Dear friends,
I wasted some time this weekend noodling around in Wikipedia to sort through another holiday I don’t understand.
Apparently, almost immediately following George Washington’s death in 1799, his birthday — February 22 — became a day of remembrance. In the late 19th century, it became a federal holiday.
Then, a federal law passed in 1968 — the Uniform Monday Holiday Act — moved the celebration to the third Monday of February. Informally, Lincoln’s Birthday — February 12 — which was never a federal holiday, got folded in to what is informally called Presidents’ Day.
Lots of us are pretty reluctant to be celebrating all the presidents, as there are some real stinkers among them. Even the best of them were disappointing in some significant ways (being human). All, of course, are products of a nation in which systemic racism is the poison in our blood.
Here’s a repeat book recommendation: Margaret Kimberley’s Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents.
Jimmy Carter, the longest-living president, is now in hospice at age 98.
Alter tantalizes the reader with the thought of an alternative universe in which Carter wins a second term and gets ahead of the climate crisis — a depressing exercise in what might have been. He notes the president asked top environmental aides to produce a series of reports about the challenges the world would face in 20 years’ time.
“The final reports were about a problem that scientists were calling ‘carbon pollution’ or, in a few cases, ‘global warming’. The main recommendation was that the world would need to bring the rate of growth of emissions down to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels if the planet was to not be grievously harmed by global warming.
“So in 1980, Carter knew what had to be done. At that point he had already put in fuel economy standards that would have led to hybrid cars mandated by the late 1980s. Our entire auto industry and therefore, I think, the auto industry of the world would have shifted to hybrids in a short period of time.”
Take a moment to admire a forward-looking former president and to wish him safe, green transit to whatever lays ahead for him.
Call on Biden and the Bureau of Land Management to stop the Willow Project to drill for oil in the Arctic. This quick action is from EarthJustice.
We are looking ahead to prevent the fossil-fuel projects that will lead to more pollution and climate impacts.
Tell the US Army Corps of Engineers to refuse permits for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. This quick action is from Climate Hawks Vote.
Our current president, known as Amtrak Joe for his Delaware to DC commutes, has a long history of fighting for investments in rail infrastructure. But it seems that in the matter of rail safety, President Biden and Secretary Pete have dropped the ball.
Here’s the background:
Norfolk Southern and other industry leaders contributed over $6 million to Republican campaigns while lobbying against the rule.
In addition to blocking safety rules, Norfolk Southern and other rail giants have been slashing costs to increase profits.
According to an investigation by Lever News, Norfolk Southern spent a billion dollars to increase their share price by buying back stock, while also insisting to legislators that it would be prohibitively expensive to update the braking systems on their trains.
Let Congress know that you support a tax on corporate profits. This quick action is from the Juggernaut Project.
The Biden Administration has failed to take steps to reinstate the rule that would have required the adoption of ECP brakes. This failure is glaring.
Not only did the interviewers fail to ask Secretary Pete about the derailment, but he elected not to bring it up.
Buttigieg’s own reticence on this matter is hard to ignore, especially in contrast to his irrepressible volubility on most other topics. It took Buttigieg a full 10 days to make a statement on the East Palestine disaster.
Jeet Heer’s piece in The Nation is unsparing in its criticism of the Administration’s failure to act:
In fact, under Buttigieg’s watch, the Transportation Department was contemplating stripping down brake safety rules even further.
In a follow-up report, The Lever debunked Buttigieg’s hapless complaint that “we’re constrained [from regulating the railroads].” In fact, industry watchers and union activists have suggested multiple ways Buttigieg could use his existing power to ramp up the regulation of the railroad industry. Buttigieg’s policy paralysis is a matter of choice, not structural barriers. It’s hardly surprising that Buttigieg, whose résumé includes time as a McKinsey consultant, is allergic to government regulation of industry.
For a while, I had thought Secretary Pete might be a good future president. While I appreciate his nimble mind and his capacity to communicate, his allergy may be disqualifying.
Tell Secretary Buttigieg that we need better regulation of the railroads! This action is from The Lever.
The safety problems on the railroads are complex AND the allergy to regulation is a serious factor.
The corporations are also opposing reforms to implement mandatory participation to an anonymous close-call reporting system so workers can report safety concerns without fear of reprisal and identify problems before they result in accidents.
Call on President Biden to make railroad safety a priority.
In the wake of the train derailment in Ohio, it is reasonable to feel more uneasy about the risks that private corporations are taking with our health and safety.
I’m digressing from our presidential theme because we have just a few days to stop a dangerous fossil-fuel project in New York State.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved a project to build giant compressors to run more gas between Canada, Connecticut, and New York in a pipeline owned by Iroquois Gas. The project must also pass regulatory muster in each state.
The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s public comment period is underway and we have until this Wednesday to persuade the Governor and DEC that we don’t need more gas passing through New York.
Tell Governor Hochul and the DEC to deny permits to the ‘Iroquois’ Pipeline compressors. This action has been updated.
I hope you have some time off today.
with love,
L