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“We must end endless wars, close Guantánamo, and abandon unconstitutional surveillance and discriminatory policy,” said the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
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The move, made possible by restoring a backup power line, came ahead of a global week of action by peace groups pushing for a diplomatic resolution.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“We’ve got to get people in government who actually believe in government,” said the Washington Democrat, “and who believe in democracy, believe in voting, believe in our Constitution.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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Community organizers and their supporters are celebrating that after years of local resistance, South Louisiana Methanol won’t complete a stalled $2.2 billion petrochemical complex in a region known as “Cancer Alley.”
In a statement Friday, the environmental law organization Earthjustice and groups it has represented in challenges to the project — RISE St. James, Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Healthy Gulf, and Sierra Club — highlighted a letter to the company from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ).
As the letter details, the LDEQ in July notified South Louisiana Methanol (SLM) that its application to modify permits for the complex in St. James Parish would be withdrawn from review unless the company provided the department with necessary information by August 19.
“No response from SLM was received. Accordingly, LDEQ hereby withdraws the aforementioned application from review,” the letter states, adding that new authorization would be required to start or resume construction.
Corinne Van Dalen, senior attorney at Earthjustice, noted Friday that “St. James Parish was targeted by a petrochemical industry accustomed to breezing through the permitting process that has ignored community concerns and allowed toxic plants to move into predominantly Black neighborhoods.”
Sharon Lavigne, founder of RISE St. James and a winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize, declared that “South Louisiana Methanol finally threw in the towel having learned that our community will not back down in the fight to protect our health and well-being from more industrial pollution.”
“Today is a tremendous victory, but we will never stop fighting against polluters who think our health is less important than their dirty profits,” said Lavigne, whose group sent members to Washington, D.C. for Thursday’s major mobilization of frontline organizers and residents.
People are dying on the Gulf Coast right now.
“We can’t drink the water. We can’t fish in the water. We are here to talk to people in Congress: when you sit at the table, call us. Or you visit us and see how people are *dying,* in St. James.” – @risestjames #stopthedirtydeal pic.twitter.com/WHNrzbKSKu
— Emily Phelps (@EP_in_DC) September 8, 2022
Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, also welcomed the development, charging the that proposed complex “has been a hazard since its conception” and SLM “bungled this project for over a decade, as demonstrated by its ongoing starts and stops.”
“It should have been obvious to the state that the company was in no shape to run such a hazardous facility,” she added. “It took hundreds of residents banding together to force LDEQ to recognize how overburdened the community is with industrial pollution, and to show polluters that we will not accept another plant moving in.”
The celebrations Friday came after the St. James Parish Council earlier this month rejected a zoning ordinance that would have allowed other industrial use of the company’s property.
Led by Councilman Clyde Cooper, Thank you to the St. James Parish Council for doing the right thing.
I
St. James #stjamesparish https://t.co/b1Dyw1VM0I @joshdrosenberg @TheLensNOLA— Sharon Lavigne (@risestjames) September 3, 2022
As The Lens reported:
The proposed ordinance would have rezoned a residential neighborhood in the parish’s 5th Council District—a low-income, majority-Black district on the parish’s west bank that is already home to a large number of industrial sites—to a “residential/future industrial” designation.
The council’s rejection of the change effectively precludes SLM—a joint venture between the New Zealand-based Todd Corporation and a Houston-based subsidiary of the Saudi Arabian company SABIC—from selling the property to any entity with designs for industrial development.
The ordinance, introduced by Councilmember Donald Nash, never went to a vote, as no council member seconded a motion to consider it.
“We saw humanity there tonight,” Barbara Washington, a resident of St. James Parish and a founding member of the nonprofit Inclusive Louisiana, told The Lens of the council meeting. “It seemed like all the time that we’ve been talking, they haven’t been listening — but tonight, it seemed like they were actually listening, and that’s hopeful for us.”
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
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Noting that “loss and damage from the climate crisis… is happening now, all around us,” António Guterres, calls on governments “to address this issue at COP27 with the seriousness it deserves.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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The company “finally threw in the towel having learned that our community will not back down in the fight to protect our health and well-being from more industrial pollution,” said Sharon Lavigne of RISE St. James.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“There is no more private space than the home. Yet with this acquisition, Amazon stands to gain access to extremely intimate acts in our most private spaces that are not available through other means, or to other competitors.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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Calling the proposal “a wholesale giveaway to the fossil fuel industry to the detriment of frontline communities, tribal nations, and Mother Earth,” one campaigner said that “the world is on fire and negotiating the amount of fuel for those flames is not acceptable.”
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“Fracking is a false solution to the cost-of-living crisis,” said one activist. “The most effective way to bring down our bills and boost energy security for good is to invest in cheap, clean renewables and a nationwide home insulation and energy efficiency program.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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One campaigner said the Marine Management Organization is “using intimidation tactics to block ocean defenders, while brazenly allowing industrial fishing vessels to destroy seabed habitats in our so-called marine protected areas.”
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“We need real climate solutions, not false compromises to line pockets, threaten tribal sovereignty, and weaken our already lacking environmental protections,” said Cheyenna Morgan of Ikiya Collective.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“During the busiest season of the year, amidst a record-breaking salmon run, the people of Bristol Bay once again made it clear that EPA must finalize strong protections for our watershed.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“No one can hold Bolsonaro back,” said a presidential campaign insider.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“Working Nebraskans are long overdue for a livable wage. We’re excited to share this milestone with Raise the Wage Nebraska and everyone involved in this campaign,” said the Fairness Project’s executive director.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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Among Republican House candidates, “118 election deniers and eight election doubters have at least a 95% chance of winning,” according to a new analysis.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“The tipping point is not a future scenario but rather a stage already present in some areas of the region,” note researchers.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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Labor organizers in California and across the country welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden’s “unexpected and powerful“ endorsement of the state’s pending legislation to make it easier for farmworkers to unionize — a bill that’s sitting on Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
While Newsom vetoed a similar bill last year and a spokesperson recently suggested he may do the same with Assembly Bill 2183, Biden’s statement on the eve of Labor Day increases pressure on the governor — whom the president supported during a failed 2021 recall attempt.
“I strongly support California’s Agricultural Labor Relations Voting Choice Act (A.B. 2183), which will give California’s agricultural workers greater opportunity to organize and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions,” Biden said.
“Farmworkers worked tirelessly and at great personal risk to keep food on America’s tables during the pandemic,” he continued. “In the state with the largest population of farmworkers, the least we owe them is an easier path to make a free and fair choice to organize a union. I am grateful to California’s elected officials and union leaders for leading the way.”
Wow, haven’t seen this before. BIDEN endorses the California farmworker voting bill that Newsom has dragged his feet on signing. UFW did a 24-day march from the Central Valley to Sacramento to raise pressure on Newsom to sign this bill. Now the President is too. pic.twitter.com/PC984M90wL
— david dayen (@david_dayen) September 5, 2022
While the California Chamber of Commerce and agriculture industry groups oppose A.B. 2183, the bill is backed by the United Farm Workers (UFW), which says the measure is intended to protect farmworkers from supervisor intimidation during union elections.
“Farmworkers are grateful,” UFW president Teresa Romero said of Biden’s endorsement. “¡Sí se puede!”
Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, who left the state Assembly earlier this year to serve as chief officer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, declared Sunday night that it is “time to sign the bill.”
Thank you President Biden for supporting AB 2183 & farm workers- I hope Gavin is paying attention and does the right thing here in CA. https://t.co/UrjSCrTRZV
— Bobbi (@BobbiLopezOak) September 5, 2022
The push for the A.B. 2183 in California comes amid a unionization wave sweeping the country, with workers organizing at giant corporations including Amazon, Apple, Chipotle, Google, Starbucks, and Trader Joe’s.
Biden — who’s repeatedly vowed to be “the most pro-union president” in American history — argued Sunday that government should make it easier for workers who want to organize and highlighted the benefits of unionizing.
“Organizing or joining a union, that’s democracy in action,” he said. “And it’s especially important today for Black and Brown workers whose voices have long been silenced through shameful race-based laws and policies.”
According to the president, “It is long past time that we ensure America’s farmworkers and other essential workers have the same right to join a union as other Americans.”
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“In the state with the largest population of farmworkers,” said the president, “the least we owe them is an easier path to make a free and fair choice to organize a union.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“We hope that moving forward, the Biden administration won’t shy away from exercising its authority to limit oil and gas leasing in order to protect our climate and the environment.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“Over the coming months, governments across the world are about to get an answer to a burning question: Will protests sparked by socioeconomic pressure transform into broader and more disruptive anti-government action?”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“Winning this means we are all moving towards an understanding that we need to find sustainable livelihoods; we need to move away from fossil fuels,” said one local campaigner.
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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Union representation for workers under 35 means higher median hourly earnings and increased coverage by employer-sponsored health insurance and retirement plans.
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Addressing a trade union rally in London, the U.S. senator called for bringing “working people together in the fight for justice and a world that belongs to all of us not just the people on top.”
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“Record profits and record poverty are not a coincidence,” said 350.org Europe. “They are part of the same broken energy system.”
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This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Aug. 30, 2022. It is shared here under a Creative Commons license.
As Pakistan and the United Nations asked the world for $160 million in response to catastrophic flooding in the country, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday also issued a broader warning about the human-caused climate emergency.
“Let’s stop sleepwalking toward the destruction of our planet by climate change,” Guterres said. “Today, it’s Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country.”
“Let’s stop sleepwalking toward the destruction of our planet by climate change,” Guterres said. “Today, it’s Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country.”
Tens of millions of Pakistanis are contending with over 1,000 deaths and the widespread destruction of buildings and crops, the result of what Guterres called “a monsoon on steroids—the relentless impact of epochal levels of rain and flooding.”
“Millions are homeless, schools and health facilities have been destroyed, livelihoods are shattered, critical infrastructure wiped out, and people’s hopes and dreams have washed away,” he noted. “Every province of the country has been affected.”
Recalling his time as high commissioner for refugees, Guterres said in the aid appeal video that he witnessed Pakistan welcome people from war-torn Afghanistan, and “its breaks my heart to see these generous people suffering so much.”
“The scale of needs is rising like the flood waters. It requires the world’s collective and prioritized attention,” he stressed, explaining that the money will go toward essentials like food, water, sanitation, emergency education, and healthcare.
“Let us work together to respond quickly and collaboratively to this colossal crisis,” he declared. “Let us all step up in solidarity and support the people of Pakistan in their hour of need.”
Guterres is set to travel to Islamabad on Sept. 9 and spend the weekend touring impacted regions, meeting with displaced Pakistani families, and observing relief efforts.
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced Tuesday that it will provide $30 million in humanitarian assistance to support the people of Pakistan affected by the flooding.
“With these funds, USAID partners will prioritize urgently needed support for food, nutrition, multipurpose cash, safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene, and shelter assistance,” the agency said in a statement.
A longtime critic of rich nations’ failures to adequately address fossil fuel-driven global heating, Guterres pointed out Tuesday that “South Asia is one of the world’s global climate crisis hotspots. People living in these hotspots are 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts.”
“As we continue to see more and more extreme weather events around the world,” he said, “it is outrageous that climate action is being put on the back burner as global emissions of greenhouse gases are still rising, putting all of us—everywhere—in growing danger.”
The UN chief was far from alone in using the tragic conditions in Pakistan to renew calls for more ambitious climate action. As Pakistani Climate Minister Sherry Rehman said Monday, the current monsoon season “is climate dystopia at our doorstep.”
Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate noted that “Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions and yet it is among the top 10 most vulnerable countries to climate change.”
US elected officials including Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) took to Twitter to urge bolder climate action:
Other leaders around the world, from Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama to Jeremy Corbyn, a Labour Party member of the UK Parliament, also weighed in:
Author and economic anthropologist Jason Hickel tweeted Tuesday that “the only appropriate response to the climate catastrophe in Pakistan is to unconditionally cancel the country’s external debts. These resources should be used to support people and ecosystems rather than to service foreign capital. It is a minimal first step toward reparations.”
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“Today, it’s Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country,” said António Guterres.
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New paper argues direct action “by scientists has the potential to cut through the myriad complexities… surrounding the climate crisis in a way that less visible and dispassionate evidence provision does not.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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“This lawsuit highlights the very real threats that data surveillance poses to peoples’ safety, security, bodily integrity, and access to healthcare,” said the head of Public Citizen.
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The judge’s report, said a Center for Constitutional Rights attorney, “provides some hope that the people of Afghanistan will have access to the resources they so desperately need.”
This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.
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The update is “a big deal for users who’ve been misled by pregnancy crisis centers masquerading as abortion providers,” said Alphabet Workers Union. “But not enough—Google must *remove* these misleading results.”