Hi friends,
I was hoping that my day off on Friday would spare me having to further discuss January 6. But yesterday, all hell broke loose in Brasília when pro-Bolsonaro forces stormed the congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace.
A friend who lives in Porto Alegre, Brazil wrote late last night to provide some context:
[I]t was a planned riot only one week after the new government assumed [power]. There were camps all around the country contesting the election results, many of them in front of churches and military headquarters, all of them [calling] for a third round election and/or a way to replace Bolsonaro in power, and looking like US Trumpists :( It was made by these social-network bubbles and many authorities knew about the event; Rio and Sao Paulo had improved security in the last days.
My friend told me that a hundred buses brought rioters to Brasília yesterday, and that it was clear that the absence of the necessary policing was part of the plan. The attack on the symbolic centers of democracy reflected repeated calls by Bolsonaro and his sons over the last four years to
“close the congress and the supreme court.”
I had been feeling more hopeful about moving forward, but our own House of Representatives is now in the hands of the fringe elements who supported the January 6 insurrection. It’s hard to be upbeat.
Incumbent insurrectionists were successful in general, but newcomer candidates were mostly unsuccessful in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, where we conducted our survey of registered voters.
70% (59/84) of all insurrectionist candidates in these states won their elections. In the rest of the country, 62% (162/260) of all insurrectionist candidates won their elections, although this number was much higher in Republican controlled states and much lower in Democratically controlled states.
While the state-wide victories for pro-democracy candidates were important, they should not give cover to the large number of insurrectionists who were elected to government positions in the U.S. House and in state legislative bodies. This represents an ongoing threat to democracy that should not be ignored.
Call George Santos and tell him to resign. The script is updated.
Last June, my favorite NYC Congressional candidate, Brittany Ramos DeBarros called to ask how I was holding up, given what she called “the dumpster fire out there.” This was in the wake of the Dobbs decision and in the midst of the January 6 hearings, when we were first learning what Cassidy Hutchinson knew.
I am still sad that Brittany did not win her primary; I believe she might have had a shot at beating Nicole Malliotakis. The dumpster fire is now in the House, and we can not forget that.
Ice sheets are crumbling, ocean temperatures are up, and Northern California has atmospheric rivers causing massive flooding. It’s Monday and we are back to work.
It is not reasonable to expect a productive session in the House of Representatives, so it is fortunate that some executive climate action is possible.
The next four quick actions come from Earth Justice.
The previous administration put in place rules that undermined the capacity of the federal government to protect endangered species. A court has ruled that the Trump-era rules will stand until the current administration writes new ones.
Tell the Biden Administration to protect biodiversity with new rules and judicious use of Inflation Reduction Act funds to protect habitats.
Petition the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior to take steps to protect Gulf of Mexico whales.
I came across this interesting interview with Davante Lewis, a newly elected board member on Louisiana’s Public Service Commission. Lewis’s commitment to climate justice for the people of Louisiana’s ‘cancer alley’ is an inspiring story.
The communities on the Gulf Coast, who get the brunt of big storms and fossil fuel pollution, also need federal action to protect them from offshore oil terminals.
Call on the Secretaries of Transportation and Environmental Protection to protect vulnerable communities from new fossil fuel infrastructure.
[T]he millions of Americans who live or work in neighborhoods bumping up against the nation’s airstrips have no reason to suspect that the small propeller planes routinely humming overhead are spewing dangerous levels of lead pollution.
But they are. The reality is that leaded aviation fuel, still used in the majority of small propeller planes, is the nation’s largest remaining source of lead emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
We know how dangerous lead poisoning is, especially to children.
Tell the EPA to ban leaded airplane fuel.
Here in NYS, legislators are in Albany for the new session and new committee chairs are in place. NY Renews employs an ingenious call relay system to focus attention on our legislative goals all day long.
There’s a sheet where you sign up for a time to make three calls today. There are phone numbers and a short script and you’ll be done in no time.
Join today’s call relay to urge Environmental Committee chairs to pass the Climate, Jobs, and Justice legislative package!
The Court New York Deserves has done the research on the candidates for chief judge. They make a persuasive case for opposing LaSalle’s appointment, in part because of his bias toward prosecution, even when there is clear evidence of misconduct in obtaining guilty pleas or getting a defendant to waive their rights.
LaSalle’s record on workers’ rights is also very troubling:
Justice LaSalle has permitted lawsuits meant to harass and intimidate union leaders, contradicting binding precedent and opening the door for more state-level anti-union state lawsuits that will come if the US Supreme Court guts federal protections
Take this fast action to let state senators know that Hector LaSalle is not the right choice to head the NYS Court of Appeals.
A few weeks ago, I gave you a heads-up about a possible nursing strike in New York City. Today’s the day. There were some tentative agreements taking shape last night, but the strike is on. There are 7,000 nurses on strike.
NYC DSA is organizing strike support. Sign up to support nurses on the picket lines.
Take action and keep your head up!
with love,
L