February, 21 2021, 11:00pm EDT

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Diana Lopez, 210-535-7060, swujustice@gmail.com, 301-613-4767, olivia@climatejusticealliance.org
Climate Justice Alliance Demands Energy Democracy & Just Recovery for Millions Abandoned Without Power & Water
In the midst of a raging global pandemic, a slew of winter storms exacerbated by extreme cold painfully highlights the need to truly acknowledge water, power, housing and access to medical care as basic human rights. The lack of community control and governance of our infrastructure has created one of the most extractive systems in our society and the result, in this case over the past week, is millions of people without power, without access to water or safe drinking water, without food, and exposed to the elements and possibly COVID-19, as many crowd into warmer spaces.
WASHINGTON
In the midst of a raging global pandemic, a slew of winter storms exacerbated by extreme cold painfully highlights the need to truly acknowledge water, power, housing and access to medical care as basic human rights. The lack of community control and governance of our infrastructure has created one of the most extractive systems in our society and the result, in this case over the past week, is millions of people without power, without access to water or safe drinking water, without food, and exposed to the elements and possibly COVID-19, as many crowd into warmer spaces.
After 40+ states were hit from Texas to Oregon by an extreme weather event, Climate Justice Alliance members and their communities continue reeling from COVID-19, job loss, and evictions, among other challenges. Far too many people have died and hundreds more have been hospitalized, as Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian and other frontline communities once again remain the hardest hit.
"Our neighbors are burning furniture to stay warm amidst widespread power outages in this arctic weather event, fueled by the climate crisis. The Texas power grid relies on dirty energy and has failed the people,"says Diana Lopez, Executive Director of Southwest Workers Union.
"We need to prioritize a Just Recovery and Transition to a modern, regenerative, and renewable energy system, one that is clean and safe for us all, that prioritizes community needs and equity rather than profiting off climate chaos. Our communities are ready to lead that shift."
The blackouts and water cut-offs are a result of extreme privatization and deregulation of our energy system, extreme weather events supercharged by climate change, environmental racism, and the dominance of fossil fuel companies within politics and government. We need to hold the perpetrators accountable not look to them for more of the same.
Lies about renewable energy run by right wing activists and fossil fuel fanatics are distracting us from the real perpetrators: the fossil fuel industry, privatization, and big corporations who have no reservations about dodging regulations and sacrificing our communities. We need to make an accurate assessment of what went wrong and who is responsible, hold them accountable, and ensure systemic changes to prevent this from happening again. Local San Antonio communities are calling for an audit of CPS Energy's response as a starting point.
Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities most impacted need to be centered in the Just Recovery to shift from dirty energy - natural gas, oil, coal, and nuclear being the culprits in Texas - to clean, renewable energy sources.
"Living in the belly of the beast, our Houston communities have documented the disproportionate impacts suffered from the pollution of local refineries and seen firsthand how the profits of fossil fuel industries are placed over the needs of the people. The privatization of the Texas energy grid and the disaster we are facing now is an extension of and further evidence of that environmental racism. We must hold them accountable, support a Just Recovery for our communities most impacted, and ensure a Just Transition to clean, renewable energy sources for all." Juan Parras, Executive Director of t.e.j.a.s.
Solutions like the THRIVE agenda, Build Back Fossil Free, and A People's Orientation to a Regenerative Economy spell out a path toward Just Recovery, a Just Transition to local, living economies, and job creation. We know that community-governed and local renewable energy systems and projects are better able to meet demands and stay resilient in the face of increasing climate disasters. Officials, especially at the local and state levels, must:
- Prioritize and center Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian and Pacific Islander, and other frontline communities in decisions on energy supply and distribution.
- Eliminate gas, water, and electric cutoffs as policy for nonpayment for those in crisis due to impacts from the pandemic and in times of climate disasters, and permanently for those at or below 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines.
- Create and invest in decentralized, regenerative energy micro-grids for emergencies that can be counted on to provide critical needs during times of disaster.
- Make the grid a Public Utility by creating mechanisms for local governance of energy systems integrated into a public grid, without privatization.
- Build out resiliency within grid models through modernization and efficiency through community-governed microgrids; research new technology to modernize the grid to prioritize decentralized renewables and support resilient systems that include storage, conservation, and efficiency.
- Ensure energy systems prioritize low-income communities for decreased energy bills and deep energy efficiency retrofits as well as green building standards that minimize energy use and support passive housing designs.
- Recognize energy as a public good by publicly taking over investor-owned utilities that fail to commit to transition from fossil fuels, fail to address the climate crisis adequately, or seek bailouts and enact rate-hikes. Give workers and communities oversight of public takeovers, and call for liquidation of assets that can be utilized to invest in renewable energy.
- Extend an eviction moratorium through these multiple crises of pandemic and climate disaster, and focus on the rehousing of houseless and vulnerable populations.
- Implement fair housing recovery that fixes discriminatory inequities in disaster housing assistance and long-term housing recovery. Codify enforceable federal standards, rules, and procedures for prioritizing low-income homeowners, renters, and unhoused people in the allocation of housing aid and recovery resources, with a particular focus on long-term housing recovery programs.
Investments need to be made directly to the grassroots and community-run initiatives, not to market-based solutions, big greens, or silver-bullet techno-fixes.
We call on philanthropy to:
- Invest in grassroots organizations and mutual aid networks directly (like these in Texas), prioritizing those led by and supporting Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities.
- Hold billionaires and corporate energy companies accountable and prevent bailouts using taxpayer dollars.
- Create local funds to support weatherizing homes, fixing residential water pipes, and updating home electrical systems to support extreme weather.
- Establish local ongoing emergency short term and immediate funding vehicles for workers who have suffered loss of wages due to transportation issues, closures, as well as for other unanticipated costs in times of disaster and crises.
- Support just and equitable recovery funding by increasing funding and resources to support community-driven recovery and mid- to long-term rebuilding and implementation projects with improvements that further equitable mechanisms for adaptation, recovery, and rebuilding.
- Invite grassroots leaders to engage in a long-term evaluative process to integrate an equity lens into institutional grantmaking practices.
- Use tools like the People's Solutions Lens to better understand where you are investing - not all "solutions" are inherently equitable or just.
As frontline communities work to rebuild and repair, we don't need billionaires, white-led big greens, and philanthropic institutions swooping in to "save" our communities by funneling hundreds of millions into outdated, ineffective, top-down strategies that erase the frontlines, waste money, and don't address the root causes of the climate crisis. In order to break this ineffective, status-quo, self-serving, extractive "charitable" cycle and ensure systemic change led by those most impacted, we must invest in and follow the lead of grassroots, frontline communities.
Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) formed in 2013 to create a new center of gravity in the climate movement by uniting frontline communities and organizations into a formidable force. Our translocal organizing strategy and mobilizing capacity is building a Just Transition away from extractive systems of production, consumption and political oppression, and towards resilient, regenerative and equitable economies. We believe that the process of transition must place race, gender and class at the center of the solutions equation in order to make it a truly Just Transition.
(202) 455-8665LATEST NEWS
Israeli Airstrike Kills Houthi Prime Minister in Yemen's Capital
As one Houthi leader pledged that "we shall take vengeance," Israel's defense minister said that "this is just the beginning."
Aug 30, 2025
Yemen's Houthis confirmed Saturday that an Israeli airstrike Thursday in the country's capital, Sanaa, killed "several" government officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi.
The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, have targeted Israel and ships in the Red Sea over the US-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, which has been increasingly denounced as genocide. Israel and the United States—under both the Biden and Trump administrations—have responded to the Houthis' Red Sea actions by bombing Yemen, where an ongoing civil war began in 2014.
As The Associated Press reported Saturday:
Thursday's Israeli strike took place as the rebel-owned television station was broadcasting a speech by Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the secretive leader of the rebel group in which he was sharing updates on the latest Gaza developments and vowing retaliation against Israel. Senior Houthi officials used to gather to watch al-Houthi's prerecorded speeches.
Al-Rahawi wasn't part of the inner circle around Abdul Malik al-Houthi that runs the military and strategic affairs of the group. His government, like the previous ones, was tasked with running the day-to-day civilian affairs in Sanaa and other Houthi-held areas.
Although the full list of Houthi officials killed in the strike has not been released, Reuters reported that unnamed sources confirmed that "the energy, foreign, and information ministers were among those killed."
The news agency also noted that while Al-Rahawi became prime minister around a year ago, "the de facto leader of the government was his deputy, Mohamed Moftah, who was assigned on Saturday to carry out the prime minister's duties."
In a Saturday statement, the Houthi government affirmed that it would continue to "fulfill its role" and "institutions will continue to provide their services to the steadfast, patient, struggling Yemeni people. It will not be affected, no matter the extent of the calamity... and the blood of the great martyrs will be fuel and motivation to continue on the same path."
"We affirm to our great Yemeni people, to the oppressed Palestinian people, to all the sons of our nation, and to all free people in the world, that we continue our authentic stance in supporting and aiding the people of Gaza, and in building our armed forces and developing their capabilities to face all challenges and dangers, just as our great Yemeni people are present in all fields and arenas with all determination, will, and faith," the government added, according to a translation from Drop Site News.
Both US President Donald Trump's administration and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—a fugitive of the International Criminal Court for his country's conduct in Gaza—consider the Houthis a terrorist organization.
The Thursday strike came nearly a week after the Israel Defense Forces said that it intercepted multiple ballistic missiles launched by the Houthis, and at least one contained cluster munitions. Citing the IDF and Hebrew media, The Times of Israel reported Saturday that a missile fired by the Houthis overnight "fell short" of Israel, instead falling in Saudi Arabia.
The newspaper also shared Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz's response to the Houthis confirming Al-Rahawi's assassination. He said that "two days ago, we dealt an unprecedented crushing blow to the senior officials in the military-political leadership of the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, in a bold and brilliant action by the IDF."
"The destiny of Yemen is the destiny of Tehran—and this is just the beginning," Katz continued. "The Houthis will learn the hard way that whoever threatens and harms Israel will be harmed sevenfold—and they will not determine when this ends."
Meanwhile, according to Al Jazeera, Mahdi al-Mashat, a Yemeni politician and military officer who serves as the chairman of the Supreme Political Council of the Houthis, said in a video message that "we shall take vengeance, and we shall forge from the depths of wounds a victory."
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'No More Conspiracy Theories. Kennedy Must Resign,' Says Sanders Amid CDC Fallout
Make America Healthy Again is "a great slogan," the senator wrote. "The problem is that since coming into office President Trump and Mr. Kennedy have done exactly the opposite."
Aug 30, 2025
"Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, is endangering the health of the American people now and into the future. He must resign."
That's how US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) began a New York Times op-ed on Saturday, amid mounting calls for Kennedy to leave the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), by choice or force, following the ouster of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Susan Monarez.
As Sanders detailed in the Times—and a Thursday letter to Senate HELP Committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) demanding a congressional probe—Monarez was fired after reportedly refusing to "act as a rubber stamp for his dangerous policies." Her exit led to resignations and a staff walkout at the CDC, which is now being led by Jim O'Neill, a Kennedy aide and biotech investor.
Sanders and other lawmakers—including former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor and the only Republican to vote against Kennedy's confirmation in February—have long warned about the consequences of letting RFK Jr. hold a key health policy position in President Donald Trump's second administration.
"Mr. Kennedy and the rest of the Trump administration tell us, over and over, that they want to Make America Healthy Again," Sanders noted Saturday. "That's a great slogan. I agree with it. The problem is that since coming into office President Trump and Mr. Kennedy have done exactly the opposite."
"Despite the overwhelming opposition of the medical community, Secretary Kennedy has continued his long-standing crusade against vaccines and his advocacy of conspiracy theories that have been rejected repeatedly by scientific experts," the senator wrote. "It is absurd to have to say this in 2025, but vaccines are safe and effective. That, of course, is not just my view. Far more important, it is the overwhelming consensus of the medical and scientific communities."
Sanders pointed to guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and World Health Organization, and called out Kennedy's comments on autism, Covid-19 and polio vaccines, and immunizations in general.
"The reality is that Secretary Kennedy has profited from and built a career on sowing mistrust in vaccines. Now, as head of HHS, he is using his authority to launch a full-blown war on science, on public health, and on truth itself," he wrote, warning that in the "short term, it will be harder for Americans to get lifesaving vaccines," including for Covid.
However, "Covid is just the beginning. Mr. Kennedy's next target may be the childhood immunization schedule, the list of recommended vaccines that children receive to protect them from diseases like measles, chickenpox. and polio," the senator continued. He also sounded the alarm over the secretary "defunding the research that could help us prepare for the next pandemic."
Sanders, a leading advocate of Medicare for All, also took aim at the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that Trump signed last month.
"America's healthcare system is already dysfunctional and wildly expensive, and yet the Trump administration will be throwing an estimated 15 million people off their health insurance through a cut of over $1 trillion to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act," he noted. "This cut is also expected to result in the closing of or the decline in services at hundreds of nursing homes, hospitals, and community health centers. As a result of cuts to the Affordable Care Act, health insurance costs will soar for millions of Americans. That is not Making America Healthy Again."
"Secretary Kennedy is putting Americans' lives in danger, and he must resign," Sanders concluded. "In his place, President Trump must listen to doctors and scientists and nominate a health secretary and a CDC director who will protect the health and well-being of the American people, not carry out dangerous policies based on conspiracy theories."
Bernie Sanders is right—RFK Jr. must resign. His leadership is an assault on science, public health, and truth. We’re not just talking politics; we’re talking lives. #ResignKennedy #ScienceFirst”www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/o...
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— Elizabeth (@elizathewell.bsky.social) August 30, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Doctors, journalists, and others praised the senator's op-ed, with Trauma surgeon Mark Hoofnagle saying that "Bernie nails it."
Pennsylvania State University professor and A Desire Called America author Christian Haines wrote on the social media platform Bluesky that the piece was "clear and incisive, though I wish it didn't need to be said."
Also sharing the post on Bluesky, former Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse said: "It's delusional for anyone to think that RFK Jr. and Donald Trump are making America healthy again. With Kennedy's war against science, truth, and vaccines and Trump's war against Medicaid, their movement should be called MAKING AMERICA UNHEALTHY AGAIN."
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Trump Bid to Block $4.9 Billion With 'Pocket Rescission' Blasted as 'Authoritarianism 101'
"Congress—and only Congress—passes budgets. Because the president's job is to take care the laws are faithfully executed, he must spend the money as directed," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, a constitutional scholar.
Aug 30, 2025
Democracy defenders and members of Congress are condemning US President Donald Trump's effort to use a "pocket rescission" process to block $4.9 billion in foreign aid as authoritarian and illegal.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Friday shared on social media Trump's letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) about the move. According to a White House fact sheet linked in a subsequent post, much of the money was headed for the US Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which Trump has gutted.
As The Associated Press explained:
The 1974 Impoundment Control Act gives the president the authority to propose canceling funds approved by Congress. Congress can within 45 days vote on pulling back the funds or sustaining them, but by proposing the rescission so close to September 30 the White House argues that the money won’t be spent and the funding lapses.
What was essentially the last pocket rescission occurred in 1977 by Democratic then-President Jimmy Carter, and the Trump administration argues it's a legally permissible tool despite some murkiness as Carter had initially proposed the clawback well ahead of the 45-day deadline.
Shortly after the OMB social media posts, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that OMB Director Russ Vought was helping shutter USAID, writing on the platform X: "Since January, we've saved the taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. And with a small set of core programs moved over to the State Department, USAID is officially in closeout mode. Russ is now at the helm to oversee the closeout of an agency that long ago went off the rails. Congrats, Russ."
Meanwhile, Rubio's former congressional colleagues and others are sounding the alarm over the administration's effort.
"America is staring down next month's government funding deadline on September 30," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). "It's clear neither Trump nor congressional Republicans have any plan to avoid a painful and entirely unnecessary shutdown. With Trump's illegal 'pocket rescission': They seem eager to inflict further pain on the American people, raising their healthcare costs, compromising essential services, and further damaging our national security."
Congressman Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) also put pressure on GOP lawmakers, saying that "this is wrong—and illegal. Not only is Trump gutting $5 billion in foreign aid that saves lives and advances America's interests, but he's doing so using an unlawful 'pocket recission' method that undermines Congress' power of the purse. I urge my Republican colleagues to say hell no."
While most Republicans on Capitol Hill have backed Trump's endeavors to claw back funding previously appropriated by Congress, GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) voted against his $9 billion rescission package earlier this year.
Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, also spoke out against Trump's new move, noting in a Friday statement that under the US Constitution, Congress has "the power of the purse," and the Government Accountability Office "has concluded that this type of rescission is unlawful and not permitted by the Impoundment Control Act."
Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a constitutional scholar, similarly stressed that "Congress—and only Congress—passes budgets. Because the president's job is to take care the laws are faithfully executed, he must spend the money as directed. Trump's 'pocket recissions' are lawless and absurd. If a president opposes legislative spending decisions, he can veto them, subject to override, but once passed, he must execute on them."
Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the watchdog group Public Citizen, declared in a Friday statement that with the pocket rescission move, the Trump administration "demonstrated yet again its contempt for Congress' power of the purse and the Constitution's separation of powers."
"With this Constitution-mocking action, the administration is bringing us closer to a shutdown on September 30, and it doesn't seem to care," Gilbert said. "We call on Congress to push back, pass and abide by appropriations packages, and fight the administration’s illegal impoundments that harm regular Americans."
"This is not just a constitutional crisis, it's a matter of global justice," she added. "The congressionally appropriated funds that the Trump administration illegally aims to cancel support economic development programs to empower the world's most vulnerable and impoverished, and address some of the ravage of catastrophic climate change in developing nations."
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