December, 02 2020, 11:00pm EDT
350.org Releases Climate Test in Support of Cabinet Picks Who Oppose Fossil Fuels
WASHINGTON
President-elect Joe Biden has started to name his picks for Cabinet positions to form an administration that will help him tackle the pandemic, climate crisis, and racial and economic injustice. Biden has committed to choosing a Cabinet that reflects the diversity of the US. At 350.org, we will hold him to that promise and push Biden to choose a fossil-free administration by assessing prospective candidates with our Cabinet Climate Test.
So far, Biden's picks have included former Chair of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen for Secretary of Treasury and former Secretary of State John Kerry for Special Envoy for Climate. Potential contenders who pass our Climate Cabinet Test include New Mexico Representative Deb Haaland, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali of the National Wildlife Federation, and Ohio Representative Marcia Fudge. Candidates we oppose include former North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, and former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz.
350 Action Associate Policy Director Natalie Mebane gave the following response:
"For too long and in a time of deep crisis, federal officials have disavowed our interests by slipping US$15.2 billion a year into the pockets of fossil fuel executives that exploit, pollute, and destroy our communities and planet. Biden cannot afford to appoint gross negligence to his administration, given his commitment to prioritize climate action, racial and economic justice, and pandemic response. Our stance is clear: we will accept no malarky. We oppose any nominees who have profited from fossil fuel money at every cabinet level. We support nominees who have supported renewable energy and climate justice by keeping fossil fuels in the ground, supporting corporate accountability, and advocating for intersectional climate action, centering racial, economic, and immigrant justice.
"Biden has the opportunity to make history with his Cabinet picks, from choosing Representative Deb Haaland as the first Indigenous woman for Interior secretary to surrounding himself with climate action advocates like Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali, both of whom have a robust track record of prioritizing climate justice for BIPOC communities. Biden should appoint leaders like Representative Marcia Fudge for Secretary of Agriculture, a strong climate advocate who has fought for workers' rights, rather than former Senator Heidi Heitkamp who has pocketed tens of thousands from agribusiness and fossil fuel companies -- the most of any Senate Democrat during her elections. In like fashion, Ernest Moniz fails our climate litmus test, with his allegiance to fossil fuel cronies and support for fracked gas. Moniz is a clear example of the harmful and polluting energy policy our country does not need.
"Our lives are at stake. We demand an executive branch ready to stand up to the fossil fuel industry and face the climate crisis at scale."
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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Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas on Tuesday again blocked the passage of House-approved bipartisan legislation meant to shield journalists and telecommunications companies from being compelled to disclose sources and other information to federal authorities.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) brought the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act—which would prohibit the federal government from forcing journalists and telecom companies to disclose certain information, with exceptions for terroristic or violent threats—for a unanimous consent vote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) argued Tuesday that passing the PRESS Act is "more important now than ever before when we've heard some in the previous administration talk about going after the press in one way or another," a reference to Republican President-elect Donald Trump's threats to jail journalists who refuse to reveal the sources of leaks. Trump, who has referred to the press as the "enemy of the people," repeatedly urged Senate Republicans to "kill this bill."
Cotton, who blocked a vote on the legislation in December 2022, again objected to the bill, a move that thwarted its speedy passage. The Republican called the legislation a "threat to national security" and "the biggest giveaway to the liberal press in American history."
The advocacy group Defending Rights and Dissent lamented that "Congress has abdicated their responsibility to take substantive steps to protect the constitutional right to a free press."
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Trump has picked Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has stated that it must be "made unsafe" for hospitals to provide trans care, and frequently shares Libs of TikTok posts. She intends to target trans people in blue states. Subscribe to support my journalism.
[image or embed]
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 10, 2024 at 8:14 AM
Reed continued:
Dhillon's most prominent work includes founding the Center for American Liberty, a legal organization that focuses heavily on anti-transgender cases in blue states. The organization's "featured cases" section highlights several lawsuits, such as Chloe Cole's case against Kaiser Permanente; a lawsuit challenging a Colorado school's use of a transgender student's preferred name; a case against a California school district seeking to implement policies that would forcibly out transgender students; and a lawsuit against Vermont for denying a foster care license to a family unwilling to comply with nondiscrimination policies regarding transgender youth.
Reed also highlighted Dhillon's attacks on state laws protecting transgender people, as well as her expression of "extreme anti-trans views" on social media—including calling gender-affirming healthcare for trans children "child abuse."
Last year, The Guardian's Jason Wilson reported that the Center for American Liberty made a six-figure payment to a public relations firm that represented Dhillion in both "her capacity as head of her own for-profit law firm and Republican activist."
Writing for the voting rights platform Democracy Docket, Matt Cohen on Tuesday accused Dhillon of being "one of the leading legal figures working to roll back voting rights across the country."
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As Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a statement Tuesday, "The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division has the critical responsibility of enforcing our nation's federal civil rights laws and ensuring equal justice under the law on behalf of all of our communities."
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