  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 
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 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 [email protected]  |
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November 2020
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