June, 25 2021, 12:56pm EDT
House Passes Resolution to Reinstate Methane Pollution Safeguards
Today, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution that would reinstate the Environmental Protection Agency's 2016 methane pollution safeguards for the oil and gas industry. The Senate passed a similar resolution in April.
WASHINGTON
Today, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution that would reinstate the Environmental Protection Agency's 2016 methane pollution safeguards for the oil and gas industry. The Senate passed a similar resolution in April.
Methane, the primary component of fracked gas, is a climate pollutant that is 87 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the planet in the near-term. Methane emissions reached record highs over the last year, and a growing body of evidence indicates that methane emissions from oil and gas are far higher than official estimates have thus far suggested. A new report released by the UN Environment Programme last month highlighted the value of reducing methane emissions in tackling the climate crisis.
Reinstating these safeguards would also limit pollution of other dangerous gases and chemicals released alongside methane, which put communities at risk of long-term negative health effects.
In response, Sierra Club Deputy Legislative Director Mahyar Sorour released the following statement:
"Today's vote brings us one step closer to undoing the Trump administration's reckless assaults on vital climate and public health protections. Now it is up to President Biden to sign this measure into law, and to build on these safeguards by instructing the EPA to act immediately to cut methane pollution from both new and existing oil and gas operations by 65 percent by 2025. There's no time to waste: the urgency of the climate crisis demands these aggressive emissions reductions now."
The Sierra Club is the most enduring and influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. We amplify the power of our 3.8 million members and supporters to defend everyone's right to a healthy world.
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'We're Not Gonna Fix It,' Says GOP Congressman After Nashville Mass Shooting
Rep. Tim Burchett's response to the leading killer of U.S. children stands in stark contrast to his zeal for banning drag shows: "Dadgummit, we don't put up with that crap in Tennessee."
Mar 28, 2023
U.S. Congressman Tim Burchett was accused of saying "the quiet part out loud" after the Tennessee Republican responded to the massacre in Nashville on Monday by arguing there's not much Congress can do to prevent mass shootings.
Speaking to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol Monday afternoon following the murder of three 9-year-old children and three staff at the Covenant School in Nashville, Burchett lamented the deaths and said "it's a horrible, horrible situation."
But "we're not gonna fix it," he added, referring to U.S. mass shootings. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have already been 130 such shootings this year.
"Criminals are gonna be criminals," Burchett continued. "My daddy fought in the Second World War, fought in the Pacific, fought the Japanese, and he told me, he said buddy... if somebody wants to take you out and doesn't mind losing their life, there's not a heck of a lot you can do about it."
When asked if there is anything Congress can do to curb gun violence, Burchett replied: "I don't see any real role that we could do other than mess things up, honestly... I don't think you're gonna stop the gun violence. I think we've got to change people's hearts."
"As a Christian, as we talk about in the church, and I've said this many times, I think we really need a revival in this country," he argued.
Asked what could be done "to protect people like your little girl," Burchett said, "Well, we homeschool her."
Burchett's nihilistic stance on gun violence stands in stark contrast to his ardent support for banning public drag shows—which Tennessee did, with a bill signed into law by Republican Gov. Bill Lee earlier this month.
"A grown man dressed up like a woman... dadgummit, we don't put up with that crap in Tennessee, and we shouldn't," Burchett said during an appearance on Newsmax earlier this month. "And the rest of the country should follow suit."
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Ted Cruz AUMF Amendment Would Authorize War With Iran
One observer called the Texas Republican's proposal "pernicious."
Mar 28, 2023
The U.S. Senate is set to vote Tuesday afternoon on a Republican amendment that would explicitly authorize the president to take military action against Iranian forces.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), the amendment's author, is looking to attach the measure to a resolution that—if passed—would repeal the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for use of military force in Iraq.
The amendment's text contends that Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution "empowers the president to use force against forces of Iran, a state responsible for conducting and directing attacks against United States forces in the Middle East and to take actions for the purpose of ending Iran's escalation of attacks on, and threats to, United States interests."
Brian Finucane, a senior adviser for the Crisis Group's U.S. program, called the Cruz amendment "pernicious" and warned that it would "have Congress endorse broad Article II authority for POTUS to use force against Iran, [without] even a caveat about actions amounting to 'war' in the constitutional sense."
The amendment's prospects for passage are unclear, but the Senate is chock-full of Iran hawks—including some on the Democratic side. The amendment needs 60 votes to pass.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) issued a statement on Tuesday voicing opposition to "sunsetting any military force authorizations in the Middle East."
"Our terrorist enemies aren't sunsetting their war against us," McConnell said. "Tehran wants to push us out of Iraq and Syria. Why should Congress make that easier?"
Cruz has introduced virtually identical amendments in the recent past. In 2021, the Texas Republican unsuccessfully pushed an amendment that would have empowered the president to "use force against forces of Iran."
Ryan Costello, policy director of the National Iranian American Council, warned at the time that the Cruz amendment would "pre-authorize war with Iran."
The vote on Cruz's new amendment will come just days after President Joe Biden authorized—without congressional approval—airstrikes targeting groups in Syria that the Pentagon said were "affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps," heightening concerns over what's become a dangerous proxy war.
Following the airstrikes, which were launched in response to an attack in northeast Syria that killed an American contractor, Biden said that "the United States does not, does not, I emphasize, seek conflict with Iran."
"But be prepared for us to act forcefully to protect our people," the president added.
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Corbyn Expected to Run as Independent After Starmer's Move to Bar Him From Labour
"Blocking Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate is an affront to decency and a declaration of civil war within a party about to metamorphose from a broad church to a toxic sect," said Yanis Varoufakis.
Mar 28, 2023
Former U.K. Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn is expected to seek reelection as an independent next year after current Leader Keir Starmer and his establishment allies on Tuesday made good on their pledge to formally block the leftist member of Parliament from running under the party's banner.
After Starmer publicly declared last month that "Jeremy Corbyn will not stand as a Labour candidate at the next general election," the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) voted 22-12 on Starmer's motion to not endorse Corbyn's candidacy.
The Timesreported that Corbyn's allies say the MP has already decided to run as an independent, with one source telling the London newspaper: "It's become personal. There will be an announcement by the end of the week."
Our message is clear: We are not going anywhere. Neither is our determination to stand up for a better world.
Corbyn has represented the Greater London constituency Islington North for four decades and served as an independent MP since he was suspended from Labour in 2020 due to a battle over allegations of antisemitism in the party.
After news broke of Starmer's motion on Monday, Corbyn charged that the party leader "has broken his commitment to respect the rights of Labour members and denigrated the democratic foundation of the party."
Noting that Islington North voters have elected him as a Labour MP 10 consecutive times since 1983, Corbyn said that "I am proud to represent a community that supports vulnerable people, joins workers on the picket line, and fights for transformative change."
Also calling out the ruling Conservative Party, Corbyn continued:
This latest move represents a leadership increasingly unwilling to offer solutions that meet the scale of the crises facing us all. As the government plunges millions into poverty and demonizes refugees, Keir Starmer has focused his opposition on those demanding a more progressive and humane alternative.
I joined the Labour Party when I was 16 years old because, like millions of others, I believed in a redistribution of wealth and power. Our message is clear: We are not going anywhere. Neither is our determination to stand up for a better world.
Some other MPs, constituents, journalists, and leftists from around the world have, since Monday, blasted Starmer's "disgraceful" move and expressed solidarity with Corbyn.
Greek leftist MP Yanis Varoufakis warned that "Starmer's Labour Party is close to the point of no return. Blocking Jeremy Corbyn from standing as a Labour candidate is an affront to decency and a declaration of civil war within a party about to metamorphose from a broad church to a toxic sect."
Critics have highlighted that in February 2020, Starmer said: "The selections for Labour candidates needs to be more democratic and we should end NEC impositions of candidates. Local party members should select their candidates for every election."
In a joint statement Tuesday, officers from the Islington North Constituency Labour Party (CLP) denounced the move by Starmer and the NEC.
"We believe in the democratic right of all constituency parties to choose their prospective parliamentary candidate," the CLP leaders from Corbyn's area said. "Therefore, we reject the NEC's undue interference in Islington North, which undermines our goal of defeating the Conservatives and working with our communities for social justice."
Noting the CLP's statement in a series of tweets Tuesday, Guardian columnist Owen Jones, who identifies as a socialist and a longtime Labour voter, also took aim at Starmer:
While Starmer was seeking his leadership role, "I think he said a lot of things he didn't believe at all, because he thought that if he didn't, then he wouldn't be elected leader of the Labour Party. And he was absolutely right in that calculation," Jones asserted.
"A lot of Starmer's cheerleaders see themselves as upstanding liberals who believe in decency, honesty, and integrity in politics. They don't," he said. "They disregard the colossal deceit of Starmer because they hate the left, and they believe anything done to crush the left is a good thing."
"Anyway, I don't think it will end well for a Labour leadership which is founded on a load of lies, essentially believes in nothing, and is ahead in the polls solely because of Tory self-destruction," Jones added. "They'll win the election by default, then political reality will intrude."
The grassroots group Momentum, which has supported Corbyn since his successful 2015 campaign to lead the Labour Party, called Tuesday "a dark day for democracy."
While there was previously no appeals process for anyone blocked by the NEC, Sky Newsrevealed Tuesday as the party faces "accusations of fixing parliamentary selections for candidates who are preferred by the leadership," those "who wish to stand for Labour at the next election will be given the right to appeal if the party rejects their bid to become an MP."
According to the outlet, "Candidates will be provided with written feedback as to why they 'fell below the standards expected of a Westminster parliamentary candidate,' while an appeals panel will be convened to hear the claim."
Welcoming the development on Twitter, Momentum said that "socialists and trade unionists have been wrongly excluded in favor of those favored by a narrow London clique. The result has been a cohort of prospective MPs dominated by the professional political classes, making Labour less representative of the communities we seek to serve."
"This new process should mark an end to the Labour right's factional abuses of selections process," the group added. "In Islington North as everywhere else—let local members decide."
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