SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
food water action
Harris Applauded for Proposing First-Ever Ban on Corporate Price Gouging
"It's wonderful to see the vice president unleash a suite of policy proposals to crack down on these cheaters and protect Americans' pocketbooks," said one advocate.
Aug 15, 2024
Economic justice advocates on Thursday applauded the Harris campaign's announcement the Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to unveil a historic ban on food and grocery price gouging amid widespread discontent about costs that have ballooned by 26% in the last five years.
The Democratic presidential candidate is expected to unveil the proposal for the first-ever federal price gouging ban at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina on Friday, detailing plans to direct the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to impose "harsh penalties" on companies that hike food prices to pad their profits.
As president, the campaign said late Wednesday, Harris would set "clear rules of the road to make clear that big corporations can't unfairly exploit consumers to run up excessive corporate profits on food and groceries," building on actions President Joe Biden has taken, such as the creation of a Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing and his guidelines aimed at reining in corporate mergers.
The rules would be introduced in Harris' first 100 days in office, should she win the presidential election in November.
Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Action, said Biden and Harris have set out to correct "decades of failure by federal leaders to tackle food monopolies [that] have sent grocery prices skyrocketing."
"President Biden finally turned the corner with real action against ill-advised corporate mergers, and the Harris campaign's signals of intent to work even harder against food profiteering are encouraging," said Hauter. "We look forward to seeing robust antitrust policy that will make a difference in our wallets, and send the food monopolies packing."
Food & Water Action pointed out that the proposal came a day after it was announced that the multinational food company Mars would acquire its competitor, Kellanova, for $36 billion "in a bid to dominate snack market sales at consumers' expense."
Such acquisitions have continued, said Food & Water Action, even as the monthly food cost for a family of four sticking to inexpensive groceries to save money increased 50% over the past four years, while the top four grocery companies in the U.S. saw their revenues go up as much as 36%.
"The cost of a whole chicken rose 41%, while poultry giants Tysons Foods and Perdue saw revenue increases of 22.5% and 54.9%, respectively," said the group.
While grocery prices have gone up by just 1% in the past year, costs have not eased since they shot up due to supply chain and labor issues during the coronavirus pandemic.
A Gallup poll in May found that 41% of Americans viewed the high cost of living as the most pressing financial issue for their families, and a survey by public opinion research group Blueprint found in June that penalties for companies that price gouge had the support of 81% of respondents, including 86% of Independent voters.
"It's hard to get down an aisle in the grocery store without finding an example of price gouging or price fixing, and it's costing us dearly," Lindsay Owens, executive director of the think tank Groundwork Collaborative, told The Washington Post. "It's wonderful to see the vice president unleash a suite of policy proposals to crack down on these cheaters and protect Americans' pocketbooks."
On social media on Thursday, Owens exposed "some of the worst offenders" who raise prices with the goal of boosting profits—a major driver of inflation, according to an analysis by Groundwork earlier this year.
"Practices like shrinkflation (that half empty bag of chips) and it's evil twin skimpflation (like when Wishbone salad dressing swaps the oil for water), or Walmart rigging the produce scales to charge a little more on a pound of oranges, are everywhere," said Owens. "It's wonderful to see that Harris will address her plans to take on price gouging in the food and grocery sector tomorrow. She has a strong track record of going after cheaters from her time as California's top lawyer, and through her great work this past four years."
As Americans express strong support for price gouging penalties, said David Sirota, founder of The Lever, Harris' proposal will "inevitably" push Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump into defending corporations that willfully force families to pay more for essentials.
The proposal will "bait the entire American right into screaming, 'Let them eat cake' as they go on record in support of food conglomerates fleecing the working class," said Sirota.
Keep ReadingShow Less
7 Green Groups That Didn't Back Biden Just Endorsed Harris as 'Our Only Choice'
"With a President Harris, we will have a chance to build the political power to move the bold climate initiatives we need."
Jul 31, 2024
Progressive climate and environmental advocacy groups on Wednesday stressed the threat posed by the Republican presidential ticket and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee for the November election.
One coalition of six groups—350 Action, Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, Clean Water Action, Climate Hawks Vote, Food and Water Action, and Friends of the Earth Action—cited Harris' record as vice president and a U.S. senator from California.
Despite his months as the presumptive Democratic nominee, none of the organizations had endorsed President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the race and backed Harris earlier this month.
"Vice President Harris is a visible leader in the Biden-Harris administration's successful work to address environmental injustice, tackle the climate crisis, hold polluters accountable, reduce water pollution, and ensure clean drinking water for all," said Clean Water Action president and CEO Jeff Carter, emphasizing that her actions "have made a real difference in people's lives."
Jeff Ordower of 350 Action highlighted that in addition to being "part of the administration that invested in renewable energy through the historic Inflation Reduction Act," Harris "has a history of taking on Big Oil and advocating for environmental justice."
"As a global climate movement, we know Harris represents not just the ability to make progress in the U.S., but globally as well," he added. "For those... who care about democracy, climate, and decreased corporate capture of our government, Kamala Harris is our only choice."
"For those... who care about democracy, climate, and decreased corporate capture of our government, Kamala Harris is our only choice."
Kierán Suckling, president of the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, similarly urged "everyone who cares about our planet, environmental justice, women's rights, civil rights, and our democracy to get out and vote for Kamala Harris to be our next president."
Suckling also took aim at former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, declaring that "Harris will lead us toward a brighter future for our children and grandchildren, and put the nightmare of Trump behind us."
Trump—who earlier this month announced Big Oil-backed Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his running mate—has vowed to "drill, baby, drill" and roll back the Biden-Harris administration climate policies if fossil fuel executives pour money into his campaign.
Although the U.S. is among five wealthy countries that have led a global surge in oil and gas development this year, Harris' campaign has warned that "oil barons are salivating" over Trump's potential return to the White House.
A March study found that Trump's plans for a second term would lead to 4 billion more tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere by 2030 when compared with the policies of Biden—who has passed the torch to Harris, whose online nomination process is set to start on Thursday.
"Kamala Harris' record provides a stark contrast with Donald Trump and the far-right, pro-polluter Project 2025," said Wenonah Hauter, founder and executive director of Food and Water Action. "Of course, much more needs to be done, and Harris' positions do not yet go far enough to tackle the existential threats to our food, water, and climate."
"But with a President Harris, we will have a chance to build the political power to move the bold climate initiatives we need," Hauter emphasized. "Four more years of Trump and Project 2025 will further accelerate an already escalating climate crisis and eviscerate important protections for our food and water."
The six groups that backed Harris but not Biden were among the campaigners and scientists angered by the president supporting the Willow project and Mountain Valley Pipeline, continuing fossil fuel lease sales, skipping last year's United Nations summit, and declining to declare a national climate emergency.
As HEATED, which scooped the endorsement news, reported late Tuesday:
Harris has already received endorsements from the so-called "Big Green" groups—the political arms of the League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, and Clean Energy for America. But those weren't much of a surprise, as each group had already backed Biden's reelection bid, and are traditionally loyal to Democratic Party politicians.
The groups endorsing Harris on Wednesday, however, had so far held off on throwing their support behind Biden while he was running for reelection—in part because of the sitting president's mixed record on climate policy.
"It was very much a debate" on whether to endorse Biden, said one of the group's staffers, who spoke on background because the Harris announcement is not yet public. But with Harris, the calculus has changed.
"Because of her work in California and when she was a senator—a lot of us worked with her on creating the Environmental Justice for All Act—it gives us hope," the staffer said. "She's just a different person [than Biden], and has a stronger track record."
"Friends of the Earth Action is excited to endorse Kamala Harris for president of the United States," the group's president, Erich Pica said Wednesday. "We are not going back to an era dominated by fossil fuel interests, corporate greed, and disenfranchisement. Instead, we're looking forward to building a healthy and just future with Vice President Harris."
For Climate Hawks Vote, this is the organization's first presidential endorsement since its founding over a decade ago.
"We're breaking our usual rule of not endorsing in presidential elections, given our strong history with Kamala Harris (we endorsed her in her 2016 Senate race), her track record in taking on Big Oil and holding polluters accountable, and the extraordinary moment of this election," explained RL Miller, the group's president. "We are climate hawks who vote, and we'll be flocking together for Kamala Harris."
The Green New Deal Network—which also never endorsed Biden—separately threw its support behind Harris on Wednesday.
"What the Green New Deal really is, is understanding that everything's connected," the network's national director, Kaniela Ing, toldInside Climate News. "Making sure our tax dollars aren't just going to kill children abroad, but to build schools and hospitals here at home… Local control of resources, self-determination of our communities. That's the vision Kamala Harris, given her background—being bused to schools, really being a product of a lot of our social programs—really understands."
One group that has not yet endorsed Harris but has certainly been attentive to both major party tickets is the youth-led Sunrise Movement. The organization warned earlier this month that the Republicans would cause "catastrophic and irreversible damage" to the climate if elected, and some members were arrested for a Monday protest Vance's Senate office on Capitol Hill.
That same day, Sunrise rallied outside of the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C. to urge Harris "to put forward a comprehensive plan on the economy and climate."
Sunrise is also part of a youth-led coalition—which includes Gen-Z for Change, March for Our Lives, and United We Dream Action—that wrote to Harris last week, "This is your chance to energize young people and our communities to vote, mount one of the greatest political comebacks in decades, and deliver a resounding defeat to the far-right agenda of Trump and Vance."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'We Are Fed Up': Youth Climate Activists Occupy McCarthy Office to Protest Shutdown Effort
"Young people are here because Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans are playing political games with our lives. We're over this bullshit."
Sep 28, 2023
A group of youth climate activists occupied House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's office in Washington, D.C. on Thursday to condemn the Republican leader and his caucus for pushing the U.S. government to the brink of a destructive shutdown as they demand draconian cuts to food aid, housing assistance, and environmental programs.
"We are fed up and we won't take it anymore," said Adah Crandall a 17-year-old Sunrise Movement organizer who joined a number of other climate activists inside McCarthy's (R-Calif.) office. "As storms rage stronger, fires grow hotter, and heatwaves grow more deadly, Kevin McCarthy is playing political games with our futures. We're facing a climate emergency and McCarthy can't even do his job."
The Sunrise Movement said around 150 students from across the nation traveled to Capitol Hill Thursday to take part in the protest, which comes just two days before the federal government is set to shut down.
Eighteen youth activists were arrested outside of McCarthy's office during the demonstration, according to the climate group.
Earlier Thursday, the Biden administration began notifying government employees that they could soon be temporarily furloughed after McCarthy rejected a bipartisan short-term funding proposal put forth in the U.S. Senate this week.
"Speaker McCarthy is a coward," Shiva Rajbhandari, a 19-year-old Sunrise Movement organizer. "McCarthy and Republicans can either do their jobs, act on the climate crisis, and fund our schools, or they can risk our economy to appease a few extremists. Our generation is watching and we will hold them accountable for their actions."
The impacts of a shutdown on critical government functions and programs—and the overall U.S. economy—could be massive.
"With each passing day, Washington would further deplete federal safety net programs that carry over their unused money from past years," The Washington Post's Tony Romm reported earlier this week. "Eventually, the government might not be able to provide some poor families with childcare, nutrition assistance, housing vouchers, or college financial aid. The longer a shutdown persists, the greater the blow it could ultimately deliver to an economy that has teetered for more than a year on the precipice of recession."
Food & Water Action warned Thursday that "in the event of a shutdown, serious and specific threats to food and water safety could immediately arise," noting that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulators "could be forced to suspend critical safety inspections at drinking water sources, hazardous Superfund waste sites, and chemical facilities."
Additionally, the group noted, the EPA "would be forced to shut down the $15 billion project to replace dangerous lead water pipes throughout the country, putting impacted families at continued risk."
"By driving this country to the brink of a shutdown, congressional Republicans are proving once again, in stark relief, that they simply don't care about the health and well-being of the American people," said Mitch Jones, deputy director of Food & Water Action. "Nowhere is this more obvious than in their willingness to shut down critical food and water safety inspections that occur every day across the country."
"Rather than working with Democrats to responsibly fund the government, Speaker McCarthy and his slim majority are catering to the most extreme right-wing members in an already extreme caucus," Jones added. "House Republicans should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves, and they must be shown the door in 2024."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular