January, 17 2021, 11:00pm EDT
350.Org on News That Biden Will Rescind Keystone XL Pipeline on First Day in Office
WASHINGTON
President-elect Joe Biden has indicated plans to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit via executive action on his first day in office. This is part of a 10 day blitz of executive actions that will be carried out after inauguration on Wednesday to redirect the U.S. in the wake of Trump's disastrous presidency. In May 2020, then Presidential candidate Biden pledged to revoke the KeystoneXL permit after pressure from Indigenous tribes, farmers, and climate activists.
Keep It In the Ground Campaign Manager Kendall Mackey made the following statement:
"The Biden administration halting the Keystone XL pipeline is a momentous sign that he is listening, taking action, and making good on his promises to people and the planet. This decision to halt the Keystone XL pipeline on day one in office sets a precedent that all permitting decisions must pass a climate test and respect Indigenous rights. We expect the administration to make similar announcements on Dakota Access Pipeline and Line 3.
"We celebrate this great victory and the powerful movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground. By ensuring that KeystoneXL is reversed, Biden is standing on the side of tribal nations, farmers, ranchers, and many communities whose livelihoods would be wrecked by this dirty pipeline. We look forward to working with the administration to ensure that real climate action that transitions us off fossil fuels and to a just renewable energy economy is a cornerstone of Biden's legacy over the next four years."
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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On the heels of a federal panel appointed by US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voting to reverse a recommendation that newborns receive the hepatitis B vaccine, Sen. Bernie Sanders led a Tuesday call for the HHS leader to be hauled before a relevant congressional committee to answer for his actions that "undermine the health and well-being of the American people and people throughout the world."
In a letter signed by Democrats on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and Sanders (I-Vt.), its ranking member, the lawmakers wrote to Republican Chair Bill Cassidy (La.), a medical doctor, to argue that "Kennedy has waged an unprecedented war on science and vaccines that have saved millions of lives," and demand his testimony.
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The senators pointed out that "dozens of scientific and medical groups" have called for Kennedy's resignation or removal, as have more than 1,000 current and former HHS staffers. They also noted a September warning from nine former CDC directors that the secretary "is endangering every American's health," a similar joint statement the following month by ex-surgeons general, and another this month from a dozen previous Food and Drug Administration commissioners.
The letter also references Cassidy's comments about ACIP, the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, and Kennedy's supposed commitment during the confirmation process to come before the HELP Committee on a quarterly basis, which hasn't happened.
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President Donald Trump said in an interview published Tuesday that a US land attack on Venezuela is coming and signaled that he is open to launching similar military action against Colombia and Mexico.
“We’re gonna hit ’em on land very soon, too,” Trump told Politico's Dasha Burns, citing the pretext of stopping fentanyl from entering the United States.
Trump repeated his baseless claim that during the administration of his predecessor, the "very stupid" former President Joe Biden, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro "sent us millions of people, many from prisons, many drug dealers, drug lords," and "people in mental institutions."
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