Hi friends,
On Monday, six Congressional staffers were arrested after staging a sit-in in Schumer’s office to demand climate action. Though it was a fairly mild and very peaceful event, it broke the norms of the Capitol Hill in a dramatic way. I don’t know if it pushed the negotiations with Manchin, but it’s a good story.
Read The Congressional-Staffer Rebellion.
According to a policy brief, the bill will generate $739bn through a 15% corporate minimum tax, prescription drug savings and other means. It excludes surtaxes on people making at least $10m a year, ending Democrats’ push to make the wealthiest Americans pay more taxes.
The proposal would invest $396bn in energy security and fighting climate change, and $64bn to bolster healthcare. Manchin also indicated that provisions to reform the permitting process for energy infrastructure, including gas pipelines, would be included in the deal.
I am nervous about the “permitting process for energy infrastructure” and disappointed that we are not taxing the rich AND deeply thrilled that we are not going to continue to do nothing in the face of the climate catastrophe.
US police kill about 1,100 people each year, and 1 in 3 of those people are fleeing the police.
The numbers haven’t changed since the start of the Black Lives Matter movement, and they haven’t budged since George Floyd’s murder inspired international protests in 2020.
The horrific details of the killings of Jayland Walker and other unarmed people gunned down by police are painful to read and impossible to accept. That the police continue to avoid prosecution for these killings and justify shootings as reasonable is a function of laws that protect police power.
California passed a major law in 2019 meant to restrict use of deadly force to cases when it was “necessary” to defend human life, not just “reasonable”, and stating that an officer can only kill a fleeing person if they believe that person is going to imminently harm someone. The new law also dictated that prosecutors must consider the officer’s actions leading up to the killing, which police groups had argued were irrelevant under the previous standards.
But after its passage, police departments across the state refused to comply and update their policies, said Adrienna Wong, senior staff attorney at the ACLU of southern California, which backed the bill. That’s only now starting to change after years of legal disputes.
I just read this article and don’t yet have an action for us, but it’s important context for our next action.
The FDA is still accepting public comments on a rule change that will ban menthol cigarettes. The ban is a good thing. A recent opinion piece in the Detroit News noted that 85 percent of Black smokers smoke menthol cigarettes,
the result of a relentless, decades-long push by tobacco companies to target Black children, Black families and Black neighborhoods.
As we face down climate change, traffic violence, a pandemic that will not end, gun violence, police violence, and lack of access to health care, we know that there are too many ways to die.
Most likely, the federal agency will pass the responsibility to police departments across the country, relying on officers with checkered histories to enforce this prohibition. In other words, the same individuals and groups charged with police brutality and harassment will have new license to stop and frisk any Black smoker they suspect of using menthol cigarettes.
The FDA is accepting comments until August 2, so we have just a few days!
Tell the FDA to ban menthol cigarettes! Include the language above in your comment to insist that the rule should not be enforced by local police. This 15-second action is from the Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids.
My fear is different. I worry that the crashing market will take down the economy along with small investors who got duped by the guys with deep pockets.
The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) published its ‘World Economic Outlook Update: Gloomy and More Uncertain’ report this week, acknowledging that the crypto market experienced a “dramatic” sell-off. The IMF insists that it hasn’t destabilized the global financial system. Or at least, not yet.
Urge the president to regulate cryptocurrencies and crypto mining in order to address the climate crisis and reduce rising energy costs. This 30-second action has been updated.
I wrote at some length on Monday about the impact of cryptomining in Texas, where the state’s electric grid cannot receive power in an emergency from other states.
Sign the petition to oppose the Riot Blockchain Mine in Navarro, County, TX. Pass it on to friends and family in Texas!
Because cryptomining is both inessential and energy-intensive, we have to push Governor Hochul to sign the NYS cryptomining moratorium.
Sign this petition from EarthJustice to urge the governor to sign the moratorium. It takes just 15 seconds!
Just a reminder that you need not live in NYS to take the easy ready-made actions from NY Renews. Please comment on the state’s Climate Action Plan remember that commenting more than once is allowed!
Submit a comment on the definition of “disadvantaged communities” in the state’s Climate Action Plan.
Comment on the importance of an interactive map of disadvantaged communities.
Weigh in on the importance of equitable investment in NYS’s disadvantaged communities.
A week ago, the House passed The Right to Contraception Act. Only eight House Republicans got behind contraception in 2022. Wtf?!
Help turn the outrage into votes: write postcards with Reclaim Our Vote.
Have a great day!
with love,
L