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For Immediate Release
August, 22 2019, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Ryan Schleeter, Senior Communications Specialist, Greenpeace USA: +1 (415) 342-2386, ryan.schleeter@greenpeace.org
Sanders, Gillibrand Tied for Lead in New Greenpeace Climate 2020 Ranking
WASHINGTON
Following the release of his Green New Deal plan this morning, Bernie Sanders is now tied with Kirsten Gillibrand in the Greenpeace 2020 climate ranking [1] with an "A-" grade. With previous leader Jay Inslee out of the race, the two now share the top spot in the ranking.
Jack Shapiro, Senior Climate Campaigner for Greenpeace USA, said:
"Inslee's departure leaves an opening for other candidates to claim the mantle of 'climate champion.' Sanders and Gillibrand are the closest to grabbing that title, and we hope to see them continue pushing the entire field to be as bold and visionary as the climate crisis demands. Moving forward, we hope to see more from Sanders about phasing out existing fossil fuel production on the timeline we need to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
"This kind of race to the top on climate change is exactly what our country needs, and it's exactly what Democratic voters are asking for. After four years of policy rooted in denial, delay, and destruction, our next president will need to be fearless from day one if we are going to capitalize on the opportunity to create millions of high-paying, union jobs in a clean energy economy. Fossil fuel executives and lobbyists have thwarted our progress on climate change for too long, but they've officially been put on notice -- their reckoning is coming."
The current top ten in Greenpeace's 2020 climate ranking is:
1. Bernie Sanders - A-
1. Kirsten Gillibrand - A-
3. Cory Booker - A-
4. Elizabeth Warren - B+
5. Joe Biden - B+
6. Tulsi Gabbard - B
7. Marianne Williamson - B
8. Beto O'Rourke - B-
9. Pete Buttigieg - C
10. Kamala Harris - C
Additional changes included in this update to the ranking include Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, and Pete Buttigieg all gaining ground after releasing policies to curb agricultural emissions and Elizabeth Warren closing the gap on the top spots after releasing a plan to protect tribal lands. Booker remains in third place, Warren remains in fourth, Buttigieg passes Kamala Harris to reenter the top ten, and Klobuchar moves up two spots to 13. John Hickenlooper, who had been the lowest-ranked Democrat, has been removed after dropping out to run for Senate.
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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47 Ways Trump Has 'Made Life Less Affordable' in Second Term
"Trump's actions since taking office a year ago reveal a clear and consistent effort... to serve the interests of his billionaire and corporate backers," said a co-author of the Economic Policy Institute report.
Jan 13, 2026
From "stripping collective bargaining rights from more than 1 million federal workers" to "denying 2 million in-home healthcare workers minimum wage and overtime pay," President Donald Trump "has actively made life less affordable for working people."
That's according to a Tuesday report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which cataloged 47 key ways that the 47th president made life worse for working people during the first year of his second term.
The think tank sorted the actions into five categories: eroding workers' wages and economic security; undermining job creation; weakening workers' rights; enabling employer exploitation; and creating an ineffective government.
"Many of the actions outlined here have impacts across categories," the report notes. "Trump's attacks on union workers, for example, reduce workers' wages, weaken workers' rights, and promote employer exploitation of workers."
"Every dollar denied to typical workers in wages ends up as higher income for business owners and corporate managers."
The first section highlights that Trump (1) cut the minimum wage for nearly 400,000 federal contractors, (2) ended enforcement of protections for workers illegally classified as independent contractors, (3) slashed wages of migrant farmworkers in the H-2A program, (4) deprived in-home healthcare workers of minimum wage and overtime pay, and (5) facilitated the inclusion of cryptocurrencies among 401(k) investment options.
On the job creation front, the president (6) paused funding for projects authorized under a bipartisan infrastructure law, (7) signed the Laken Riley Act as part of his mass deportation agenda, (8) revoked an executive order that created a federal interagency working group focused on expanding apprenticeships, (9) is trying to shutter Job Corps centers operated by federal contractors, and (10) disrupted manufacturing supply chains with chaotic trade policy.
In addition to (11) attacking the union rights of over 1 million government employees, Trump (12) delayed enforcement of the silica rule for coal miners, (13) proposed limiting the scope of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's general duty clause, (14) fired National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, (15) stripped work permits and temporary protections from immigrants lawfully in the country, and (16) deterred worker organizing with immigration enforcement actions.
Trump's assault on workers' rights has included (17) nominating Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who has pursued a deregulatory agenda, (18) illegally firing Gwynne Wilcox from the NLRB, (19) ending funding to fight human trafficking and child and forced labor globally, and (20) terminating International Labor Affairs Bureau grants.
Chavez-DeRemer isn't Trump's only controversial pick for a key labor post. He's also nominated (20) Jonathan Berry as solicitor of labor, (21) Crystal Carey as NLRB general counsel, (22) Scott Mayer as an NLRB board member, and (23) Daniel Aronowitz to lead the Employee Benefits Security Administration.
The 47th president has made life less affordable for everyone but himself & his billionaire backersTrump has 😠 slowed job growth,😡 undercut incomes for workers🤬 enriched the ultrawealthyThe latest from @joshbivens-econ.bsky.social , @cmcnich.bsky.social, and Margaret Poydock.
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— Economic Policy Institute (@epi.org) January 13, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Trump has also (24) weakened workplace safety penalties for smaller businesses, (25) nominated Andrea Lucas as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) chair, (26) revoked an executive order promoting strong labor standards on projects receiving federal funds, (27) appointed Elisabeth Messenger, the former leader of an anti-union group, to head the Office of Labor-Management Standards, (28) fired EEOC Commissioners Charlotte Burrows and Jocelyn Samuels, and (29) conducted systematic worksite raids that punished workers rather than improving wages and working conditions.
The president's various "deliberate actions to weaken the federal government" have included (30) politicizing career Senior Executive Service officials, (31) firing most staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, (32) nominating Brittany Panuccio as an EEOC commissioner, (33) and picking Project 2025 architect Russell Vought as Office of Management and Budget director.
He has also fired (34) Federal Labor Relations Authority Chair Susan Tsui Grundmann and (35) Merit Systems Protection Board Member Cathy Harris, and (36) tried to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, whose case is set to be argued before the US Supreme Court next week. Trump further (37) fired Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Commissioner Erika McEntarfer over accurate economic data, and is attempting to shut down (38) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and (39) the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
Additionally, the president (40) directed federal agencies to end the use of disparate impact liability, (41) put independent agencies under his supervision, (42) signed the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act that transfers wealth from working families to the ultrarich, (43) proposed a rule that would make it easier to fire federal employees for political reasons, and (44) issued an executive order on apprenticeships that does not require the government to consult with labor groups.
Finally, since returning to the White House, the Republican has (45) gutted the federal workforce, (46) directed US Attorney General Pam Bondi to challenge state laws that would regulate artificial intelligence technologies, and (47) fired 17 inspectors general.
"Trump's actions since taking office a year ago reveal a clear and consistent effort to make life less affordable for working people in order to serve the interests of his billionaire and corporate backers," said report co-author Celine McNicholas, EPI's director of policy and general counsel, in a statement.
"Every dollar denied to typical workers in wages ends up as higher income for business owners and corporate managers," McNicholas added. "This growing inequality is what is making life so unaffordable for workers and their families today."
EPI released the report as the BLS published its consumer price index data for December, which show a 2.7% year-over-year increase in prices for everyday goods and services.
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As Trump Threatens to Intervene, Iranian Protesters Warn US, Israel 'Want Entire Region in Chaos'
"This government has shown that it is not capable of reform," said one Iranian demonstrator. "On the other side, there are Trump and Netanyahu, both of whom are war criminals."
Jan 13, 2026
President Donald Trump has threatened to launch military strikes against Iran, purportedly to help anti-government protesters who are demanding change amid an economic crisis.
However, Middle East Eye spoke with some of the Iranian demonstrators and found they had little appetite for interference from either the US or Israel.
A 39-year-old protester from Tehran, who identified only as Sara, said that Israel's record of bombing countries in the region made her suspicious of any offer that its government would make to help the Iranian protest movement.
"Over the past one or two years, Israel has attacked almost every country in the region," she said. "They want the entire region to be in chaos while they remain safe."
Sara also emphasized that "we want regime change, but we do not want our country to be destroyed."
A 28-year-old demonstrator named Reza also expressed skepticism of Israel and US offers to help even while stating his fierce opposition to the Iranian government.
"On one side, this government has shown that it is not capable of reform and knows nothing but repression," he said. "On the other side, there are Trump and Netanyahu, both of whom are war criminals."
The Middle East Eye report noted that Trump, unlike past presidents, has not even offered a pretense of wanting to bring democracy to Iran to justify military action and has instead stated his desire to seize foreign nations' resources, such as when he declared that the US would take control of petroleum production in Venezuela after the US military abducted President Nicolás Maduro.
Jamal Abdi, president of the National Iranian American Council, earlier this month expressed solidarity with the Iranian protesters while also warning Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to butt out.
"The outbreak of protests in Iran over the past week has been led by Iranians suffering under tremendous economic pressure and repression," said Abdi. "It is the Iranian people’s movement and they deserve to be heard, not President Trump or Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who cannot and should not try to speak for them. President Trump’s decision to insert himself and threaten military intervention at this moment is profoundly reckless. It distracts from the legitimate grievances of Iranians and risks being exploited to justify a more violent government crackdown."
The Iranian government has responded to the protests with violence and mass arrests of demonstrators, and the government has blacked out internet access for its citizens.
The exact death toll resulting from the Iranian government's crackdown is not known, although the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency estimated as of Monday night that more than 500 people had been killed, while an unnamed Iranian official told Reuters on Tuesday that 2,000 people had been killed so far, including Iranian security forces.
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'Who Is Hiding Behind These Masks?' Raskin Demands Answers on ICE Hiring of Jan 6 Attackers
"The American people deserve to know how many of these violent insurrectionists have been given guns and badges by this administration."
Jan 13, 2026
Congressman Jamie Raskin got right to the point in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as he sought an answer to a question several Democratic lawmakers have raised in recent months regarding the Trump administration's recruiting practices as it seeks to flood American communities with immigration officers.
"How many pardoned January 6th insurrectionists have been hired by your respective departments?" Raskin (D-Md.), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, asked the two officials.
The congressman wrote to Bondi and Noem as video evidence continues to mount of federal agents' violent tactics in communities across the US following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent's fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Renee Good last week.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said Raskin, "seems to be courting pardoned January 6th insurrectionists."
He pointed to "white nationalist 'dog whistles'" it's used in its recruitment campaigns that appear to target members of "extremist militias" like the Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and Three Percenters.
Potential ICE recruits have been bombarded by messages from DHS calling on them to help "defend the homeland" and images like one of a white Uncle Sam caricature standing at a crossroads with signs pointing one way—labeled "INVASION" and "CULTURAL DECLINE"—and another, labeled "HOMELAND" and "LAW AND ORDER." The image and caption appeared to be a reference to the white nationalist text Which Way, Western Man? by William Gayley Simpson.
The groups and militias apparently being targeted by the recruitment push coordinated with one another on January 6, 2021 as their members and leaders were among those who stormed the US Capitol in an effort to stop former President Joe Biden's electoral victory from being certified.
One of President Donald Trump's first actions after taking office last year was pardoning more than 1,500 people convicted of participating in the attempted insurrection, and dozens of them have been rearrested, charged, or sentenced for other crimes including child sexual assault, possession of child pornography, and domestic violence.
Other Democratic lawmakers have previously raised alarm about the lax hiring requirements DHS has put in place as it seeks to grow its ranks of ICE agents, with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) noting in an October letter to Noem that in its push to hire more so-called "patriots," ICE has "changed the age requirements for new recruits."
"DHS announced that applicants now can apply at the age of 18 and there is no age cap. ICE also removed its Spanish-language requirement—shortening the training program by five weeks—and is pursuing additional ways to expedite training," wrote Durbin. "The loosening of hiring standards and training requirements is unacceptable and will likely result in increased officer misconduct—similar to or worse than what occurred during a small surge in hiring US Customs and Border Protection officers in the early 2000s."
On Monday, Raskin pointed out that ICE agents have been permitted to go to great lengths to hide their identities with masks as they've tackled people to the ground, "detained and battered multiple pregnant women," threatened people and confiscated their cellphones for filming them—a protected activity under the First Amendment—and rammed open the door of a home in Minneapolis as they apparently began "door-to-door" operations.
"Unique among all law enforcement agencies and all branches of the armed services, ICE agents conceal their identities, wearing masks and removing names from their uniforms. Why is that? Why do National Guard members, state, county, and local police officers, and members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines all routinely work unmasked while ICE agents work masked?" wrote Raskin.
"Who is hiding behind these masks?" he continued. "How many of them were among the violent rioters who attacked the Capitol on January 6 and were convicted of their offenses? The American people deserve to know how many of these violent insurrectionists have been given guns and badges by this administration."
He demanded the release of records related to the solicitation or hiring of anyone charged or investigated for participating in the January 6 attack.
Raskin's letter was sent as independent journalist Ken Klippenstein reported on leaked documents showing that ICE and Border Patrol officials on the ground are struggling to cope with both staffing and legal compliance issues following Good's killing.
"While Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem and others in the administration preen about justifying last week’s shooting and trumpet their war on 'domestic terrorism,' DHS is privately divided and hesitant about the latest deployments," wrote Klippenstein, detailing efforts within the agency to find around 300 volunteers to deploy in Minneapolis, "in part due to opposition within the ranks."
Following DHS' aggressive recruiting push that appears to designed to appeal to extremist militias, "there might be some immature knuckleheads who think they are out there trying to capture Nicolás Maduro, but most field officers see a clear need for deescalation," a high-ranking career official at DHS told Klippenstein. “There is genuine fear that indeed ICE’s heavy handedness and the rhetoric from Washington is more creating a condition where the officers’ lives are in danger rather than the other way around.”
Officials are reportedly pushing to rein in the agents whom the Trump administration has unleashed on communities including Minneapolis, where ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot Good while she was sitting in her car after she had reportedly been given conflicting orders by officers.
While Trump has suggested Good was to blame for her killing because she was "disrespectful" to the officers and videos have surfaced of agents attacking and threatening people for filming and observing them, Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino sent a "legal refresher" to agents in the field, reminding them that protesters who use profanity, insults, and rude gestures are not breaking any laws.
Noncompliance with law enforcement and recordings of ICE agents are protected activities, the document reminds officers.
Sarah Saldaña, a former director of ICE, also recently said that DHS' decision to frame its recruiting push as a "war effort" would inevitably result in a federal anti-immigration force that views itself as being at war with the communities it's sent to.
DHS is promoting a viewpoint among recruits that “the quicker we get out there and run over people, the better off this country will be,” Saldaña told the Washington Post days before Good was killed. “That mentality you’re fostering tends to inculcate in people a certain aggressiveness that may not be necessary in 85% of what you do.”
A DHS official who spoke to Klippenstein said that "the claim is that recruiting is up, but there is also dread that the gung-ho types that ICE and the Border Patrol are bringing in have a propensity towards confrontation and even violence.”
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