 Biden’s Win Is Great News for Us and the Environment President-elect Biden (I just love writing that!) has vowed to make the environment a top priority, including the Paris Climate Accord (yay!). America is positioned for a 180-degree turn on climate change, with the new administration seeking to shift the US off fossil fuels, expand protections for public lands, and support renewable energy. You can almost hear Mother Earth heaving a sigh of relief. We can be sure the Republicans will fight this every inch of the way. So our task in the next four years is twofold: 1) push back on our GOP lawmakers, writing and calling to oppose any moves they make to block environmental protections, and 2) hold the new administration to the election promises that earned the support of climate-conscious voters like us. But for now, let’s just take a moment to be thankful that in a year of horrific news, we finally have something to celebrate. —Karen McCann   Things are finally looking up! (photo: Amr Alfiky/The New York Times) One Vote, Two Votes, Red Votes, Blue Votes Welcome, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris! I'm so happy and relieved now, it's easy to forget what a torturous week we have all passed. Four and a half days of vote counting left us pondering the hold that Trumpism has on the country—whatever ultimately happens to Trump himself. He'll be gone from the White House, but he'll continue to haunt our politics, a disembodied voice honking at us in all caps on Twitter. I can only hope that fewer and fewer people will be paying any attention. —Kathy Sherretts “To those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple of elections myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance.” (Read the transcript of Biden's speech HERE) Stepping Up: The New Yorker: Trump Is Out of a Job Because So Many Did the Work by Bill McKibben Think of how much work went into winning this victory, and how many people stepped up to do it. The women who marched the day after the Inauguration, the people who rushed to the airports the day of the Muslim ban, and the lawyers and advocates helping people held in border cages. Thanks to the climate-striking students, the Black Lives Matter activists, the Republicans of the Lincoln Project, the people who sent pizza to the polls. Thanks to you. No, Really: NPR: The Next 2020 Election Fight? Convincing Trump's Supporters That He Lost by Miles Parks Three of the four most popular posts on Facebook in the past 24 hours were posts by the president in which he falsely claimed victory or cast doubts on the election's fairness. Georgia On Our Mind: Inside Elections: A Brief History of Georgia Runoffs, and Why This Time May Be Different by Jacob Rubashkin Georgia’s election runoff system has been largely unkind to Democrats.  Find new ways to do more:
Progressive Action, Global Exchange (PAGE) Americans of Conscience Checklist ClimateRecovery.org
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 Laundry and Dishes... “After the ecstasy, the laundry,” say the Buddhists. Whatever happens on election night — agony, ecstasy, a mix of the two, or more heart-pounding suspense — life will go on, and clothes and dishes will need to be washed. This week I tried out two new eco-friendly products to help with that. In my experience, such “solutions” often turn out to be useless or the usual harsh chemicals coated with marketing greenwash. But these are pretty good. TruEarth Eco-strips are wafer-thin strips of laundry detergent sold in a slim paper packet, eliminating plastic packaging and vastly reducing shipping costs. They’re hypoallergenic, biodegradable, and free of various nefarious ingredients. Best of all, they work! You can find them on Amazon in the UK and US. Salt & Light Dishwasher Tabs, made with all natural ingredients like lemon juice and baking soda, are so chunky we had to break them up with a hammer to jam them into our elderly dishwasher’s soap dispenser. They’re homemade, only available through Etsy, and the shipping costs, even within the US, are steep. But even a half tab works like a charm. — Karen McCann   How it's done. Joe Biden speaks at a drive-in rally Tuesday in Atlanta. Meanwhile, packed Trump rallies have led to 30,000 new coronavirus infections, according to Stanford University researchers. (photo: Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP) What's So Funny? I re-wrote this intro three times, veering between hand-wringy and relentlessly upbeat. Well, what? We've worked all we can, we'll know when we know, and in the meantime, there is a new Randy Rainbow song out. —Kathy Sherretts  Words and Music: The Conversation: Tom Lehrer and US satire from Charlie Chaplin to Randy Rainbow by Will Kaufman "I often feel like a resident of Pompeii who has been asked for some humorous comments on lava.” Open Culture: Tom Lehrer Releases His All of Catchy and Savage Musical Satire Into the Public Domain by Colin Marshall Songs—music and lyrics—are available on Lehrer’s website. (The spouse has already downloaded the sheet music for "The Vatican Rag") Behind the Scenes: Brennan Center for Justice: 5 Things You May Not Know About Local Election Officials by Elizabeth Howard This year, many election officers are working seven days a week; one official kept working from his hospital bed after being diagnosed with Covid-19. Counting On It: New York Times: Election Maps—Don’t Let Them Fool You by Betsy Mason Chances are that Election Night will be the beginning, not the end, of the fight. I know that, but it's hard not to get freaked out by polls and predictions and maps as they shift over time. That will get even worse on the night of the 3rd. To help us process it all, Mother Jones hosted this discussion of how to survive Election Night. (Podcast, 40 min)
Replacing an Outdated Device? Repurpose the Oldie Rich bought a new laptop this week (fanfare please!) and is happily getting to know his sleek new device, which came in a fetching blush gold color. His 2013 MacBook Air is now our official streaming device, permanently hooked up to our TV. Usually our devices are turned in to Apple for a rebate, and I thought this was common practice until I learned nearly 54 million metric tons of electronic devices were tossed away in 2019 — an increase of 21% in just five years. Wired offers a host of clever suggestions in How to Repurpose Your Old Gadgets. Why not set up an old computer or phone as a security camera? With an app such as those from Manything or Alfred, you can access the 24/7 video feed from anywhere in the world via your smartphone. Got an old tablet? Turn it into an e-reader, using apps such as Kindle (Android, iOS) or Kobo (Android, iOS). And don’t forget you can download thousands of free books from your public library! —Karen McCann
Swing Time: Pro-Publica/The Guardian: Mail-in ballot tracker This interactive breaks down the data on absentee balloting in nine swing states, by percentage of registered voters requesting mail-in ballots, how many ballots have been submitted, and how many have been rejected. Math Problem: The Atlantic: A Campaign of Voter Subtraction by Ibram X. Kendi Trump’s Republican Party must kill votes in order to survive. Best Example: CBS: Republican and Democrat running against each other for Utah governor unite for joint ad by Sophie Lewis "We can debate issues without degrading each other's character.” See the ad. Just for fun: A Horse in the Hospital  Help make the election free, fair, accessible, and secure Brennan Center for Justice Learn More About Candidates and Issues!    Donald G. Reid presented "Social Policy and Planning Implications of the Green New Deal" at our GND Roundtable, March 21, 2019. A long-time member of American Resistance Sevilla, he's University Professor Emeritus in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph in Canada. We are facing a crisis in the social and ecological environment that is engendering catastrophic challenges to the planet. The global warming crisis cannot be solved from an isolated policy focus but demands an integrated systems approach to change. There are many social issues connected to global warming, and if they are not resolved concurrently, global warming will only worsen. Inequality, poverty, migration, new digital technologies including artificial intelligence, and economic globalization are integral to the eventual resolution of global warming or its continuance. Global warming is part of an integrated world-system not a separate environmental issue to be addressed independently and in isolation to the other issues mentioned above. The problems mentioned here are a result of the predatory corporate capitalist system that has evolved over time and taken us to where we are today. Think of the current world-system as your computer operating system. It dictates what you can or cannot do on your personal device. We need a new world operating system. The Green New Deal is one model that addresses climate change from a systems perspective and could provide some direction to the creation of a new world-system. There may be others. In my new book, A New World-System: From Chaos to Sustainability published by Routledge, I provide a cautionary interpretation of the present and vision for the future. —Donald G. Reid   Everybody's Coming to My House—An anthem for our jumpy times, from "David Byne's American Utopia". (Photo: David Lee/HBO) Wag the Dogma Is voter intimidation against the law? Can a president pardon himself? Is it wrong to separate children from their parents in order to deter immigration? Is climate change real? Is a person who can’t answer these questions qualified to serve on the Supreme Court? (By the way, I really wish I had come up with that title, but I stole it from this great discussion of the Barrett nomination hearings on Trumpcast this week.) —Kathy Sherretts Getting Their Money’s Worth: Mother Jones: Watch Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse School Amy Coney Barrett on Dark Money by Stephanie Mencimer Instead of questioning the nominee, Sen. Whitehouse took his 30 minutes to explain the forces at work behind Barrett’s nomination. “A Republican president will appoint judges … who will reverse the long line of activist decisions—including Roe, Obergefell, & the Obamacare cases,” Whitehouse said. “That is their stated objective and plan. Why not take them at their word?” Hot Topic: The Atlantic: Earth’s New Gilded Era by Vann R. Newkirk II Poor people are more likely to live in hot places and work in hot jobs. And the people who generated most of the emissions making those places and jobs hotter are likely to be wealthier, living with the AC on. Put on your Big Suit: HBO Culture Closeup: Spike Lee and David Byrne on “American Utopia” (Video, 5 min) A conversation about the sociopolitical climate in the US, and how David Byrne's Broadway show became a Spike Lee Joint. (See the trailer HERE.)
 The Seattle Storm won their 4th WNBA Championship this week against the Las Vegas Aces, for a strong finish to the league's social justice season. (Photo WNBA) Let's Talk About Something Else Most of us have voted already. What's left to do? • Track your ballot. Contact your local election officials and make sure your vote is being counted. • Make a last-push campaign contribution to support a candidate who's important to you. • Contact friends and family in the US and encourage them to mail in their vote or go to the polls. (Let me be clear, Bro—to cast your ballot, not to patrol.) Now, let's talk about something else. —Kathy Sherretts A Good Sport: CNN: Forget the NFL ... women's basketball players take powerful stand on social justice by Motez Bishara “…You can’t talk about the WNBA without talking about their social justice season, dedicated to Brianna Taylor. They had ahead of every single game thirty-six seconds of remembrance for a different black or brown woman who was killed by state violence. They took shot clock violations to inform their fans about the US Census. They’ve directed their followers and their fans and their viewers to vote.” —Chantel Jennings on Hang Up and Listen (at 47:00 mark) Winner Take All: Bloomberg: The 50 Richest Americans Are Worth as Much as the Poorest 165 Million by Ben Steverman and Alexandre Tanzi Covid-19 has exacerbated inequality in the U.S., with job losses falling heavily on low-wage service workers, while many upper-middle class professionals are working from home, watching their retirement accounts rise in value after the U.S. Treasury and Fed pumped stimulus into the economy. Condsider This/NPR: Pandemic 'Profiteers': Why Billionaires Are Getting Richer During An Economic Crisis (Podcast, 13 min) U.S. billionaires have bounced back quickly from this year’s covid-related economic collapse. Just for Fun: Checking our inventory.
  A group of protesters from the 1970s serves as a reminder of how long we’ve known about the severity of air pollution — and how little we’ve done about it. Bad Air Days and What to Do About Them I woke up this morning to discover that here in northern California the air — delightfully fresh for a few days — has once again been declared unfit for humans due to wildfire smoke. But bad air isn’t confined to fire zones; worldwide it is responsible for 4.2 million deaths a year and countless illnesses. Cars, power plants, factories, and food production are the biggest culprits, according to the World Health Organization; residential cooking, heating, and lighting are contributors. Which means we can do plenty to help clear the air. • If you have a car, maintain it. Get regular tune-ups, keep tires fully inflated; you’ll improve gas mileage and reduce emissions. • Waste less electricity. Switch off unnecessary lights, buy compact fluorescent or LED bulbs, use fans instead of air conditioners whenever possible. Install surge protectors and switch off groups of appliances, eliminating the constant energy trickle of standby mode. • Avoid paper and plastic shopping bags. Producing paper bags generates more air pollution than making plastic bags. And plastic bags take up to 1,000 years to decompose. Carry washable cloth bags. • Do laundry in cold water. Yes, even your COVID masks; experts say cold water is fine unless you’ve been heavily exposed (say, caring for someone with the virus) in which case you’ll want to use hot water to be extra safe. —Karen McCann  The High Road I think most of us have run through the same range of Trump-related reactions over the last week… the tax I-told-you-so, the debate outrage, the covid schadenfreude. As Frank Bruni said in the New York Times: “I couldn’t help thinking, too, about karma, and I immediately felt petty for that.” Joe Biden has taken the opportunity to model our best responses to the news of the president’s illness: “This is not a matter of politics...It’s a bracing reminder to all of us that we have to take this virus seriously. It’s not going away automatically. We have to do our part to be responsible.” —Kathy Sherretts After All These Years... GiveGreen: Performance and Conversation with Paul Simon I wrote Paul Simon a fan letter in 1983. Today, over 37 years later, Paul finally wrote me back—to invite me to a League of Conservation Voters fundraiser in support of pro-environment senate candidates. You can check it out too. I’m sure Paul wouldn’t mind; after all, he and I go way back. —K.S. Don’t Drink the Water The Atlantic: Erin Brockovich Wants to Know What You’re Drinking by Amanda Fortini “Let me be the first to tell you that life takes an interesting turn when your name becomes a verb.” Making the Cut: The Hill: Trump administration finalizes plan to open up protected areas of Tongass National Forest to logging by Rachel Frazin The plan would endanger 168,000 acres of old-growth forest.  Help make the election free, fair, accessible, and secure Brennan Center for Justice Learn More AbouCandidates and Issues!   Want to Avoid the Next Pandemic? Fight Climate Change I know you don’t need more stuff to worry about right now, but consider this: The same experts who warned us about the chances of this pandemic occurring are now alerting us that more — and worse — could be on the way, thanks in large part to climate change. Wild animals are being forced out of their habitats by deforestation and migrating to the poles to avoid global increases in temperature. This means they’re crossing paths with species they’ve never before encountered, letting a host of new diseases jump from remote populations to domestic ones to us. Animal populations account for one billion cases of human illness and millions of deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization. We all think of COVID-19 as The Big One, but it could be just a tiny sneak preview of what’s coming up next. And every time I read articles such as Air Pollution Linked with COVID-19 Death Rates, I wonder how I’ll be affected by spending this summer in California, breathing smoke from runaway wildfires fueled by climate change. What can we do to fight for a healthier planet?
  Selloff, Sellout The fate of many of America’s national forests and wildlife refuges may rest on the outcome of the November election. Public Trust (Film, 98 min) has now been released online after screening at film festivals this year. This project, from Robert Redford and Patagonia Films, exposes the rush to privatize America’s public lands. Read about it here. —Kathy Sherretts Snopes: The Election Collection: Mail-in Voting NPR: Federal Judge Ousts Trump's Top Public Lands Chief by Kirk Siegler. Prior to his appointment as head of the Bureau of Land Management, William Perry Pendley spent much of his career as an attorney fighting the agency. The Hill: March For Our Lives activists paint mural outside McConnell's home, calling for SCOTUS selection post-election by Kaelan Deese. "Hey Mitch. We Call BS. Let The People Decide." New York Times: How to Debate Someone Who Lies by Richard A. Friedman. Joe Biden will have to figure out how to grapple with an opponent who doesn’t play by the rules. Some advice: Don’t waste your time trying to counter every falsehood or distortion that Mr. Trump serves up; you will paradoxically strengthen the misinformation rather than undermine it. Learn More About Candidates and Issues with PAGE (Progressive Action, Global Exchange) Americans of Conscience Checklist • ClimateRecovery.org 
 What Fighting Coronavirus Teaches Us About Fighting Climate Change “Climate scientists were probably the least surprised people in the world when the response to the coronavirus became politically polarized,” said Katharine Hayhoe, climate researcher at Texas Tech University. “Because that’s what we’ve been living through for 30 years.” According to Hayhoe, this moment in the climate crisis is roughly similar to the pandemic in early March, with some nations taking swift, decisive action while others descended into chaos and catastrophe. COVID death tolls, said Hayhoe, “provide feedback on a daily basis of what happens when you ignore science.” Recent climate disasters, coupled with the pandemic, are causing many to think differently about science. About two thirds of Americans now believe the government is doing too little to protect air and water quality and should make the environment a top priority. Progress depends on meaningful conversations, but nobody wants to talk about it, due to apocalypse fatigue. Here’s how to change that. The most important thing you can do to fight climate change: talk about it: TED Talk by Katharine Hayhoe How to transform apocalypse fatigue into action on global warming: TED Talk by Per Espen Stoknes —Karen McCann  "The President's Climate change poilicy bears a striking resemblance to his Covid-19 policy..." See the cartoon by Drew Sheneman of The Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.)  God Bless the Absentee My Maine ballot arrived, in an email with a link to a page that unlocks with a personal code to direct me to a download which can be saved to my hard drive. I thought it would be a simple process, but I now see it as a minefield. There are document fields that are labeled one way and referred to as another in the instructions. The locking pdf ballot can be filled, locked, attached, and returned—and still be sent back blank if the voter does not take care to save the document first.  Do not ask me how I know this. A panicked phone call to the Bureau of Elections resolved the confusion, and the blank unsigned ballot was discarded. But PLEASE—read your absentee ballot instructions carefully! Include the extra sheets and covers as requested, check your signature, look up the correct address, and double check EVERYTHING. —Kathy Sherretts Only one thing this week: Contact your senators. Find them here. Learn More About Candidates and Issues with PAGE (Progressive Action, Global Exchange) Americans of Conscience Checklist • ClimateRecovery.org    Plastics: A Recycler’s Guide I try to reduce my plastic packaging consumption by bringing net bags to hold my produce and tote bags to carry groceries home. When stuff I need, like dish soap and peanut butter, only comes encased in plastic, I recycle what I can. What’s OK? What’s not? Each facility has slightly different regulations, but here are some general guidelines. Not Recyclable: · Plastic wrap, bags, and wrappers have a tendency to wind around machinery at the recycling center with unfortunate results. · Small plastics, three inches or less, such as bag clips and pill packaging, get caught in the gears of the recycling machines. · Flexible packaging, such as a potato chip bag, is hard to process and has no market. · Deodorant is packaged in multiple kinds of plastic that can’t be separated. · Polystyrene foam requires a special machine, which most places don’t have. · Plastics marked 5 or higher are mixed and usually can’t be recycled. Recyclable: · Plastic bottles and jars are generally fine. Avoid the temptation to “wishcycle,” that is, throw in questionable stuff hoping it will be accepted. It won’t. And it may end up contaminating a bundle so it has to be sent to the landfill. —Karen McCann   Check your mailbox! September 19 is the deadline for states to send out overseas ballots. Most will send ballots electronically, so check your email, and look in your spam folder! Fill out your ballot and return it right away...by email, fax, or mail (Check your state's requirements HERE or HERE). Be sure to follow instructions carefully for returning your ballot, so that it isn't disqualified. If you haven't registered yet, there's still time: Register to vote and request your ballot (or get more information!) at votefromabroad.org. And if you know anyone who hasn't registered or has questions about the process, please forward this newsletter to them! —Kathy Sherretts  Scratch That: Slate: The Wisconsin Supreme Court Has Already Begun to Sabotage Absentee Voting by Mark Joseph Stern Wisconsin's Supreme Court halted the mailing of absentee ballots due to a Green Party challenge, and may force the state to print new ballots. Pay Up: CNN: Florida can bar ex-felons from voting if they owe court payments, appeals court rules by Dan Berman, Caroline Kelly and Fredreka Schouten Friday's ruling overturns a decision from US District Judge Robert Hinkle, who called the state's rule an "unconstitutional pay-to-vote system". Drawing on Experience: Vulture: How Cartoonist Keith Knight’s Life and Work Evolved Into Hulu’s Woke by Alex Dueben Haven’t seen the show, but I´ve been a fan of the cartoons for years! See the trailer. Stamped Out: Slate: This Is Still Happening: Louis DeJoy, Postmaster General by Jeremy Stahl A roundup of Trump administration malfeasance, Part 11. Just for Fun: Still not working... Learn More About Candidates and Issues with PAGE (Progressive Action, Global Exchange) Americans of Conscience Checklist • ClimateRecovery.org    Bill Nye explains climate change in 45 seconds, on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Why “The Science Guy” Is Worried Science. It’s the only way we’re going to stop two things that are killing us right now: climate change and COVID-19. Unfortunately, when it comes to America’s science literacy, "We are failing the test," said Bill Nye, "The Science Guy" on PBS and now host of Science Rules! “It’s a very serious problem.” According to the UN, if greenhouse gases don’t drop in half over the next decade (and the odds of that happening are very slim indeed) the earth will become unlivable. Unfortunately, fossil fuel companies have spent millions undermining the credibility of science and telling people their off-the-cuff opinions are as valid as hard evidence. There’s an incredible amount of nonsense being circulated on social media, which Nye considers a blessing and a curse, or as he calls it, “a blurse.” So how’s your science literacy, especially when it comes to climate change? Try this mini quiz — just four questions! I was chagrined to get just two right. “Don’t feel bad,” wrote the quiz’s authors. “You’re not alone. Researchers surveyed 965 people in the United States and Canada, and only one answered three of four questions correctly. Nobody got all four questions right.” Yikes! No wonder Bill Nye is worried! —Karen McCann  Chaos Theory Another week with every new story worse than the last: drilling permits in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge, encouraging supporters to vote twice, ending racial sensitivity training, eliminating (then restoring) the military newspaper Stars and Stripes... Is it all a clever strategy to stay at the top of the news cycle? An attempt to distract attention from illegal actions by Trump allies? I heard a podcast host compare Trump to a tenant who knows he’s never getting his security deposit back—so he’s “just breaking shit on the way out.” (I wish I could remember which podcast… our motto: We Listen To Political Podcasts Till Our Ears Bleed, So You Don’t Have To!) We recommended this before, but let's check in again: the Brookings Institute's interactive Reg Tracker lists Trump administration actions to dismantle regulations in areas such as education, environment, finance, transportation, and federal ethics. —Kathy Sherretts Wrap It Up: Unearthed: Oil-backed trade group is lobbying the Trump administration to push plastics across Africa by Emma Howard Senator Tom Udall: “It is outrageous that petrochemical and plastic industries claim the solution to our mounting plastic waste crisis is to produce more disposable plastics…then point the finger at developing nations for the plastic waste showing up in our oceans.” A Woman's Place is in the House: The Lily: 100 years ago, these congresswomen broke barriers. But their legacy is a cautionary tale for today. by Cornelia Powers Congress’s original “Woman’s Bloc,” Reps. Alice Robertson (R-Okla.), Winnifred Huck (R-Ill.) and Mae Nolan (R-Calif.) set the tone for the next century of female political participation. Even today, congresswomen find it hard to legislate for their own interests or those of the women they represent.  Ready to Vote? • If you haven't registered yet, there's still time: Register to vote and request your ballot at votefromabroad.org. • Look for your ballot to arrive by Sept 19; a week later if your state sends them by mail. • You must mail your ballot if you vote in AR, CT, GA, ID, IL, KY, MD, MI, MN, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, SD, TN, TX, VA, VT, WI • Send a FWAB (Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot) now if you are from one of these states, to make sure your vote is counted. • You may also send your ballot by courier services such as FedEX, DHL, UPS. • Contact your state election office if you don't get your ballot by early October. • Questions? See FVAP's FAQ, or contact Alert Resister JoNell Kvamme at kvammejo@hotmail.com  |
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