May, 31 2017, 09:30am EDT
350.org on Trump's Decision to Exit Paris Climate Agreement
NEW YORK
Multiple news outlets are reporting that according to senior White House officials the Trump Administration will announce today that it is exiting the Paris Climate Agreement, a decision that came after weeks of delays and stalling.
In response, 350.org Executive Director May Boeve issued the following statement:
"Today is a shameful day. The Trump Administration's decision to exit the Paris Climate Agreement is a travesty, a crime against the future of people and the planet. The choice they had was clear, and they decided to side with fossil fuel billionaires over the overwhelming majority of American who support the agreement. By exiting, the Administration has isolated the United States from the rest of the world and defamed the U.S position as global leader on climate action and much more.
"We aren't waiting on the Trump Administration any longer. It is imperative that the rest of the world fill the gap and take bold and swift climate action. Here in the U.S, where the government is failing us, we will fight the expansion of the fossil fuel industry tooth and nail and secure commitments from cities, institutions, and ordinary people to transition to a 100% clean energy future. The world won't be dragged back by a fossil fuel industry puppet in the White House. We're committed to moving forward."
350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.
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The Wall Street Journalreported Thursday that members of Trump's transition team and the new Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency have asked nominees under consideration to head the FDIC and OCC if the bank watchdogs could be eliminated and have their functions absorbed by the Treasury Department, which is set to be run by a billionaire hedge fund manager and crypto enthusiast.
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The Trump team's internal and fluid discussions about the fate of the key bank regulators broadly aligns with Project 2025's proposal to "merge the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Reserve's non-monetary supervisory and regulatory functions."
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Observers warned that gutting the FDIC and OCC could catalyze another economic meltdown.
"The next recession starts here," tech journalist Jacob Silverman warned in response to the Journal's reporting.
Eric Rauchway, a historian of the New Deal, wrote that "even Milton Friedman appreciated the FDIC," underscoring the extreme nature of the incoming Trump administration's deregulatory ambitions.
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Addressing the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and conversations it has sparked about the country's for-profit system, longtime Medicare for All advocate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday condemned the murder and stressed that getting to universal coverage will require a movement challenging corporate money in politics.
"Look, when we talk about the healthcare crisis, in my view, and I think the view of a majority of Americans, the current system is broken, it is dysfunctional, it is cruel, and it is wildly inefficient—far too expensive," said Sanders (I-Vt.), whose position is backed up by various polls.
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"What you're seeing, the outpouring of anger at the insurance companies, is a reflection of how people feel about the current healthcare system."
"What you're seeing, the outpouring of anger at the insurance companies, is a reflection of how people feel about the current healthcare system," he continued, noting the tens of thousands of Americans who die each year because they can't get to a doctor.
"Killing people is not the way we're going to reform our healthcare system," Sanders added. "The way we're going to reform our healthcare system is having people come together and understanding that it is the right of every American to be able to walk into a doctor's office when they need to and not have to take out their wallet."
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