May, 16 2016, 03:15pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Angelica Pago, Media Campaigner, Greenpeace Philippines, +63 949 889 1332, angelica.pago@greenpeace.org
Rahma Shofiana, Media Campaigner, Greenpeace Indonesia, +62 811 146 1174, rahma.shofiana@greenpeace.org
Mbong Akiy, Communications Manager, Greenpeace South Africa, +27 (0) 11 482 4696, mbong.akiy@greenpeace.org
Jason Schwartz, Media Officer, Greenpeace USA, +01 347 452 3752, jason.schwartz@greenpeace.org
Rania Massoud, Communications Officer, Greenpeace Canada, +01 438 929 7447, rania.massoud@greenpeace.org
Hoda Baraka, Break Free Global Communications Manager, 350.org, +1 347 453 6600, hoda@350.org
Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org
Largest Global Civil Disobedience in the History of the Climate Movement Concludes
HONG KONG
Twelve days of worldwide actions from NGOs, local organisations and communities against fossil fuels have just concluded, showing that the climate movement will not rest until all coal, oil and gas is kept in the ground. The combined global efforts on six continents now pose a serious threat to the future of the fossil fuel industry, already weakened by financial and political uncertainty.
"This is the hottest year we've ever measured, and so it is remarkably comforting to see people rising up at every point of the compass to insist on change," said Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org.
Tens of thousands of activists took to the streets, occupied mines, blocked rail lines, linked arms, paddled in kayaks and held community meetings in 13 countries, pushing the boundaries of conventional protest to find new ways to demand coal, oil and gas stay in the ground.
"In our fight against fossil fuels, Southeast Asia is a major battleground and we cannot afford to cede to those who think of nothing but profit instead of people, and plunder instead of protecting the environment," said Yeb Sano, Executive Director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia.
"As our communities rise against this addiction to coal, we hope to inspire massive civil participation all over the planet. Break Free is a breath of hope for all communities who are standing up to the fossil fuel industry's relentless expansion despite climate change."
Driving this unprecedented wave of demonstrations is the sudden and dramatic acceleration in the warming of the planet, with every single month of 2016 shattering heat records - combined with the growing gap between world governments' stated climate ambitions, and their demonstrated actions in approving new fossil fuel projects. On the last day of mobilisation, a key monitoring site on Tasmania, Australia, recorded atmospheric carbon-dioxide exceeding 400 parts per million for the first time ever.
These actions took place under the banner of Break Free, which refers to the need to shift away from our current dependency on fossil fuels to a global energy system powered by 100% renewable energy. In 2015, 90% of new energy capacity came from renewables, signaling that a rapid transition to 100% renewable energy is more feasible than ever.
As the impacts of a warming planet become more visible in the form of rising sea levels, drought and stronger storms, the citizens who joined Break Free will continue to be a part of the next phase of the movement as it becomes more vocal, disruptive and powerful.
Notes to editors:
A sample of actions from communities and organisations around the world:
Australia: Media reports claim $20 million worth of coal shipments were halted by activists shutting down the largest coal port in the world in Newcastle, Australia.
Brazil: Community members blocked traffic outside the gates of Brazil's largest thermal coal plant, in Ceara
Canada: On land and water, indigenous communities and local activists blockaded the Kinder Morgan tar sands facility in Metro-Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish Territories.
Germany: 3,500 people shut down one of Europe's biggest carbon polluters in Germany, occupying a lignite mine and nearby power station for over 48 hours, reducing the plant's capacity by 80 percent.
Indonesia: 3,000 sent an ear-splitting message to Indonesia's president with a whistle demonstration against coal in Jakarta, and a few days later 12 activists climbed the cranes supplying coal for the Cirebon Coal Power Plant, and dropping banners to Quit Coal and for Clean Energy, Clean Air.
Philippines: 10,000 marched against a proposed coal plant in Batangas, the Philippines
South Africa: Hundreds stood up to South Africa's most powerful family with a march that delivered coal to their front door, despite their attempts to silence civil society by pressuring police to revoke permits for a march.
Turkey: In Aliaga, Turkey 2000 people marched to the gates of the Izmir region's largest coal dump, and surrounded it with a giant red line, as a call to end plans for the massive expansion of coal in the country.
United Kingdom: The UK's largest opencast coal mine was shut down for a day.
USA: Dozens of people occupied train tracks overnight on both coasts of the United States to stop oil-filled 'bomb trains' from rolling through communities -- including less than 31 metres from low-income public housing in Albany, New York.
USA: 150+ local activists marched and occupied the entrance of two fossil fuel refineries, which are the largest unaddressed source of carbon pollution in the Northwest of the United States
Photos and Videos (to be updated throughout the duration of Break Free):
Photos available here: breakfree2016.org/pressphoto
Video footage here: breakfree2016.org/pressvideo
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
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Senate Dems Blast Medicare Advantage Giants Over 'Exorbitant' CEO Pay
"It is outrageous that industry groups, on your behalf, are putting your plan's enormous profits over care for seniors," wrote Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley.
Mar 24, 2023
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Jeff Merkley are calling attention to the massive profits and "exorbitant" executive salaries of top Medicare Advantage insurers such as UnitedHealthcare and Humana, which are leading a lobbying blitz against efforts to combat widespread fraud in the privately run healthcare program.
“In 2022, the seven major Medicare Advantage health care insurers—UnitedHealthcare, CVS/Aetna, Cigna, Elevance Health, Humana, Centene, and Molina—brought in revenues of $1.25 trillion and reported total profits of $69.3 billion, a 287% increase in profits since 2012," the Democratic senators wrote in recent letters to the companies' CEOs, citing an analysis by Wendell Potter of the Center for Health and Democracy.
"But rather than investing in benefits for patients," they added, "these seven health insurers instead spent $26.2 billion on stock buybacks."
Warren (D-Mass.) and Merkley (D-Ore.) also highlighted the "extraordinary salaries" of the insurance giants' CEOs and other top executives. Brian Thompson, who became UnitedHealthcare's CEO in 2021, brought home nearly $10 million in total compensation that year, according to SEC filings.
Humana chief executive Bruce Broussard raked in more than $17 million in 2021.
The letters were sent Wednesday as the insurance industry continues to ramp up its attacks on Biden administration proposals aimed at reining in upcoding and other tactics that Medicare Advantage plans use to reap larger payments from the federal government, which funds the program.
Critics of Medicare Advantage argue that such overpayments—which topped $15 billion in fiscal year 2021 alone—are "depleting the Medicare Trust Fund" at the expense of patients, who are frequently denied medically necessary care.
"MA plans are consistently paid more for seniors' care," Warren and Merkley noted, "and MedPAC projects that total Medicare payments to MA plans in 2023 will be $27 billion higher than if MA beneficiaries were enrolled in traditional Medicare."
"Rather than investing in benefits for patients, these seven health insurers instead spent $26.2 billion on stock buybacks."
Even though the Biden administration's proposed reforms would still leave Medicare Advantage plans with payments that are around 1% higher per enrollee in 2024 compared to this year, the insurance industry has characterized the changes as a cut and warned that their implementation would lead to higher premiums and worse care for beneficiaries.
In their letters, Warren and Merkley accused the for-profit insurance industry of attempting "to scare seniors and people with disabilities into opposing changes that will reduce waste, fraud, and abuse" in Medicare Advantage.
As The New York Timesreported earlier this week, "Medicare officials have been inundated with more than 15,000 comment letters for and against the policies, and roughly two-thirds included identical phrases from form letters."
"Insurers used television commercials and other strategies to urge Medicare Advantage customers to contact their lawmakers," the Times added. "The effort generated about 142,000 calls or letters to protest the changes, according to the Better Medicare Alliance, one of the lobbying groups involved."
That group—which counts Aetna, Humana, and other insurance giants as "ally organizations"—purchased a Super Bowl ad urging the White House not to "cut" Medicare Advantage:
Warren and Merkley voiced outrage that Medicare Advantage insurers would respond to the Biden administration's proposed policy changes by threatening "actions that hurt seniors"—such as premium hikes—"instead of reducing exorbitant salaries or the massive payouts to your shareholders and executives."
"It is outrageous that industry groups, on your behalf, are putting your plan's enormous profits over care for seniors," the senators wrote to the insurance company CEOs.
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'Speechless': US, Canada Agree on Plan to Turn Away Asylum-Seekers
"We're simply creating the worst scenario possible" for migrants, said one activist.
Mar 24, 2023
In a move that critics say will push people to attempt more dangerous border crossings, the United States and Canada on Friday are expected to announce an agreement allowing both countries to block migrants from seeking asylum at unofficial points of entry.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is hosting U.S. President Joe Biden Friday in Ottawa, where the leaders are expected to announce the deal. The agreement will allow Canada to turn back migrants at Roxham Road, a popular unofficial crossing between Clinton County, New York and Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Quebec. Canada will also establish a new legal refugee program for 15,000 Latin American and Caribbean migrants.
Trudeau toldCNN Thursday that while Canada is "welcoming people from around the world," the country must "make sure we are doing it in responsible proper ways to continue to have our citizens positive towards immigration as Canadians always are."
"Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution."
However, Stéphanie Valois, president of the Quebec Association of Immigration Lawyers (AQAADI), asserted that refugees "should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom."
"It seems completely counterproductive to me," she toldCBC.
The new deal is an amendment to the 2004 Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), which compels migrants to claim asylum in the first "safe" country they reach, unless they qualify for certain exceptions. The STCA allows U.S. and Canadian authorities to turn away asylum-seekers at official border crossings—but not unofficial ones like Roxham Road.
François Legault, Quebec's center-right premier, has demanded that Trudeau's Liberal government resettle refugees in other Canadian provinces. Both Legault and Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre have urged the closure of the Roxham Road crossing, which was used by 40,000 asylum-seekers to enter Canada last year.
"The intention behind the sudden announcement of this deal, which was negotiated in secret, is clear: To limit the ability of some of the world's most vulnerable people to find lifesaving protection in North America," Danilo Zak, associate director for policy and advocacy at Church World Service, an interdenominational Christian humanitarian group based in New York City, said in a statement.
"Time and time again, the Biden administration has taken steps to block the movement of people fleeing violence and persecution," he continued.
Zak added:
We should not stand by while policy after policy tears apart our nation's commitment to welcome. Given the assault on access to legal protection for the most vulnerable migrants arriving at our borders, it's questionable whether the United States still qualifies as a "safe third country." We urge President Biden to strongly reconsider this deal and to work with Congress to restore access to asylum and support policies that recognize the dignity of all those arriving at our borders.
Frantz André of the Comité d'Action des Sans Statut (Action Committee of the People without Status, or CAPSS) toldCityNews Montreal that "I'm afraid there might be some kind of a stampede before the closure of Roxham Road."
In a separate CBC interview, André said that "we're simply creating the worst scenario possible" for migrants.
Robert Weissman, president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, pointed to Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which both Canada and the United States are signatories: "Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution."
Many Latin American and Caribbean migrants are fleeing poverty and political or criminal violence and repression in their home countries, some of it caused by decades of U.S. imperial policies and actions in the region. Others come from as far afield as Asia and the Middle East, including countries like Afghanistan and Yemen that have suffered from years or even decades of war waged or backed by the United States.
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Progressives Slam House Passage of GOP Book Banning Bill That Turns Children Into 'Pawns'
"Republicans say they oppose government overreach," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. "But they're the ones passing bills that ban books in our libraries."
Mar 24, 2023
Progressive lawmakers and education advocates on Friday condemned federal Republican lawmakers' foray into the nationwide attack on people of color and the LGBTQ+ community as the GOP-led U.S. House passed the so-called Parents Bill of Rights Act—legislation that critics said is aimed at banning books and further ostracizing marginalized communities, while providing no improvements to children's safety at school.
Like legislation passed in at least six states and introduced in at least 26, the Parents Bill of Rights Act (H.R. 5) claims it will protect public school students by requiring schools to make classroom curricula publicly available and provide parents with a list of reading materials in school libraries.
School districts would also be required to inform parents about violent activity that takes place at schools, hold at least two parent-teacher conferences per student per year, and make budget information public.
The legislation was passed a day after the American Library Association (ALA) released a report showing that a record-breaking 2,571 book titles were the subject of "challenges," or demands that they be removed from schools or public libraries, in 2022—a 38% increase from the previous year.
"Conservatives have weaponized hate and fear to try to tear our schools apart, with students who just want to learn and thrive turned into pawns in their political games."
Ninety percent of the attempted book bans were part of challenges to multiple books, suggesting they are increasingly being driven by right-wing groups such as Moms for Liberty instead of individual parents who have concerns. The ALA said this trend began in 2021, as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantiswas pushing legislation to ban accurate classroom discussions about the history of racial injustice in the United States.
Schools in Florida have now removed dozens of book titles from shelves, including The Life of Rosa Parks and Who Is the Dalai Lama? as officials assess whether the material is appropriate for children.
"Forty percent of banned books are reported as significantly addressing LGBT issues," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Thursday as the House debated the bill. "When we talk about progressive values, I can say what my progressive value is and that is freedom over fascism."
Speaking about marginalized people and children, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said the legislation is the work of a political party that is "trying to 'write us out' of the curriculum."
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) expressed outrage at the notion that Republicans are seeking to protect children by limiting their access to material dealing with LGBTQ+ issues and American history, considering that have blocked numerous pieces of gun control legislation even as gun violence has overtaken car accidents as the leading cause of death of children in the United States.
"Since Columbine over 20 years ago, more than 344,000 students in our country have experienced gun violence at school," said Tlaib. "Some of our children attend schools with unsafe drinking water. Others go to school in districts attempting to erase Black history from our classrooms by banning books like The Life of Rosa Parks. These are some of the real obstacles to our children thriving."
"When this bill was considered in committee, Democrats offered amendments that would keep firearms out of classrooms, remove lead pipes from our schools, and prevent censorship of Black history. But every single amendment aimed at the real threats to our children was voted down by these MAGA Republicans," she added. "It makes me angry to see how conservatives have weaponized hate and fear to try to tear our schools apart, with students who just want to learn and thrive turned into pawns in their political games."
The National Education Association noted that the legislation, which the Democratic-led Senate is not expected to take up, offers solutions to a number of problems that don't widely exist and promotes a "toxic vision of parental engagement" in schools.
The bill "contains a list of provisions already ensured by local and state law, including, but not limited to, a parent's right to view a school's budget or speak at a public school board meeting," wrote Tim Walker, a senior writer for the organization.
A survey released by Navigator this month showed that parents' top concerns about education are "making sure their children learn what they need to be successful, keeping them safe from gun violence, and protecting their mental health" and that having a "say in what their kids are learning" is not a high priority for a majority of parents.
A poll by National Public Radio last year also found that 76% of parents believe their children's schools keep them well-informed about the curriculum and classroom activities.
"At least in my experience, teachers have always been able to be accessible to parents, and I don't know what these parents' rights bills will do other than give more power and pathways to things like book banning and elimination of resources," York, Pennsylvania teacher Ben Hodge told Education Week recently.
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said the bill is an example of "divisive performance politics" by the GOP.
"Every day in classrooms and communities around the country, parents and educators work tirelessly together to make the lives of our kids better and provide them with the knowledge they need to excel—with books, art, and music; tutoring programs and capstone projects; and counseling to help them navigate life, tackle challenges, and deal with trauma," said Weingarten. "The true work of partnering to support families and help our kids do well involves having meaningful discussions about the real things affecting our students and what we, as a country, must do to help."
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