January, 25 2017, 11:00pm EDT

Major Climate March in Communities Nationwide on April 29
Organizing Starts Now to Resist Attacks on the Environment and Communities. Leaders Call for a New Clean Energy Economy that Stops Climate Change and Creates Good Jobs for All
WASHINGTON
Climate activists have announced a major "People's Climate March" on April 29th in Washington, D.C. and throughout the country. The effort is being organized by the coalition formed out of 2014's People's Climate March, which brought over 400,000 people to the streets of New York City and many more around the world.
The April 29th march comes in response to widespread outrage against President Trump's disastrous anti-climate agenda - including his executive orders this week advancing the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines - along with his attacks on health care, immigrants, and programs and policies that improve the lives of all Americans.
The march will cap off 100 days of action to fight back against Trump's proposals to reverse climate action, dismantle our government, and hand power over to the 1 percent.
More than 145 protests in local communities took place across the country in the first 100 hours of the Trump presidency, demonstrating widespread opposition to the administration's anti-environment and corporate agenda as part of an ongoing campaign organized by the People's Climate Movement.
"The climate crisis is an outcome of the long term disinvestment of low-income communities, and low-income communities of color," said Rae Breaux, lead climate justice organizer for People's Action Institute.
"President Trump's First 100 Days plan is a clear sign that he will fast-track profits for corporations before he invests in the needs of the American people.
"Now is the time to come together and build an economy where investments are made to benefit workers, communities of color and low-income folks - an economy that is structured to reflect the fact that black, brown and indigenous lives matter," she said.
Background and History: The People's Climate Movement grew out of the largest climate march in U.S. history in New York in September of 2014, creating a groundbreaking coalition of green and environmental justice groups, labor unions, faith, students, indigenous peoples and civil rights groups working to advance a climate agenda rooted in economic and racial justice.
With the 100 days of action and April march, this coalition will leverage their power once again, to resist the Trump administration and corporate leaders' efforts to thwart or reverse progress towards a more just America.
Now more than ever, it will take everyone to change everything. So, the People's Climate Movement is calling on everyone to join in resisting Trump, his crooked administration and the one percent who are running our country.
For more information on The People's Climate Movement and the mobilization on April 29th, please visit: https://peoplesclimate.org/
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Here's what others are saying about Climate Action and standing up to President Trump:
Jeremiah Lowery, Environmental Justice Organizer, Washington, D.C.: "As a community member of the frontline, we must not be forgotten. The next 100 days are critical. Trump's policies will have devastating impact on communities directly impacted by climate change. Supporting local organizing efforts will be important in any effort to stop Trump's attack on our environment, health, and ultimately collective well-being"
Denise Abdul-Rahman, NAACP Indiana Executive Board Member and State Chair:
"The NAACP mantra is about advocating for civil rights. Our grassroots based organization has injected civil disobedience to oppose the current attorney general appointee, we are asserting our voices and calling for a more just and inclusive policies and appointees. We are strategizing at local, state and federal level to curtail the oppressive policies espoused by the Koch Brothers and Alec. These are policies that disproportionately impact our communities, such as criminal justice, voting rights, jobs, women's rights, health care, climate and education. We are with the People, and the People's Climate Movement."
Reverend Leo Woodbury, Kingdom Living Temple in Florence, South Carolina: "President Trump's issuing of executive orders rolling back President Obama's climate agenda in his first days of office and his efforts at dismantling the EPA is a serious threat to our communities. In South Carolina and across the country, communities of color and low-income people are on the front-lines of the climate crisis and we need to fight back. This year we are rebuilding our church for the second time in two years due to flooding from storms that were stronger due to climate change. In our communities, and others across the country, people are dealing with wells and drinking water contaminated with human waste, pesticides and toxic chemicals due to overflow from storms that are stronger than ever before as a result of global warming. We need to come together under the People's Climate Movement banner in Washington, D.C. on April 29th to say we are fighting for our planet and our communities."
Angela Adrar, Executive Director, Climate Justice Alliance: "For the next 100 days and as long as it will take, the Climate Justice Alliance is standing side by side across the U.S. in unity with the people-- in defiance of those who want to divide us. Women of color will not be sacrificed, our communities will not be sacrificed -- now is the time to fight for climate justice as it is key to our liberation and justice for all. Defenders of water, land, air, food, our bodies, and homes will unite across struggles to grow the resistance. Inauguration was just the beginning of a social movement uprising that is making Her-story."
Aura Vasquez, Director of Climate Justice, Center for Popular Democracy: "Around the country and the world, we agreed that climate change is real and affects those most vulnerable. We cannot afford to continue polluting our air and water. Our families deserve a healthy environment to live in. CPD is committed to continue pushing for climate justice with some of the strongest grassroots organizations in the country. We can't back down now. We need climate solutions that protect the most vulnerable from climate change-related damage while finding viable solutions to our current climate crisis."
Michelle Suarez, Florida Institute for Reform and Empowerment, (F.I.R.E.): "As the climate crisis worsens, it's clear that women, children, indigenous nations, low-income and communities of color must lead the way. Marginalized communities can no longer be ignored, instead, real solutions must come from more intentional relationships with one another, an intersectional approach as we empower, educate, and mobilize towards ensuring more resilient communities, justice and equity for all."
Chloe Jackson, Just Transition and Climate Justice Organizer, Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment: "Communities across the country have been working for environmental and social justice for centuries. Now it's time for our struggles to unite and work together across borders to fight racism, sexism, xenophobia, and environmental destruction. We have a lot of work to do, and we are stronger together. Our vision for a better future can be achieved if we join hands in this struggle and support each other."
Mark Magana, President and CEO, GreenLatinos: "Latino communities and GreenLatinos members across this country will stand together with the People's Climate Movement and lift our voices for justice; the right to clean air and clean water; the right to a healthy, clean, and protected environment; the right to live. Latinos have a culture that is grounded in environmentalism and conservationism. It is a way of being for our community, and it is in our DNA. GreenLatinos members from across the country will join the People's Climate March in Washington, DC on April 29th to bring that collective culture and wisdom to bare on the most anti-environment administration and Congress in generations."
Jamie Henn, 350.org Strategic Communications Director: "As Trump's corrupt cabinet presents a dark and divisive vision for our world, we envision a world powered by renewable energy with an economy that works for all of us. For too long, a small few have exploited people and planet all in the name of profit. Now, we all must come together to fight for the world we know is possible."
Dr. Rachel Cleetus, Climate Policy Manager, Union of Concerned Scientists: "Climate change is contributing to an increase in extreme weather disasters. We're seeing more rains that come as deluges, stronger North Atlantic hurricanes, worsening droughts and heat waves, and a longer, more severe Western wildfire season. When disaster strikes, we see the same old pattern: low-income and minority communities are hit harder than others and have a much harder time recovering."
Patrick Carolan, Executive Director, Franciscan Action Network: "Pope Francis, in his encyclical on ecology, Laudato Si, calls on "every person living on this planet" (LS#3) to "move forward in a bold cultural revolution." (LS#114) It is our moral responsibility to enter in to dialogue with political and faith leaders and ardently work to care for our common home."
Dominique Browning, Senior Director, Moms Clean Air Force: "We represent a million moms--and dads--from across the country. Republican and Democrat, we want to see action to cut the carbon and methane emissions that are changing our climate to so dangerously, and so rapidly. Climate change threatens the health of our children. We are ready to march, to show elected officials that we expect them to respect science, respect medicine, and do the right thing."
Karina Castillo, Miami-based meteorologist and Moms Clean Air Force Organizer: "In Florida, Latinas understand that climate change is a major threat to our health, our livelihood, and our future. Our families and communities are on the line. We are going to make that loud and clear."
Kieran Suckling, Executive Director, Center for Biological Diversity: "From coast-to-coast, we've seen a massive movement building to resist Trump and any policies that would hurt wildlife, marginalize entire classes of people and drive the climate deeper into crisis," said Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center for Biological Diversity, which just completed its 16-city Earth2Trump tour across the country. "People from all walks of life, are speaking with a single voice of resistance against Trump and his corrupt agenda to gut climate progress and dig fossil fuels from the ground. It's a powerful movement that will show its mighty political force at the People's Climate March in 2017 and over the next four years."
Margrete Strand Rangnes, Executive Vice President, Public Citizen: "Despite the Trump Administration's insistence to bury its head in the sand and deny the overwhelming scientific evidence, climate change is real and is impacting people's lives. Moving away from fossil fuels and toward energy efficiency and renewable energy will not only lower energy prices for consumers, but also save lives and improve the health of people and communities"
Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune: "On April 29th, it's going to be much clearer to Donald Trump that he won't drag America or the world backwards on climate without the fight of his life. Our planet is in crisis, and voices from around the nation must and will be heard."
Eva Lin (18 years old), Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) Fellow, San Francisco, CA: "As a young person, a woman, and an immigrant, Trump's presidency threatens my future career as an environmental activist, my bodily autonomy, and my right to simply exist in this country."
Gene Karpinski, President, League of Conservation Voters: "The Trump administration's agenda for the environment is a polluter's dream. It's one of the most dangerous we've seen yet. We must fight back -- but it's going to take all of us."
Ernesto Vargas, Deputy National Director, Chispa, League of Conservation Voters: "We must grow the resistance to this administration's disregard for our climate and our communities. We must organize to guarantee that the political power of communities of color is seen, heard and felt at the White House." (Chispa is a community organizing program building Latino leadership to influence policy makers and local leaders to take action on climate change.)
Alexa Aispuro, Volunteer, Chispa Nevada, League of Conservation Voters: "As a young woman, I believe now more than ever our communities are ready to stand up for Mother Earth. I want to ensure that future generations have access to clean air and water, hope for curbing climate change. That's why I look forward to joining the April 29th march and encouraging others in my state and around the country to do the same."
Mike Tidwell, Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network: "This morning, Trump made clear that he is putting pipelines over people. We want to make clear: We will never stop fighting. In Trump's first 100 days of office, we will continue mobilizing a historic movement to protect our water, our climate, and our communities."
People's Action builds the power of poor and working people, in rural, suburban, and urban areas to win change through issue campaigns and elections.
LATEST NEWS
Supreme Court Upholds Transgender Athlete Bans, Giving States Green Light For Discrimination
"We have entered a period when the legal recognition and legal protections for trans and intersex people are at an all-time low," said the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Jun 30, 2026
In a ruling that defenders of LGBTQ+ rights say clears the way for discrimination, the US Supreme Court upheld state laws banning transgender girls and women from participating on school and college athletic teams.
In a decision that will likely supercharge attacks on transgender people by red states and the Trump administration, the court said that state-level bans on transgender athletes did not violate either the 14th Amendment of the Constitution or Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education.
The court's six conservatives ruled that Idaho and West Virginia did not violate the equal protection clause because the laws were made in the interest of athletic fairness.
"Biological males generally possess inherent physical advantages in sports," wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh for the majority, describing it as a topic where there is still "medical and scientific uncertainty."
He dismissed equal protection claims from two athletes: 16-year-old shot put champion Becky Pepper-Jackson of West Virginia and 25-year-old Boise State student Lindsey Hecox, who failed to make her school's cross-country team because she was "too slow" but played in club-level sports.
The athletes argued that they took puberty-blocking medication that would have blunted their advantages, but Kavanaugh wrote that states were under no obligation to "grant individualized exemptions to specific athletes or subclasses."
The court ruled unanimously that West Virginia's state ban did not violate Title IX. But the court's three liberals disagreed on the question of equal protection.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the scientific uncertainty surrounding the question was precisely why states should proceed with caution rather than enact categorical bans.
“In the end, to the court, the facts do not matter, even though the consequences are serious,” she wrote in her dissent.
She added that state bans will be harmful to trans people seeking friendship and community through sports. She said because of the court's decision, a state can deny young people "these experiences simply because it thinks they have an inherent athletic advantage, even if the facts show that they do not."
Sasha Buchert, senior attorney and director of the Non-Binary and Transgender Rights Project at Lambda Legal—which represented Pepper-Jackson—said the ruling was "deeply harmful for transgender women and girls who only asked for the ability to participate in sports with their peers."
"Countless studies have demonstrated the myriad benefits that come with participation in team sports," she added. "Now, one population, transgender youth and collegians, are targeted for specific and baseless discrimination."
The decision effectively legitimizes efforts in more than two dozen Republican-led states that have adopted bans on transgender athletes. However, Shannon Minter, the legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights (NCLR), noted that the decision did not go as far as it could have, allowing other states to leave intact policies that let trans students participate.
"This is a disappointing decision, but also a narrow one that leaves the door open for the many states and schools that have adopted reasonable policies that protect both fairness and inclusion with respect to transgender students," Minter said. "Today’s limited decision means that states and schools across the country still have the power to make reasonable rules to ensure fairness without banning all transgender girls."
NCLR staff attorney Rachel Berg said that the ruling still "ignores clear discrimination and political attacks against transgender girls" and invites "invasive policing of young people's bodies."
"Blanket bans on transgender girls playing school sports invite anyone to call for a ‘gender check’ on any girl who wants to play sports if they think she is ‘too tall’ or ‘too strong,’” she warned.
Lambda Legal listed several cases in which young people in states with bans have been singled out and targeted with aggressive physical scrutiny by state officials:
In Florida, a 15-year-old junior varsity volleyball player was the subject of a police investigation after an anonymous accusation, prompting local officials to draft a 500-page report investigating her medical history, body weight, and anatomy. In Utah, a teenage basketball player was accused of being transgender by a member of the state board of education, leading to threats of violence against her and her family, and a teenager in Maine faced a similar attack from a state senator. In May, President Donald Trump similarly targeted a 16-year-old transgender girl for participating in a high school track meet. Under an Arizona ban, a cisgender male student was prohibited from participating on the boys’ team at his high school because of a clerical error that listed him as female on his original birth certificate.
Tuesday's decision comes amid an onslaught of other state-level legislation attacking transgender people, including bans on gender-affirming care for youth, bathroom bans, restrictions and invalidations of legal documents, and laws prohibiting schools from respecting students' preferred gender identities.
Karla Gonzales Garcia, the gender, sexuality, and identity director at Amnesty International USA, said the decision also "comes at a time of rising authoritarian practices under the Trump administration, which use gender and sexuality as a cultural battle for political gain."
The administration has threatened to investigate, sue, and strip funding from schools that accept trans athletes; attempted to throttle medical funding for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care; banned transgender people from the military; and pushed to force transgender women into men's prisons where they are at severe risk of sexual assault.
The Center for Constitutional Rights said that Tuesday's ruling "confirms what trans and intersex advocates have known for some time: we are in the Plessy v. Ferguson/Bowers v. Hardwick era of trans rights," referring to Supreme Court cases that upheld Jim Crow segregation and state bans on homosexuality.
"We have entered a period when the legal recognition and legal protections for trans and intersex people are at an all-time low," the group continued. "Anti-trans policymakers and activists have, through their actions and rhetoric, made their goal clear: to terrorize trans people and remove them from public life."
Several Democratic members of Congress expressed solidarity with the transgender community following the ruling.
"The Supreme Court’s ruling to allow states to ban trans kids from playing in sports is discriminatory and opens the door to incredibly invasive examinations of children to determine who can play on what team," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), whose adult daughter is trans. "This decision targets a tiny population of athletes and further emboldens Republicans’ anti-trans crusade."
Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) warned that the decision "hands Trump yet another weapon to strip protections and funding from schools across our nation," and said Republicans were "weaponizing our most vulnerable kids as pawns in a fight they did not choose."
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said: "We will keep fighting. Discrimination and hate will not win."
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'A Disaster for Democracy': Report Shows Surging Corporate Spending in 2026 Elections
"The intense escalation of corporate spending we are now seeing shows that it is well past time for salvaging American democracy to be treated with the urgency that it deserves."
Jun 30, 2026
As the right-wing majority on the US Supreme Court on Tuesday handed down a 6-3 ruling that campaign finance reform advocates warned would give special interest groups and rich donors yet another way to curry favor with politicians, a new report from government watchdog Public Citizen revealed how "corporate supremacist" groups have already set records for spending in this year's midterm elections.
There are still more than four months to go until the general election, but according to "The Rise of Corporate Supremacist Super PACs,” by research director Rick Claypool, this campaign cycle accounts for nearly one-third of all corporate political spending since the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (FEC) ruling.
That decision has enabled corporations and groups including super political action committees (PACs) to spend unlimited money on elections, and in the 2026 cycle alone, they have already spent $517 million—"a figure sure to soar as the November general election approaches," said Public Citizen.
"These totals reference disclosed political spending, not any contributions from dark money organizations that keep donors secret," the group emphasized.
The amount spent this year by Big Tech, fossil fuel companies, the cryptocurrency industry, and other sectors whose bottom lines could benefit from lax government regulations represents a sizable chunk of the $1.58 billion that corporations have spent on federal elections since 2010.
The 2024 election cycle saw $461 million poured into campaigns by corporations, a sum that dwarfed previous corporate political spending.
Public Citizen released its report as the Supreme Court ruled in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. FEC, striking down regulations that for decades have restricted political parties from coordinating campaign spending with candidates.
The report offered more evidence that the high court "has reorganized America for the worse," said law professor Zephyr Teachout.
Four industries—crypto, artificial intelligence, Big Tech, and online betting companies—have spent $294 million collectively to influence the elections, said Public Citizen, accounting for 57% of the corporate spending.
In 2024, the crypto sector pioneered the playbook corporations are using this year—"prioritizing corporate priorities over parties or candidates and using their financial power to discipline sitting lawmakers and candidates."
PACs including the pro-AI Leading the Future and the sports betting industry-backed Win for America PAC are some of the top recipients of the corporate case, taking $50.1 million and $43 million, respectively.
A Win for America spokesperson told Axios in April that the super PAC's backers "seek candidates who will thoughtfully approach regulation and ensure legal sports betting can continue to support communities through billions in tax revenue and jobs across America," while Josh Vlasto of the pro-crypto PAC Fairshake said in 2025 that the committee is "building an aggressive, targeted strategy for next year to ensure that pro-crypto voices are heard in key races across the country.”
Claypool said the report shows that "a decade and a half after Citizens United, corporations are starting to spend on politics like never before."
"This corporate spending is a disaster for democracy," he said. "If the current, broken campaign finance system remains unchallenged—and corporate spending is allowed to drown out the voices of real voters and real people—these corporate campaigns will keep multiplying, even as voting rights for individual Americans face escalating attacks.”
Behind the "corporate supremacist super PACs," reads the report, the biggest beneficiary of corporate spending is the President Donald Trump-supporting MAGA Inc., which has received $120.6 million in direct contributions from companies including Crypto.com, UnitedHealthcare, and Energy Transfer Partners.
The report comes two weeks after campaigners in Montana announced they had collected signatures that far exceeded the minimum requirement to force a statewide vote on a ballot measure that, if passed, would block corporations from pouring money into elections.
"Time and time again, Americans have demonstrated they want elected officials who are willing to stand up for them against the powerful and predatory corporations that attempt to dominate our daily lives," reads the Public Citizen report. "Lawmakers can demonstrate their fearlessness and independence from corporate influence by passing legislation that empowers the public while reducing the influence of Big Business demands to prioritize profit-maximization over Americans’ health, safety, and democracy."
The group called on Congress to pass the "Abolish Super PACs Act, the DISCLOSE Act, and, ultimately, a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United."
"The intense escalation of corporate spending we are now seeing," concludes the report, "shows that it is well past time for salvaging American democracy to be treated with the urgency that it deserves."
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'Unconscionable,' Says Khanna as House Panel Blocks Effort to Prevent Deeper US-Israeli Military Ties
"They're not even giving us a vote on the amendment," said Rep. Ro Khanna, who vowed to "continue to fight to make sure we don't compromise American sovereignty."
Jun 30, 2026
A Republican-controlled House panel on Monday refused to allow a floor vote on a bipartisan amendment to prevent closer integration of the American and Israeli militaries, which human rights organizations say would deepen US complicity in Israeli war crimes.
"This is unconscionable," Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who led the proposed amendment alongside Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), said in a video posted to social media on Tuesday. "They're not even giving us a vote on the amendment."
Khanna vowed that "Thomas and I will continue to fight to make sure we don't compromise American sovereignty."
Watch:
Congress has blocked the amendment @RepThomasMassie and I introduced to stop the integration of our military with Israel’s. It is unconscionable to not even have a vote. We will be continuing on and will not be intimidated by the pro-Israel lobby. pic.twitter.com/6ai93L0rAY
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) June 30, 2026
The Khanna-Massie amendment would have removed the US-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative from annual military policy legislation currently moving through Congress. The initiative, laid out in Section 219 of the House's National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), instructs the Pentagon to "designate an executive agent... responsible for synchronizing cooperative efforts between the United States and Israel, to expand and accelerate bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, integration, and industrial cooperation."
On Monday, the House Rules Committee unveiled a list of NDAA amendments that it decided would get a full House vote, and the Khanna-Massie proposal was absent. Ben Freeman noted at Responsible Statecraft that the rules panel made its decision "after no debate" on the amendment.
"By rejecting the Khanna and Massie amendment, the Rules Committee on Monday ensured the American public would not even get to see how their representatives would vote on this pivotal issue," Freeman wrote. "This is despite unprecedented levels of public distrust in the Israeli government and widespread public outrage directed at these proposals."
The fight to block the US-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative—which is enthusiastically backed by the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC—is not necessarily over.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said earlier this month that lawmakers "must" strip the initiative from the NDAA, signaling a possible fight over the provision in the upper chamber. A summary of the Senate version of the NDAA states that the legislation would establish "the United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative to expand and accelerate bilateral defense technology research, development, testing, evaluation, coordination, and industrial cooperation between the US and
Israel."
Leading human rights organizations, including Amnesty International USA and Human Rights Watch (HRW), have urged lawmakers to reject the cooperation initiative, with the latter group warning that the proposal would "deepen US military cooperation with Israel while walling that cooperation off from further congressional oversight."
"Israeli forces’ widespread war crimes, crimes against humanity, and its ongoing acts of genocide in Gaza should give the United States pause about closer military association," said Akshaya Kumar, HRW's director of crisis advocacy. "Instead, Section 219 proposes to deepen entanglement, in a way that makes the risks of complicity ongoing. Legislators still have a chance to strip this damaging proposal out."
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