February, 16 2021, 11:00pm EDT
Stand Up America Celebrates GOP Voter Suppression Bill (SB 1069) Failing In Arizona
After SB 1069 failed on the floor of the Arizona State Senate yesterday, a bill that would have taken hundreds of thousands of Arizona voters off of the state's Permanent Early Voting List (or PEVL), Stand Up America Political Director Brett Edkins released the following statement:
"This reckless bill was a blatant attempt to suppress votes--and it should never have made it to the floor of the Arizona Senate. The Republican lawmakers who championed it, and peddled lies to push it through the legislature, should be ashamed of themselves.
WASHINGTON
After SB 1069 failed on the floor of the Arizona State Senate yesterday, a bill that would have taken hundreds of thousands of Arizona voters off of the state's Permanent Early Voting List (or PEVL), Stand Up America Political Director Brett Edkins released the following statement:
"This reckless bill was a blatant attempt to suppress votes--and it should never have made it to the floor of the Arizona Senate. The Republican lawmakers who championed it, and peddled lies to push it through the legislature, should be ashamed of themselves.
"We're grateful to the lawmakers who voted this bill down and to the hundreds of grassroots activists who called their lawmakers to oppose it, but we cannot rest yet.
"Republican state legislators have introduced more voter suppression proposals in Arizona than in any other state in the country--and we won't stop until every single bill is defeated."
Stand Up America has over fifteen thousand members in Arizona, who made hundreds of constituent calls to the State Senate opposing this bill. Earlier today, the group joined activists and advocates from All Voting Is Local Action Arizona, LUCHA Arizona, Progress Arizona, and Our Voice, Our Vote Arizona in condemning SB 1069 and the more than 40 other voter suppression or anti-democracy bills currently being pushed by Republicans in the Arizona state legislature.
Stand Up America is a progressive advocacy organization with over two million community members across the country. Focused on grassroots advocacy to strengthen our democracy and oppose Trump's corrupt agenda, Stand Up America has driven over 600,000 phone calls to Congress and mobilized tens of thousands of protestors across the country.
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'Gates of Hell' Must Be Closed With Ambitious Action on Fossil Fuels, Says UN Chief
"We must make up time lost to foot-dragging, arm-twisting, and the naked greed of entrenched interests raking in billions from fossil fuels."
Sep 20, 2023
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres kicked off his one-day Climate Ambition Summit at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Wednesday with a simple, clear, and resounding message for world leaders: do more.
"Humanity has opened the gates of hell" by unleashing potent levels of greenhouse gas emissions into the environment since the Industrial Revolution, Guterres told the the audience, which notably did not include some leaders of top polluting nations—such as U.S. President Joe Biden, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Chinese President Xi Jinping—who refused to attend the event.
"Horrendous heat is having horrendous effects," Guterres said, echoing his Tuesday speech at the U.N. General Assembly. "Distraught farmers watching crops carried away by floods; sweltering temperatures spawning disease; and thousands fleeing in fear as historic fires rage."
"Climate action is dwarfed by the scale of the challenge," he continued. Absent dramatic reforms, humanity is heading toward "a dangerous and unstable world," with the global temperature set to soar 2.8°C above preindustrial levels. Already, human activity—especially the burning of fossil fuels—has driven heated the planet by about 1.2°C.
"The future of humanity is in your hands—in our hands."
Under the 2015 Paris climate agreement, nearly every nation on Earth has agreed to work on keeping global temperature rise this century below 2°C, with a target limit of 1.5°C. However, as scientific analyses have repeatedly found over the past eight years, parties to the deal are still way off track.
Current projections are alarming, "but the future is not fixed," Guterres said, emphasizing that the 1.5°C goal is still in reach. "We can still build a world of clear air, green jobs, and affordable, clean power for all."
"The path forward is clear," he declared. "It has been forged by fighters and trailblazers—some of whom are with us today: Activists refusing to be silenced; Indigenous peoples defending their lands from climate extremes; chief executives transforming their business models and financiers funding a just transition; mayors moving towards to a zero-carbon future; and governments working to stamp out fossil fuels and protect vulnerable communities."
Warning that the global community is decades behind where it should be in the shift to renewables, the U.N. chief charged that "we must make up time lost to foot-dragging, arm-twisting, and the naked greed of entrenched interests raking in billions from fossil fuels."
Guterres renewed his call for developed countries to reach net-zero as close as possible to 2040, emerging economies to achieve that as close as possible to 2050, and all nations "to implement a fair, equitable, and just energy transition, while providing affordable electricity to all."
"Many of the poorest nations have every right to be angry—angry that they are suffering most from a climate crisis they did nothing to create; angry that promised finance has not materialized; and angry that their borrowing costs are sky-high," he noted. "We need a transformation to rebuild trust."
Shifting from English to French—another official language of the U.N.—Guterres urged governments to push the global financial system toward supporting climate action, including by overhauling the business models of multilateral development banks to better help developing countries.
He also called for operationalizing the Loss and Damage Fund at COP28, the next U.N. climate summit for Paris agreement parties, hosted in November by the United Arab Emirates—which is under fire for appointing an oil executive as the conference president.
"The future of humanity is in your hands—in our hands," added Guterres, who was forced to leave early on Wednesday for a U.N. Security Council meeting that was scheduled after he announced the climate event. "One summit will not change the world. But today can be a powerful moment to generate momentum, that we build on over the coming months, and in particular at the COP."
"We can—and we must—turn up the tempo," he concluded. "Turn plans into action. And turn the tide."
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Outrage as Ohio Court Lets GOP-Backed ‘Propaganda’ Stay on Ballot for Abortion Rights Referendum
The Ohio Ballot Board has created "out of whole cloth a veil of deceit and bias in their desire to impose their views on Ohio voters," one dissenting judge wrote.
Sep 20, 2023
The Ohio Supreme Court sided with the state's GOP-led Ohio Ballot Board Tuesday night, ruling that the words "unborn child" could be used instead of "fetus" in the ballot summary of a referendum that would add reproductive rights to the state constitution.
The decision is the latest setback for the referendum after voters defeated a GOP-supported measure in August that would have required a 60% majority to pass constitutional amendments.
"This should have been simple, but the Ohio ballot board tried to mislead voters yet again," Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights spokesperson Lauren Blauvelt told The Guardian. "Issue 1 is clearly and concisely written to protect Ohioans' right to make our own personal healthcare decisions about contraception, pregnancy, and abortion, free from government interference. The actual amendment language communicates that right clearly and without distortion."
"Anti-abortion extremists will continue to lie and cheat in their attempt to defeat us in November—but Ohioans won’t be deceived."
The amendment, which Ohioans will vote on November 7, would guarantee that "every individual has a right to make and carry out one's own reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on: 1. contraception; 2. fertility treatment; 3. continuing one's own pregnancy; 4. miscarriage care; and 5. abortion."
It allows for restrictions on abortion "after fetal viability"—the point at which a fetus could survive on its own, usually around 24 weeks.
However, it stipulates that "in no case may such an abortion be prohibited if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patient's treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patient's life or health."
Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights wanted to share the actual amendment text on the ballot. However, in an August 24 meeting, the Ohio Ballot Board decided on its own language.
The board-proposed summary says the amendment would "prohibit the citizens of the State of Ohio from directly or indirectly burdening, penalizing, or prohibiting abortion before an unborn child is determined to be viable."
It also states that the amendment would "always allow an unborn child to be aborted at any stage of pregnancy, regardless of viability if, in the treating physician's determination, the abortion is necessary to protect the pregnant woman's life or health."
Notably, the board is headed by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican and abortion opponent who drafted the new language.
"The entire summary is propaganda," Blauvelt toldThe Associated Press when it was first passed.
In a statement, Ohioans United for Reproductive Health pointed out that the board's summary was actually longer than the amendment text.
The group and five other petitioners sued to block the language four days after the board's meeting, arguing that it aimed "improperly to mislead Ohioans and persuade them to oppose the Amendment."
However, the Ohio Supreme Court Tuesday ruled that the "unborn child" language could stay. It did order one change—to swap "citizens of the State of Ohio" for "the State of Ohio" when explaining who the amendment would restrict.
"We conclude that the term 'citizens of the State' is misleading in that it suggests to the average voter that the proposed amendment would restrict the actions of individual citizens instead of the government," the court ruled, as Cincinnati.com reported.
Not everyone on the court agreed, however. Three Republicans would have made no changes, while the three Democratic members would have tossed out the "unborn child" language as well.
Justice Jennifer Brunner said the board "obfuscated the actual language of the proposed state constitutional amendment by substituting their own language and creating out of whole cloth a veil of deceit and bias in their desire to impose their views on Ohio voters about what they think is the substance of the proposed amendment," as Cincinnati.com reported.
"It's unfortunate that advocacy seems to have infiltrated a process that is meant to be objective and neutral," Justice Michael Donnelly agreed, according to Cincinati.com.
The amendment is a crucial test for abortion rights in Ohio and beyond. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, every state ballot initiative enshrining reproductive rights has passed, NBC News observed. Ohio has passed a "heartbeat bill" banning abortion after six weeks, but it is currently blocked by its supreme court. Ohio is also one of the only states in the Midwest region that still permits abortions, The Guardian pointed out.
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Embracing FDR's Spirit and Progressive Demand, Biden Unveils American Climate Corps
"This historic victory," said the youth-led Sunrise Movement, "marks the beginning of a new era in the fight for a Green New Deal."
Sep 20, 2023
After years of pressure from environmentalists and progressive lawmakers, the Biden administration on Wednesday announced a new program aimed at training tens of thousands of young people in skills and jobs critical to combating climate breakdown, from land and water conservation to clean energy development.
Inspired by the New Deal's popular Civilian Conservation Corps—a popular decade-long program that employed millions of young men—the Biden administration's American Climate Corps (ACC) will establish a paid training program with the goal of providing "pathways to high-quality, good-paying clean energy and climate resilience jobs in the public and private sectors," according to a White House fact sheet.
The administration estimates that the program, established via executive action, will train more than 20,000 Americans, "putting them to work conserving and restoring our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, deploying clean energy, implementing energy-efficient technologies, and advancing environmental justice."
Specific pay for the training program has yet to be disclosed.
The new initiative was unveiled days after dozens of U.S. lawmakers and advocacy groups sent letters imploring President Joe Biden to use his executive authority to launch a Civilian Climate Corps to "prepare a whole generation of workers for good-paying, dignified, union jobs, and build the workforce we need for the robust green economy of tomorrow."
The youth-led Sunrise Movement, which spearheaded the advocacy groups' letter and has been organizing in support of a Civilian Climate Corps for years, celebrated the announcement of the ACC as "a response that begins to meet the moment and show young people how their government can work for them."
"Three years ago, I sat on then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders' Unity Climate Task Force and shared one of Sunrise Movement's top priorities for the future administration—a Civilian Climate Corps, a visionary jobs program to put thousands of young people to work in real career pathways fighting for their future," Varshini Prakash, the Sunrise Movement's executive director, said in a statement Wednesday.
"Now, after years of demonstrating and fighting for a Climate Corps, we turned a generational rallying cry into a real jobs program that will put a new generation to work stopping the climate crisis," Prakash added. "With the ACC and the historic climate investments won by our broader movement, the path towards a Green New Deal is beginning to become visible."
"We're often asked how President Biden can win the support and enthusiasm of young people. He's gotten our attention. Keep going."
Biden previously embraced the idea of a climate corps as he crafted what was known as his "Build Back Better" agenda, which included tens of billions of dollars in funding for such a program.
But due to opposition from oil and gas industry ally Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and other right-wing Democrats—as well as the entire Republican congressional caucus—the administration agreed to dramatically pare back its agenda and approve the Inflation Reduction Act, which included a number of
giveaways to the fossil fuel industry but not a climate corps.
NPRreported that the ACC is "likely to be smaller in scope than early proposals" and is "much smaller" than the Civilian Conservation Corps. The Biden administration did not say how much it plans to spend on the new program, which "will rely on existing funding sources," according toThe Washington Post.
Nevertheless, climate advocates welcomed the ACC as a critical first step while urging the Biden administration to do more to phase out fossil fuels.
"We need an all-hands-on-deck approach to address the climate crisis, and the Biden-Harris administration establishing an American Climate Corps—with specific opportunities for youth to work in climate resilience careers—is a historic effort to meet this moment," said Sierra Club executive director Ben Jealous. "The Climate Corps will mobilize young people, workers, and federal resources in a way never seen before."
Keanu Arpels-Josiah, a member of Friday's for Future NYC, argued that "a climate corps is important but the executive actions we desperately need are those that will directly and swiftly phase out fossil fuel expansion and production."
"A climate corps that focuses solely on promoting renewables doesn't do the job," said Arpels-Josiah. "It won't undo the Biden administration's damage in approving climate bombs like Willow. It won't end new fossil fuel projects and phase out existing projects in the timeline we need for our generation to survive."
In a memo released Wednesday, the Sunrise Movement called the establishment of the ACC "a show of the strength of young people in the national political arena" and "a hopeful pivot by the Biden Administration towards a 21st century New Deal society."
"Moves like the creation of the American Climate Corps harken back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's vision of government—meaning American government has a responsibility to invest directly in its people to provide relief, reform, recovery, and good jobs in collaboration with and support of organized labor," the group wrote. "This historic victory for Sunrise and the rest of the climate movement marks the beginning of a new era in the fight for a Green New Deal."
A number of federal agencies will be involved in supporting and implementing the new program, including the Department of Labor, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Energy, and AmeriCorps.
The Biden administration also announced Wednesday that "five new states—Arizona, Utah, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Maryland—are moving forward with state-based climate corps that are funded through public-private partnerships, including AmeriCorps, which will work with the American Climate Corps as implementing collaborators to ensure young people across the country are serving their communities."
Other states, including California, Maine, and Michigan, have already established climate corps programs.
"This past summer we saw record climate disasters, record labor strikes demanding good, meaningful work, and major climate protests led by young people," Prakash said Wednesday. "We're often asked how President Biden can win the support and enthusiasm of young people. He's gotten our attention. Keep going."
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