September, 08 2011, 11:41am EDT
![Friends of the Earth](https://assets.rbl.ms/32012633/origin.png)
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Michelle Chan, economic policy director, at 415-544-0790 ext. 214 or mchan@foe.org
Ben Schreiber, climate and energy tax analyst, at 202-222-0752 or bschreiber@foe.org
Super Committee Can Avoid Harmful Cuts by Protecting the Environment
As a result of this summer's debt ceiling agreement discretionary spending will be slashed by $900 billion over the next ten years. A congressional super committee has been charged with reducing the deficit by an additional $1.5 trillion over ten years; if the committee fails to reach agreement, a trigger will cause an additional $1.2 trillion in cuts to set in. Such cuts could weaken our economy, harm low-income and middle class Americans, and undermine enforcement of bedrock environmental laws that protect clean air and clean water.
WASHINGTON
As a result of this summer's debt ceiling agreement discretionary spending will be slashed by $900 billion over the next ten years. A congressional super committee has been charged with reducing the deficit by an additional $1.5 trillion over ten years; if the committee fails to reach agreement, a trigger will cause an additional $1.2 trillion in cuts to set in. Such cuts could weaken our economy, harm low-income and middle class Americans, and undermine enforcement of bedrock environmental laws that protect clean air and clean water.
Last week House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), released his "jobs memo," which once again signaled that the environment is squarely in the crosshairs in the Republican House. Seven of ten regulatory reforms he proposed are transparent attacks on the environment and public health.
Our country is not broke, and we can afford to protect our environment. The super committee has far better options. By ending subsidies to polluting corporations and making them pay for the costs created by their pollution, we can protect the environment and public health, and generate revenue to stave off cuts to programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Saving up to $380 billion over five years by bringing "Green Scissors" to the budget
In August, Friends of the Earth, as part of an unusual left-right coalition that includes free-market think tank The Heartland Institute, budget watchdog Taxpayers for Common Sense and consumer advocate Public Citizen, released Green Scissors 2011, a report that identifies up to $380 billion in environmentally harmful spending over the next five years. That's one fourth of the savings the super committee has been tasked with obtain, in half the time.
One example: even though the top six oil companies reported $38 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2011, the oil and gas industry is subsidized by taxpayers to the tune of more than $10 billion each year. And oil and gas subsidies are only a small portion of the wasteful government spending that harms the environment.
The coal, nuclear and biofuels industries likewise receive billions in giveaways, while taxpayer dollars and tax expenditures subsidize a host of other activities, including destructive Army Corps of Engineers projects and logging in our national forests. (Please see the Green Scissors report for a full list of the programs and their costs.) Such harmful spending is the first place the super committee should look for savings.
Reducing climate pollution can generate new revenue
It is long past time for polluting corporations to pay for the damage that their pollution does to the American people. The money raised from putting a price on pollution, combined with money saved by closing tax loopholes and eliminating harmful subsidies, could balance the budget.
The obvious place to start generating such revenue is through a carbon tax, a fee imposed on large-scale emissions of carbon dioxide (this fee could also be applied to emissions of other heat-trapping gases that contribute to global warming). Even a modest tax on carbon, like that proposed by Representative Pete Stark (D-Calif.) in 2009, has the potential to generate substantial revenue: His tax could have yielded $80 billion in the first year alone, and $600 billion over 10 years.
While opponents question the political viability of carbon taxes, that's not necessarily because of public opinion. A July 2011 Public Policy Institute of California poll found that a carbon tax had 60 percent support among the state's voters, with only 32 percent opposed. We are not aware of recent national polling on this question.
A carbon tax also makes policy sense because it would yield a "double dividend" as private firms reduce their climate pollution. The impacts of climate change, such as more frequent and severe droughts, heat waves and storms, create costs that taxpayers often bear. The Stockholm Environment Institute recently estimated the total cost of carbon pollution in monetary terms: Every ton of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere causes up to $893 in economic damage.
Other options include taxing acid rain-producing sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions. Some of these emissions sources are already regulated, but the Congressional Budget Office estimates that taxing this pollution could generate $27 billion over five years. Friends of the Earth also supports a currency transaction levy; nearly $1.5 trillion changes hands on international currency exchange markets each day, almost all of it through untaxed transactions made by wealthy speculators. Imposing a microtax on large currency trades could raise $5 billion each year for important social and environmental priorities.
Poor super committee choices will endanger the environment
It should be clear that we cannot balance the budget through spending cuts alone without causing severe damage to our social infrastructure and the economy.
We are particularly concerned that federal agencies' ability to enforce crucial laws protecting the environment is at risk. Already, the debt ceiling deal will likely result in deep budget cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior, jeopardizing the abilities of those agencies to enforce key environmental laws. Crucial tax credits for emerging clean energy industries -- industries that merit financial support and will likely not succeed without it -- are also at risk. Such cuts would be a disaster for our country. Fortunately, by making wise choices like those proposed above, the super committee can avoid them.
Friends of the Earth opposed the debt ceiling agreement because it endangered the environment and failed to fairly distribute the costs of deficit reduction. But now that it has passed and the 12-member super committee has been established, it is crucial that the committee be pressed to act wisely. We hope you will urge it to embrace common sense spending cuts and revenue increases that fairly and equitably reduce the deficit while protecting the environment.
RESOURCES:
* The Green Scissors 2011 report: https://greenscissors.com/news/green-scissors-2011/
* Friends of the Earth's Ben Schreiber argues in Grist for a carbon tax as a budget solution: https://www.grist.org/politics/2011-07-28-could-a-carbon-tax-help-solve-our-budget-woes
* Time's Michael Grunwald on our Green Scissors report: https://swampland.time.com/2011/08/24/spending-cuts-are-great-when-the-spending-is-stupid/
* Mother Jones's Andy Kroll documents the danger that the debt ceiling agreement poses to environmental and other priorities: https://motherjones.com/politics/2011/08/united-states-of-austerity
* Friends of the Earth's Ben Schreiber and The Heartland Institute's Eli Lehrer explain why Green Scissors 2011offers realistic cuts that preserve the environment in The Weekly Standard: https://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/go-green_592142.html?page=1
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.
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US Healthcare Workers Back From Gaza Tell Harris and Biden: 'End This Madness'
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Jul 26, 2024
As President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Thursday, dozens of American healthcare workers who recently volunteered in the Gaza Strip urged the U.S. leaders to do everything in their power to end Israel's assault on the enclave, citing the horrors they witnessed firsthand.
In an open letter addressed to Biden, Harris, and First Lady Jill Biden, 45 physicians, surgeons, and nurses wrote that "we wish you could see the nightmares that plague so many of us since we have returned: dreams of children maimed and mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save them."
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The healthcare workers called on the Biden administration to "withhold military, economic, and diplomatic support from the state of Israel and to participate in an international arms embargo of both Israel and all Palestinian armed groups until a permanent cease-fire is established, and until good-faith negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians lead to a permanent resolution of the conflict."
"We are not politicians. We do not claim to have all the answers," they continued. "We are simply physicians and nurses who cannot remain silent about what we saw in Gaza. Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets. President Biden and Vice President Harris, we urge you: End this madness now!"
This is an open letter addressed to @POTUS, @VP , and @FLOTUS signed by 45 American physicians and nurses, about what we saw while working in Gaza. Please feel free to distribute. A PDF can be downloaded from the link and/or QR code on page 1. pic.twitter.com/LHVvmeAFad
— Feroze Sidhwa (@FerozeSidhwa) July 25, 2024
The letter was released as Netanyahu, fresh off his widely condemned address to the U.S. Congress, met separately on Thursday with Biden and Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
In remarks following her meeting with Netanyahu, Harris said that "what has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating," pointing to "the images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third, or fourth time."
"We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies," the vice president added. "We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent."
Harris said she told Netanyahu directly to "get this deal done"—referring to a cease-fire agreement with Hamas—but, as expected, she did not break with the administration on supplying arms to the Israeli military.
While there has been no obvious policy change from the administration now that Harris has taken over for Biden at the top of the Democratic Party's presidential ticket, Trita Parsi of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft argued that the vice president "clearly broke with Biden on Israel in terms of rhetoric and tone."
Parsi also contended that there was "a substance shift."
"Biden has disingenuously claimed that Hamas blocked a cease-fire deal," Parsi wrote on social media. "By saying that she urged Netanyahu 'to clinch the deal,' Kamala pointed to the real obstacle."
BREAKING: VP Harris speaks after meeting with Israeli PM Netanyahu
Harris calling for an immediate cease-fire deal to free the hostages.
The VP saying she “will not be silent" about the suffering in Gaza, the "devastating" loss of life and the "dire" humanitarian crisis. pic.twitter.com/Fe5QPoOuFh
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 25, 2024
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The healthcare workers expressed the view that—based on available evidence and their experiences—"the death toll from this conflictis many times higher than what is reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health," which currently stands at over 39,100.
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Jul 25, 2024
Labor advocates on Thursday decried a ruling by the California Supreme Court upholding a lower court's affirmation of a state ballot measure allowing app-based ride and delivery companies to classify their drivers as independent contractors, limiting their worker rights.
The court's seven justices ruled unanimously in Castellanos v. State of California that Proposition 22, which was approved by 58% of California voters in 2020, complies with the state constitution. Prop 22—which was overturned in 2021 by an Alameda County Superior Court judge in 2021—was upheld in March 2023 by the state's 1st District Court of Appeals.
The business models of app-based companies including DoorDash, Instacart, Lyft, and Uber rely upon minimizing frontline worker compensation by categorizing drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. Independent contractors are not entitled to unemployment insurance, health insurance, or compensation for business expenses.
There are approximately 1.4 million app-based gig workers in California, according to industry estimates.
While DoorDash hailed Thursday's ruling as "not only a victory for Dashers, but also for democracy itself," gig worker advocates condemned the decision.
"Over the last three years, gig workers across California have experienced firsthand that Prop 22 is nothing more than a bait-and-switch meant to enrich global corporations at the expense of the Black, brown, and immigrant workers who power their earnings," plaintiff Hector Castellanos, who drives for Uber and Lyft, said in a statement.
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Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, said that "we are deeply disappointed that the state Supreme Court has allowed tech corporations to buy their way out of basic labor laws despite Proposition 22's inconsistencies with our state constitution."
"These companies have upended our social contract, forcing workers and the public to take on the inherent risk created by this work, while they profit," she continued. "A.B. 5 granted virtually all California workers the right to be paid for all hours worked, health and safety standards, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, and the right to organize."
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Prop 22's passage in November 2020 with nearly 59% of the vote was the culmination of what was by far the most expensive ballot measure in California history. App-based companies and their backers outspent labor and progressive groups by more than 10 to 1, with proponents pouring a staggering $204.5 million into the "yes" campaign's coffers against just $19 million for the "no" side.
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Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine who focuses on labor and inequality, toldCalMatters that Thursday's ruling was "a really tragic outcome," but "it's not the end of the road."
Dubal's sentiment was echoed by some California state legislators, who said the ruling presents an opportunity to act.
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"This is your chance to energize young people and our communities to vote, mount one of the greatest political comebacks in decades, and deliver a resounding defeat to the far-right agenda of Trump and Vance."
Jul 25, 2024
Four youth-led groups on Thursday urged Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, to "fight for our future" by pursuing a policy agenda the coalition unveiled in a March letter to U.S. President Joe Biden.
It's been less than a week since Biden left the race and endorsed Harris, who is expected to face former Republican Donald Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), in the November election. Since then, she's racked up endorsements from Democratic members of Congress and progressive groups focused on issues including climate, labor, and reproductive rights.
March for Our Lives, which was launched after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, honored Harris with the group's first-ever endorsement on Wednesday, calling her "the right person to stand up for us and fight for the country we deserve."
"To defeat Trump, you must rebuild support and enthusiasm among young voters."
The gun violence prevention organization is part of the youth-led coalition behind the new letter, which also includes the climate-focused Sunrise Movement; Gen-Z for Change, which advocates on a range of issues; and the national immigrant network United We Dream Action.
"You have an urgent and important task. To defeat Trump, you must rebuild support and enthusiasm among young voters," the coalition told Harris on Thursday, noting that she sought the Democratic nomination during the last cycle. "You should build on your 2020 campaign platform where you put forward a strong vision to make the economy work for everyday people and ensure a livable future for us all."
The groups urged Harris to support the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and the Reverse Mass Incarceration Act. They pushed her to expand pathways to citizenship, keep families together, end fossil fuel subsidies, and create good, union jobs. They also called on her to prioritize gun violence prevention and investments in public health solutions and green, affordable housing.
"Democrats are at a critical crossroads with young people," the coalition wrote to Harris on Thursday. "Polls showed Biden and Trump neck-and-neck among young voters."
ANew York Times/Siena College poll conducted July 22-24 shows Trump leading Harris 48% to 47% among likely voters and 48% to 46% among registered voters—differences that fall within the margin of error.
Forbesnoted Thursday that "Democrats are far more enthusiastic about Harris than they were Biden, the Times/Siena survey found, with nearly 80% of voters who lean Democrat saying they would like Harris to be the nominee, compared to 48% of Democrats who said the same about Biden three weeks ago."
The outlet also pointed to two other polls conducted by Morning Consult and Reuters/Ipsos since Biden dropped out, which both show Harris with a narrow lead over Trump.
"You have an opportunity to win the youth vote by turning the page and differentiating yourself from Biden policies that are deeply unpopular with us, such as approving new oil and gas projects, denying people their right to seek refuge and asylum, and funding the Israeli government's killing of civilians in Gaza," the youth coalition highlighted Thursday. "You must speak to the economic pain young people are facing from crushing student debt and skyrocketing housing and food prices."
Looking beyond November, the groups told Harris—who could be the first Black woman and person of Asian descent elected to the country's highest office—that "you could be a historic president. Not just because of who you are, but what you can accomplish."
"Young people are energized and ready to organize against fascism and for the future we deserve," they concluded. "This is your chance to energize young people and our communities to vote, mount one of the greatest political comebacks in decades, and deliver a resounding defeat to the far-right agenda of Trump and Vance."
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