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For Immediate Release
July, 19 2018, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Lindsay Meiman, lindsay@350.org, +1 (347) 460-9082
350.org on Judge Dismissing NYC Climate Lawsuit: "The Industry is Still on the Hook."
WASHINGTON
Today, U.S. District Judge John Keenan dismissed New York City's lawsuit against five major fossil fuel companies for their role in causing climate change and subsequent damages, arguing that while their role in the crisis is clear, it's up to the legislative and executive branches to address it.
On this decision, May Boeve, 350.org Executive Director, issued the following statement:
"The industry is still on the hook. While disappointing, Judge Keenan's decision to dismiss New York City's climate lawsuit underscores the role of fossil fuel companies' climate destruction while our communities are left to pay the costs. The Trump administration has made their priorities clear: line the pockets of fossil fuel executives even at the expense of our health and safety.
"In the face of this dangerous regression, it's ever more urgent for officials to take bold and immediate action: from state attorneys general investigating all that #ExxonKnew to elected officials like New York Governor Andrew Cuomo moving off fossil fuels to 100% renewables for all. Across New York and around the world, people are rising up to hold fossil fuel billionaires and their cronies accountable. This is far from the end of the road."
Bill McKibben, author and 350.org co-founder, said:
"This is a good reminder of how important it is that New York City also pledged to divest from fossil fuels. The power of these companies influences even our judiciary -- we need to take them on head-on to have a hope of weakening their death grip on the planet."
Just yesterday, over 100 organizations announced the New York Rise for Climate, Jobs, and Justice mobilization on September 6 ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit, urging Governor Cuomo and elected officials at all levels to build a Fossil Free New York through: (1) justly transitioning to 100% renewables; (2) stopping all fossil fuel infrastructure; and (3) making corporate polluters pay for their destruction.
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.
LATEST NEWS
'Our Democracy Depends on Rejecting This Charade': GOP Pushes Bills to Prevent Millions From Voting
"It is Trump’s power grab in legislative garb," said one expert.
Feb 11, 2026
Congressional Republicans on Tuesday held hearings on a pair of bills that watchdogs, election experts, and Democratic lawmakers characterized as brazen and dangerous efforts to suppress voter turnout in service of President Donald Trump's broader assault on democracy—which has included a call for the GOP to "nationalize the voting."
Tuesday's hearings, held by the House Committees on Rules and Administration, featured a revived version of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE) Act and Rep. Bryan Steil's (R-Wis.) newly introduced Make Elections Great Again (MEGA) Act, which one analyst described as possibly the "most dangerous attack on voting rights ever" unveiled in the US Congress.
During his opening remarks at the House Administration Committee hearing on the MEGA Act, the panel's ranking member, Rep. Joe Morelle (D-NY), said that "this scheme is not just how Republicans plan to take over our elections, it's how they plan to take over our country."
"Republicans know that they have one hope at winning the next election: change the rules of the game, destroy the rule of law, and desert any last remaining shred of allegiance to the United States Constitution," Morelle added.
@RepJoeMorelle on the anti-voting MEGA Act:
“This scheme is not just how Republicans plan to take over our elections, it’s how they plan to take over our country.”
👇Learn more:https://t.co/kkm6ISuedX pic.twitter.com/g2kRbLIxGX
— Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) February 10, 2026
Both the SAVE Act—which is expected to get a House vote this week—and the MEGA Act would impose severe restrictions on voting access by effectively eliminating voter registration by mail, implementing nationwide photo ID requirements, banning universal mail-in ballots for federal elections, allowing massive voter roll purges, and threatening nonpartisan election officials with imprisonment if they fail to uphold the bills' strict voter documentation requirements.
If passed, the SAVE Act would require anyone registering to vote in federal elections to furnish documentary proof of US citizenship, such as a passport or birth certificate, in person. The Brennan Center for Justice has estimated that 21 million people in the US "lack ready access to these documents," noting that "half of all Americans don’t have a passport, for example, and millions of married women who have changed their names might need to jump through extra hoops to vote."
"Make no mistake: The SAVE Act would stop millions of American citizens from voting," the Brennan Center wrote in an analysis of the legislation on Tuesday. "It would be the most restrictive voting bill ever passed by Congress. It is Trump’s power grab in legislative garb."
The co-chairs of the Not Above the Law Coalition placed the voter suppression bills in the context of Trump's "yearslong campaign of election lies and conspiracy to overturn the 2020 results" as well as "his recent attempts to nationalize election administration, and weaponization of the Department of Justice to intimidate voters and officials."
"Republicans are falling in line by attempting to silence American voters under the guise of 'election integrity,'" the coalition said. "House Republicans are doing Trump's bidding instead of holding him accountable. The real threats to election integrity sit in the White House and among those enabling his authoritarian agenda. Our democracy depends on rejecting this charade and confronting Trump's documented attacks on free and fair elections."
The Trump White House has publicly endorsed the SAVE Act amid mounting fears that the president—animated by false claims of large-scale voter fraud—is moving to undermine the midterm elections later this year.
"It will be up to Democrats to hold their ground and ensure the SAVE Act’s ultimate defeat. It will be up to all of us to not be fooled by the myths and the lies—and protect our elections so they remain free and fair," wrote Brennan Center president Michael Waldman. "And we should stand with election officials who now face threats of groundless criminal prosecution for doing their jobs."
"For voters, who must have the most powerful voice in our democracy," Waldman added, "the stakes are high, and getting higher."
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'If This Is the Greatest Economy in the History of the World,' Says Bernie Sanders, 'God Help Us'
"The billionaires who sat behind Trump at his inauguration: Yeah, the economy is the best ever for them," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "But for the average working person, not quite the case."
Feb 11, 2026
US Sen. Bernie Sanders responded incredulously on Tuesday to President Donald Trump's claim that the nation's economy under his stewardship is "the greatest... actually ever in history," despite surging personal and business bankruptcies, plunging consumer sentiment, rising costs, and anemic job and wage growth.
In an appearance on MS NOW, Sanders (I-Vt.) said that "you wonder whether Trump is completely crazy and delusional or just a pathological liar, but the idea that anybody would believe that this is a great economy when 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck, when the cost of healthcare is going up, people can't afford housing, people can't afford their basic groceries, the childcare system is dysfunctional, people can't afford to go to college."
"If this is the greatest economy in the history of the world," the senator added, "God help us."
Watch:
Sanders' remarks came in response to Trump's interview Tuesday with Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, during which the president falsely claimed he has ushered in "the greatest period of anything that we've ever seen," including "the greatest economy actually ever in history."
While Trump and members of his class have seen their wealth surge to record levels during his second White House term, working-class Americans are struggling to make ends meet as the president's tariffs and assault on the social safety net drive up costs. One recent analysis estimated that the average US family paid $1,625 in higher costs last year as prices for groceries, housing, and other necessities continued to rise.
Trump's claim of an economic "golden age" in the US was also undermined by a new House Budget Committee report report showing that personal bankruptcy filings increased 11% last year, reaching levels not seen since 2019—during the president's first term in the White House. Those figures came on top of earlier data showing that business bankruptcies are at a 15-year high.
“Donald Trump’s reckless tariff taxes are driving up prices, hurting the economy, and leaving families to pay the price," Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said in a statement. "The only people benefiting in Donald Trump’s economy are his billionaire donors—everyone else is falling further behind.”
Sanders echoed that message during his MS NOW appearance late Tuesday, saying, "The billionaires who sat behind Trump at his inauguration: Yeah, the economy is the best ever for them."
"But for the average working person," Sanders said, "not quite the case."
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'What on Earth Is Going On?': FAA Reopens El Paso Airspace After Closure Order Sows Chaos
"No reason given. No one, not even military users, were apparently given advanced warning," said one veteran journalist. "Aside from 9/11, I can't remember anything like that."
Feb 11, 2026
Update: 9:50 am ET:
Just hours after ordering a halt to all airline traffic coming in and out of the El Paso International Airport, the FAA on Wednesday morning reversed the order and reopened the airspace in the city's region along the Texas border with Mexico.
In an agency social media post, the FAA said, "The temporary closure of airspace over El Paso has been lifted. There is no threat to commercial aviation. All flights will resume as normal."
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy claimed in a social media post that the FAA and Defense Department “acted swiftly to address a cartel drone incursion. The threat has been neutralized and there is no danger to commercial travel in the region.”
Earlier...
Speculation and alarm was triggered overnight after the Federal Aviation Administration late Tuesday, with nothing more than "special security reasons” given as a reason, ordered the suspension of all incoming and outgoing flights from the airport in El Paso, Texas.
"What on Earth is going on?" asked Franklin Leonard, a contributing editor with Vanity Fair, in a reaction to the news—given the limited information provided by the federal government—that was similarly expressed by many online.
In a post on Instagram, the El Paso International Airport said, "All flights to and from El Paso are grounded, including commercial, cargo and general aviation. The FAA has issued a flight restriction halting all flights to and from El Paso effective from February 10 at 11:30 PM (MST) to February 20 at 11:30PM (MST)." No further details were given and passengers were told to contact their carrier for status on specific flights.
Inevitable online speculation—including concerns about US military operations in Mexico, a connection to President Donald Trump's sweeping deportation operations, and other less plausible notions—was rife in the early hours of Wednesday morning as word spread of the closure. Others simply noted the unusual nature of the FAA order.
"So this is really strange," John Stempkin, a veteran news producer with NPR, said of the unexplained closure. "No reason given. No one, not even military users, were apparently given advanced warning. Aside from 9/11, I can't remember anything like that."
A statement from the airport said the grounding order had been given “on short notice” and that it was waiting for additional guidance from the FAA. In its notice, the FAA said the federal government “may use deadly force” against aircraft violating the airspace and determined to pose “an imminent security threat.”
The grounding of flights, noted the Associated Press, "is likely to create significant disruptions given the duration and the size of the metropolitan area. El Paso, a border city with a population of nearly 700,000 and larger when you include the surrounding metro area, is hub of cross-border commerce alongside neighboring Ciudad Juarez in Mexico."
Reached by phone early Wednesday by the New York Times for his reaction, Representative Joaquin Castro, a Democrat who represents San Antonio, said he had no idea what was going on. “Sorry, I don’t have some clear answer,” Castro told the Times. Asked if he was surprised, the lawmaker simply said, “Yes.”
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