An Extinction Rebellion protester outside the Bank of England on Oct. 14, 2019 in London, England. John Keeble / Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
In another win for climate campaigners, leaders of 12 major cities around the world — collectively home to about 36 million people — committed Tuesday to divesting from fossil fuel companies and investing in a green, just recovery from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
<p>The announcement from C40 Cities — a global network of communities dedicated to tackling the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis">climate emergency</a> — came on day two of <a href="https://www.climateweeknyc.org/climate-week-nyc-2020" target="_blank">Climate Week NYC</a>, some of which is being held online because of the COVID-19 crisis.</p><p>"Now is the time to divest from fossil fuel companies and undertake investment and policy change that prioritizes public and planetary health, building back a more equal society and addressing this climate emergency," <a href="https://www.c40.org/press_releases/cities-commit-divest-invest" target="_blank">declared</a> New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.</p><p>"In New York City, we know that taking action on climate change is not optional," added de Blasio, whose community has been hit hard by the pandemic. "As we recover from COVID-19, we must make our cities even stronger."</p>
<p>In 2018, de Blasio and London Mayor Sadiq Khan established the first-of-its-kind Divest/Invest Forum to help city leaders shift money away from fossil fuels and toward the creation of low-carbon jobs. Khan said Tuesday that his city has "demonstrated that divestment is possible and indeed essential for our future."</p><p>"Through our work with New York and C40, I'm delighted to bring together 10 more cities to join us in taking Divest/Invest action," he added. "As the world recovers from COVID-19, we need to work together to ensure a fairer, fossil-fuel-free green recovery."</p><p>Berlin, Bristol, Cape Town, Durban, Los Angeles, Milan, New Orleans, Oslo, Pittsburgh and Vancouver have all signed on to C40's declaration, "<a href="https://www.c40.org/divest-invest" target="_blank">Divesting from Fossil Fuels, Investing in a Sustainable Future</a>."</p>
<div id="401b5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f557fec553a3680fde961b824afb0188"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1308441659798171649" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We are proud to be one of 12 cities around the world committing to
@c40cities' declaration “Divesting From Fossil… https://t.co/qelg6N2x7o</div> — LDNMayor Environment (@LDNMayor Environment)<a href="https://twitter.com/LDN_environment/statuses/1308441659798171649">1600791776.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"We're in a make-or-break decade for the preservation of our planet and our livelihoods," said C40 chair and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. "Our declaration makes a clear statement: If we're serious about a sustainable, just, and prosperous future, we have to put our money where our mouth is, remove public dollars from companies harming the Earth, and power our cities with bold investments in low-carbon industries."</p><p>Specifically, the mayors are committing to taking all possible steps to divest city assets from fossil fuel companies and increase investments in climate solutions; calling on pension funds to follow suit; and advocating for fossil-free and sustainable finance by other investors and all levels of government. A C40 statement called the declaration "a critical next step towards realizing the vision for a Global Green New Deal, announced last October at the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark."</p>
<p>The mayors' latest move comes as western U.S. states including California battle <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/16/us/west-coast-wildfires-wednesday/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unprecedented wildfires</a> while the Gulf Coast recovers from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/17/bolstering-calls-climate-action-mutant-sloth-hurricane-sally-leaves-major-mess-gulf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hurricane Sally</a> and prepares for the possibility of more storms. Scientists have emphasized that both the intense blazes and slow-moving, destructive hurricanes are connected to global heating that results from human activity, especially the burning of fossil fuels.</p><p>"The declaration sends a loud clear message to the fossil fuel industry," <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2020/09/22/may-boeve-joins-mayors-12-major-cities-committed-divest-fossil-fuel-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a> 350.org executive director May Boeve, whose advocacy group has spearheaded <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/30/ahead-may-day-500-groups-worldwide-demand-just-and-visionary-recovery-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">demands</a> for a green, just recovery. "As we watch wildfires burn in the U.S. and devastating floods in parts of Africa, we know that fossil fuels are not a safe investment: the sector is too volatile to be <a href="https://350communications.cmail19.com/t/t-l-xbdyky-autddlkti-y/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">deeply vulnerable</a>, it is time to divest from fossil fuels and invest in the green and just recovery of the future."</p><p>Globally, over $200 billion in COVID-19 recovery funding <a href="https://www.energypolicytracker.org/" target="_blank">has been</a> pledged to fossil fuels. Boeve argued that "it is essential to ensure that today's investments do not lock-in polluting technologies and carbon-intensive industries. Investments should instead support the solutions we need to avert climate breakdown, create good jobs, advance environmental justice, and support livable communities."</p>
<p>Signatories to the C40 declaration agree. "Pulling out of climate-damaging and ethically problematic investment strategies is a key step in the transition to a sustainable economy," said Michael Müller, governing mayor of Berlin. "The fact that C40 cities are taking this ambitious step and actively promoting divestment sends an important political signal."</p><p>Last year, the Vancouver City Council took action to divest city and staff pensions from fossil fuels. By signing the declaration, said Mayor Kennedy Stewart, "we are furthering this work, which aligns with City Council's 2019 vote to unanimously recognize a global climate emergency and local climate crisis."</p><p>Former Vancouver City Councillor Andrea Reimer participated Tuesday in an NYC Climate Week event, hosted by <a title="Original URL: https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fStand.earth&c=E,1,2oxw9peuNmXdM3-IVcc3MU11FD_LpPqn-0YYMY8KmkFp8NKhgi2ZwWQXVWeT5o0wya6eaAe1o1OsEUOQmuOPrNUC_6Kg7lbHWBzKsIBd9VP2wi5M&typo=1. Click or tap if you trust this link." href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flinkprotect.cudasvc.com%2Furl%3Fa%3Dhttps%253a%252f%252fStand.earth%26c%3DE%2C1%2C2oxw9peuNmXdM3-IVcc3MU11FD_LpPqn-0YYMY8KmkFp8NKhgi2ZwWQXVWeT5o0wya6eaAe1o1OsEUOQmuOPrNUC_6Kg7lbHWBzKsIBd9VP2wi5M%26typo%3D1&data=01%7C01%7Cepollak%40theclimategroup.org%7C9395c5b8b70e4330779508d83fbec0e6%7Cdc6bc025abec4b55b2a05a63afca742b%7C0&sdata=NRWAlXdDOHBf97iPAqWNbffp1%2B%2F943LF%2B%2BxIqi%2BAKPU%3D&reserved=0" target="_blank">Stand.earth</a>, about local efforts to facilitate "a just transition to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">renewable energy</a>, a green recovery, and a livable climate."</p>
<div id="4ec15" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="75b9da530a37a63517787159519175e3"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1308466188532346880" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We’re live at #ClimateWeekNYC! Our “Cities Lead: Phasing Out Fossil Fuels” event is happening 2-3:30pm ET today. Fo… https://t.co/c4cpi7KlQU</div> — Stand.earth (@Stand.earth)<a href="https://twitter.com/standearth/statuses/1308466188532346880">1600797624.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The event — which also featured speakers from Stand.earth, Baltimore, Berkeley, and King County, Washington — included sample policies, success stories and resources for grassroots organizers and local government leaders.<br></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/22/mayors-12-major-global-cities-home-36-million-people-make-unified-fossil-fuel" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Oxford Endowment Ditches Fossil Fuels in 'Historic' Decision ... ›
- Fossil Fuel Divestment Debates on Campus Spotlight Societal Role ... ›
- London and New York Mayors Call on Other World Cities to Divest ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
The Metronome, a famous art installation in Union Square that used to display the time of day, has been repurposed into a "Climate Clock" for Climate Week NYC. Zack Winestine
By Jessica Corbett
This story was originally published on Common Dreams on September 19, 2020.
Some advocates kicked off next week's Climate Week NYC early Saturday by repurposing the Metronome, a famous art installation in Union Square that used to display the time of day, as a massive "Climate Clock" in an effort to pressure governments worldwide to take swift, bold action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and rein in human-caused global heating.
<p><br/></p>
<p>"The clock is a way to speak science to power," project co-founder Andrew Boyd said in a statement. "The clock is telling us we must reduce our emissions as much as we can as fast as we can. The technology is there. We can do this—and in the process, create a healthier, more just world for all of us. Our planet has a deadline. But we can turn it into a lifeline."</p><p>Launched as people across the country are facing the deadly, devastating <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/18/climate-floods-climate-droughts-climate-fires-interactive-map-illustrates-how" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">impacts of climate change</a>—from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/11/fires-ravaging-us-west-bellwether-future-says-oregon-governor-half-million-residents" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">historic wildfires</a> in western states to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/17/bolstering-calls-climate-action-mutant-sloth-hurricane-sally-leaves-major-mess-gulf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">slow-moving hurricanes</a> and the resulting floods on the Gulf Coast—the clock in New York City on Saturday warned that the international community only has seven years and 102 days to "undertake bold transformation of our energy system and economy" in hopes of keeping global temperature rise under 1.5 degrees Celsius.</p><p>"Climate Change is already here. This clock is not an alarm clock saying, in seven years it will ring and we need to wake up! It's more like a stopwatch already running that we have to keep pace with," explained Gan Golan, the project originator. "We need to take action today, tomorrow, and the day after that. Let's get moving. Every second counts. We need to act in time."</p>
<div id="0bde7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="002ce26d8d0c627f76d752e14d234d6e"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1307397838884741121" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">LIVE: #ClimateClock about to go live at Union square replacing the atronomical clock, with a carbon countdown!… https://t.co/5OzxwUwWDf</div> — Greg Schwedock🌹(⧖) (@Greg Schwedock🌹(⧖))<a href="https://twitter.com/GregSchwedock/statuses/1307397838884741121">1600542909.0</a></blockquote></div><p>A mobile climate clock that Swedish youth activist Greta Thunberg "now carries with her, as well as the larger Climate Clock project, was assembled by a team of artists, makers, scientists, and activists based in New York, and is part of the Beautiful Trouble community of projects," according to <a href="https://climateclock.world/" target="_blank">Climateclock.world</a>, which details the science behind the numbers displayed and how to install clocks in other cities.</p>
<div id="5160f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="75ffdd348e9e589c32b324c77f650b1b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1204581474218807296" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">LIVE: Greta Thunberg's worldwide #ClimateClock launches https://t.co/sglWCLwdsG</div> — act.tv (@act.tv)<a href="https://twitter.com/actdottv/statuses/1204581474218807296">1576029578.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"In an accompanying app, the artists include more detail about solutions," <em>Fast Company</em> <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90552230/manhattans-classic-digital-clock-is-now-counting-down-to-climate-disaster" target="_blank">reported</a> Saturday. "Another number tracks the current percentage of renewable energy in the world. An interactive tool shows how to 'flatten the climate curve' and how much difference it makes to invest more now, and to move more quickly. A DIY maker kit explains how to make a countdown clock of your own."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/19/massive-climate-clock-urging-governments-actintime-unveiled-metronome-new-york-city" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- 5 Virtual Events to Check Out This Climate Week NYC - EcoWatch ›
- Covering Climate Now Highlights Solutions for Earth Week - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
New Report Reveals How Plastic Polluters Have Avoided Regulation Worldwide for Decades
18 September
Climate
A boy walks through plastic waste on Juhu beach in Mumbai, India on June 2, 2018. Punit Paranjpe / AFP / Getty Images
By Lisa Newcomb
Analysis released Thursday of the world's top 10 biggest plastic polluters in 15 countries reveals how major corporations hide behind the veneer of corporate responsibility while actively working to thwart regulatory legislation around the globe.
<p><br/></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/17/delay-distract-and-derail-new-report-reveals-how-plastic-polluters-have-avoided?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>
<p>"This report is a damning exposé of the tactics employed by the plastics industry and shines a welcome light on the shadowy world of corporate lobbying," Natalie Fee, founder of City to Sea, which supported the research conducted by the Changing Markets Foundation, <a href="http://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Talking-Trash-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">said</a> in a statement.</p><p>"For too long," said Fee, "the true cost of plastic production has been externalized, meaning plastic producers continue to get away with ecocide while waste management companies, consumers and marginalized communities around the world are left to deal with millions of tonnes of toxic plastic waste."</p>
<div id="5899a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f2af5e24600e9a04a59098846be0795c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306489782529335296" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Out now! 📢 Our ground-breaking new report reveals the hypocrisy of the world’s biggest #plasticpolluters, who claim… https://t.co/TWutruUlqA</div> — Changing Markets Foundation (@Changing Markets Foundation)<a href="https://twitter.com/ChangingMarkets/statuses/1306489782529335296">1600326412.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The report—titled "<a href="https://talking-trash.com/" target="_blank">Talking Trash: The Corporate Playbook of False Solutions</a>,"—exposes how Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Mars Incorporated, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Perfetti Van Melle, Procter & Gamble, and Unilever <a href="http://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Talking-Trash-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">deploy</a> "tactics to undermine legislation in individual countries are in fact part of a global approach by Big Plastic to ensure that the corporations most responsible for the plastic crisis evade true accountability for their pollution."</p><p>According to Changing Markets Foundation Thursday, the investigations <a href="http://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Talking-Trash-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">found</a>:</p><ul><li>Big Plastic is a well-organized network of organizations that fight against proven solutions to the plastic pollution crisis through similar tactics across the world</li><li>Voluntary commitments and group initiatives from the ten biggest plastic polluters are used to distract consumers and governments, enabling polluters to continue with business as usual</li><li>Corporations work behind the scenes to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/31/there-no-end-big-oils-evil-campaigners-condemn-industry-plan-pour-us-plastics-africa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">delay and derail</a> legislation and ensure they can continue flooding the world with cheap, disposable plastic packaging</li><li>Plastic producers have co-opted the Covid-19 pandemic and capitalized on people's fear to call for regulatory rollbacks and delays on environmental legislation</li></ul>
<div id="688ca" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3370c14123ff2ac521085479120d1260"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306488205198401536" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">DELAY, DISTRACT and DERAIL: 3 tactics that help Big Plastic fight plastic legislation behind the scenes across the… https://t.co/f29Pc86aMj</div> — GAIA (@GAIA)<a href="https://twitter.com/GAIAnoburn/statuses/1306488205198401536">1600326036.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"This report exposes the two-faced hypocrisy of plastic polluters, which claim to be committed to solutions, but at the same time use a host of dirty tricks to ensure that they can continue pumping out cheap, disposable plastic, polluting the planet at a devastating rate," <a href="http://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Talking-Trash-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">said</a> Nusa Urbanic, campaigns director for the Changing Markets.</p><p>"Plastic is now pouring into the natural world at a rate of one garbage truck a minute, creating a crisis for wildlife, the climate and public health," Urbanic continued. "The responsibility for this disaster lies with Big Plastic—including major household brands—which have lobbied against progressive legislation for decades, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/02/18/greenpeace-finds-labels-plastic-products-mislead-public-and-harm-americas-recycling" target="_blank">greenwashed</a> their environmental credentials, and blamed the public for littering, rather than assuming responsibility for their own actions."</p><p>Big Plastic jumped at the opportunity presented by the Covid-19 pandemic—which has caused a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/single-use-plastic-covid-180975312/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">surge</a> in single-use plastic consumption—to pressure lawmakers to roll back current regulations and prevent new ones, according to the report. </p><p>Additionally, Changing Markets <a href="http://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Talking-Trash-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">noted</a> that plastic pollution has devastating effects on the environment and is a key contributor to the climate crisis.<span></span></p><p>According to the group:</p><blockquote>"The plastic pollution crisis is a deeply interconnected climate crisis, a biodiversity crisis, and a public health crisis all combined... Plastic saturates almost every surface of the planet—from the deepest abysses to the highest mountains and remotest islands—causing an unprecedented crisis for wildlife... Virgin-plastic production is a major contributor to climate change, generating enough emissions—from the moment they leave the ground as fossil fuels, and throughout their entire life cycle—to use up 10 to 15% of our entire carbon budget by 2050 at current rates of growth. Disposal of plastics through incineration and backyard burning also contributes to climate change and creates a toxic fallout undermining human and planetary health."</blockquote><p>The industry's contribution to the global climate emergency is nothing new, but progressive legislators continue to face an uphill battle when it comes to regulating these powerful corporations.</p><p>President Donald Trump, for example, has called climate change a "hoax," and, despite pleas from environmental advocacy groups and progressive lawmakers, many Democratic lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)—as well as presidential nominee Joe Biden—still do not <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/31/despite-poll-showing-aggressive-climate-action-winning-issue-biden-boasts-i-am-not" target="_blank">support </a>the Green New Deal.</p>
<div id="eaab1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0f6dbe75ec7e7ed4656a767958238c89"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1306313773511303169" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Amount of federal government subsidies given to the fossil fuel industry every year: $15 billion. The amount it sh… https://t.co/NRWQWRiw5f</div> — Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders)<a href="https://twitter.com/SenSanders/statuses/1306313773511303169">1600284448.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Urbanic urged lawmakers to act to protect the planet.</p><p>"The voluntary initiatives and commitments by the industry have failed," she said in a statement. "Policymakers should look past the industry smokescreen and adopt proven, progressive legislation globally to create the systemic change that this crisis so urgently needs."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- 22 Facts About Plastic Pollution (And 10 Things We Can Do About It ... ›
- Plastics: The History of an Ecological Crisis - EcoWatch ›
- Atlantic Ocean Holds 10x More Plastic Pollution Than Previously ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Support Ecowatch
USDA and Meatpacking Industry Collaborated to Undermine COVID-19 Response, Documents Show
17 September
Politics
The USDA and the meatpacking industry worked together to downplay and disregard risks to worker health during the COVID-19 pandemic. RGtimeline / Getty Images
By Brett Wilkins
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the meatpacking industry worked together to downplay and disregard risks to worker health during the Covid-19 pandemic, as shown in documents published Monday by Public Citizen and American Oversight.
<p>The <a href="https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/uploads/2020-OSEC-04055-F_2nd-Interim_Item-1_Redacted.pdf?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=f7bf3f03-ce98-4df4-9c45-f44d9a6a5890" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">documents</a>, which the groups obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, reveal that a week before President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/28/catastrophic-harm-feared-trump-uses-emergency-powers-keep-meat-packing-plants-open" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">issued his controversial executive order </a>in April to keep meatpacking plants open—overriding closure orders from local health officials—a leading meat industry lobby group drafted a proposed executive order that was strikingly similar to Trump's directive.</p><p>North American Meat Institute president Julie Anna Potts drafted the document, which invoked the Korean War-era Defense Production Act in proposing a presidential proclamation that orders "critical infrastructure food companies continue their operations to the fullest extent possible."</p><p>The documents also show that the North American Meat Institute repeatedly requested that USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue discourage workers who were afraid to return to work from staying home, that meatpacking plants asked the USDA to intervene on multiple occasions when state and local governments either shut them down over health and safety concerns or sought to impose worker health and safety standards, and that pork producer and food processing giant Smithfield Foods repeatedly requested that the USDA "order" it to reopen its meat processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota—even though the agency lacks the legal authority for such a move.</p>
<div id="13077" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="11b9fe5ff48ebc437353df6df9c2c892"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1305915938148147205" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Just a week before the Trump administration issued an executive order aimed at keeping meat packing plants open, th… https://t.co/DkbXgPm4YR</div> — ProPublica (@ProPublica)<a href="https://twitter.com/propublica/statuses/1305915938148147205">1600189597.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"While we knew that the meatpacking industry was lobbying the Trump administration to take steps to protect its profits regardless of the cost to workers' lives, the degree of collaboration these documents show is astounding," <a href="https://www.citizen.org/news/usda-meatpacking-industry-collaborated-to-undermine-covid-19-response-foia-docs-show/" target="_blank">said</a> Adam Pulver, attorney for Public Citizen.</p><p>"As outbreaks continue to emerge in meatpacking plants, it is stunning to see the cavalier attitude officials took to the health and safety of workers in the early part of the pandemic," Pulver added. "To the extent that the USDA impeded the efforts of state and local governments to contain the virus, the blood of meatpacking workers is on their hands."</p><p>According to July <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6927e2.htm" target="_blank">data</a> from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 23 states reported Covid-19 outbreaks in meat and poultry processing facilities, with 16,233 cases and 86 deaths reported in 239 facilities. Fully 87% of those cases occurred among racial or ethnic minorities. The problem is global, with other countries from <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/53137613" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Britain</a> to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-jbs-specialreport/special-report-how-covid-19-swept-the-brazilian-slaughterhouses-of-jbs-worlds-top-meatpacker-idUSKBN25Z1HZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brazil</a> reporting widespread Covid-19 infection among their meatpackers.</p><p>A common theme connects all of these outbreaks around the world, critics said Tuesday—the prioritization of profit over people.</p>
<p>"During a global pandemic, Americans should be able to trust that public health experts are drafting public health standards, not big businesses looking out for their bottom lines," <a href="https://www.citizen.org/news/usda-meatpacking-industry-collaborated-to-undermine-covid-19-response-foia-docs-show/" target="_blank">said</a> Austin Evers, executive director at American Oversight. "This is corruption that came at the cost of lives and safety. Making matters worse, we know now that Trump knew the coronavirus was a deadly threat even while he played it down and took steps he knew were at odds with what experts advised."</p><p>The poultry industry, already the target of a <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-09-03/u-s-chicken-industry-accused-of-conspiring-to-keep-immigrant-wages-down" target="_blank">massive class-action lawsuit</a> alleging some of the biggest animal agriculture corporations in the nation conspired to suppress worker wages and benefits, has been roiled by accusations of worker mistreatment during the pandemic. </p><p>"For us employees that work in production, we are treated like modern-day slaves," Tara Williams, an employee at a Tyson Foods poultry plant in Camilla, Georgia, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/02/meat-plant-workers-us-coronavirus-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">told</a> <em>The Guardian </em>in May.</p><p>"Excuse my language, but Tyson really aren't going to give a f**k about us at all," Williams—who has worked at the plant for five years and currently earns $13.55 an hour—said of the $22 billion company after her colleague Elose Willis, who worked at the plant for 35 years, <a href="https://www.loftonfuneralhome.com/obituary/Elose-Willis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">died</a> of Covid-19 in April. </p><p>"It was like they were keeping a secret," Williams said of Willis' death. "It took them about two weeks just to put a picture up, to acknowledge that she had died." </p><p>In related news, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/want-know-what-workers-life-worth-america-trumps-osha-fines-meat-company-just-13494" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fined</a> Smithfield's Sioux Falls plant just $13,494 last Thursday for failing to take adequate steps to contain the virus, leading to the infection of more than 1,200 plant employees and the deaths of four plant workers between March and June. Critics said the fine isn't nearly enough.</p>
<div id="36e4c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e7c8048c2755109629a3b3072fcb3261"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1304424041814593539" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Meatpacking union @UFCW, which reps workers at this plant (four of whom died), slams OSHA for the small $13k fine a… https://t.co/tnhfKd89ab</div> — Dave Jamieson (@Dave Jamieson)<a href="https://twitter.com/jamieson/statuses/1304424041814593539">1599833901.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union, which represents Smithfield Foods workers, <a href="https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/crime/2020/09/10/osha-fines-smithfield-foods-sioux-falls-south-dakota/5768786002/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=f7bf3f03-ce98-4df4-9c45-f44d9a6a5890" target="_blank">slammed</a> the fine as "insulting and a slap on the wrist."</p><p>"How much is the health, safety, and life of an essential worker worth? Based on the actions of the Trump administration, clearly not much," said UFCW president Marc Perrone.</p><p>"This so-called 'fine' is a slap on the wrist for Smithfield, and a slap in the face of the thousands of American meatpacking workers who have been putting their lives on the line to help feed America since the beginning of this pandemic," Perrone added. </p><p>Other critics, including vegans, vegetarians, and animal rights and environmental advocates argued that the accelerated spread of Covid-19 from meatpacking facilities is but the latest compelling argument in favor of reducing—or eliminating—meat consumption.</p><p>"We know that Covid-19 originated in a meat market and that previous influenza viruses originated in pigs and chickens," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) <a href="https://www.peta.org/blog/meat-shortage-slaugherhouses-go-vegan/" target="_blank">said</a> in April amid news that a Foster Farms slaughterhouse in Livingston, California was <a href="https://www.peta.org/blog/coronavirus-covid-19-slaughterhouse-meat-concerns/?utm_source=PETA::Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=0420::veg::PETA::Twitter::Workers%20Blame%20Major%20Pig%20Slaughterhouse%20600%20Infected%20COVID-19::::tweet" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ordered closed</a> by local health authorities due to a Covid-19 outbreak that killed eight employees.</p>
<div id="28490" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="48ddd3480a2beb42597d9516ef652f0f"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1252416495990140929" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS! @SmithfieldFoods allegedly took NO PRECAUTIONS to protect the safety of its workers, leaving o… https://t.co/viAJ026pLy</div> — PETA (@PETA)<a href="https://twitter.com/peta/statuses/1252416495990140929">1587434336.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"It's not a matter of <em>whether</em> using and killing animals for food will give rise to another disease outbreak—it's a matter of <em>when</em>," said PETA. "There has never been a better, more obvious time for businesses to put an end to their dirty trade of slaughtering animals for their flesh." </p>
Read More
Show Less
Trending
Jacob Saylors, 11, walks through the burned remains of his home in Paradise, California on November 18, 2018. The family lost a home in the same spot to a fire 10 years prior. Josh Edelson / AFP / Getty Images
By Kenny Stancil
Potentially millions of people in the U.S. will be displaced as the climate crisis makes certain regions increasingly uninhabitable, prompting new migrations that will reshape the country, a new report shows.
<p>The story published Tuesday is the second installment in a <a href="https://features.propublica.org/climate-migration/model-how-climate-refugees-move-across-continents/?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=river" target="_blank">series</a> on global climate migration that stems from a collaboration between <em>ProPublica</em> and the <em>New York Times</em>, with support from the Pulitzer Center.</p><p>While the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/23/magazine/climate-migration.html" target="_blank">first article</a> in the series focused on the movement of climate refugees across international borders, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/15/magazine/climate-crisis-migration-america.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">latest story </a>focuses on how climate migration within the U.S. will reshape the country. </p><p>As report author Abrahm Lustgarten explains, "In much of the developing world, vulnerable people will attempt to flee the emerging perils of global warming, seeking cooler temperatures, more fresh water and safety."</p><p>But here in the U.S., many people have for years "avoided confronting these changes in their own backyards," he writes.</p><p>"The decisions we make about where to live are distorted not just by politics that play down climate risks, but also by expensive subsidies and incentives aimed at defying nature," Lustgarten adds in the report. "People have largely gravitated <em>toward</em> environmental danger, building along coastlines from New Jersey to Florida and settling across the cloudless deserts of the Southwest."</p><p>In light of a summer in which millions of people have endured the devastating combined effects of a pandemic, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/09/entire-western-us-fire-region-faces-deadly-flames-compounded-heatwave-blackouts-and" target="_blank">wildfires</a>, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/28/poverty-and-petrochemicals-converge-hurricane-lauras-devastation-exposes-entire-gulf" target="_blank">hurricanes</a>, and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/31/wake-lauras-devastation-and-amid-pandemic-and-heat-wave-calls-emerge-end-climate" target="_blank">heatwaves</a>, the journalist wonders: "Might Americans finally be<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/13/sanders-delivers-message-lawmakers-who-claim-us-cant-afford-green-new-deal-climate" target="_blank"> waking up</a> to how climate is about to transform their lives? And if so—if a great domestic relocation might be in the offing—was it possible to project where we might go?" </p>
<div id="6c919" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="314566e38237ee026cda8cd215eaf35d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1305795794478534656" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">New: Wildfires rage in the West. Hurricanes batter the East. Droughts and floods wreak damage throughout the nation… https://t.co/O5Oftmfe2p</div> — ProPublica (@ProPublica)<a href="https://twitter.com/propublica/statuses/1305795794478534656">1600160952.0</a></blockquote></div>
<div id="72295" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a989b62473a1d30cf81a6cc43a159f1c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1305906494681079809" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">America's climate crisis is here. And it will change how — and where — people live. Supported by @pulitzercenter,… https://t.co/IKiadqgXs1</div> — The New York Times (@The New York Times)<a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes/statuses/1305906494681079809">1600187345.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Lustgarten argues that the U.S., where 162 million people—nearly one in two—will "most likely experience a decline in the quality of their environment" in the coming years, is "a nation on the cusp of a great transformation."</p><p>"The changes could be particularly severe" for 93 million Americans, and "if carbon emissions rise at extreme levels, at least four million Americans could find themselves living at the fringe, in places decidedly outside the ideal niche for human life," according to the analysis. </p><p>The story is accompanied by a set of <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/climate-migration/" target="_blank">maps </a>depicting likely shifts in the niche of human habitability, and the scenarios "suggest massive upheavals in where Americans currently live and grow food."</p><p>Several factors are driving changes in the suitability of different environments, researchers note. These include extreme heat and humidity—the collision of which will create what scientists call "wet bulb" temperatures that will "disrupt the norms of daily existence"—as well as larger and more frequent wildfires, rising sea levels, declining crop yields, and economic damages related to higher energy costs and lower labor productivity.</p><p>According to the analysis, the greatest climate risk exists in counties throughout the Southeast and the Southwest where the perils are likely to intermingle and generate "compounding calamities."</p><p>"The cost of resisting the new climate reality is mounting," the report states. Public officials in Florida "have already acknowledged that defending some roadways against the sea will be unaffordable," explains Lustgarten. Furthermore, "the nation's federal flood-insurance program is for the first time <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/climate/flooding-relocation-managed-retreat.html" target="_blank">requiring</a> that some of its payouts be used to retreat from climate threats across the country." </p>
<p>If "it will soon prove too expensive to maintain the status quo"—as Lustgarten argues it will—then what might we expect?</p><p>The author paints a grim picture of the possible consequences of mass relocations between now and 2070, arguing that such a population shift is:</p><blockquote>likely to increase poverty and widen the gulf between the rich and the poor. It will accelerate rapid, perhaps chaotic, urbanization of cities ill-equipped for the burden, testing their capacity to provide basic services and amplifying existing inequities. It will eat away at prosperity, dealing repeated economic blows to coastal, rural and Southern regions, which could in turn push entire communities to the brink of collapse.<br><br>Mobility itself, global migration experts point out, is often a reflection of relative wealth, and as some move, many others will be left behind. Those who stay risk becoming trapped as the land and the society around them ceases to offer any more support.<br></blockquote><p>While a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/31/despite-poll-showing-aggressive-climate-action-winning-issue-biden-boasts-i-am-not" target="_blank">growing number</a> of citizens consider climate change a top political priority, Lustgarten argues that "policymakers, having left America unprepared for what's next, now face brutal choices about which communities to save—often at exorbitant costs—and which to sacrifice." </p><p>Lustgarten devotes considerable attention to what he describes as the negative effects of the country's property insurance system, which has distorted perceptions of risk and incentivized real estate development in locations vulnerable to disasters. The experts he talked to anticipate shocks to the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/09/while-trump-commission-warns-climate-risk-financial-system-recommendations-fall" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">financial system</a> and the upending of "entire communities" once "all the structural disincentives that had built Americans' irrational response" to the threats posed by climate change begin "reaching their logical endpoint." </p>
<p>"Until now," the report notes, "market mechanisms had essentially socialized the consequences of high-risk development. But as the costs rise—and the insurers quit, and the bankers divest, and the farm subsidies prove too wasteful, and so on—the full weight of responsibility will fall on individual people."</p><p>"And that's when the real migration might begin," says Lustgarten.</p><p>Past experiences with socio-environmental disasters in the U.S. raise concerns about the welfare of people who are displaced as well as those who are left behind. When the Dust Bowl "propelled an exodus of some 2.5 million people" from Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri, "they were funneled into squalid shanty towns" in California, the author writes.</p><p>Experts told Lustgarten that similar problems are likely to arise in the 21st century, as hundreds of thousands of climate refugees move to cities already struggling with poverty, inequality, and "long-neglected" infrastructural systems "suddenly pressed to expand under increasingly adverse conditions."</p><p>In the 1930s, "Colorado tried to seal its border from the climate refugees," the report notes. And "the places migrants <a href="https://www.ehs.org.uk/press/the-1930s-dust-bowl-new-evidence-of-the-long-term-human-toll-of-natural-disasters" target="_blank">left behind</a> never fully recovered."</p><p>Barring a reorientation of economic priorities and resources through far-reaching legislation like the Green New Deal, Lustgarten suggests that the decisions made by policymakers "will almost inevitably make the nation more divided, with those worst off relegated to a nightmare future in which they are left to fend for themselves."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/15/where-will-everyone-go-new-report-documents-how-climate-migration-could-reshape-us?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank"> Common Dreams.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Climate Change Forces 20 Million People to Flee Each Year, Oxfam ... ›
- Climate Change Is Already Driving Mass Migration Around the Globe ›
- UN Pact Acknowledges Climate Migration for the First Time ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Climate Denier Who Supports Fossil Fuel Emissions Is Named to Leadership Role at NOAA
15 September
Politics
Brent Bozell, Founder and President of the Media Research Center, former Governor Sarah Palin, Dr. David Legates and David Rothbard, Executive Producer of the film and President of CFACT, speak during the "Climate Hustle" panel on April 14, 2016 in Washington, DC. Kris Connor / Getty Images
By Julia Conley
Climate scientists were aghast Monday at the news that David Legates, a University of Delaware professor who has repeatedly questioned the scientific consensus that human activity is causing the climate crisis and has claimed that carbon dioxide emissions are beneficial, has been named by the Trump administration to a top leadership role at the federal government's climate research agency.
<p>Legates was appointed—without the knowledge of several NOAA officials, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/09/13/noaa-hires-david-legates-climate/" target="_blank">according to </a>one person at the agency—to serve as deputy assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction and will report directly to acting NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs.</p><p>Gretchen Goldman of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) called the appointment "a slap in the face to NOAA scientists who work daily to conduct and communicate climate science to the public and decision makers."</p><p>"Until now, NOAA has largely evaded the kind of anti-science political appointees that have devastated the EPA and Interior," Goldman<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/09/13/noaa-hires-david-legates-climate/" target="_blank"> told</a> the <em>Washington Post.</em> "With Dr. Legates we risk seeing the same kind of politicization of science and corruption of ethics."</p>
<div id="67907" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="07b8bffcbfbd7bd0664b0b344cd9882e"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1305343823430770689" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Oh my word. NOAA taps David Legates, professor who questions the seriousness and severity of global warming, for to… https://t.co/CyvTD2OtLS</div> — Kalee Kreider (@Kalee Kreider)<a href="https://twitter.com/kaleekreider/statuses/1305343823430770689">1600053194.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Legates served from 2005 to 2011 as Delaware's state climatologist, and stepped down under pressure from former Democratic Gov. Ruth Ann Minner when it came to her attention that his views on the climate <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/david-legates" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">were</a> "not aligned with those of [her] administration."</p><p>"I am directing you to offer any future statements on this or other public policy matters only on behalf of yourself or the University of Delaware, and not as state climatologist," Minner <a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/david-legates" target="_blank">wrote</a> to Legates in 2007 after he wrote an amicus brief in agreement with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which opposed Delaware's attempt to force the federal regulation of greenhouse gases.</p><p>The appointment, which one anonymous NOAA official <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/09/13/noaa-hires-david-legates-climate/" target="_blank">referred to </a>as a surprising "midnight hire over the weekend," comes as the agency is monitoring the approach of <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/14/912658940/sally-is-expected-to-be-a-hurricane-when-it-hits-gulf-coast-tuesday" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Hurricane Sally</a>. The storm rapidly strengthened on Monday and was expected to cause an "extremely dangerous and life-threatening storm surge" on the Gulf Coast. </p><p>NOAA's National Weather Service has also been issuing warnings to the west coast about the wildfires that have overwhelmed the region in recent days, killing <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54130785" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more than 30 people</a>. Agency scientists have contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) reports on the climate crisis and the warming of the globe, including the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/10/08/un-experts-warn-climate-catastrophe-2040-without-rapid-and-unprecedented-global" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2018 study</a> which warned that greenhouse gas emissions will pose an increasing threat to human life if they are not drastically reduced in the next 10 to 20 years. </p><p>The appointment of Legates to help lead the agency undermines that message, critics say, considering he counts among his climate science work a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/09/13/noaa-hires-david-legates-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">paper </a>called "The IPCC Reconsidered," a Heartland Institute-funded project which called for more, not fewer, fossil fuel emissions.</p>
<p>"The juxtaposition of the apocalyptic wildfires and the announcement of David Legates' appointment is mind-boggling," Jane Lubchenco, who served as NOAA administrator under President Barack Obama, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/09/13/noaa-hires-david-legates-climate/" target="_blank">told</a> the <em>Post</em>. "Just at the time when we need continued truth from the nation's lead climate agency, a climate denier is hired. This is a travesty."<br></p><p>In his new role, Lubchenco warned, Legates will "be in a position to squelch the free flow of accurate scientific information to the public, to distort or manipulate scientific findings, curtail monitoring and research, and create an overall chilling atmosphere for the high-quality science and scientists that the nation needs."</p><p>Other examples of Legates' work include a <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/polar-bears-and-climate-change-what-does-the-science-say" target="_blank">2007 paper</a>—partially funded by Koch Industries, the American Petroleum Institute, and ExxonMobil—which questioned whether the climate crisis is destroying polar bears' habitats as temperatures in the Arctic rise twice as fast as the global average, and sea ice vanishes at a rate of 4% per decade. </p><p>Along with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Legates spoke in 2016 at a<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/david-legates" target="_blank"> panel discussion </a>on Capitol Hill—when both chambers of Congress were controlled by Republicans—about the documentary "Climate Hustle," which called into question the existence of the scientific consensus regarding human-caused climate change. The panel addressed the question: "Are [scientists] trying to control the climate...or you?"</p><p>Brian Kahn, managing editor of <em>Earther</em>, tweeted about a talk Legates gave at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2018 in which the professor posited that the heating of the planet holds benefit for humans and wildlife, such as the growth of larger crabs.</p>
<div id="46223" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="03188a7c8cff9515eb1acde9829f0496"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1304882129633935360" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">NOAA just hired David Legates, a man who has legitimately said with a straight face that climate change is fine bec… https://t.co/AZh6AY5iaG</div> — Brian Kahn (@Brian Kahn)<a href="https://twitter.com/blkahn/statuses/1304882129633935360">1599943117.0</a></blockquote></div>
<div id="a0d1d" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d84dab8726d0856d3476ea6eed1705c4"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1304884645583089666" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Anyways, here's the crab love CO2 slide from when he gave the talk at CPAC. This man is being paid with the public'… https://t.co/kpQ84CNkZB</div> — Brian Kahn (@Brian Kahn)<a href="https://twitter.com/blkahn/statuses/1304884645583089666">1599943717.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Legates' presentation was a "total cesspool of misinformation about how carbon dioxide is good, actually," tweeted Kahn.</p><p>"He's not just in left field—he's not even near the ballpark," Lubchenco <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/12/912301325/longtime-climate-science-denier-hired-at-noaa" target="_blank">told</a> <em>NPR.</em></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/14/travesty-climate-denier-who-has-argued-favor-fossil-fuel-emissions-named-leadership?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Global Warming Deniers Become More Desperate By the Day ... ›
- Hurricane Sally Makes Landfall Slowly With 'Life-Threatening' Flooding Expected - EcoWatch ›
- Trump Admin to Appoint Second Climate Skeptic to NOAA This Month - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Dr. Anthony Fauci says that it may not be safe to attend movie theaters or indoor events until a year after the U.S. has a safe, effective vaccine. Pxfuel
By Jessica Corbett
As the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the United States surpassed 6.43 million and the nation's death toll topped 192,600, the federal government's top infectious disease expert warned Friday that life likely won't return to normal until sometime—perhaps late—in 2021.
<p>During a televised interview, <em>MSNBC</em>'s Andrea Mitchell asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about his comments earlier this week that it may not be safe to attend movie theaters or indoor events until a year after the U.S. has a safe, effective vaccine.</p><p>Fauci said that he remains confident the U.S. could have a vaccine for Covid-19 by the end of this year or early next year, "but by the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccinations and you get the majority or more of the population vaccinated and protected, that's likely not gonna happen till the mid or end of 2021."</p><p>"If you're talking about getting back to a degree of normality which resembles where we were prior to Covid, it's gonna be well into 2021, maybe even towards the end of 2021," Fauci added, referencing the local and state level lockdowns and social distancing practices that have been implemented throughout this year.</p>
<div id="38899" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c876b6251b5bd2514394cc7fcffb6486"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1304450398883807232" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Live now on @MSNBC: @mitchellreports interviews Dr. Fauci.
https://t.co/MPjgQRmzjX https://t.co/qrS4zxbvqZ</div> — MSNBC (@MSNBC)<a href="https://twitter.com/MSNBC/statuses/1304450398883807232">1599840185.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>A White House adviser, Fauci also disagreed with President Donald Trump's <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-press-briefing-091020/" target="_blank">claim</a> during a Thursday press briefing that the United States has "rounded the final turn" in the pandemic. Looking at the statistics, "they're disturbing," Fauci told Mitchell. "We're plateauing at around 40,000 cases a day and the deaths are around 1,000."</p><p>The expert expressed hope that the U.S. won't see a post-Labor Day Weekend surge in cases like what occurred after July 4 and Memorial Day, and stressed the importance of driving down infection numbers heading into the fall and winter months.</p><p>"What we don't want to see is going into the fall season, when people will be spending more time indoors—and that's not good for a respiratory borne virus—you don't want to start off already with a baseline that's so high," he said.</p>
<p>Fauci also <a href="https://twitter.com/MSNBCPR/status/1304458897353211904" target="_blank">denied</a> that he has been influenced by the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/09/emails-show-how-trump-official-hhs-tried-get-fauci-downplay-covid-19-threat-school" target="_blank">reported</a> efforts of a Trump-allied official within the Department of Health and Human Services to muzzle him or otherwise guide what the expert says publicly about the pandemic.</p><p>Regarding AstraZeneca's <a href="https://www.statnews.com//09/08/astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-study-put-on-hold-due-to-suspected-adverse-reaction-in-participant-in-the-u-k/" target="_blank">decision</a> earlier this week to halt human trials for a potential vaccine after a participant in the U.K. showed signs of a suspected adverse reaction, Fauci said the development was unfortunate but should also reassure the public that safety concerns are being taken seriously.</p><p>The trial delay came as AstraZeneca joined eight other pharmaceutical companies in pledging to "stand with science" amid alarm that Trump may pressure the industry and the Food and Drug Administration to approve a vaccine ahead of the general election. As <em>Common Dreams</em> <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/08/what-it-has-come-amid-fears-politicization-fda-big-pharma-pledge-stand-science-met" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">reported</a> Tuesday, public health experts responded to Big Pharma's promise with cautious optimism.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/11/fauci-warns-pre-pandemic-normalcy-not-likely-until-well-or-towards-end-2021?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- U.S. Coronavirus Death Toll Now No. 1 in World - EcoWatch ›
- Trump Terminates U.S. Ties With the World Health Organization ... ›
- Fauci Warns Bad Second Wave of Coronavirus Could Hit U.S. ... ›
- WHO Releases Plans for COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution as U.S., China and Russia Opt Out - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
A new report reveals President Donald Trump has rolled back at least 30 public protections since declaring a public health emergency over the coronavirus pandemic. Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 2.0
By Brett Wilkins
In the nearly six months since President Donald Trump declared a public health emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, he has rolled back at least 30 public protections, while proposing changes to at least 20 others, according to a report published Thursday by Public Citizen's Coalition on Sensible Safeguards.
The report—Pandemic Rollbacks: Slashing Safeguards During the Coronavirus—tracks dozens of regulatory rollbacks enacted or proposed by the Trump administration since March.
<div id="4dd61" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fbdc0a617c3c5d28cd82b3c2021679d0"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1304042392274771969" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">SCOOP: Six months after his emergency declaration, Trump has repealed more than 30 public protections that have not… https://t.co/19r1AuV5Pp</div> — Sensible Safeguards (@Sensible Safeguards)<a href="https://twitter.com/goodregs/statuses/1304042392274771969">1599742908.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Noting that Trump "has directed agencies to press forward with his dangerous, unpopular, and corrupt deregulatory agenda as if it's business as usual," the report accuses the president of appearing "eager to take advantage of the crisis and ram through deregulatory policies while the rest of the country is distracted."</p><p>The rollbacks are spread widely across numerous federal agencies, with many occuring at the besieged Environmental Protection Agency. Here is a sampling of some of the administration's more egregious actions:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/13/trump-epa-plows-ahead-mind-bogglingly-stupid-and-destructive-rollback-methane" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Weakening EPA rules</a> on methane emissions. </li><li><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/26/big-banks-couldnt-be-happier-stocks-surge-trump-regulators-gut-restrictions-risky" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Relaxing the Volcker Rule</a>, which was enacted in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to prevent banks from acting like hedge funds. </li><li><a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a33811194/bomb-train-natural-gas-transportation-trump-rule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reducing regulations on trains</a> transporting extremely flammable materials. </li><li><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/04/17/pandemic-rages-trump-cfpb-plows-ahead-rules-empowering-predatory-lenders-rip" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Loosening restrictions</a> on predatory payday lending companies. </li><li><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/13/deadly-trump-hhs-scraps-protections-transgender-patients-and-those-seeking-abortions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Revoking</a> Health and Human Services Department nondiscrimination protections for transgender people and people seeking abortions. </li><li><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/05/26/dark-money-tax-283044" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Easing rules</a> on dark money disclosure by groups including the National Rifle Association and AARP. </li><li><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/02/targeted-strike-against-environmental-and-racial-justice-trump-epa-curbs-state-power" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Limiting states' power</a> to reject fossil fuel projects.</li><li><a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/6/12/21288063/trump-immigration-asylum-border-regulation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eviscerating protections</a> for asylum-seekers. </li></ul>
<p>Among the administration's proposed rollbacks are: <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/trump-administration-moves-repeal-transgender-protections-homeless-shelters-n1232849" target="_blank">revoking protections</a> for unhoused transgender people, <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/trump-administration-proposes-new-limits-protecting-endangered-species-habitat-2020-07-31/" target="_blank">redefining</a> critical wildlife habitats, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/climate/trump-environment-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">revising</a> the Clean Air Act, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/15/steamrolling-rights-people-and-planet-trump-finalizes-rule-weakening-bedrock" target="_blank">weakening</a> pipeline safety rules, and <a href="https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2020/06/12/proposal-threatens-weaken-2016-arctic-drilling-rule/" target="_blank">removing barriers</a> on oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Sea.</p><p>"Instead of using their regulatory and enforcement powers to implement a national pandemic response, Trump officials have sabotaged or obliterated essential health, safety, environmental, anti-discrimination, and financial safeguards for the American public," <a href="https://www.citizen.org/news/six-months-after-emergency-declared-trump-has-repealed-more-than-30-public-protections/" target="_blank">said</a> Matt Kent, a regulatory policy associate for Public Citizen, in a statement. </p><p>"Nearly 200,000 Americans are dead and more than 6 million have been infected with Covid-19 because of the administration's disastrous response, but Trump's priority is showering giant corporations with deregulatory special favors," Kent added. "It's an appalling betrayal of the American people."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/appalling-betrayal-new-report-details-dozens-trump-rollbacks-perpetrated-under-cover?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Trump Announces Final Rollback of Law That Gives Communities a ... ›
- Trump Named 'Worst President for Our Environment in History' by ... ›
- Latest Trump Rollback Targets Water-Saving Showerheads ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
Trump takes questions after delivering remarks during a news conference at the North Portico at the White House on Sept. 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images
By Jake Johnson
After President Donald Trump on Monday suggested a COVID-19 vaccine could be fully developed and put to market "before a very special day" — apparently referring to the Nov. 3 presidential election — Sen. Bernie Sanders warned that Trump's ongoing politicization of the vaccine process threatens to undermine public trust and safety.
<p>"I think you got a president who's losing it, and I think most people are sick and tired of the ranting and the ravings of Donald Trump," the Vermont senator said in an appearance on CNN late Monday. "Look, everybody wants a vaccine, but we want to make sure that that vaccine is safe. We don't want to see that vaccine put on the market for political reasons."</p><p>Sanders went on to urge doctors, scientists, and <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/01/wolf-saying-hell-guard-henhouse-big-pharma-ceo-insists-industry-can-police-itself" target="_blank">pharmaceutical companies</a> to "do the right thing and get it onto the market, get it into people's arms when it is ready, not when it suits the political purposes of this increasingly irrational president."</p><p>"Let's not politicize this thing. We have developed vaccines for decade after decade after decade. We have to give the resources to the doctors and the scientists to do their work," Sanders said. "We've got to make sure that vaccine undergoes the clinical trials that [are] necessary to make sure that it is safe."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“Let's not politicize this thing,” Sen. Bernie Sanders says about the coronavirus vaccine. “We have developed vaccines for decade after decade after decade. We have to give the resources to the doctors and the scientists to do their work." <a href="https://t.co/GqSF5xfRbd">https://t.co/GqSF5xfRbd</a> <a href="https://t.co/jwJVMQo12i">pic.twitter.com/jwJVMQo12i</a></p>— The Situation Room (@CNNSitRoom) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSitRoom/status/1303114086083964928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The Vermont senator's remarks came hours after Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1303040452577374208" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">claimed</a> during a Labor Day press conference Monday that "we're going to have a vaccine very soon, maybe even before a very special day."</p><p>Asked whether he's pushing for speedy approval of a coronavirus vaccine for political gain, Trump said: "No, I'm saying that because we want to save a lot of lives. With me, it's the faster the better. With somebody else, maybe they would say it politically but I'm saying it in terms of this is what we need."</p><p>"Now," Trump continued, "do benefits inure if you're able to get something years ahead of schedule? I guess maybe they do."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"The faster, the better" -- Trump on a coronavirus vaccine <a href="https://t.co/Lc83qixbp3">pic.twitter.com/Lc83qixbp3</a></p>— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href="https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1303033886163849217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Federal officials have repeatedly cast doubt on the president's suggested timeline, saying there's little chance that a sufficiently tested vaccine will be ready ahead of the November election.</p><p>"I don't know any scientist involved in this effort who thinks we will be getting shots into arms any time before Election Day," one anonymous federal official familiar with Operation Warp Speed <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/07/health/trump-vaccine-timeline/index.html" target="_blank">told</a> CNN Monday, echoing the public statements of other officials involved with the vaccine development effort.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/08/people-are-sick-and-tired-ranting-and-ravings-sanders-rips-trump-effort-rush-covid?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- CDC Tells States to Prepare for a Vaccine Before November Election ›
- Trump Orders Hospitals to Stop Sending COVID-19 Data to CDC ... ›
- U.S. Refuses to Join Global Coronavirus Vaccine Efforts - EcoWatch ›
- Trump Denies CDC Director's 2021 Timeline for Coronavirus Vaccine - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
The corner of Jefferson and 7th in Hoboken, N.J., is flooded on Oct. 30, 2012 following Superstorm Sandy. Alec Perkins / Wikimedia Commons / CC by 2.0
By Kenny Stancil
The city of Hoboken on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against multiple Big Oil players—including ExxonMobil, incorporated in New Jersey—joining an increasing number of state and local governments using litigation in efforts to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for defrauding the public about foreseen climate crisis damages and to make companies "pay their fair share" of the costs of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to a warming planet.
<p>The <a href="https://payupclimatepolluters.org/uploads/media/Hoboken-v-Exxon-et-al_Complaint_9-2-20.pdf" target="_blank">lawsuit</a> argues that the defendants—ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips, and the American Petroleum Institute—knew that "their production, marketing, and sale of fossil fuels would cause global climate change," but they engaged in a massive "disinformation campaign" to protect their profits, which would diminish in conjunction with decreased fossil fuel use.</p><p>Big Oil began redesigning its own assets to adapt to rising sea levels at the same time it was "telling the world that climate change was a hoax," the lawsuit states. </p><p>According to the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), Hoboken is the 20th community to take fossil fuel giants to <a href="https://payupclimatepolluters.org/cases/" target="_blank">court</a> to "recover billions of dollars in damages caused by the oil and gas industry's deception about climate change."</p><p>Richard Wiles, executive director of CCI, said in a statement that "with climate costs surging everywhere and local budgets depleted, more and more communities are turning to the courts as their only recourse to make polluters pay for their fair share of the wreckage they knew their products would cause."</p>
<p>Wiles continued:</p><blockquote>Exxon and their co-conspirators can't run from this growing wave of climate lawsuits. Thanks to Hoboken, for the first time, Exxon will have to defend its shameful record of climate damages, disinformation, and denial on its home turf. It takes guts to sue the most ruthless, deceitful, and unapologetic climate polluters on the planet. Hoboken's elected leaders should be applauded. <br></blockquote><p><a href="https://patch.com/new-jersey/hoboken/hoboken-files-lawsuit-against-oil-companies-over-climate-change" target="_blank">According to</a> local reporters, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla's announcement of the legal action came one month after "the low-lying city suffered two flooding events that theoretically should have occurred once in 50 years." </p><p>In addition, residents remember the devastating <a href="https://www.nj.com/news/2020/09/nj-city-makes-history-is-1st-to-sue-oil-giants-for-climate-change-damages.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">impact</a> that Superstorm Sandy had in 2012, when a 14-foot storm surge overwhelmed outdated sewer systems to cause over $100 million in damage in the city. </p><p>At Wednesday morning's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Hoboken" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">press conference</a>, Bhalla described his intentions to get Hoboken off the list of coastal communities at risk of becoming inundated within the next five decades. </p>
<p>The mayor <a href="https://www.hobokennj.gov/news/hoboken-sues-exxon-mobil-american-petroleum-institute-big-oil-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said</a>:</p><blockquote>At the same time we've invested hundreds of millions of dollars adapting to the realities of climate change, Big Oil companies have engaged in a decades long campaign of misinformation that has contributed to global warming which has disproportionately impacted our residents. We cannot stand idly by and allow Big Oil to continue profiting at the expense of Hoboken residents. It's time these companies pay their fair share and be held accountable for their actions.<br></blockquote><p>Over the past decade and in response to rising sea levels, Hoboken has invested $140 million in climate change adaptation, including several projects that are part of its Rebuild by Design comprehensive water management strategy, according to a <a href="https://www.hobokennj.gov/news/hoboken-sues-exxon-mobil-american-petroleum-institute-big-oil-companies" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">statement</a> from the city.</p><p>Hoboken's lawsuit aims to "recover funds to pay for the costs that the city is undertaking, and will undertake as a result of the substantial impacts of climate change, which has been exacerbated by Big Oil."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/02/city-hoboken-files-climate-suit-against-exxon-most-ruthless-deceitful-and" target="_blank">Common Dreams.</a></em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Big Oil Is in Big Trouble - EcoWatch ›
- Trump Blasted for 'Morally Bankrupt' Multibillion-Dollar Big Oil ... ›
- Big Oil Taking $1.9 Billion in CARES Act Tax Breaks - EcoWatch ›
- Charleston, SC Becomes First City in U.S. South to Sue Big Oil for Climate Costs - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) speaks at a primary election night event at Malden Public Library on September 1, 2020 in Malden, Massachusetts. Allison Dinner / Getty Images
By Jake Johnson
Bolstered by an energized climate movement, small-dollar donors, and support from prominent progressive lawmakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Green New Deal champion Sen. Ed Markey on Tuesday fended off a Democratic primary challenge from Rep. Joe Kennedy III, whose name recognition and late endorsement from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were ultimately insufficient to topple the popular Massachusetts incumbent.
<p>Declaring victory Tuesday night with a 10-point lead over Kennedy, Markey, 74, shouted out the young voters and activists who fueled his campaign with on-the-ground organizing and social media efforts, including the production of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/14/exact-right-message-ed-markeys-must-watch-2020-campaign-ad-praised-highlighting" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">viral ads</a> that built enthusiasm for the incumbent senator and laid the groundwork for his <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ed-markey-wins-2020-massachusetts-senate-primary_n_5f4eb790c5b69eb5c035a517" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">comeback win</a>.</p><p>"This campaign has always been about the young people of this country," Markey said in a speech to supporters in his hometown of Malden. "You are our future. And thank you for believing in me, because I believe in you."</p><p>Touting his support for the Green New Deal, the signature issue of the senator's reelection bid, Markey declared that "there will be no peace, no justice, and no prosperity unless we stop the march to climate destruction."</p><p>"This is a matter of life and death. The very future of our civilization depends upon it," Markey continued. "There is no time for simply 'doing what we can.' There is no time for compromise on the existential threat to our time. We must pass a Green New Deal... The time to be timid is past. The age of incrementalism is over. Now is our moment to think big, to build big, to be big. This is what this election is all about."</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e15ddd035eb4431312d8802edb3a01b7"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FJGCPs2LefY?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>The Sunrise Movement—the first national organization to endorse the senator's reelection campaign—celebrated Markey's victory as a testament to the growing power of youth-led climate activism in Massachusetts and across the United States. The group said its volunteers made 250,000 calls on Markey's behalf, on top of directing and producing a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/14/exact-right-message-ed-markeys-must-watch-2020-campaign-ad-praised-highlighting" target="_blank">striking Green New Deal ad</a> that racked up four million views.</p><p>"From the outset, we worked with the campaign to put climate change at the center of this race," Evan Weber, political director for the Sunrise Movement, said in a statement. "As we gained momentum, the establishment clearly felt threatened and sent Nancy Pelosi to throw in a last-minute endorsement to boost funds for Kennedy's big money campaign."</p><p>"Despite this establishment opposition," added Weber, "we won a clear victory tonight—and with that, no one should underestimate the power of the climate movement to elect and defend our champions in Congress."</p>
<div id="0f55a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d0bd98efe5ee810a7bb55355313bd889"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1300979425991888896" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Before tonight, a Kennedy had never lost an election in Massachusetts. But even a 100 year dynasty can not overcome… https://t.co/eKdoYm55sx</div> — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@Sunrise Movement 🌅)<a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/statuses/1300979425991888896">1599012640.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In a <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1300983895631048704" target="_blank">tweet</a> late Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez—who <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/02/07/major-party-backing-ocasio-cortez-and-markey-unveil-green-new-deal-outlining-wwii" target="_blank">joined</a> Markey in co-authoring the Green New Deal resolution introduced in Congress last year—hailed the senator's win as a "victory for the progressive movement, for 21st century policy, and for the Green New Deal."</p><p>"Thank you to every single voter, supporter, organizer, grassroots donor, and everyday person who helped make this happen," said the New York Democrat, who <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/20/nancy-pelosi-endorsing-joe-kennedy-over-ed-markey-critics-charge-reveals-ridiculous" target="_blank">slammed</a> Pelosi's decision to back Kennedy against Markey as hypocritical, given her <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/democratic-leaders-stand-firm-on-incumbent-favor-rule-rebuff-liberal-cries-of-blacklist/2019/04/02/117a7714-54bd-11e9-8ef3-fbd41a2ce4d5_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">approval</a> of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's (DCCC) policy of <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/03/22/progressives-refuse-back-down-dccc-moves-kneecap-primary-challengers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">kneecapping</a> progressives who challenge incumbents.</p><p>"On a personal note, when I first got to Congress the reception I got in many spaces was very chilly," Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a separate <a href="https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1300986944680329217" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tweet</a>. "Ed Markey wasn't afraid. He offered his expertise and partnership. He wasn't scared of big policy and didn't use kid gloves. It's great to watch him overcome the odds and win tonight."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/02/age-incrementalism-over-declares-green-new-deal-champion-ed-markey-after-defeating?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Sweeping Green New Deal Resolution Unveiled by Ocasio-Cortez ... ›
- 100% Clean Energy Bill Launched by Senators to Phase Out Fossil ... ›
- US Sen. Edward Markey Meets Pope For Climate Change Discussion ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Climate change protesters disrupt Joe Biden during a campaign event on Oct. 9, 2019 in Manchester, New Hampshire. Scott Eisen / Getty Images
By Jake Johnson
A diverse coalition of nearly 150 progressive advocacy groups is demanding that Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden ban fossil fuel executives and lobbyists from his 2020 campaign and commit to barring them from his administration if elected in November, warning that a cabinet stocked with Big Oil representatives would render empty the former vice president's vows to confront the climate crisis with ambition and urgency.
<p>In a <a href="http://oilchangeusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Letter-to-VP-Biden-%E2%80%94-No-Fossil-Fuel-Representatives.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> Tuesday morning, 145 organizations representing a wide array of progressive interests called on Biden to "ban all fossil fuel executives, lobbyists, and representatives from any advisory or official position on your campaign, transition team, cabinet, and administration," arguing there are countless qualified experts and advocates who have not attempted to benefit financially from polluting and extractive industries.</p><p>"People who left government to serve on a fossil fuel industry board, enrich themselves as oil and gas advisors, receive funding from fossil fuel companies to espouse 'reasonable' climate positions, or work with industry front groups should have no role in a Biden administration or campaign," the groups wrote. "Neither should fossil fuel backers on Wall Street, who have attempted to profit off pollution."</p>
<p>The letter's signatories — which include Oil Change U.S., Greenpeace, Justice Democrats, Sunrise Movement, People's Action, and Public Citizen — raised alarm at a Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-05/climate-hawks-urge-biden-to-shun-obama-era-energy-moderates" target="_blank">report</a> earlier this month indicating that industry-tied individuals like Jason Bordoff, a member of the <a href="https://www.npc.org/members/byNamcon.html" target="_blank">National Petroleum Council</a>, are advising the Biden campaign in an informal capacity.</p><p>"Joe Biden can't address the climate crisis while listening to people taking checks from the fossil fuel industry like Ernest Moniz, Jason Bordoff, Ken Salazar, and Heather Zichal," Collin Rees, senior campaigner at Oil Change U.S., said in a statement. "Biden must act boldly in collaboration with grassroots leaders fighting for environmental and climate justice — which means ruling out positions for dangerous 'all-of-the-above' boosters whose time has passed."</p>
<p>The letter points to <a href="https://filesforprogress.org/datasets/2020/9/dfp_ff_executives_polling.pdf" target="_blank">polling</a> from progressive policy shops Data for Progress and Fossil Free Media showing that 61% of Democratic voters oppose "fossil fuel industry lobbyists or representatives working in the White House and other government agencies." Voters overall oppose fossil fuel industry representatives serving in the federal government by a 22-point margin, the survey found.</p><p>"Banning fossil fuel representatives isn't just good policy — it's good politics," the groups wrote. "Ruling out positions for fossil fuel executives, lobbyists, and representatives is a critical way to show your commitment to a future that prioritizes people, not polluters."</p><p>The groups' call comes hours after Biden, speaking in the battleground state of Pennsylvania on Monday, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/31/despite-poll-showing-aggressive-climate-action-winning-issue-biden-boasts-i-am-not" target="_blank">told</a> supporters that contrary to President Donald Trump's claims, he has no plan to ban fracking even as he pushes for <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/07/14/more-work-do-major-step-forward-progressives-welcome-bidens-2-trillion-green-energy" target="_blank">large investments</a> in clean energy and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/08/20/901380014/fact-check-bidens-address-to-the-dnc-annotated" target="_blank">promises</a> to treat the climate crisis like the "existential threat" that it is.</p>
<p>Tamara Toles O'Laughlin of 350 Action said Biden's approach to the climate emergency will be judged not by soaring rhetoric and promises but by his actions during the presidential campaign and, if elected, while in office.</p><p>"Thanks to the environment and climate movement's decades of tireless work to make decision-makers act boldly, the Biden-Harris campaign has adopted the strongest climate platform of any presidential ticket in history," said O'Laughlin. "However, real progress will be measured by relationship to communities most impacted and investments in the same."</p><p>"Fossil fuel representatives have no place at the table except to hand over their dirty profits to rebuild what they have broken," O'Laughlin continued. "Any accommodation to fossil fuel executives will undermine the promise of our shared work and throw away our chances of a livable future in the climate decade."</p>
<p>Read the full letter:</p><blockquote><em>Dear Vice President Biden,</em><br><em>Congratulations on your nomination as the presidential candidate for the Democratic Party. As you have said, this is a historic time for our nation. Over 180,000 Americans have lost their lives to theCOVID-19 pandemic that continues to ravage the nation. Millions are rising up to demand racial justice and an end to white supremacy. Donald Trump has put our democracy on the line with his attacks on our right to vote and threats to contest the election. Meanwhile, the climate emergency is ravaging our country, as supercharged wildfires burn across western states, climate-intensified floods and derechos slam the Midwest, and sea level rise threatens our coasts.<br></em><br><em>We want to thank you for your bold plans to combat the climate crisis and create millions of good-paying, union jobs in a clean energy economy. We applaud the ways in which you have put environmental justice at the heart of your plans, making sure that the communities of color who are on the frontlines of this crisis are at the forefront of its solutions. Implementing your plans would be a major step toward putting this country back on track to meet our global commitments under the Paris Agreement while centering the communities most harmed by environmental injustice.<br></em><br><em>Your leadership on climate and environmental justice is why we urge you to ban all fossil fuel executives, lobbyists, and representatives from any advisory or official position on your campaign, transition team, cabinet, and administration.<br></em><br><em>For decades, oil, gas, and coal executives have lied to the American people about the threat of climate change and lobbied against government action, all while attempting to present themselves as part of the solution. During this election, the American Petroleum Institute is spending <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-gas-climatechange-insight/in-the-run-up-to-u-s-election-drilling-lobby-promotes-natural-gas-as-clean-idUSKCN25E1DB" target="_blank">upwards of $24,000 per day</a> to mislead voters into thinking that fossil gas is "clean" energy, even though methane emissions associated with gas can make it worse than coal. Meanwhile, fossil fuel corporations have continued to expand their operations, destroy our environment, and pollute communities—especially communities of color—across this nation and around the world.<br></em><br><em>The Trump Administration has fully embraced these fossil fuel interests. Former oil and gas lobbyists now run the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior. At their behest, the Trump administration has instigated <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html" target="_blank">100 environmental rollbacks</a>, putting our health and safety at risk. During the coronavirus pandemic, the administration has continued to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/21/white-house-coronavirus-regulations/" target="_blank">slash environmental protections</a> and give <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-15/-stealth-bailout-shovels-millions-of-dollars-to-oil-companies" target="_blank">billions of dollars</a> in bailouts to fossil fuels.<br></em><br><em>These abuses have real costs in the communities that you have pledged to serve. <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2020-04-21/nearly-half-of-americans-breathe-polluted-air" target="_blank">Nearly half of Americans</a> now breathe polluted air, the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5800116/#B17-ijerph-15-00016" target="_blank">vast majority</a> of which comes from burning fossil fuels, according to research by the American Lung Association. According to a 2016 NAACP report, <a href="https://www.naacp.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Coal_Blooded_Action_Toolkit_FINAL_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">71% of African Americans</a> live in counties in violation of air pollution standards. Indigenous people have seen their rights trampled to build dangerous new pipelines like Dakota Access and Keystone XL. Latina women in Texas who live near gas flaring are seeing a <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Risk-of-premature-births-50-higher-for-mothers-15408663.php" target="_blank">50% increase</a> in premature births.<br></em><br><em>To advance environmental justice, you must stand up to fossil fuel CEOs, stop the expansion of oil, gas, and coal production, and rapidly transition us away from fossil fuels. A Biden administration free of fossil fuel interests would signal your commitment to restoring a government by and for the American people.</em><br><em>Banning fossil fuel representatives isn't just good policy—it's good politics. According to a new <a href="https://filesforprogress.org/datasets/2020/9/dfp_ff_executives_polling.pdf" target="_blank">Data for Progress poll</a>, American voters oppose fossil fuel industry lobbyists or representatives working in the executive branch by a 22-point margin. Sixty-one (61) percent of Democrats oppose fossil fuel industry representatives working in the administration, while only 22 percent are open to the idea. Ruling out positions for fossil fuel executives, lobbyists, and representatives is a critical way to show your commitment to a future that prioritizes people, not polluters.<br></em><br><em>This critical need to advance climate and environmental justice is why we are concerned by initial <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-05/climate-hawks-urge-biden-to-shun-obama-era-energy-moderates" target="_blank">reports</a> that people with ties to fossil fuel interests have been advising your campaign and may be angling for roles in your administration. People who left government to serve on a fossil fuel industry board, enrich themselves as oil and gas advisors, receive funding from fossil fuel companies to espouse "reasonable" climate positions, or work with industry front groups should have no role in a Biden administration or campaign. Neither should fossil fuel backers on Wall Street, who have attempted to profit off pollution.</em><br><em>We appreciate your team's recent reiteration of your commitment to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies as part of your comprehensive approach to climate action and environmental justice. A commitment from you to ban all fossil fuel executives, lobbyists, and representatives from your administration would go far to assuage any lingering concerns about your climate commitments that may have been raised when the <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/democratic-national-committee-climate_n_5f3c2907c5b6d8a9173f0268" target="_blank">DNC dropped support</a> for ending fossil fuel subsidies from the 2020 Platform.<br></em><br><em>Many thousands of talented experts, advocates, and community leaders who do not represent coal, oil, and gas companies would gladly serve in your administration and help move our country forward into the clean energy future. They've shown the expertise, principles, and dedication that should be a requirement for any administration role. We urge you to choose them over the fossil fuel CEOs, lobbyists, and representatives who are profiting from climate destruction.<br></em><br><em>We thank you for making combating the climate crisis a top priority for your campaign. We look forward to working alongside you to build back better, create a new, clean energy economy that creates millions of good-paying, union jobs, and address the crises of climate change, Covid-19, mass unemployment, and the environmental injustice and racism that have plagued our nation for too long. Millions of us are ready to get to work: There's no need to slow us down with people tied to fossil fuel interests.</em></blockquote>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/01/isnt-just-good-policy-its-good-politics-145-groups-demand-biden-ban-fossil-fuel" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a></em><em>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
- As Biden Embraces More Ambitious Climate Plan, Fossil Fuel Execs ... ›
- The Environmental Legacy of Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's Newly ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trump Admin Proposes 'Vicious' Plan for Fossil Fuel Lease Sales in California Amid Historic Wildfires
31 August
Politics
Local residents sit next to a vineyard as they watch the LNU Lightning Complex fire burning in nearby hills on August 20, 2020 in Healdsburg, California. Justin Sullivan / Getty Images
By Andrea Germanos
Especially given the climate-fueled wildfires ravaging the region, conservationists sounded alarm Thursday in response to a Trump administration proposal for an oil and gas lease sale in California, which would be the state's first such federal auction in eight years.
<p>At issue are over 4,300 acres of public land in Kern County, an area recently <a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/newsletter/2020-08-06/boiling-point-heat-waves-should-get-names-too-boiling-point" target="_blank">dubbed</a> "the oil industry's political power center." The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2000634/510" target="_blank">released</a> a draft environmental assessment of the plan Wednesday for the sales, which would occur by the end of the year.</p><p>A BLM <a href="https://www.blm.gov/press-release/bureau-land-management-bakersfield-field-office-seeks-input-assessment-oil-and-gas" target="_blank">statement</a> announcing the proposal notes that California allows fracking—much to the <a href="https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/governor-gavinnewsom-stop-fueling-forest-fires-with-fracking" target="_blank">ire</a> of environmental groups. </p><p>The proposal comes as California <a href="https://calmatters.org/environment/california-wildfires/2020/08/california-wildfires-help-neighbors/" target="_blank">continues</a> to reel from massive wildfires that have stretched firefighting resources thin and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/25/us/california-fires-tuesday/index.html%20" target="_blank">burned</a> over 1.25 million acres <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/disaster-inside-disaster-california-wildfires-covid-19-form-twin-crises-n1238031" target="_blank">amid</a> a heatwave and the coronavirus pandemic.</p>
<p>"It's breathtakingly vicious for the Trump administration to expand drilling and fracking while California battles historic wildfires driven by climate change," Clare Lakewood, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/trump-administration-proposes-first-oil-lease-sale-california-eight-years-2020-08-27/" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p><p>Lakewood said that if the sales go through, adverse impacts on the climate will be guaranteed.</p><p>"More oil wells mean more greenhouse gases, more air pollution, and more destroyed habitat," she said, and warned that "selling this public land to oil companies will do significant harm to our environment, despite the administration's ridiculous claims."</p>
<p>Drilling leases haven't been offered in the state since a federal judge <a href="https://www.ksbw.com/article/judge-feds-violated-law-in-monterey-oil-leases/1051409" target="_blank">ruled</a> in 2013, based on a legal challenge from the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club, that BLM acted unlawfully in issuing oil leases in Monterey County without considering the environmental impacts of fracking.</p><p>Other bids by the federal government to open public lands in California to fossil fuel drilling have <a href="https://earthjustice.org/cases/2015/defending-federal-land-in-california-from-fracking" target="_blank">suffered</a> similar fates. The Trump administration's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/10/05/merging-loyalty-oil-industry-and-grudge-against-california-trump-opens-725000-acres" target="_blank">proposals</a> <a href="https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article238321848.html" target="_blank">last year</a> to offer up over 1 million acres of public land to oil drilling are the subject of ongoing litigation, the Center for Biological Diversity noted. </p><p>"We've blocked any new federal leasing in California in court for eight years now, and we'll fight this too," said Lakewood.</p><p>The <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2000634/510" target="_blank">public comment period</a> on BLM's plan ends September 25.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/28/trump-rebuked-breathtakingly-vicious-plan-fossil-fuel-lease-sales-california-amid?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- California Ramps up Fossil Fuel Fight With Ban on Fracking ... ›
- Burning All Fossil Fuels Would Lead to a 17 C Rise in Arctic ... ›
- Biden Commits to Banning Fossil Fuel Subsidies After DNC Dropped It ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less