, the odds dramatically shift," he adds.</p><p>Instead of imploring young voters to unquestioningly take part in a system in which those in power have frequently ignored their demands, Martinez and the Sunrise Movement frame the general election and the choice between President Donald Trump — who openly denies the existence of the climate crisis — and Democratic candidate Joe Biden as the "one-time choice that allows us to make more meaningful choices down the line."</p><p>"Young people have the power to crush Trump, and he knows it," the Sunrise Movement tweeted on Monday. "Once he's out, and we're still in the streets, our movement can set the tone for the next four years, just like movements past."</p>
<div id="74200" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0f2fa6d041b654d56b58f80725a7caa1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1313162842598670338" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Young people have the power to crush Trump, and he knows it. That’s why he’s trying to steal the election, but we’r… https://t.co/hkOfXLCiJK</div> — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@Sunrise Movement 🌅)<a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/statuses/1313162842598670338">1601917393.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Martinez notes that Biden, who has angered climate action advocates in recent weeks by insisting that he has no intention of banning fracking and failing to fully embrace the call for a Green New Deal, has nevertheless shown signs of understanding that young voters and their priorities, including the climate, are not to be dismissed. In the ad, Sunrise Movement co-founder Varshini Prakash explains how the task force set up by supporters of Biden and Sanders successfully <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/09/weve-moved-needle-far-more-work-do-say-progressives-biden-sanders-panels-unveil" target="_blank">pushed</a> the Democratic candidate to adopt a more ambitious plan for decarbonization.</p><p>The ad compares Biden to former President Lyndon Johnson, who signed the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act into law after decades of voting against civil rights in Congress.</p><p>"Relentless activist movement" was behind the legislation Johnson signed in the 1960s, Martinez says. Facing civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis, he adds, "The narrative shifted and Johnson was forced to meet the moment. So while we do not approve of Biden's record or even some aspects of his platform, we must elect him and work tirelessly towards hearing him sing the songs of our movement."</p>
<p>"We have reached our most defining moment in electoral politics," Martinez says. "Our ability to push forward the agendas of our generation will be determined not only by how we vote going into November but how we mobilize the morning after the election."</p><p>The ad was released as 350.org launched its own GOTV effort in states including Colorado, California, Minnesota, and Washington. Thousands of staffers and volunteers with the organization's local chapters are working to make 350,000 calls to voters before Election Day, as well as text banking and sending postcards.</p><p>"We're ramping up our get out the vote efforts because we know that to effectively address the climate crisis, we need solutions across sectors that prioritize those most impacted — Black, Indigenous, communities of color, workers and low income communities," said Dominique Thomas, New York and Mid-Atlantic organizer for 350.org. "Climate justice and action cannot exist in a silo — we need leaders who see the interconnectedness of lowering emissions and cutting pollution with housing rights, economic justice, racial justice, and healthcare. This November, we're rising up to make sure our demands are heard."</p>
<p>Members of 350 Colorado aim to reach 130,000 voters in their state, while in California, 350 Bay Area Action is working with five partner organizations to target voters in Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Alaska, Arizona, and Colorado. The group has so far conducted 37 virtual phone banks in which 800 volunteers made 50,000 calls.</p><p>"Our volunteers know that the stakes in this election could not be higher. Our country will go one way or another in November. It is essential that we secure leadership that will protect the environment and the climate. There is simply no more time," said Marti Roach, lead organizer for the 350 Bay Area Action "Go Green, Vote Blue" phone bank campaign.</p><p>In the Sunrise ad, Martinez urged voters to "join our movement and get to work right away to send Trump and the Republicans a simple message: Get out of the way. We've got work to do." </p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/06/vowing-crush-trump-must-watch-ad-climate-campaigners-mobilize-election-nationwide?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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