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Author: Kenny Stancil

  • Greenpeace Calls on US and Mexico to Defuse Largest Carbon Bomb in North America

    Ahead of U.S. President Joe Biden’s Tuesday meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Greenpeace implored the two men to commit to ending all new oil and gas development in the Permian Basin, increasing clean energy investments, and securing a just transition for fossil fuel workers.

    As detailed in a recent multimedia report, the Permian Basin—home to two million people in West Texas and southeast New Mexico—was transformed into “the world’s single most prolific oil and gas field” during last decade’s drilling and fracking boom.

    If fossil fuel executives’ plans to expand extraction in the basin and boost exports from the Gulf Coast are allowed to go forward, experts estimate that nearly 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide would be emitted by 2050—equivalent to 10% of the world’s remaining “carbon budget,” or the amount of pollution compatible with limiting global warming to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels by the century’s end. Meanwhile, a recent study found that the basin’s pipelines are currently leaking 14 times more methane than previously thought.

    “Mexico’s updated climate goals can only be attained if both Mexico and the U.S. put an end to exploitation of the Permian Basin,” Gustavo Ampugnani, executive director of Greenpeace Mexico, said Tuesday in a statement. “Greenpeace offices in the two countries will campaign on all fronts until Presidents López Obrador and Biden put their money where their mouths are.”

    According to Greenpeace:

    As both nations face increased threats from the climate crisis, leaders from the U.S. and Mexico continue to incentivize the fossil fuel industry to ramp up oil and gas production in the Permian Basin and greenlight polluting fossil fuel infrastructure projects that will lock us into decades of emissions. From drilling and refining operations in Texas, to pipelines carrying Permian oil and gas through Mexico, the fossil fuel industry jeopardizes the health and safety of communities at each stage of the fossil fuel production process.

    Last year, the U.S. became the world’s top exporter of liquefied natural gas. “Around 70% of Mexico’s natural gas supply is being met by U.S. pipeline imports,” Greenpeace noted. “This is not what climate leadership looks like.”

    “From drought and record heatwaves to stronger, more frequent storms and flooding, we are living in a climate emergency.”

    Prior to last November’s COP27 climate conference—which ended, like the 26 meetings before it, with no blueprint for rapidly cutting off planet-wrecking fossil fuels—the United Nations published reports warning that due to woefully inadequate emissions reductions targets and policies, there is “no credible path to 1.5°C in place,” and only “urgent system-wide transformation” can prevent a cataclysmic temperature rise of nearly 3°C by 2100.

    According to the latest data, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—the three main heat-trapping gases pushing temperatures upward—reached an all-time high in 2021, and greenhouse gas emissions only continued to climb in 2022.

    Despite ample evidence that new fossil fuel projects will worsen deadly climate chaos, oil and gas corporations—supported by trillions of dollars in public subsidies each year—are still planning to expand dirty energy production in the coming years, including in the Permian Basin.

    “The oil and gas industry has lit a fuse on the Permian Basin carbon bomb that threatens to blow up any hope of a livable future,” John Noel, senior climate campaigner at Greenpeace USA, said Tuesday. “The technology to address the climate crisis already exists. It’s time for Presidents Biden and López Obrador to commit to ending the exploitation and destruction of our communities at the hands of the oil and gas industry.”

    “From drought and record heatwaves to stronger, more frequent storms and flooding, we are living in a climate emergency,” Noel added. “Last year, President Biden said that he will treat it as such. It’s time for him to make good on those words by kickstarting a fossil fuel phaseout and declaring a climate emergency.”

    Greenpeace’s intervention came as Biden and López Obrador prepared to engage in bilateral talks as part of the so-called “Tres Amigos” summit in Mexico City, which also features Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

    In the lead-up to the meeting, more than 100 progressive advocacy groups from around North America urged the continent’s heads of government to cooperate on mitigating the climate crisis, ensuring the just treatment of migrants, and reducing gun violence.

  • As 7,000+ Nurses Strike in NYC, ‘Greedy Hospitals’ Told to Approve Fair Deal



    More than 7,000 unionized nurses at two of New York City’s largest hospitals began a strike on Monday morning “for fair contracts that improve patient care.”

    “Nurses don’t want to strike,” the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) said late Sunday in a statement. “Bosses have pushed us to strike by refusing to seriously consider our proposals to address the desperate crisis of unsafe staffing that harms our patients.”

    More than 3,600 nurses at Mount Sinai Hospital in Harlem and roughly 3,500 of their counterparts at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx walked off the job on Monday at 6:00 am ET after management declined to approve a new contract with increased staffing levels, improved safety measures, and better pay and healthcare benefits.

    “Hospital executives created this crisis by failing to hire, train, and retain nurses while at the same time treating themselves to extravagant compensation packages.”

    The hospitals’ overnight intransigence came after negotiations at several other New York City hospitals yielded tentative agreements prior to the strike start date.

    “It is mind-boggling that some of the city’s most prominent hospitals recognize the value and importance of our nurses, and bargained in good faith with them, while others have chosen to turn their backs on nurses and, in turn, their patients,” New York City Council Member Lynn Schulman, chair of the health committee, said Monday in a statement. “As someone who has both worked and been a patient in a hospital, I can tell you firsthand how vital nurses are to the health outcomes of those they care for.”

    Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Sunday urged the union and hospital administrators to let an arbitrator settle the contract. Hochul also called on the state health department to enforce nurse staffing requirements, which were enshrined in a 2021 law thanks to organizing by NYSNA members but whose implementation has been delayed due to lobbying by New York City’s hospital conglomerates.

    In response, the NYSNA said: “We welcome the governor’s support in fighting for fair contracts that protect our patients, and we will not give up on our fight to ensure that our patients have enough nurses at the bedside. We call on Gov. Hochul to join us in putting patients over profits and to enforce existing nurse staffing laws. Gov. Hochul should listen to frontline Covid nurse heroes and respect our federally protected labor and collective bargaining rights.”

    Picketing is expected to take place from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm at Mount Sinai Hospital and three Montefiore locations. Elected officials and labor leaders are set to join striking nurses on the Harlem picket line for a press conference at noon.

    “The decision to go on strike is never an easy one, particularly for workers who care so deeply about the patients and communities they serve,” said Vincent Alvarez, president of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. “But hospital executives created this crisis by failing to hire, train, and retain nurses while at the same time treating themselves to extravagant compensation packages. Now it’s time for them to fix what they’ve broken.”

    Mario Cilento, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, stressed that “union members across the city and state, from the public sector, private sector, and building trades are united in our support of the nurses represented by NYSNA, who have been put in the unfortunate position of having no other choice than to strike.”

    “These nurses are dedicated professionals who provide quality patient care under unimaginable conditions including short staffing, which were only exacerbated by the pandemic,” said Cilento. “The hospitals’ treatment of these nurses is proof that all their words of adulation for their healthcare heroes during the pandemic were hollow. It is time for the hospitals to treat these nurses fairly, with the dignity and respect they deserve, to ensure nurses can get back to serving their communities by providing superior care to their patients.”

    The NYSNA, the largest union for registered nurses in the state with more than 42,000 members, made clear that New Yorkers should not delay getting medical care amid the strike.

    U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who joined the NYSNA and their supporters on a picket line, called on holdout executives at Mount Sinai and Montefiore to agree to a fair contract immediately.

    “If CEOs can double their pay, we can give workers a fair contract,” said Bowman. “It’s great to hear that most nurses have finally gotten their fair contract here in New York City. But we still have 7,000 as we speak without a fair contract.”

    “Montefiore, Mount Sinai, it’s time for you to step up and get this done,” the progressive lawmaker added. “Not next month. Not next week. Today. Right now.”

    ”It should be alarming to all New Yorkers that these contract negotiations have come to this,” said State Senate Labor Chair Jessica Ramos (D-13). “Rather than raising wages and ensuring hospitals have safe staffing ratios, hospital management has been granting themselves bonuses and pocketing money that could be used to strengthen our public health infrastructure. Granting these nurses a fair contact is not just a fitting way to express our gratitude, it is the best way to keep all New Yorkers safe and healthy. I stand with NYSNA, and urge management to return to the table with a fair contract.”

    Schulman echoed Ramos’ message, tweeting: “It should never have come to this. Nurses are the frontline of healthcare; they took the brunt of Covid-19 and are now taking the brunt of greedy hospitals.”

    Michael Lighty, a consultant to the National Union of Healthcare Workers who worked for 25 years with the California Nurses Association, explained last week that “decades of mergers and acquisitions have turned New York’s hospitals into profit-oriented corporations” and detailed how “nurses are fighting to change that.”

    According to Lighty:

    Nurses are overwhelmed by a “tripledemic” of Covid, flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection (RSV), but the issues animating the struggle are older, rooted in the creation of mega healthcare systems over the past decade. A 2018 New York Times report shows that the nation’s hospitals have been consolidating at an exponential rate, forming a monopolistic healthcare system. Mergers and acquisitions put market power firmly in the hands of large hospital systems, which hike up prices knowing that insurance companies will pay to keep those facilities in their networks. Insurers then pass the financial burden onto patients. The Times report found that prices for an average hospital stay have gone up between 11% and 54% because of healthcare consolidation.

    From 2015 to 2019, U.S. hospitals’ net patient revenue increased by $8.6 million per year on average. By 2022, the top 25 hospitals in New York alone averaged an annual net patient revenue of close to $2 billion. These mergers have turned independent community hospitals into “nonprofit” conglomerates—”nonprofit” in their tax status, but profit-centric in every decision that counts. “My hospital, once a humanitarian institution, now behaves like a profit-driven corporate entity,” says Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, a past president of NYSNA and an emergency room nurse in the Bronx with 40 years of experience. Sheridan-Gonzalez’s hospital has been aggressively acquiring smaller community hospitals for years. “It cuts staff and services to the Bronx, the county with the worst health indices in the state, investing instead in real estate and lucrative endeavors.”

    Per a Crain’s New York analysis, “the consolidation strategy has given rise to increasingly flush megasystems of hospitals concentrated in whiter, wealthier areas of the city. During the past 25 years, 20 hospitals have closed across the city, amounting to a loss of about 5,800 beds.” In addition to wholesale hospital closures in poor neighborhoods, hospital managers’ newfound emphasis on increasing profits has led to other cost-cutting measures such as hiring fewer staff nurses and not buying sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE). Those decisions have created unsafe working conditions and extreme burnout. The pandemic exacerbated these issues, and even though many hospitals received Covid relief funding, this did not translate into sufficient PPE, better staffing or improved working conditions.

    Instead, the effects of a monopoly health system have continued: high executive salaries and segregated units where VIPs get concierge services and specialty care, while the majority of wards are understaffed. Managers within the conglomerated health system also began to use rising profits to fuel more acquisitions, leading to a cycle of hospitals serving the rich at the expense of local communities which had relied on them.

    “Decades of legislative activism and multiple rounds of contract bargaining have yet to create a safe hospital environment for nurses and patients, leaving NYSNA nurses with no alternative but to strike,” Lighty added. “To demand and win safe staffing and patient care practices is a vital community benefit. And as potential patients, we all have a stake in their struggle.”

    New York City Council Member Shaun Abreu, meanwhile, argued Monday that “no one does more to care for New Yorkers than our nurses, and it’s time we made sure they get taken care of, too.”

    “Our nurses have risked their lives and made countless personal sacrifices since the start of the pandemic,” said Abreu, “but hospital administrators have no right to take advantage of their willingness to make those sacrifices.”

    State Sen. Cordell Cleare (D-30), for her part, insisted that “we must always put patients before profits; this statement is doubly true as applied to our beloved nurses, who are instrumental in ensuring that patients are cared for proactively—with dignity and compassion.”

    “I support the principled movement of nurses… to stand up for themselves, their patients, and our communities,” said Cleare. “Health system bureaucrats holding up contract talks and the timely implementation of safe staffing are further exacerbating the nursing shortage that they created—and this is unacceptable! Nurses are the heart and soul of the healthcare system and we must treat them with the kindness, respect, remuneration, and support they deserve!”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • War in Ukraine, Drought Pushed Global Food Prices to All-Time High in 2022



    Russia’s war on Ukraine, climate change-intensified drought, and other factors drove global food prices to a record high and worsened hunger around the world in 2022, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.

    The FAO Food Price Index—which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of grain, vegetable oils, and other commonly traded food commodities—averaged 143.7 points last year. That marked the highest level since records began in 1961 and an increase of 14.3% over the 2021 average, according to the Rome-based U.N. agency.

    As The Associated Press reported:

    Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February exacerbated a food crisis because the two countries were leading global suppliers of wheat, barley, sunflower oil, and other products, especially to nations in parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia that were already struggling with hunger.

    With critical Black Sea supplies disrupted, food prices rose to record highs, increasing inflation, poverty, and food insecurity in developing nations that rely on imports.

    The war also jolted energy markets and fertilizer supplies, both key to food production. That was on top of climate shocks that have fueled starvation in places like the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya are badly affected by the worst drought in decades, with the U.N. warning that parts of Somalia are facing famine. Thousands of people have already died.

    In the month of December, the FAO Food Price Index fell to an average of 132.4 points, a slight decrease from the previous year. The U.N. attributed most of the decline to a recent drop in the price of palm, soy, rapeseed, and sunflower oils. Lower vegetable oil prices, which hit an all-time high in 2022, came as a result of reduced global import demand, expectations of a seasonal boost in soy oil production in South America, and declining crude oil prices, according to the FAO.

    While world prices of wheat and maize surpassed previous records in 2022, the price of both cereals declined slightly in December, the organization said, thanks to ongoing harvests in the Southern Hemisphere, which increased global supply.

    The price of rice, however, rose last month, as did the price of sugar and cheese, FAO noted. Beef and poultry prices fell slightly in December, but that came at the end of a year in which dairy and meat prices reached their highest levels since 1990.

    “Calmer food commodity prices are welcome after two very volatile years,” FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero said in a statement. “It is important to remain vigilant and keep a strong focus on mitigating global food insecurity given that world food prices remain at elevated levels, with many staples near record highs, and with prices of rice increasing, and still many risks associated with future supplies.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • On Jan. 6 Anniversary, Khanna Says ‘Insurrectionists Do Not Belong in Office’



    Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna argued on Friday, the second anniversary of the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, that Republican lawmakers who supported former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn his 2020 election loss should be barred from holding office now and in the future.

    “Insurrectionists do not belong in office,” Khanna (Calif.) tweeted. “And they do not belong on the ballot going forward. Elected officials who directly aided and abetted the deadly assault on our nation’s democracy on Jan. 6 must be held accountable.”

    Millions of Republican voters remain convinced that President Joe Biden’s victory was illegitimate because Trump and his allies baselessly attacked the integrity of mail-in ballots before, during, and after the 2020 election.

    Trump’s “big lie” that the election was stolen from him eventually culminated in a violent coup attempt two years ago, wherein a right-wing mob stormed the Capitol in a bid to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s win. At least seven people died as a result.

    Hours after Trump and his supporters failed to overthrow the government, 147 congressional Republicans voted to reverse Biden’s decisive win, prompting then-Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) to label them “co-conspirators in sedition.”

    Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) quickly called for the expulsion of Republican lawmakers accused of helping to plot the deadly insurrection, to no avail.

    Instead, Trump is largely seen as the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee; more than 210 GOP candidates who spread doubt about Biden’s victory won congressional seats and races for governor, secretary of state, and attorney general in the 2022 midterms; and disinformation about Democratic voter fraud persists despite being thoroughly disproven.

    “Two years have passed, yet the top lawmakers in the U.S. government who were most directly involved in the insurrection—including Trump and his co-conspirators in Congress—have not been held accountable.”

    “Two years have passed, yet the top lawmakers in the U.S. government who were most directly involved in the insurrection—including Trump and his co-conspirators in Congress—have not been held accountable,” former Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote Friday.

    “To the contrary, Trump is so far unopposed in seeking the Republican nomination for president, and his co-conspirators are wielding enormous influence over the selection of the next speaker of the House,” he added. “This is not the way to mark the second anniversary of the day American democracy almost died.”

    The new House GOP majority has so far failed to elect a speaker. Trump ally and previous House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has been repeatedly thwarted by MAGA extremists to his right, including House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), whom Politico described Friday as “true believers in Trump’s efforts” to subvert the popular will and retain power.

    McCarthy, Perry, and fellow GOP Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.) and Jim Jordan (Ohio) were recently referred to the House Committee on Ethics for defying a subpoena from the select committee investigating the January 6 attack. But none is likely to face scrutiny because no matter which far-right leader House Republicans eventually pick, the party is poised to gut the U.S. Office of Congressional Ethics before it can investigate them.

    “If Republicans can finally agree on a speaker, the same GOP leaders who spread former President Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election—and who have consistently downplayed the grave threat to the nation posed by the January 6, 2021 insurrection carried out in his name—will take the reins of power in the House,” Michael Fanone, a former Washington, D.C. police officer who was injured defending the Capitol two years ago, wrote Thursday for CNN, where he is now a law enforcement analyst.

    “The incoming GOP House leadership must find the backbone to condemn political violence and hateful rhetoric incited by members of their own party,” Fanone wrote. “And that starts with finally denouncing Trump, who remains to this day the Republican Party’s de facto leader. The incoming speaker and the House leadership must demand that members of their party never again amplify language or take actions that put the lives of their constituents, their peers, or law enforcement at risk.”

    He continued:

    There has been no shortage of such reprehensible behavior in recent months, starting with McCarthy himself. As GOP leader, McCarthy once vehemently condemned then-President Trump for his role in ginning up the rioters who stormed the Capitol—and then swallowed those words of condemnation several days later. He traveled to Mar-a-Lago—presumably with one eye on the speaker’s gavel he had coveted for so long—pandering both to the defeated president and election deniers in his own caucus.
    Since then, influential GOP House members have called the January 6 assault a “normal tourist visit.” Some have called for former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s [D-Calif.] execution for treason and shared antisemitic messages on Holocaust Remembrance Day.
    And that’s just to name a few examples. Without long overdue intervention by Republican top brass, the frightening trend towards violent rhetoric seems certain to continue.

    Exacerbating the failure of the GOP’s leaders to denounce political violence, corporate America has also refused to follow through on its pledge to cut off campaign contributions to election-denying Republicans.

    As Politico, citing its analysis of campaign finance filings, reported Friday: “Political action committees affiliated with more than 70 major corporations said they would pause or reconsider donations to those who objected to certifying the results of the 2020 election after the attack on the U.S. Capitol two years ago. Then they gave more than $10 million to members of Congress who did just that.”

    The outlet added: “Accountable.US conducted a similar analysis of Fortune 100 companies, which constitute the upper echelon of American businesses. The organization found that out of the 50 companies that pledged to pause or reconsider political donations after the January 6 attack—either specifically to those who voted against certification, or political contributions entirely—34 went on to give at least $5.6 million to members who voted against certification over the last two years.”

    “So many corporations sought recognition for halting political spending after January 6, then quietly reopened the money spigot to election deniers when they thought no one was paying attention,” Jeremy Funk, media relations director for Accountable.US, told the outlet. “Companies that claimed to be allies for democracy then rewarded millions to lawmakers that tried to finish what the insurrectionists started have shown they were never serious.”

    More than 950 people who participated in the January 6 riot have been arrested so far. That includes nearly 300 individuals who have been charged with assaulting or obstructing law enforcement as well as two leaders of the far-right Oath Keepers militia who were recently convicted of seditious conspiracy.

    However, federal lawmakers and prosecutors have failed to hold Trump and the far-right members of Congress who continue to spread the “big lie” accountable for the damage they have done to U.S. democracy.

    In addition, the refusal of conservative Democratic lawmakers to jettison the anti-democratic 60-vote filibuster rule caused the party to fail in 2021 and 2022 to use its unified control of Congress to pass federal legislation protecting voting rights from the GOP’s state-by-state assault on the franchise.

    One year ago to the day, progressives warned that “we still haven’t enacted meaningful reforms to prevent another January 6.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • ‘Victory for American Workers’: FTC Proposes Ban on Noncompete Clauses



    Progressive advocacy groups and lawmakers celebrated Thursday after the Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule that, if finalized, would prohibit employers from including noncompete clauses in employment contracts, which the agency described as “a widespread and often exploitative practice that suppresses wages, hampers innovation, and blocks entrepreneurs from starting new businesses.”

    Given the prevalence of noncompete agreements, which prevent roughly one in five U.S. workers from freely changing jobs, the FTC estimates that “the new proposed rule could increase wages by nearly $300 billion per year and expand career opportunities for about 30 million Americans.”

    The American Economic Liberties Project (AELP) called the FTC’s 3-1 vote to initiate a rulemaking process to ban the use of noncompete clauses “a victory for American workers and fair, competitive markets.”

    “Millions of workers, future new business owners, everyday consumers, and the American economy overall will be better off because of the FTC’s vote today,” AELP executive director Sarah Miller said in a statement. “For too long, coercive noncompete agreements have unfairly denied millions of working people the freedom to change jobs, negotiate for better pay, and start new businesses.”

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) noted that “noncompete clauses give companies unfair power over workers” and commended the FTC for moving to ban them.

    Miller, meanwhile, said that Thursday’s proposed rule “makes clear that the use of noncompetes to undermine fair competition for workers and prevent new businesses from entering the market is also an illegal practice under the antitrust laws.”

    “Yesterday’s enforcement actions under Section 5 of the FTC Act make clear the FTC means business,” she added, referring to the lawsuit the FTC—led by “antitrust trailblazer” Lina Khan—filed Wednesday to force three corporations and two individuals to lift noncompete restrictions they imposed on thousands of workers.

    Wednesday’s crackdown—which marked the first time the FTC has sued to halt unlawful noncompete clauses—came just weeks after the agency voted 3-1 to issue a new policy statement restoring its commitment to “rigorously enforcing” the long-neglected Section 5 ban on “unfair methods of competition.”

    “This rule would be an important step in creating an economy that works for everyone.”

    Thursday’s proposal to prohibit noncompete agreements altogether comes less than three weeks after AELP, Demand Progress, Public Citizen, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), and more than 20 other groups urged the FTC to immediately begin a rulemaking process to eliminate noncompete provisions they described as unjustifiable and “anti-worker.”

    “Today’s vote from the FTC is a step forward toward banning this unfair practice that hurts millions of workers and prevents new businesses from being able to compete on equal ground,” Demand Progress Education Fund executive director David Segal said Thursday in a statement. “In a time when millions of Americans are struggling to afford their basic needs, we should be providing more opportunity—not less.”

    Matt Kent, competition policy advocate for Public Citizen, called the FTC’s Thursday move “thrilling.”

    “The rule was long in the making but the strength of this proposal makes the wait worthwhile,” said Kent. “If finalized in this form, the rule would be wide-ranging, applying to independent contractors and requiring an employer to actively inform workers that existing noncompete clauses are no longer in effect.”

    “The legal backing for the rule is also an exciting and overdue use of the FTC’s power to police unfair methods of competition using authority granted by Congress in Section 5 of the FTC Act,” he added.

    EPI president Heidi Shierholz also praised the FTC’s regulatory initiative.

    “Why do we need this rule?” Shierholz asked on Twitter. “The only source of power nonunionized workers have vis-à-vis their employers is their ability to quit and take a job elsewhere. So, SURPRISE, employers are using noncompete agreements to cut that source of worker power off at knees.”

    “Noncompetes are about reducing competition, fullstop,” said Shierholz. “That’s bad for workers and bad for consumers. This rule would be an important step in creating an economy that works for everyone.”

    The public has 60 days after the Federal Register publishes the proposed rule to submit comments. The FTC will review the comments and possibly make changes based on citizen input and the agency’s further analysis.

    After applauding the FTC for “once again taking bold action where necessary to protect competition in the labor markets,” Kent urged the agency to “issue a final rule that mirrors the quality of this initial effort.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Amid House Chaos, Watchdogs Urge GOP to Abandon Plans to Gut Ethics Commission

    Watchdogs are urging House Republicans to revise language in the chamber’s proposed rules package that would undermine an independent congressional ethics body’s ability to function at precisely the moment when it is expected to launch probes of several GOP lawmakers. The U.S. Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) “provides independent, nonpartisan oversight and accountability…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Watchdogs to House Republicans: Don’t Gut Congressional Ethics Office



    Watchdogs are urging House Republicans to revise language in the chamber’s proposed rules package that would undermine an independent congressional ethics body’s ability to function at precisely the moment when it is expected to launch probes of several GOP lawmakers.

    The U.S. Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) “provides independent, nonpartisan oversight and accountability, which increases the public’s trust in the U.S. House of Representatives and its members,” the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) wrote Wednesday in a letter. “OCE is Congress’ only independent investigative body, and therefore one of the only safeguards against corruption in the House of Representatives. It is essential to protect and preserve the efficient functioning of OCE.”

    While the new House GOP majority has so far failed to elect a speaker, it is poised to dismantle the OCE as soon as it settles on a far-right leader. This would lay “the groundwork for more corruption and less accountability in Congress,” Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), warned Wednesday. “The American people should not stand for it.”

    CREW was one of more than 20 organizations that backed CLC’s demand.

    Previous House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), an ally of former President Donald Trump whose current bid for the speaker’s gavel has been repeatedly thwarted by MAGA extremists to his right, backs the GOP’s attempt to defang the OCE.

    McCarthy’s support for undercutting “the people tasked with investigating congressional wrongdoing… is so, so bad,” CREW tweeted, calling it “the Kevin McCarthy story you need to be talking about.”

    McCarthy and fellow Republican Rep.-elects Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), and Scott Perry (Texas) were recently referred to the House Committee on Ethics for defying a subpoena from the select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

    Curbing the OCE’s power would shield the four right-wing congressmen from further scrutiny of their apparent support for Trump’s coup attempt just as the board “was considering whether to formally authorize a flurry of investigations” into GOP lawmakers, The Guardian reported Thursday.

    In addition, CREW pointed out Thursday, a neutered OCE “would be very good news” for Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.), a McCarthy supporter who could face an ethics probe after he was caught lying about his education, employment history, and religious background.

    If the OCE were to open such investigations, The Guardian noted, “it would ultimately result in public reports with potentially embarrassing conclusions for Republicans.”

    CLC explained what would happen if House Republicans’ plan to hamper the OCE is carried out:

    The proposed rules package severely curtails the ability of OCE to do the job it exists to do. First, Sec. 4 (d)(6) of the proposed rule forces three of the four Democrats who sit on the eight-member board to vacate their positions immediately because they would be serving beyond the newly imposed eight-year term limit. Filling these vacancies cannot be done quickly and leaving these posts empty would hamstring OCE’s ability to efficiently conduct investigations and publish reports.
    Second, Sec. 4(d)(7) would require OCE to hire its staff for the 118th Congress within 30 days of the adoption of the rule. This provision essentially limits any hiring for the office, including investigative staffers, to an impossibly brief period that would make it extremely difficult to rigorously assess candidates for these highstakes jobs. Additionally, the 30-day hiring period applies to the entire 118th Congress, meaning that regardless of when a vacancy at the OCE occurs under this rule, the position cannot be filled.

    “Together these changes severely weaken OCE to the point where the office would struggle to perform its core function,” CLC continued. “Past attempts to gut OCE have not only been detrimental to the public’s trust in Congress, but those moves have also been politically damaging and met with widespread public backlash. There is no reason to think this time will be any different.”

    As The Guardian noted: “House Republicans previously tried to gut OCE in 2017 by preventing them from taking anonymous complaints and bringing all of its work under the House ethics committee, which is made up of lawmakers who answer to themselves and their respective parties—until national outcry forced them to reverse course.”

    CLC on Wednesday implored the 118th Congress “to reverse course and remove Sec. 4(d)(6) and Sec. 4(d)(7) from the House rules proposal so that the Office of Congressional Ethics maintains its full strength.”

    CREW, meanwhile, argued that “we shouldn’t just settle for not gutting the Office of Congressional Ethics” and urged Congress to pass Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act.

    CREW and CLC were among the 13 organizations that recently asked House leaders to “reauthorize and strengthen OCE in the new year.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Donziger Files Response to ‘DOJ’s Disastrous Decision to Side With Chevron’



    The legal team of human rights attorney Steven Donziger is challenging what he describes as the U.S. Department of Justice’s “disastrous decision to side with Chevron and back private corporate prosecutions.”

    At issue is the DOJ’s recently submitted brief in opposition to Donziger’s pending appeal of his widely criticized contempt of court conviction. Donziger’s reply to the Justice Department’s December 16 brief was filed Tuesday at the U.S. Supreme Court.

    In 2011, a Donziger-led legal team representing more than 30,000 farmworkers and Indigenous people harmed by over three decades of oil drilling in Ecuador won an $18 billion judgment against Chevron for deliberately dumping more than 16 billion gallons of toxic wastewater and other hazardous pollutants in the delicate Amazonian ecosystem—an act that caused a ” rainforest Chernobyl.” Punitive damages were later reduced to $9.5 billion.

    Although the historic ruling against Chevron was upheld by the Ecuadorian Supreme Court, the oil giant moved its operations out of the country to avoid paying for cleanup, alleged that the $9.5 billion settlement had been fraudulently obtained, and launched what six House Democrats described last year as an “unjust legal assault” on Donziger.

    In July 2019, U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Southern District of New York, a former corporate lawyer with investments in Chevron, held Donziger in contempt of court for refusing to turn over his computer and cellphone, a move that would have disclosed privileged client information.

    Soon after, Donziger began his “completely unjust” 993-day detention on a misdemeanor charge that carries a maximum sentence of six months.

    Donziger has received support from United Nations human rights experts and nearly 70 Nobel Prize Laureates, including 1997 peace prize recipient Jody Williams, who argued in May 2021 that Donziger’s house arrest and the criminal contempt case against him was a “gross miscarriage of justice” meant to dissuade others from challenging corporations’ human rights violations and ecological crimes.

    “If he’s a principled lawyer taking on a powerful corporation and the justice system punishes him, that has a profound chilling effect.”

    Along with dozens of other Nobel prize winners, Williams asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Donziger’s predicament, writing that “a high-level review will reveal that the case clearly is a violation of Mr. Donziger’s rights and the rights of the affected communities in Ecuador.”

    Garland’s DOJ, however, refused to reassert main jurisdiction over the case. Although the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York chose not to prosecute Donziger’s misdemeanor contempt of court charge, Kaplan hand-picked a right-wing colleague, Judge Loretta Preska, to hear the case.

    Kaplan and Preska, previously a leader in the Chevron-funded Federalist Society, then selected Rita Glavin, an attorney at Seward & Kissel LLP, to act as a special prosecutor even though her law partner was a former member of Chevron’s board of directors and Chevron had been one of the firm’s clients as recently as 2018.

    Despite the fact that he had already been confined to his home for 24 months, including more than 20 months pretrial, Donziger was convicted by Preska in July 2021 and later sentenced to six months in federal prison, a term that he finished on house arrest.

    Following Donziger’s conviction, Democratic Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) sounded the alarm about the use of private prosecutors in the federal court system.

    When Donziger was behind bars late last year, nine House Democrats implored Garland to “take immediate action” to secure his release.

    “Donziger sits in a crowded federal prison because a Chevron attorney made it so, without executive branch supervision or ever seeing a jury of his peers,” the lawmakers wrote. “As the United States is a party to the district court case against Mr. Donziger, we request that you act immediately to reclaim control of this case, dismiss the charges, and free Mr. Donziger from his imprisonment.”

    The DOJ declined to intervene on Donziger’s behalf. So too did U.S. President Joe Biden, who was asked by more than 100 human rights groups to pardon Donziger.

    An appeals court upheld Donziger’s conviction in a split decision this June, two months after he was released. In September, Donziger appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court, arguing that the DOJ’s lack of supervision during his prosecution violated the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers.

    Less than two weeks ago, the Justice Department filed a brief in opposition to Donziger’s pending Supreme Court appeal, prompting the environmental lawyer’s Tuesday response.

    “Progressive movements rightly saw [Donziger’s case] as an attempt to criminalize corporate accountability, and that hit a nerve,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who was among the progressives pushing for Donziger’s release, told The Hill on Tuesday. “If he’s a principled lawyer taking on a powerful corporation and the justice system punishes him, that has a profound chilling effect.”

    “We can’t become afraid of fighting for what’s right,” Bowman continued. “Donziger’s work was important. I’m thankful he’s free now, but he shouldn’t have had to fight for that freedom.”

    According to The Hill, in interviews, “Donziger expressed concern that he was a test case for what he called the corporate capture of American civil institutions by energy giants like Chevron, with a goal of silencing opposition.”

    “The industry’s figured out that if they can control the courts, or at least, influence them to a great degree, they can prevent themselves from being held accountable and obtain effective impunity for their misdeeds, for their wrongdoing, for their pollution, [and] for the harm they cause,” Donziger told the outlet.

    “That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t use our courts,” he added. “We must—there are ways to use them effectively in climate justice—but make no mistake about it, the U.S. federal courts right now are very hostile to climate cases” due to a decadeslong Republican campaign to create a judiciary friendly to Big Oil.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Kosovo Closes Main Border With Serbia Amid Protests, Rising Tensions



    Kosovo shut down its largest border crossing with Serbia on Wednesday, underscoring the extent to which tensions between the two Balkan countries are rising.

    Albanian-majority Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 with Western support, roughly a decade after North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces intervened and carried out a bombing campaign on behalf of ethnic Albanians during a 1998-1999 civil war.

    Serbia has refused to recognize the statehood of its former province, however. Instead, according to Agence France-Presse, Belgrade has encouraged 120,000 ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo to defy Pristina’s authority—especially in northern Kosovo where Serbs constitute the majority.

    According to Al Jazeera: “About 50,000 Serbs living in ethnically divided northern Kosovo refuse to recognize the government in Pristina or the status of Kosovo as a country separate from Serbia. They have the support of many Serbs in Serbia and its government.”

    As AFP reported:

    The latest trouble erupted on December 10, when ethnic Serbs put up barricades to protest the arrest of an ex-policeman suspected of being involved in attacks against ethnic Albanian police officers—effectively sealing off traffic on two border crossings.
    After the roadblocks were erected, Kosovar police and international peacekeepers were attacked in several shooting incidents, while the Serbian armed forces were put on heightened alert this week.
    Late Tuesday, dozens of demonstrators on the Serbian side of the border used trucks and tractors to halt traffic leading to Merdare, the biggest crossing between the neighbors—a move which forced Kosovo police to close the entry point on Wednesday.

    Due to recent border blockades and closures, just three entry points between the two countries remain open. The obstructions are “preventing thousands of Kosovars who work elsewhere in Europe from returning home for holidays,” Al Jazeera noted.

    “Kosovo’s government has asked NATO’s peacekeeping force for the country, the approximately 4,000-strong KFOR, to clear the barricades” erected on its side of the border, the news outlet reported. “KFOR has no authority to act on Serbian soil.”

    KFOR commander Major General Angelo Michele Ristuccia said Wednesday in a statement that “it is paramount that all involved avoid any rhetoric or actions that can cause tensions and escalate the situation.”

    “Solutions should be sought through dialogue,” he added.

    On Tuesday, Kosovo Interior Minister Xhelal Sveçla accused Serbia, under the influence of Russia, of trying to destabilize its former province by supporting ethnic Serbs who have been demonstrating for weeks in northern Kosovo.

    According to Al Jazeera:

    Serbia denies it is trying to destabilize its neighbor and says it only wants to protect the Serbian minority living in what is now Kosovan territory… not recognized by Belgrade.
    Moscow said on Wednesday that it supported Serbia’s attempts to protect ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo but denied Pristina’s accusation that Russia was somehow stoking tensions in an attempt to sow chaos across the Balkans.

    Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov called it “wrong” to blame Moscow for escalating tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.

    “Serbia is a sovereign country, and naturally, it protects the rights of Serbs who live nearby in such difficult conditions, and naturally reacts harshly when these rights are violated,” said Peskov.

    “Having very close allied relations, historical and spiritual relations with Serbia, Russia is very closely monitoring what is happening, how the rights of Serbs are respected and ensured,” he added. “And, of course, we support Belgrade in the actions that are being taken.”

    In a joint statement released Wednesday, the European Union and the United States called on all parties “to exercise maximum restraint, to take immediate action to unconditionally de-escalate the situation, and to refrain from provocations, threats, or intimidation.”

    Serbian Defense Minister Miloš Vučević on Wednesday described the barricades as a “democratic and peaceful” means of protest and said that Belgrade has “an open line of communication” with Western diplomats on resolving the issue.

    “We are all worried about the situation and where all this is going,” said Vučević. “Serbia is ready for a deal.”

    As AFP reported, “Northern Kosovo has been on edge since November when hundreds of ethnic Serb workers in the Kosovo police as well as the judicial branch, including judges and prosecutors, walked off the job.”

    “They were protesting a controversial decision to ban Serbs living in Kosovo from using Belgrade-issued vehicle license plates—a policy that was eventually scrapped by Pristina,” the news agency noted. “The mass walkouts created a security vacuum in Kosovo, which Pristina tried to fill by deploying ethnic Albanian police officers in the region.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Southwest Under Fire for Mass Flight Cancellations, ‘Despicable’ Treatment of Workers



    Southwest Airlines is facing calls for accountability from organized labor and congressional Democrats after canceling thousands of flights over the past week, leaving tens of thousands of workers and customers in limbo during the holiday season.

    Every airline has experienced disruptions during Winter Storm Elliott, the dangerous nationwide cold snap that began just days before Christmas. But while other major carriers have largely recovered, Southwest continues to struggle, canceling roughly two-thirds of its flights on Tuesday. United, Delta, American, and JetBlue, by contrast, all reported flight cancellation rates of 2% or less on Tuesday.

    While Southwest chief operating officer Andrew Watterson said in a memo sent to employees on Monday night that the company’s current systems have been “overmatched” by extreme weather, the union representing Southwest flight attendants attributes ongoing operational failures and maltreatment of workers to the corporation’s yearslong refusal to invest in much-needed technological upgrades.

    “The way Southwest Airlines has treated its flight crews can only be termed ‘despicable.’”

    “The way Southwest Airlines has treated its flight crews can only be termed ‘despicable,’” Lyn Montgomery, a Dallas-based flight attendant and president of Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 556, said Monday in a statement.

    “We know the demands of holiday travel. We know winter storms. And believe me, we know about stepping up and putting in long work hours when we are called to do so; we are flight attendants,” said Montgomery. “But at this point, the many years of failure by management, despite many unions’ demands to modernize, has left flight attendants fatigued, stranded, hungry, and cold—on Christmas! This impacts lives and threatens safety for all.”

    According to TWU Local 556, thousands of Southwest crew members have been “stranded across the country, some forced to sleep on cots in airports, some in hotels without power or water, and far too many working long hours well past acceptable duty days, and more.”

    “Trying to get home for Christmas seems like a dream to flight attendants who are struggling with the nightmare of simply trying to secure appropriate shelter, food, and rest,” the union added.

    Other Southwest employees have also been subjected to abuse. According to a leaked memo from last Wednesday, Southwest’s vice president for ground operations, Chris Johnson, told ramp agents at Denver International Airport (DIA) that they will be terminated if they refuse to work mandatory overtime or take a sick day without providing a doctor’s note immediately upon their return.

    Like other corporations, Southwest benefited from billions of dollars in federal aid during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although there have been no noticeable improvements in conditions for workers or consumers, chief executive officer Bob Jordan saw his annual compensation package increase to $9.1 million in 2022.

    Meanwhile, thousands of Southwest customers have been stranded in airports around the country in recent days, with little knowledge of where their luggage is or when they will be able to reach their destination.

    Although the company said Monday in a statement that its agents are trying to re-accommodate as many passengers as possible, it also announced that it will “continue operating a reduced schedule by flying roughly one-third of our schedule for the next several days.”

    “The plan was to get out of here by now,” Amenit Alvarez, who is trying to travel from DIA, told CBS News Colorado on Monday. “I was supposed to be home for Christmas.”

    According to the outlet: “After two canceled flights since Thursday, Alvarez decided to wait and try rebooking later in the week. While she has friends to stay with, she knows other travelers don’t have the same luxury.”

    In a Tuesday statement, Democratic Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) called on Southwest to compensate customers for avoidable holiday flight cancellations.

    “Southwest Airlines is failing consumers during the most important travel week of the year,” said Markey and Blumenthal. “Instead of a holiday spent celebrating with family and friends, passengers are sleeping in airports or desperately trying to reach customer service agents.”

    “For those travelers whose holidays have been ruined, there is no real way for Southwest to make this right,” the pair continued. “But the company can start by fairly compensating passengers whose flights were canceled, including not only rebooked tickets, ticket refunds, and hotel, meal, and transportation reimbursement, but significant monetary compensation for the disruption to their holiday plans.”

    “Southwest is planning to issue a $428 million dividend next year,” the lawmakers added. “The company can afford to do right by the consumers it has harmed. Southwest should focus first on its customers stranded at airports and stuck on interminable hold.”

    As Bloomberg reported Tuesday:

    The chaos will prove costly to the airline, with Citi analysts estimating it could shave 3% to 5% from Southwest’s fourth-quarter earnings. There’s a reputational cost as well, with angry travelers stranded over the holiday season and the airline having to apologize, much as it did in a similar collapse after storms in October 2021.
    […]
    Dallas-based Southwest’s shares declined as much as 6.3% Tuesday and were down 4.8% at 12:53 pm, while United rose and American and Delta declined less than 1%.

    The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) said late Monday that it “is concerned by Southwest’s unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays and reports of lack of prompt customer service.” The agency announced that it “will examine whether cancellations were controllable and if Southwest is complying with its customer service plan.”

    Without naming Southwest, U.S. President Joe Biden wrote Tuesday on Twitter that “our administration is working to ensure airlines are held accountable” and pointed consumers to a DOT dashboard where they can see if they are entitled to compensation.

    U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia (D-Ill.) welcomed the DOT’s probe of Southwest, arguing that what the company’s CEO calls a “tough day” is better understood as a manifestation of “corporate greed.”

    Southwest “hurt itself with an aggressive schedule and by underinvesting in its operations,” CNN reported Tuesday. “Stranded customers have been unable to get through to Southwest’s customer service lines to rebook flights or find lost baggage. Employees also said they have not been able to communicate with the airline.”

    Montgomery, the president of TWU Local 556, told the outlet that “the phone system the company uses is just not working.”

    “They’re just not manned with enough manpower in order to give the scheduling changes to flight attendants, and that’s created a ripple effect that is creating chaos throughout the nation,” she added.

    Southwest’s current issues have been brewing for a long time, according to captain Casey Murray, president of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association.

    “Southwest is planning to issue a $428 million dividend next year. The company can afford to do right by the consumers it has harmed.”

    “We’ve been having these issues for the past 20 months,” he told CNN. “We’ve seen these sorts of meltdowns occur on a much more regular basis and it really just has to do with outdated processes and outdated IT.”

    “It’s phones, it’s computers, it’s processing power, it’s the programs used to connect us to airplanes—that’s where the problem lies, and it’s systemic throughout the whole airline,” said Murray.

    Southwest CEO Jordan, in a memo to employees obtained by CNN, acknowledged many of Murray’s concerns and pledged to invest in better systems.

    “Part of what we’re suffering is a lack of tools,” Jordan told employees. “We’ve talked an awful lot about modernizing the operation, and the need to do that.”

    Markey and Blumenthal argued that “Southwest cannot avoid compensating passengers by claiming these flight cancellations were caused by recent winter storms.”

    “As Southwest executives have acknowledged,” the airline’s recent mass cancellations have been “largely due to the failure of its own internal systems,” said the lawmakers. “As such, those cancellations should be categorized as ‘controllable,’ and Southwest should compensate passengers accordingly.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Israeli Firm Plans Expanding Its Deployment of Video-Altering Tech

    A human rights attorney raised alarm Monday over the expansion plans of Toka, an Israeli cyber firm that sells hacking technologies capable of finding, accessing, and manipulating security and smart camera footage. Co-founded by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) cyber chief Yaron Rosen, Toka “sells technologies that allow clients to locate security…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Sanders’s Bill to Expand Workplace Democracy Passes Senate in Omnibus

    Legislation that Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled 13 years ago to help boost workplace democracy and curb worsening inequality in the United States was included in the $1.7 trillion omnibus package approved by the Senate on Thursday. Modeled on the success of employee ownership centers in Ohio and Vermont, Sanders’ (I-Vt.) Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge (WORK) Act authorizes a $50 million…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Sanders’ Bill to Expand Worker Ownership Passes Senate in Omnibus



    Legislation that Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled 13 years ago to help boost workplace democracy and curb worsening inequality in the United States was included in the $1.7 trillion omnibus package approved by the Senate on Thursday.

    Modeled on the success of employee ownership centers in Ohio and Vermont, Sanders’ (I-Vt.) Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge (WORK) Act authorizes a $50 million grant program to help create and expand employee ownership centers around the country.

    As Sanders’ office explained:

    These centers provide workers with the tools they need to own their own businesses through employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) or eligible worker-owned cooperatives. This act will authorize the [U.S.] Department of Labor to provide education and outreach, training, and technical support for local and state programs dedicated to the promotion of employee ownership and participation. Sanders helped establish the Vermont Employee Ownership Center in 2001 and first introduced the WORK Act in 2009. Sanders also secured $158,000 for the Vermont Employee Ownership Center as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 earlier this year.

    “Workers deserve an ownership stake in the companies they work for, a say in the decisions that impact their lives, and a fair share of the profits that their work makes possible,” Sanders said Thursday in a statement.

    “This modest but effective legislation will go a long way to ensuring workers have the tools they need to have a seat at the table they worked to build,” he continued. “By making sure workers have their seat and their voices are heard, we can start to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the wealthy few.”

    “Workers deserve an ownership stake in the companies they work for, a say in the decisions that impact their lives, and a fair share of the profits that their work makes possible.”

    Research has shown that worker ownership leads to higher wages, better benefits, a more secure retirement, and reduced gender and racial wealth disparities. In addition, employee-owned enterprises see lower turnover and increased output. Sanders’ office attributes these positive effects to improved “employee morale, dedication, creativity, and productivity, as workers share in profits and have more control over their own work lives.”

    Other studies have shown that worker-owned companies in the U.S. are less likely to outsource jobs and more likely to experience stronger profits and shareholder returns. According to one recent analysis, scaling up employee ownership could quadruple the share of wealth held by the bottom 50% of U.S. households.

    In 2019, roughly 25 million workers in the U.S. already owned some stock in the company where they were employed, according to Sanders’ office. More than 10,000 enterprises currently use some type of employee ownership model, improving material circumstances for millions of working people nationwide.

    “On behalf of the more than 10 million American households that already benefit from an ESOP, we are deeply grateful to Sen. Sanders for his dedication to include the WORK Act in the omnibus,” Jim Bonham, president and CEO of the ESOP Association, said Thursday.

    “Starting years ago with the Vermont Employee Ownership Center that he helped create, we have learned that increased education, awareness, and feasibility grants directly results in more employee-owned businesses and now those lessons can be applied across the nation,” said Bonham. “More employee-owned businesses mean more stable local jobs, higher incomes, increased retirement savings, better work environments, and more productivity for our economy.”

    The omnibus package, which funds the federal government through 2023, also includes the first budget increase for the National Labor Relations Board in nearly a decade, as Sanders’ office noted.

    The massive, 4,100-plus-page bill now heads to the House. It must be approved by lawmakers in the lower chamber and signed into law by President Joe Biden by Friday to avoid a painful government shutdown.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Make Big Oil Pay to Clean Up Their Mess on Public Lands, Coalition Tells Interior Dept



    A trio of advocacy groups on Thursday urged the U.S. Interior Department to do more to fix the nation’s “broken oil and gas leasing system.”

    Hundreds of progressive organizations, including Public Citizen, have called on President Joe Biden’s administration to halt fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters. But Public Citizen, Project On Government Oversight, and Taxpayers for Common Sense argued in a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Tracy Stone-Manning that as long as the federal leasing program exists, new rules should be implemented to protect taxpayers and communities.

    “Taxpayers should not be footing the bill when an oil or gas company fails to plug a well.”

    “It’s bad enough that we allow fossil fuel companies to drill on federal lands,” Public Citizen researcher Alan Zibel said in a statement. “The least we can do is ensure taxpayers don’t get stuck subsidizing the fossil fuel industry’s cost of doing business. It is unfair to expect taxpayers to pick up the bill when a company does not honor its promise to plug a well or pay for someone to do it.”

    Zibel’s message was echoed by Project On Government Oversight policy analyst Joanna Derman, who said that “taxpayers should not be footing the bill when an oil or gas company fails to plug a well.”

    According to Derman, the reforms proposed by the coalition “will bring much-needed accountability to ensure oil and gas companies clean up their hazardous mess on public lands.”

    In their letter, the coalition urged the Biden administration to “reform oil and gas bonding, solidify an 18.75% minimum royalty rate for onshore oil and gas development, and implement protections that will make it harder for oil and gas companies to lock up federal lands that have little potential for oil and gas drilling.”

    The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) “contains several important oil and gas reforms that will help bring the federal oil and gas leasing system into the 21st century,” the letter continues. The reconciliation package passed in August by congressional Democrats “raised the onshore oil and gas royalty rate, rental rates, and minimum bid for the next 10 years and eliminated noncompetitive oil and gas leasing, but the Department of the Interior (DOI) must take further steps to solidify and build upon these initial reforms.”

    To begin with, the letter states, the Interior Department’s BLM “must reform bonding through the rulemaking process to protect taxpayers from future liabilities and ensure we get a fair return for publicly owned natural resources.”

    As the coalition explained:

    Oil and natural gas companies drilling on federal land are required to plug (reclaim) their wells and clean up the surrounding sites after production ends. Wells that are not completely reclaimed in a timely manner pose serious environmental, safety, and public health threats, which disproportionately impact low-income communities of color. To guarantee the cleanup of these potentially hazardous and environmentally harmful sites, producers are required to post a bond before they start drilling. If the company abandons its wells on a federal lease, or goes bankrupt, the bond is used to cover the reclamation expenses. But for leases on federal land, the required bond minimums have not been updated in 60 years and do not cover the full cost of cleanup, which means taxpayers must cover these costs. According to the Government Accountability Office, the average value of bonds held by the Bureau of Land Management in 2019 was only $2,122 per well whereas well reclamation costs can range from $20,000 per well to $145,000 per well. In fact, 84% of bonds, which cover 99.5% of wells on federal lands, are not enough to cover even the lower estimate of $20,000 per well. Egregiously low bond minimums incentivize operators not to reclaim wells since it is often more costly to reclaim their wells than to simply forfeit the minimum bonded amount.

    Updating decades-old policies to ensure that the average value of bonds held by BLM is not 10 to 70 times lower than standard well reclamation costs would “protect taxpayers from the financial, environmental, and public health costs caused by abandoned wells on federal land,” the letter notes. “Plugging and cleaning up existing producible oil and gas wells on public lands could cost more than $6 billion, and it is crucial that the burden not fall on taxpayers, given that taxpayers have already committed $250 million appropriated by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”

    DOI has so far announced plans for three new oil and gas lease sales in 2023. The first will offer more than 261,200 acres of public land in Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming to the highest-bidding drillers. The second and third will put a total of 95,411 acres of public land in Nevada and Utah on the auction block.

    “Bonding rates haven’t changed since the 1960s and federal royalty rates are less than what states charge.”

    These upcoming sales are slated to use the new minimum onshore royalty rate of 16.67% established by the IRA even though BLM in June held an oil and gas lease auction that used an 18.75% royalty rate. “Although 16.67% is an improvement compared to the outdated rate of 12.5% taxpayers were stuck with for over a century, it still lags what states like Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Louisiana charge for oil and gas production on state lands,” the letter points out. “To prevent potential royalty losses and to give taxpayers a fair return on the resources we all own, DOI must take further steps to solidify the 18.75% rate in a formal rulemaking.”

    A recent Public Citizen report found that U.S. taxpayers lost up to $13.1 billion in revenue over the past decade due to artificially low royalty rates.

    The coalition welcomed BLM’s recently issued guidance outlining how future fossil fuel lease sale parcels will be evaluated based on preference criteria including proximity to existing extraction; presence of key fish and wildlife habitats, historical or cultural sites, and recreation; and potential for development. This “will help curtail speculative leasing, which allows oil and gas companies to lock up federal lands from other important uses,” wrote the groups. DOI should “take further action to codify this preference criteria for evaluating parcels, especially the potential for development, in federal regulations.”

    “With new lease sales around the corner, time is of the essence,” the letter adds. “Continuing forward with onshore oil and gas lease sales without implementing needed reforms will lock the federal government into bad deals that continue to shortchange taxpayers. The federal onshore oil and gas leasing system is failing taxpayers, and every new lease signed under these terms is a loss.”

    Autumn Hanna, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, stressed that “the federal oil and gas leasing system is broken.”

    “Important reforms were included in the Inflation Reduction Act, but more must be done,” said Hanna. “Bonding rates haven’t changed since the 1960s and federal royalty rates are less than what states charge. The Department of the Interior must take steps—through a formal rulemaking—to reform these outdated policies.”

    “Fighting climate change means no new fossil fuel leases. Not now, not ever.”

    When DOI, in a report released last November, proposed adjusting royalty rates and bond minimums and prioritizing lease sales in high-potential areas that don’t conflict with other important uses, climate justice campaigners responded critically.

    “These trivial changes are nearly meaningless in the midst of this climate emergency, and they break Biden’s campaign promise to stop new oil and gas leasing on public lands,” Randi Spivak, public lands director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said at the time. “Greenlighting more fossil fuel extraction, then pretending it’s OK by nudging up royalty rates, is like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.”

    According to the Center for Biological Diversity, “Federal fossil fuels that have not been leased to industry contain up to 450 billion tons of potential climate pollution; those already leased to industry contain up to 43 billion tons.”

    The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that roughly 25% of the nation’s total carbon dioxide emissions and 7% of its overall methane emissions can be attributed to fossil fuel extraction on public lands and waters, and peer-reviewed research has estimated that a nationwide prohibition on federal oil and gas leasing would slash carbon dioxide emissions by 280 million tons per year.

    “President Biden and Secretary Haaland still have the tools to uphold their commitments to monumental climate action, and that can start right now with banning new fossil fuel leasing, invalidating recent sales, canceling upcoming sales, and issuing a five-year plan with no new offshore leases,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) said earlier this year. “Nothing less than a livable planet is on the line.”

    “Fighting climate change means no new fossil fuel leases,” Tlaib added. “Not now, not ever.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • ‘Huge Win’: Court Finds EPA Approval of Bee-Killing Sulfoxaflor Unlawful

    “It’s long past time for the EPA to take meaningful action to protect our most imperiled wildlife and put protections in place for endangered species before approving use of toxic pesticides on millions of acres of crops,” said one advocate.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • ‘Huge Win’: Court Finds EPA Approval of Bee-Killing Sulfoxaflor Unlawful



    In a major victory for pollinators and other wildlife, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit on Wednesday ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s registration of the bee-killing insecticide sulfoxaflor is unlawful.

    In response to a legal challenge brought by the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity, the court argued that the EPA’s 2019 decision authorizing the expanded use of sulfoxaflor across more than 200 million acres of pollinator-attractive crops violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The court gave the agency 180 days to collect public comment and issue a new decision on the insecticide, which is produced by Corteva, formerly Dow AgroSciences.

    “Studies show that the widespread adoption of systemic insecticides has made our landscapes 48 times more deadly for pollinators like honeybees.”

    “When an agency deliberately ignores Congress’ legislative command, it undermines the will of the people and ultimately our constitutional structure of government,” the court wrote in a strongly worded decision.

    By routinely failing to protect endangered species when registering pesticides–thereby forcing the public to sue to obtain protections that should be automatic–EPA is “engaging in a whack-a-mole strategy for complying with the ESA,” the court stated.

    Sylvia Wu, a senior attorney at the Center for Food Safety and counsel in the case, said that “for far too long, EPA has bent to the pesticide industry’s desire to get their toxic chemicals to market as quickly as possible.”

    “Today the court told EPA, ‘No more: Congress tasked the agency with protecting endangered species and the environment at-large, not just the interests of the pesticide companies,’” Wu added.

    EPA originally approved sulfoxaflor in 2013, but thanks to an Earthjustice lawsuit filed on behalf of the Pollinator Stewardship Council and the American Beekeeper Federation, the 9th Circuit vacated that decision. The court ruled at the time that EPA failed to comply with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which requires all pesticide applications to prove they will not cause “unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.”

    “In 2016, EPA re-approved sulfoxaflor subject to significant restrictions to reduce the risk to honeybees and other pollinators,” Earthjustice explained. “But in 2019, and without any public notice, EPA removed these restrictions and approved new uses for the bee-killing insecticide.” In response, Earthjustice once again sued the agency, this time on behalf of the Pollinator Stewardship Council, the American Beekeeping Federation, and commercial beekeeper Jeffrey Anderson.

    According to the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity, EPA’s 2019 decision “to expand use of sulfoxaflor on a wide range of crops that attract bees, including soybeans, cotton, strawberries, squash, and citrus… came despite the fact that its own scientists found the insecticide could threaten honeybee colonies and other pollinators,” including the imperiled monarch butterfly.

    The groups continued:

    The EPA also weakened the few spraying restrictions it previously had in place to protect native pollinators and other wildlife, eliminating all requirements for buffers even during aerial spraying.

    The EPA admitted to the court that it had not considered any of sulfoxaflor’s effects on species protected by the Endangered Species Act. The agency belatedly issued a draft endangered species assessment earlier this summer. In the draft assessment, the EPA found sulfoxaflor is potentially putting 24 species of insects in jeopardy of extinction, including the Karner blue butterfly and American burying beetle.

    Stephanie Parent, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity and co-counsel on the case, called Wednesday’s ruling “a huge win for monarch butterflies, rusty patched bumblebees, and all the other struggling populations of insects and birds constantly under threat from harmful insecticides.”

    “It’s long past time for the EPA to take meaningful action to protect our most imperiled wildlife and put protections in place for endangered species before approving use of toxic pesticides on millions of acres of crops,” said Parent.

    Earthjustice attorney Greg Loarie noted that “scientists have long said systemic insecticides like sulfoxaflor are behind the unprecedented colony collapse of the last few years.”

    “It makes no sense to allow a bee-killing insecticide on a bee-attractive crop, when we know we need bees for agriculture,” said Loarie. “EPA must protect pollinators from sulfoxaflor, and all other systemic insecticides that end up in pollen and nectar.”

    Citing data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Earthjustice pointed out that “pollinators’ ecological service in the country is valued at $200 billion a year.”

    “More than 80% of plants worldwide need pollinators to survive,” the group continued. “From April 2020 to April 2021, U.S. beekeepers lost 45.5% of their colonies. This is the second-highest loss on record.”

    According to Steve Ellis, president of the Pollinator Stewardship Council, “Studies show that the widespread adoption of systemic insecticides has made our landscapes 48 times more deadly for pollinators like honeybees.”

    “Pollinators are critical for the country’s food supply,” said Ellis. “EPA must immediately stop pesticides like sulfoxaflor that kill pollinators.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams.

  • Human Rights Group Condemns Republican Gov. for Further Militarizing Texas-Mexico Border

    “Rather than assisting in humanitarian and logistical support,” Greg Abbott is using El Paso’s emergency declaration “to feed into the racist, xenophobic, and white supremacist rhetoric of ‘an invasion’ by militarizing our city further.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • “A Giveaway to the Rich”: Progressives Slam Omnibus Retirement Provisions

    Progressive advocacy groups and economic analysts on Tuesday denounced retirement savings-related tax changes embedded in Congress’ end-of-year $1.7 trillion spending package, characterizing the pending reforms taken directly from the SECURE 2.0 Act as a “giveaway to the rich.” According to Patriotic Millionaires, a group of wealthy tax fairness champions, the must-pass omnibus bill includes “some…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • EU Approves Germany’s $30 Billion Green Energy Plan

    “The German Renewable Energy Act 2023 scheme will contribute to further decarbonize electricity production,” said one E.U. official.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • Progressives Slam Omnibus Retirement Provisions as ‘Giveaway to the Rich’

    “The retirement changes in the omnibus package overwhelmingly benefit wealthy people… while doing almost nothing for the people who truly struggle to save for retirement,” said one advocate.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • Watchdogs Applaud $3.7 Billion CFPB Fine Against Wells Fargo, Demand Further Federal Action

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau “can treat the symptoms of Wells’ diseased policies, but it cannot tackle the disease itself,” said one advocate. “Other agencies, which have the proper tools to restrict and restructure the business itself, need to step up.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • Unions Welcome $25 Million NLRB Funding Boost Included in Year-End Omnibus

    “If passed by both chambers, the funding Armageddon we warned of has been avoided—for at least this year,” said the NLRB Union.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • Biden Unveils Plan to Reduce Homelessness 25% by 2025

    “The fundamental solution to homelessness is housing,” says the White House roadmap. “When a person is housed, they have a platform to address all their needs, no matter how complex.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • Tim Berners-Lee Wants to Enable Internet Users to Own Their Personal Data

    “You need to get back to a situation where you have autonomy, you have control of all your data,” says the inventor of the World Wide Web.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • US Weapons Makers Set to Profit as Japan Readies $320 Billion Military Buildup

    Japan, a professed pacifist nation since the end of World War II, is set to become the planet’s third-biggest military spender. It will be armed with U.S.-built missiles capable of striking China.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • ‘Red Line’ Crossed: EU Official Threatens Sanctions After Musk Suspends Journalists

    The bloc’s Digital Services Act “requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights,” said Věra Jourová. “This is reinforced under our Media Freedom Act. Elon Musk should be aware of that.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • Giuliani One Step Closer to Being Disbarred in DC for Trying to Overturn Trump Loss

    “The only sanction that’s appropriate” for trying to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters “is disbarment,” said the lawyer who argued the case for Giuliani’s punishment.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • Coalition Urges FTC to Ban Employer Non-Compete Clauses, Which ‘Keep Workers Stuck’

    “Instead of retaining workers through coercive non-compete clauses, employers should maintain a loyal workforce by offering good wages, regular raises and promotions, and fair treatment.”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • Peru Civil Society Calls for National Strike as Unelected President Declares State of Emergency

    “On December 15, the working class across the country will take to the streets to demand the closure of Congress, general elections, and a new constitution,” said the General Confederation of Workers of Peru. “All power to the people!”

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.

  • ‘To Hold Billionaire CEOs Accountable,’ House Dems and Union Leaders Push for Fully Funded NLRB

    “What the hell are we doing here if we are not taking care of working-class people?” asked Rep. Jamaal Bowman.

    This post was originally published on Common Dreams – Breaking News & Views for the Progressive Community.