May, 14 2018, 12:00am EDT
350.org's May Boeve on Poor People's Campaign Arrest: "There Is No Climate Justice if the Poor Are Left Behind"
Today, movement leaders rallied in the nation's capital to engage in nonviolent direct action with the Poor People's Campaign, a national call for a moral revival demanding a shift in the way we think about poverty, racism, ecological devastation, and the war economy. Hundreds of people were arrested, including 350.org's Executive Director May Boeve.
WASHINGTON
Today, movement leaders rallied in the nation's capital to engage in nonviolent direct action with the Poor People's Campaign, a national call for a moral revival demanding a shift in the way we think about poverty, racism, ecological devastation, and the war economy. Hundreds of people were arrested, including 350.org's Executive Director May Boeve.
As she was arrested, Boeve issued the following statement:
"Today, I risked arrest with the Poor People's Campaign because there is no climate justice if the poor are left behind. Building the fossil free world that works for all of us requires coming together across our differences to demand bold and necessary change. 350.org stands with poor people across America, and around the world. We need a fast and just transition for the poorest and most impacted by climate change and the fossil fuel economy. Together, we will make sure it's fossil fuel billionaires, not our communities, who bear the costs of climate change's destruction."
The Poor People's Campaign action took place as dozens of communities across the U.S. rallied at City Halls and public spaces to introduce local resolutions and engage with elected officials. Fossil Free organizers are demanding local officials commit to a just and equitable transition to a fossil Free world with: (1) 100% renewable energy for all; (2) no new fossil fuel projects; and (3) not a penny more for dirty energy. Communities across the U.S. will mobilize around the Poor People's Campaign Ecological Devastation week of action happening the first week of June.
Tonight, climate and environmental movement leaders -- including Antonia Juhasz, Pennie Opal Plant, Gloria Ushigua Santi, Juan Flores and Bill McKibben -- will hold a discussion on how California can be a global model for the fast and just transition from a major oil-producer to a 100% renewable energy economy.
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 United States has been a leader in the global fight to eradicate polio, which is poised to become only the second disease in history to be eliminated from the face of the earth after smallpox," said Liza Barrie, Public Citizen's campaign director for global vaccines access. "Undermining polio vaccination efforts now risks reversing decades of progress and unraveling one of the greatest public health achievements of all time."
Public Citizen is among various organizations that have criticized President-elect Donald Trump's choice of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, with the watchdog's co-president, Robert Weissman, saying that "he shouldn't be allowed in the building... let alone be placed in charge of the nation's public health agency."
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According to the newspaper:
Mr. Siri is also representing ICAN in petitioning the FDA to "pause distribution" of 13 other vaccines, including combination products that cover tetanus, diphtheria, polio, and hepatitis A, until their makers disclose details about aluminum, an ingredient researchers have associated with a small increase in asthma cases.
Mr. Siri declined to be interviewed, but said all of his petitions were filed on behalf of clients. Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy, said Mr. Siri has been advising Mr. Kennedy but has not discussed his petitions with any of the health nominees. She added, "Mr. Kennedy has long said that he wants transparency in vaccines and to give people choice."
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Ayman Chit, head of vaccines for North America at Sanofi, told the newspaper that development of the vaccine began in 1977, over 280 million people worldwide have received it, and there have been more than 300 studies, some with up to six months of follow-up.
Trump, who is less than six weeks out from returning to office, has sent mixed messages on vaccines in recent interviews.
Asked about RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine record during a Time "Person of the Year" interview published Thursday, the president-elect said that "we're going to be able to do very serious testing" and certain vaccines could be made unavailable "if I think it's dangerous."
Trump toldNBC News last weekend: "Hey, look, I'm not against vaccines. The polio vaccine is the greatest thing. If somebody told me to get rid of the polio vaccine, they're going to have to work real hard to convince me. I think vaccines are—certain vaccines—are incredible. But maybe some aren't. And if they aren't, we have to find out."
Both comments generated concern—like the Friday reporting in the Times, which University of Alabama law professor and MSNBC columnist Joyce White Vance called "absolutely terrifying."
She was far from alone. HuffPost senior front page editor Philip Lewis said that "this is just so dangerous and ridiculous" while Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan declared, "We are so—and I use this word advisedly—fucked."
Ryan Cooper, managing editor at The American Prospect, warned that "they want your kids dead."
Author and musician Mikel Jollett similarly said, "So if you're wondering if Donald Trump is trying to kill your kids, yes, yes he is."
Multiple critics altered Trump's campaign slogan to "Make Polio Great Again."
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded with a video on social media:
Without naming anyone, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor, put out a lengthy statement on Friday.
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