May, 16 2018, 12:00am EDT
Common Cause Applauds Senate for Passing Joint Resolution to Restore Net Neutrality
Statement of Michael Copps, former FCC Commissioner & Common Cause Special Advisor
WASHINGTON
Common Cause applauds the Senate for passing the joint resolution to restore net neutrality. Special thanks to Senator Markey, Senator Schumer and others for their leadership on this important resolution to undo the FCC's net neutrality repeal.
The overwhelming majority of Americans understand that strong net neutrality rules are the prerequisite for an open and citizen-friendly internet. Broadband is the essential communications service of the 21st century, and Americans do not want their internet service provider to be able to control what they see and do online.
Despite the influence from big cable and telecommunications companies who have poured oceans of money in their attempt to kill net neutrality rules, the Senate stood on the side of the American people in voting to pass this resolution. The Senate stood on the side of free speech, civic engagement, equal opportunity, and innovation. Ultimately, the Senate stood on the right side of American history.
This is an important first step to overturn the FCC's historic blunder. The spotlight now shifts to the House. Hopefully it, too, will hear the strong voice of the American people demanding an open internet and saying "No!" to the telecom and cable monopolies. Voters are watching and they will remember come November how their representatives voted. We urge the House of Representatives to do its job and pass this resolution to restore net neutrality.
To view this statement online, click here.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.
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Big Banks Funded Climate Crisis With 'Staggering' $705 Billion in 2023
"Banks that profit from climate chaos invent new greenwash every year, but we have the receipts that show how much money they put into fossil fuels," said one report author.
May 13, 2024
The world's 60 biggest banks funded fossil fuels to the tune of $6.9 trillion in the eight years following the Paris agreement.
That's the conclusion of the 15th annual Banking on Climate Chaos report, which was published Monday and also found that the financial institutions lavished $705 billion on oil, gas, and coal in 2023—the hottest year on record.
"Financiers and investors of fossil fuels continue to light the flame of the climate crisis," Tom BK Goldtooth, report co-author and executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, said in a statement. "Paired with generations of colonialism, the fossil fuel industry and banking institutions' investment in false solutions create unlivable conditions for all living relatives and humanity on Mother Earth."
U.S. financial giants JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America topped the "dirty dozen" list of the banks that gave the most to fossil fuels since 2016, at $430.9 billion, $396.3 billion, and $333.2 billion respectively. In 2023, U.S. banks provided 30% of total fossil fuel finance, the largest share of any country. JPMorgan also topped the 2023 list at $40.88 billion, with Japanese bank Mizuho Financial overtaking the No. 2 spot with $37.04 billion, and Bank of America remaining in third place with $33.68 billion.
"The science shows that over half of fossil fuels in existing fields and mines must stay underground to limit global warming to 1.5°C, and our Big Oil Reality Check analysis finds that none of the major oil and gas companies we analyze plan to do anything even close to what is needed to hold global warming to 1.5°C," report-co-author David Tong, the global industry campaign manager at Oil Change International, said in a statement. "By injecting a staggering $70[5] billion into fossil fuel financing in 2023 alone, the world's largest banks fund the climate chaos fossil fuel companies wreck on communities worldwide."
The report also tracks how much the financial institutions spent on companies that had fossil fuel expansion plans, according to the Global Oil and Gas Exit List and the Global Coal Exit List. The banks spent $3.3 trillion since 2016 and $347.5 billion in 2023 alone on these companies, or nearly half of total expenditures. Report co-author April Merleaux, research and policy manager at Rainforest Action Network, called the 2023 expansion finance figure "dangerous and inconsistent with real climate commitments."
Overall, Citibank has spent the most on fossil fuel expansion since 2016 at $204 billion, while JPMorgan was the top funder of expansion in 2023 with $19.3 billion.
"As this report is worth nothing if it doesn't turn into action, we call on the banks to finally become fossil free banks, and on the wider climate justice movement to use this data to mobilize for a fossil free banking world."
The researchers also looked at what fossil fuel companies and activities the banks were financing. All told, they considered funding to 4,228 companies. Clients with major expansion plans in 2023 included the pipeline companies Enbridge, TC Energy Corp, and Sempra as well as NextDecade Corp and Rio Grande Valley LNG, which are developing new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity.
Fossil fuel financing did decrease in 2023, down from $778.7 billion in 2022.
"The trend of decreased financing from traditional banks to fossil fuel companies is good news, tempered by the reality that financing for fossil fuel expansion should be zero," the report authors wrote. "But there is little evidence that the decline is driven by voluntary commitments by the banks, especially given the policy rollbacks among major banks."
Indeed, in 2023, Bank of America rolled back commitments to not fund Arctic drilling, thermal coal, or coal-fired plants. Instead, the report authors suggested the downturn in finance was due to external economic and geopolitical factors.
"Unless banks take action to rule out finance for such clients, the decline may not be permanent," they warned.
When it came to the funding of individual high-risk fossil fuel activities, funding for overall expansion, fracking, tar sands, coal- and gas-power plants, and Amazon, Arctic, and deepwater oil and gas all declined. At the same time, funding for metallurgical coal, coal mining, and methane LNG all increased, with LNG funding rising from $116 billion in 2022 to $121 billion in 2023.
"In a year with record climate impacts, I am shocked to see financing for any category of fossil fuels increase. And yet in 2023 this report shows a big increase in financing to companies developing methane gas terminals and related infrastructure," Merleaux said. "Banks should be listening to those on the frontlines and stepping away from these projects."
This year the report—which is a collaboration between Rainforest Action Network; BankTrack; the Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development; Indigenous Environmental Network; Oil Change International; Reclaim Finance; Sierra Club; and Urgewald— features updated methodology that primary sources revealing the role of banks in corporate financial deals. The banks were given a chance to review the data and respond.
"Wall Street's top concern is its profit. Our top concerns are the climate and human rights. Banks that profit from climate chaos invent new greenwash every year, but we have the receipts that show how much money they put into fossil fuels," Merleaux said. "Our new methodology uncovers previously unreported details on banks' support for fossil fuels and gives campaigners new tools to hold them accountable."
Accountability is the report's main goal, according to co-author Diogo Silva, who leads the banks and climate campaign at BankTrack.
"As this report is worth nothing if it doesn't turn into action, we call on the banks to finally become fossil free banks, and on the wider climate justice movement to use this data to mobilize for a fossil free banking world," Silva said. "Later might just be too late. Fossil banks, no thanks!"
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'Madness Is Taking Over the West': US Senator Suggests Israel Nuke Gaza
"A nuclear attack on Gaza would be catastrophic with unimaginable consequences," said the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, adding that casual talks of using such arms "shouldn't be normalized."
May 13, 2024
Anti-war voices on Monday fiercely condemned U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham's suggestion that Israel would be within its rights to drop nuclear weapons on the Gaza Strip, seven months into an assault that has killed at least 35,091 Palestinians and injured another 78,827.
"Why did we drop two bombs—nuclear bombs—on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? To end a war that we couldn't afford to lose. You don't understand apparently what Israel is facing," Graham (R-S.C.) toldNBC News' Kristen Welker on "Meet the Press" Sunday.
"So when we were faced with destruction as a nation after Pearl Harbor, fighting the Germans and the Japanese, we decided to end the war by bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear weapons. That was the right decision," Graham said of World War II. "Give Israel the bombs they need to end the war they can't afford to lose and work with them to minimize casualties."
As the pair discussed U.S. President Joe Biden's effort to use arms shipments to try to push Israel to more precisely target Hamas, Graham added: "Why is it okay for America to drop two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end their existential threat war? Why was it okay for us to do that? I thought it was okay. To Israel, do whatever you have to do to survive as a Jewish state."
Responding on social media Monday, Greek economist Yanis Varoufakis declared that "madness is taking over the West."
CodePink pointed to the pro-Palestine protests at U.S. colleges and universities and said that "it is despicable that a sitting senator can go on live TV to support nuclear bombing Gaza, but students protesting a genocide are made out to be a threat."
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) on Monday called out Graham's comments as "utterly unacceptable."
ICAN warned that "any use of nuclear weapons wouldn't 'end' a war; it would solely lead to mass murder, immense sufferings for hundreds of thousands of people that would last for decades and beyond generations, and cause devastating harm to the environment."
"A nuclear attack on Gaza would be catastrophic with unimaginable consequences, including for Israelis given how radioactive fallout is no respecter of borders," the group emphasized. "Statements like that by Lindsey Graham justifying these weapons plus suggesting they're used shouldn't be normalized."
"Nuclear weapons are illegal under international law, civilians and civilian infrastructure must never be targeted in warfare. This is a fundamental principle of international humanitarian law," ICAN added, also pointing to the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)—the passage of which led to the group receiving the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.
ICAN also highlighted that Graham has previously referenced Hiroshima and Nagasaki while discussing U.S. arms for Israel, including at a Senate hearing, which Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yōko was asked about last week.
"I believe those remarks about Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not appropriate. Japan is aware that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki took so many precious lives and caused an extremely regrettable humanitarian situation in which people suffered indescribable hardships due to illness and disabilities," the foreign minister said.
"As the government has been saying for a long time, we believe the use of nuclear weapons does not match the spirit of humanitarianism, which is the ideological foundation of international law, because of their tremendous destructive and lethal power," she added.
Israel and the United States are two of the nine nations known to have nuclear weapons; the others are China, India, France, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia—which is currently waging war on Ukraine—and the United Kingdom. None of them support the TPNW.
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'Families' Needs Over Corporate Greed': US Childcare Providers, Parents Hold Day of Action
"If our leaders don't step up and legislate a solution to this crisis, we all will pay the price of an underfunded system," said organizers.
May 13, 2024
Flanked by her fellow childcare providers from Minnesota's Iron Range region at a press conference in St. Paul, Shawntel Gruba on Monday explained that the childcare center she runs had shut its doors for the day to "demonstrate how vitally important childcare is to our community."
"We are the workforce behind the workforce," said Gruba, CEO of Iron Range Tykes in Mountain Iron. "Without us, no one goes to work."
Gruba is one of more than 1,300 childcare providers across the U.S. who are participating in the National Day Without Childcare on Monday, organized by grassroots group Community Change Action and supported by other organizations including the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), and the Main Street Alliance.
At the press conference before the local coalition boarded a bus to St. Paul for a rally, Gruba explained that 5 out of 7 childcare centers across the Iron Range are participating in the Day Without Childcare, which organizers said was taking place "with the support of the families" served by caregivers.
On the third annual Day Without Childcare, providers are calling for emergency federal childcare funding, nearly eight months after Republicans in Congress allowed billions of dollars in pandemic-era funding to expire.
"Childcare is expensive to provide, just like K-12 [education] is expensive to provide," said Gruba. "Our main source of income to meet those expenses is what families pay. The national and state recommendation for affordable childcare is that no family should pay more than 7% of their annual income for childcare. Families are paying two, three, to even four times more than that."
According to an analysis published by the NWLC earlier this month, in states where legislatures have not passed increased childcare allocations since last September, nearly a quarter of families are now unable to find or pay for care as providers have had to limit enrollment, shut down, or raise prices.
"If our leaders don't step up and legislate a solution to this crisis, we all will pay the price of an underfunded system," said Community Change Action.
Organizers are demanding an equitable childcare system built on racial and gender justice, thriving wages for childcare providers—whose median hourly wage in the U.S. is $14.60—and affordable and accessible childcare for all families.
Community Change Action called on the federal government, including Republican lawmakers, to finally prioritize "families' needs over corporate greed."
"Thanks to our decades of organizing, we made progress with the Democratic-led Congress and Biden administration to put our childcare system on a more secure footing," said Community Change Action co-president Dorian Warren. "Meanwhile, some members of the GOP are refusing to pass emergency funding for childcare, pushing our system to the brink of collapse once again. But time is running out on the game of politics they're playing with our lives. We will demand that they do their jobs and prioritize families. Our childcare system is in crisis—but our childcare movement is stronger than ever."
Warren said he and his wife, who rely on an early childhood education center, "organized the providers, parents, and children" at the facility "to walk out and participate in a mini march around the building" to mark the Day Without Childcare.
"As parents, we need to stand with early educators because our system is on the brink of collapse," said Warren. "Providers and families' livelihoods are hanging in the balance. We need a fully funded, 21st-century childcare system that allows everyone to thrive."
More than 80 events were planned around the country, including rallies, marches, and press conferences to highlight childcare providers' demand for more public funding to solve the childcare crisis, which, according to a report last year by ReadyNation, sucks $122 billion out of the nation's economy as parents are forced out of jobs.
Childcare providers and supporters marched through New York City to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul's office, rallying against the omission of workforce funds in the state budget, while grassroots group SPACEs in Action organized lobby visits to Washington, D.C.'s City Council building. Teachers, children, and advocates rallied and lobbied for the restoration of $70 million to the D.C. Early Childhood Education Pay Equity Fund, which had helped bring childcare providers' salaries in line with that of public school teachers.
On Sunday night, the group also projected the message, "Childcare Is Everyone's Business" onto the building.
Community Change Action said the number of participants at dozens of public actions this year would set a record for the National Day Without Childcare.
"It is crucial that policymakers understand the vital role early learning centers play in our communities. We are not simply businesses: We are essential educational institutions deserving of adequate funding and support," said Terri Simms, who closed her childcare center in Dayton, Ohio for the day. "I urge you to stand with us in advocating for meaningful changes to our childcare system that reflects the true value of our services. Our survival depends on it, as does the future of the countless families who rely on us for quality early childhood education."
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