November, 18 2008, 03:17pm EDT
Obama's Commitment to Tackle Global Warming Welcomed, But He Must Go Further
WASHINGTON
President-elect
Barack Obama spoke via video to the bipartisan "Governors' Climate
Summit" in California today, announcing a climate change agenda
consistent with the one he outlined during his campaign.
Friends of the Earth
President Brent Blackwelder had the following response:
"After eight
years of failed leadership from an administration that did all it could to
stand in the way of progress, Barack Obama's commitment to tackle global
warming head-on is a welcome change. As his address today indicates,
Obama understands the gravity of the threat, knows that combating global
warming will strengthen our economy, and supports needed solutions, including
investments in clean energy and putting a price on carbon emissions. But
Obama must go further. His current timeline for reducing emissions must
be strengthened-scientists say the U.S. must reduce emissions at least
25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 (and probably much more than that) if we
are to have a decent shot at avoiding catastrophic warming. In addition,
we must not waste precious resources by spending them on expensive and
inefficient dead-end or nonexistent technologies including nuclear power or
so-called 'clean coal.' Obama is demonstrating leadership on global warming from the get-go.
But the enormity of the task at hand requires him to be even more
aggressive."
Friends of the Earth fights for a more healthy and just world. Together we speak truth to power and expose those who endanger the health of people and the planet for corporate profit. We organize to build long-term political power and campaign to change the rules of our economic and political systems that create injustice and destroy nature.
(202) 783-7400LATEST NEWS
Press Freedom Advocates 'Alarmed' as Russia Detains US Journalist on Espionage Charges
Reporters Without Borders said the arrest "looks like retaliation."
Mar 30, 2023
This is a developing news story... Check back for possible updates...
Russia's security service said Thursday that it has detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, a U.S. citizen, on charges of "espionage in the interests of the American government."
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) alleged that Gershkovich "collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex."
Gershkovich has recently reported on the war in Ukraine and the role played by the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, whose founder toldThe Daily Beast that he had not heard of the journalist's arrest.
"If you want, I can check the torture cellar in my house to see if he's there," said Yevgeny Prigozhin. "At first glance, I didn't see him among the American journalists I keep there by the dozens. I can, if you want, also look at the fresh graves of foreign journalists on my house plot. But if I'm not mistaken, we didn't bury him there either."
The Journalsaid in a statement that it "vehemently denies" the accusations against Gershkovich and is pursuing his immediate release. Gershkovich was accredited to work as a journalist in Russia by the nation's foreign ministry.
In response to news of Gershkovich's arrest, the global press freedom group Reporters Without Borders said it is "alarmed by what looks like retaliation: journalists must not be targeted!"
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'Freaking Cowards!' Bowman Confronts GOP Colleague Face-to-Face on Gun Violence
"Republicans won't do SHIT when it comes to gun violence, but try to tell me to calm down," Rep. Jamaal Bowman wrote after a heated exchange with Republican Rep. Thomas Massie.
Mar 30, 2023
Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman vocally condemned his Republican colleagues in a hallway outside the House chamber on Wednesday, calling them "freaking cowards" and "gutless" for refusing to support basic control measures in the wake of the nation's latest mass shooting—the 130th of the year.
As Bowman railed against GOP obstructionism, saying that Republicans "won't do anything to save the lives of our children," Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) stopped to ask the New York Democrat, "What are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about gun violence!" Bowman responded.
Massie—who in 2021 posted a Christmas photo in which he and his family members are holding guns—proceeded to tout a dangerous, NRA-backed proposal that Republicans float after virtually every school shooting in the U.S.: Arming teachers. (A number of states already allow teachers to carry firearms under certain conditions.)
Bowman, a former teacher and middle school principal, derided Massie's suggestion, replying: "More guns lead to more death. Look at the data." A study published in The BMJ in 2019 found that states with more lax gun regulation—and higher rates of gun ownership—experience higher rates of mass shootings.
Watch the heated exchange between Bowman and Massie, one of the most fervent opponents of gun regulations in Congress:
\u201cReps. Jamaal Bowman and Thomas Massie in a shouting match outside the House chamber on gun violence\u201d— Ellis Kim (@Ellis Kim) 1680129701
Bowman later posted the exchange to his Twitter account, writing: "Republicans won't do SHIT when it comes to gun violence, but try to tell me to calm down."
"We can't calm down," he added. "People are dying every day while we wait."
There's no indication that Republicans intend to drop their opposition to popular gun control measures in the wake of the deadly shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville earlier this week.
"The things that have already been done have gone about as far as we're going with gun control," Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) toldCNN.
In an appearance on that same network on Tuesday, Bowman called gun violence "an American disease."
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Bowman, Sanders Lead Push for Biden to Probe Israel's Use of US Arms Against Palestinians
"Leaders in Congress who join this letter are following the demands of a rapidly growing number of Americans—including American Jews—who want to see the Israeli government held accountable for its decades of oppression of Palestinians," said one advocate.
Mar 29, 2023
Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Sen. Bernie Sanders are circulating a letter this week urging the Biden administration to "undertake a shift in U.S. policy in recognition of the worsening violence, further annexation of land, and denial of Palestinian rights" by Israel.
The letter, which was first obtained and published by Alex Kane at Jewish Currents, was written by Bowman (D-N.Y.) and is being circulated by Sanders (I-Vt.) in order to gain support from other senators. So far, Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), André Carson (D-Ind.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) have signed it.
In the letter, the lawmakers expressed their "deep concern" over the "rapidly escalating violence" perpetrated by Israeli occupation forces and settler-colonists against Palestinians. It notes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right government includes people like Itamar Ben-Gvir, the Jewish supremacist security minister who "openly encourages and praises violence against Palestinians," and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who "responded to the recent Israeli settler attacks on the Palestinian town of Huwara" by calling for the whole town to be "wiped out."
\u201cSCOOP: Bowman, Sanders and 8 others are urging the Biden administration to investigate whether Israel is using US weapons to commit human rights abuses against Palestinians. It's progressives' most forceful response yet to Israel\u2019s new far-right government\u00a0https://t.co/iPJVBdemIe\u201d— Alex Kane (@Alex Kane) 1680104787
The letter—which, unlike various human rights groups, does not use the term apartheid—details "shocking violence" that is the "bloody reality" for Palestinians living under illegal occupation in the West Bank.
"On February 22, a daytime raid by the Israeli army into the crowded Palestinian city of Nablus killed 11 Palestinians, among them a 72 year-old-man and a 16-year-old child," the lawmakers wrote. "On February 26, a Palestinian gunman shot dead two Israeli settlers outside of Nablus. Subsequently, hundreds of Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian town of Huwara."
"The settlers, accompanied by the Israeli army, set fire to homes, schools, vehicles, and businesses, killing one Palestinian and injuring over 300 Palestinians," the letter continues. "The local Israeli military commander called the attack a 'pogrom.'"
The letter notes:
This comes amid an already violent year. Israeli forces and settlers have killed over 85 Palestinians in 2023, including 16 children. At least 14 Israelis have been killed, including two children. The previous year was the deadliest for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2004 and included the Israeli military's killings of two American citizens, Shireen Abu Akleh and Omar Assad...
This Israeli government's anti-democratic mission to dismantle the rule of law is a threat to Israelis and Palestinians alike. In addition to explicitly hateful, anti-Palestinian policies, this government is attempting to destroy the independent Israeli judiciary.
The Israeli government's judiciary reforms—which earlier this week were put on hold amid massive protests—"open the path towards further annexation of Palestinian lands," in "violation of international law," the U.S. legislators noted.
The lawmakers urge the Biden administration to:
- Ensure U.S. taxpayer funds do not support projects in illegal settlements;
- Determine whether U.S.-origin defense articles have been used in violation of existing U.S. laws, including for a purpose not authorized by Section 4 of the Arms Export Control Act... or to commit or support gross violations of human rights by the Israeli government; and
- Ensure that all future foreign assistance to Israel, including weapons and equipment, is not used in support of gross violations of human rights.
The lawmakers' push was praised by organizations including the Institute for Policy Studies, Win Without War, and Jewish Voice for Peace, whose political director, Beth Miller, called the letter "an important call to action."
\u201cUSCPR is proud to sign onto this letter led by \n@SenSanders & @RepBowman. \n\nThis letter pushes action & accountability for the U.S.'s ongoing funding of the Israeli regime's human rights abuses against Palestinian people. \n\n#StopArmingIsrael\nhttps://t.co/N4YDS2CSDD\u201d— #DefendMasaferYatta USCPR (@#DefendMasaferYatta USCPR) 1680112274
"Over 80 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers just since the beginning of 2023, and the Biden administration's statements of 'concern' mean nothing without action and accountability," Miller said in a statement. "Leaders in Congress who join this letter are following the demands of a rapidly growing number of Americans—including American Jews—who want to see the Israeli government held accountable for its decades of oppression of Palestinians."
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