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A2. Green Unionism
IWW Stop COP CITY and its investors
By Clydeside IWW - Citystrolls, January 18, 2024
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author.
Tags: Atlanta Forestmobilizations and uprisingsanti-capitalismlibertarian-socialismIndustrial Workers of the World (IWW)TortuguitavideosIWW WISERARenewable Energy is (Mostly) Green and Not Inherently Capitalist, Volume 1: Wind Power (REVISED)
By Steve Ongerth - IWW Eco Union Caucus, Revised January 16, 2024
Is renewable energy actually green? Are wind, solar, and storage infrastructure projects a climate and/or environmental solution or are they just feel-good, greenwashing, false "solutions" that either perpetuate the deepening climate and environmental crisis or just represent further extractivism by the capitalist class and the privileged Global North at the expense of front-line communities and the Global South?
This document argues that, while there is no guarantee that renewable energy projects will ultimately be truly "green", there is nothing inherent in the technology itself that precludes them from being so. Ultimately the "green"-ness of the project depends on the level of rank-and-file, democratic, front-line community and working-class grassroots power with the organized leverage to counter the forces that would use renewable energy to perpetuate the capitalist, colonialist, extractivist system that created the climate and environmental crisis in which we find ourselves.
In order to do that, we mustn't fall prey to the misconceptions and inaccuracies that paint renewable energy infrastructure projects as inherently anti-green. This series attempts to do just that. This first Volume, on utility scale wind power addresses several arguments made against it, including (but not limited to) the following misconceptions:
- Humanity must abandon electricity completely;
- Degrowth is the only solution;
- New wind developments only expand overall consumption;
- Wind power is unreliable and intermittent;
- Wind power is just another form of "green" capitalism;
- The extraction of resources necessary to build wind power negates any of their alleged green benefits;
- Wind power is an extinction-level event threat to birds, bats, whales, and other wildlife (and possibly humans);
- Only locally distributed renewable energy arrayed in microgrids should be built without any--even a small percentage--of utility scale wind developments;
- Only nationalized and/or state-owned utility scale renewable energy developments should be built;
- No wind power developments will be green unless we first organize a socialist revolution, because everything else represents misplaced faith in capitalist market forces.
In fact, none of the above arguments are automatically true (and the majority are almost completely untrue). However, they're often repeated, sometimes ignorantly, but not too infrequently in bad faith. This document is offered as an inoculation and antidote to these misconceptions and misinformation.
Download a copy of this publication here (PDF).
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author.
Tags: renewable energywind poweroffshore windsolar powerenergyclean techscience, ecology, energy, and technologytechnologybatteriesenergy storageinvestor owned utilities (IOU)electricity gridsinfrastructure and mega-projectselectric vehiclesElectric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)climate changeextractivismlithiumrare earthscobaltcopperconflict mineralsGlobal SouthGlobal NorthFree, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC)nuclear powercapital blightgreenwashinggreen capitalismecosocialismgreen syndicalismgreen unionismlibertarian-socialismreportspublicationsSteve OngerthIWW Environmental Unionism CaucusWorkers Strike Back
Each year the Globe and Mail newspaper publishes a compendium of charts and graphs submitted by Canada’s leading economists, compiled by business journalist Jason Kirby. The set constitutes a very visual guide to the myriad of issues that will shape Canada’s economic trajectory in the year ahead. Reposted below is the submission from Jim Stanford, Director of the Centre for Future Work, on the upsurge in work stoppages recorded as Canadian workers fight to rebuild their real wages after the outbreak of inflation that followed the COVID pandemic.
Workers Strike Back By Jim StanfordSome observers called 2023 the Year of the Strike, and at times that moniker was fitting. Across a wide range of industries, workers hit the picket lines to support demands for pay increases that kept up with surging inflation. Over the first nine months of 2023 (the latest data at time of writing), Canada lost a total of 2.2 million work days to work stoppages – the highest since 2005. To the end of 2023, total days lost will be even higher: more than 2.5 million days (boosted by walkouts that include huge public-sector strikes in Quebec in December).
Workers have seen their real purchasing power eroded by the outbreak of inflation as the COVID-19 pandemic has eased, and they are angry watching share prices and chief executive officers’ bonuses soar while their own standard of living has been squeezed. Low unemployment and higher job vacancies strengthened workers’ bargaining position – although that is changing in the wake of aggressive Bank of Canada interest-rate hikes.
Expect labour strife to continue for a while yet. Lest anyone complain that strike-happy workers are undermining Canadian productivity, keep in mind that work stoppages amount to just 0.05 per cent of all days worked in Canada. That’s one-tenth the proportion of days lost during the peak strike years in the bad old 1970s.
The post Workers Strike Back appeared first on Centre for Future Work.
Public hearings set on ‘Teddy’ bear hunting season in Louisiana
A 2018 lawsuit led by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) with co-counsel Atchafalaya Basinkeeper said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service used “false assumptions and shoddy science” to make its decision for removal. It contends the bears still need the protection of the Endangered Species Act, saying the recovery corridors don’t connect true native populations, a requirement for delisting and that the estimated population is inflated.
The post Public hearings set on ‘Teddy’ bear hunting season in Louisiana appeared first on PEER.org.
National Park Service completes plan to reduce air tours at Haleakala National Park
The post National Park Service completes plan to reduce air tours at Haleakala National Park appeared first on PEER.org.
When is a little ‘forever chemical’ too much to eat?
Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, said MDE should not only expand its testing of fish but use that information to reduce contamination of waterways. PEER did some testing of its own that found PFAS in an oyster, a crab and striped bass in Southern Maryland.
“The states have to start grappling honestly with not just PFOA and PFOS, which are legacy PFAS, but the others, which also are hazardous,” he said. “They need to find the sources of contamination.”
The post When is a little ‘forever chemical’ too much to eat? appeared first on PEER.org.
Feds add more hoops for DNR logging on wildlife management areas
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is tightening requirements imposed on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources when the state wants to cut trees in wildlife management areas.
The latest details, included in a letter from the federal agency to the DNR, were made public by the group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. A federal agency official confirmed the letter but hasn’t yet commented on the issue.
The post Feds add more hoops for DNR logging on wildlife management areas appeared first on PEER.org.
Whistleblowing microbiologist wins unfair dismissal case against USGS
A microbiologist has won her case for unfair dismissal against a US federal agency after she blew the whistle on animal welfare and biosafety failures. The US Geological Survey (USGS) hired Evi Emmenegger as a fisheries microbiologist in 1994, and in 2006 promoted her to manager of the highest biosafety level containment laboratory at the agency’s Western Fisheries Research Center (WFRC) in Seattle. But in 2017, she became a whistleblower when she filed a scientific integrity complaint that the agency dismissed before putting her on leave in January 2020 and then firing her for alleged lapses in her research – a termination that was later retracted.
After facing some backlash from the centre’s leadership Emmenegger says that she decided to reach out for assistance to the non-profit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), which provides pro bono legal representation for whistleblowing scientists at government agencies. She ended up reporting the wastewater leaks to regulatory agencies and filed an internal scientific integrity complaint with the DOI, and Peer has served as her legal representative ever since.
The post Whistleblowing microbiologist wins unfair dismissal case against USGS appeared first on PEER.org.
BCG “Community & Labor Escalations” Webinar a Huge Success!
This January, Bargaining for the Common Good welcomed over 500 attendees to hear an inspiring and on time message on forming real alignments and building collective power. from Greg Nammacher (SEIU Local 26) Jennifer Arnold (Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia) Veronica Mendez Moore (CTUL) Marcia Howard (Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Educational Support Professionals), JaNaé Bates (ISAIAH) and Phillip Cryan (SEIU MN and IA).
To learn more about Common Good Bargaining in Minnesota, read “Aligning for Power: A Case Study of Bargaining for the Common Good in Minnesota” from The Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and The Working Poor.
Organizations representing over 30,000 in Minnesota are gearing up for an unprecedented week of action in March 2024. Support and uplift them by contributing to the Week of Action Strike Fund
Bargaining for The Common Good is a joint project between The Center for Innovation in Worker Organization, Action Center on Race and the Economy and Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor
If you attended the webinar or are interested in getting involved, please help us continue these important conversations by filling out this brief survey. Include your name and email address if you would like us to follow up with you.
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The post BCG “Community & Labor Escalations” Webinar a Huge Success! first appeared on Bargaining for the Common Good.
Supersonic Climate Impacts No Concern for NASA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 11, 2024
CONTACT
Jeff Ruch (510) 213-7028 jruch@peer.org
Washington, DC —This week marks the scheduled maiden voyage of the prototype for what may be a new generation of supersonic passenger jets. The launch of the X59 QueSST (short for Quiet Super Sonic Technology) culminates a half-billion-dollar investment by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in partnership with Lockheed-Martin, but this achievement will come at the expense of carbon neutrality goals for the aviation industry, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
Supersonic flight carries a heavy carbon footprint. Reaching supersonic speeds requires between 7 to 9 times more fuel than conventional jet travel. Yet, supersonic emissions are far more long-lasting, with an atmospheric residence as much as 20 times greater than the subsonic baseline.
U.S. aviation currently accounts for around 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions and is on course to triple by 2050 at current growth rates, not counting a new generation of supersonic jets. By that time, it could consume one-sixth of the planet’s 1.5-degree Celsius carbon budget.
The NASA-sponsored research aims to overcome the deafening sonic booms that led to a ban on commercial supersonic flight over land back in 1973. Instead of a boom, there will be a “thump” that NASA and other supersonic boosters hope will open U.S. airports to these high-speed jets.
“Unfortunately, NASA mistakenly believes that the only environmental barrier to supersonic aviation is noise,” stated Pacific PEER Director Jeff Ruch. “NASA’s supersonic agenda is on a flight path to blow apart any net-zero climate goal for the aviation sector.”
Documents obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act indicate that NASA –
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- Ignored findings of independent technical management panel experts who categorized “Not addressing climate and ozone impacts of supersonic aircraft” as a Major Concern;
- Dismissed employee concerns raised in its “Organizational Silence” program intended to prevent the groupthink leading to the Columbia and Challenger disasters; and
- Brushed off emission concerns as having “no or minimal long-term impact at supersonic cruise altitudes.”
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has boldly declared that “Climate change is an all-hands-on-deck, global challenge that requires action – now.” But he has yet to respond to a year-old letter from PEER urging him to subject the supersonic program and other aeronautics industry initiatives to “a rigorous, independent, and publicly accessible climate impact analysis.”
“NASA cannot count ‘all hands on deck’ to combat climate change if half the crew is down below scuttling the ship,” Ruch added, pointing out that with ticket prices averaging $12,000 for a round trip from New York to London on the Concorde, supersonic travel will be available only to the wealthy. “Supersonic travel may be a form of corporate welfare the planet cannot afford.”
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Examine negative climate implications of reviving supersonic flight
Trace the aviation industry’s growing climate footprint
Revisit expert panel “major concern” finding
View NASA’s minimization of emission concerns (page 5)
Read unanswered PEER letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson
The post Supersonic Climate Impacts No Concern for NASA appeared first on PEER.org.
Alaska’s open seasons on predators are approved behind closed doors
As spring arrived in southwestern Alaska, a handful of people from the state Department of Fish and Game rose early and climbed into small airplanes. As the crew flew, it watched for the humped shape of brown bears lumbering across the hummocks. When someone spotted one, skinny from its hibernation, the crew called in the location to waiting helicopters carrying shooters armed with 12-gauge shotguns.
While last year’s bear killings were particularly egregious, similar cullings have gone largely unnoticed. State data shows over 1,000 wolves and 3,500 brown and black bears have been killed since 2008 alone. In 2016, for example, the federal government shared radio tag information with the state, which used it to kill wolves when they left the safety of the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve — destroying so many packs that it ended a 20-year study on predator-prey relationships. “There weren’t enough survivors to maintain a self-sustaining population,” recounted an investigation by the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. The nearby caribou herd still failed to recover.
The post Alaska’s open seasons on predators are approved behind closed doors appeared first on PEER.org.
EPA offers court schedule for responding to Oak Ridge landfill documents request
In coming weeks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will review hundreds more documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act request about a new low-level radioactive waste landfill at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Site in Tennessee, according…In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility will update U.S. District Court…
The post EPA offers court schedule for responding to Oak Ridge landfill documents request appeared first on PEER.org.
Tucson turf businessman discusses advancement of industry concerning PFAS
Duane Enos owns Turf Designs on Silverbell near Grant. The retired Tucson Police Officer has been in business for around four years and says since the beginning, his company has tested for PFAS chemicals in their product.
Enos reached out to News 4 Tucson after seeing our report on the study from the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. Researchers warned homeowners about the dangers of PFAS chemicals found in artificial turf and suggested using native Arizona grasses that use less water. Enos says ultimately, what a homeowner or business decides to use is a personal preference.
The post Tucson turf businessman discusses advancement of industry concerning PFAS appeared first on PEER.org.
Federal officials revise grant conditions to ensure DNR logging on hunting lands serves wildlife
A public watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., applauded the US FWS for requiring extensive documentation by the DNR and pre-approval by the USFWS. The compliance is required before the DNR can offer any timber for sale on subsidized hunting land. The parcels in question have been acquired or maintained with federal aid derived from license dollars and excise taxes related to hunting and fishing. The annual Pittman-Robertson grants help pay salaries at the DNR, among other things.
“It shows how Fish and Wildlife has put a tight leash on the state,” said Chandra Rosenthal, a regional director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
The post Federal officials revise grant conditions to ensure DNR logging on hunting lands serves wildlife appeared first on PEER.org.
The Biden Administration Is Letting Corporate Criminals Off the Hook
Tim Whitehouse, a former EPA enforcement attorney and the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, praised the Biden administration’s recent improvements on enforcement while acknowledging the strong headwinds such efforts face. “It takes years of sustained funding and political support to build a good enforcement program,” he told me. “The instability in Congress is not only demoralizing to EPA staff but undermines their ability to think strategically over the long term.”
The post The Biden Administration Is Letting Corporate Criminals Off the Hook appeared first on PEER.org.
Feds Put Minnesota DNR Logging on a Short Leash
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
CONTACT
Chandra Rosenthal crosenthal@peer.org (303) 898-0798
Robert Bryant (651)452-3927, bry1982@comcast.net
Washington, DC —As a condition of receiving federal funding, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) logging operations must meet stringent new conditions to ensure the protection of wildlife and natural habitat, according to a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) document posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Federal funding for any DNR timber project now requires project-by-project pre-approval following site inspection and document review by both FWS and DNR wildlife staff.
Until this fall, FWS had been withholding an estimated $22 million in federal aid from DNR due to environmental violations by the state logging program. Those violations were summarized in a newly surfaced FWS assessment detailing how DNR’s misuse of federal wildlife funds for timber operations degraded wildlife habitat. Further, DNR improperly diverted hunting and fishing license revenue to commercial timber harvests rather than fish and wildlife work. In addition, $1.4 million timber sales revenue was not reported as required by federal regulation.
While the bulk of these withheld federal funds have since been released, FWS-administered grants related to DNR timber projects are now on a reimbursement-only basis, and then only after approval of an environmental assessment, full project documentation, and a site inspection by state and local wildlife officials. These new restrictions also apply to state-administered logging on lands not purchased by federal funds and “even if the proposed timber harvest management activity is not included in the [federal] grant costs.”
“We commend the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for holding Minnesota to account for its out-of-control timber program that was damaging the wildlife habitat it was supposed to enhance,” stated Rocky Mountain PEER Director Chandra Rosenthal, noting that this is the toughest sanction FWS has imposed on any state resources agency in decades. “By its long pattern of environmental violations, DNR has forfeited any benefit of the doubt it once enjoyed.”
Recent employee surveys conducted by both PEER and DNR itself found that agency wildlife staff felt marginalized, and their concerns were ignored by DNR’s forestry program. The new FWS requirements appear designed to empower DNR wildlife staff and to ensure that their suggestions will be incorporated into timber project planning.
“It is clear that timber quotas have skewed the balance to industry at the expense of habitat conservation efforts,” added Rosenthal, noting that today, PEER wrote to new FWS Midwest Regional Director Will Meeks to ask that the public and media be included in the preview of DNR documentation and site inspections. “Transparency will be key to restoring public trust in DNR leadership.”
Sounding a hopeful note, former FWS Mid-West Regional Chief of the Division of Wildlife and Sport Fish Preservation and Minnesota resident, Robert Bryant commented, “Going forward under Will Meeks, I believe that there will be a fresh review of the FWS administration of these grants to Minnesota DNR.”
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Look at preconditions for all DNR timber projects
Look at missing FWS assessment of DNR violations
Read PEER letter requesting greater transparency
View DNR employee survey results
The post Feds Put Minnesota DNR Logging on a Short Leash appeared first on PEER.org.
Chapter 28 : Letting the Cat Out of the Bag
By Steve Ongerth - From the book, Redwood Uprising: Book 1
Download a free PDF version of this chapter. At their first meeting, the members of IWW Local #1 had agreed upon a policy that they would not consent to interviews in the press because—while Earth First!ers could be open about their militant radicalism, since they didn’t have a direct economic relationship with the big timber companies or the gyppos—the workers, on the other hand, risked the loss of their job, or even their standing in the community if they spoke out. The G-P mill workers hit by the PCB spill were the exception, of course, because by the time they had turned to IWW Local #1, they had already had their standing taken away from them, and some—such as Treva Vandenbosch and Frank Murray—had been forced to quit. On the other hand, the P-L dissidents—such as Kelly Bettiga, Pete Kayes, Les Reynolds, and Bob Younger were already under intense scrutiny for the ESOP campaign and their unsuccessful appeals to the NLRB—and the L-P workers feeding information to Bari—including Don Beavers and Randy Veach, all could be fired in a heartbeat if they were linked to the “unwashed-out-of-town-jobless-hippies-on-drugs.” [1]
After the FBI sting operation that entrapped five of their comrades in Arizona, North Coast Earth First!ers were understandably wary of their dealings with the press, with good reason. With the region increasingly resembling a pressure cooker on overdrive due to the Corporate Timber reaction to Earth First!’s direct actions, EPIC’s lawsuits, the potential listing of the spotted owl as endangered, L-P’s outsourcing, and several ballot initiatives, the bosses were more likely than ever to ramp up their propaganda mill. The added pressures of underground IWW union organizing activity required especially tight security from the activists. Sometimes even the left-liberal press, small and limited though its circulation tended to be, could cause more harm than good. Judi Bari was especially aware of this fact.
Even if a press interview was sympathetic to the efforts of IWW Local 1 and the workers’ privacy respected, there was a sense that reporters might sensationalize the matter. In December of 1989, freelance reported Julie Gilden, whose articles often ran in publications such as The Village Voice approached Judi Bari about conducting just such an interview with her and timber-worker members of IWW Local #1. Bari informed Gilden of the branch’s aforementioned policy, and the latter claimed to agree to respect the IWW members’ wishes, but wanted to ask Bari some background questions on the IWW’s history and the local culture of Humboldt and Mendocino County. Bari consented, assuming that Gilden was completely forthright. She wasn’t. [2]
In less than a month, Gilden had submitted an article to The Village Voice and In These Times featuring quotations from Judi Bari, Pete Kayes, and IWW General Secretary-Treasurer, Jeff Ditz (who served in that capacity for 1990 after being elected by the membership the previous year), strung together as if they had been given in an actual interview. [3]
The article care across as factual and sympathetic to the IWW well enough, stating matter-of-factly, that IWW Local #1 had been formed with 26 members initially. It gave a summary of the IWW’s then current membership and its age demographics, which showed that a great many younger members had joined the IWW in recent years. It quoted labor folklorist Archie Green, who had written extensively about IWW culture. It also quoted Pete Kayes, who said of the mainstream labor unions, in comparison to the IWW:
(they are) more management tools to control employees than attempts by employees to control their own destinies. Once people figure out what we’re really about, maybe they won’t feel so stuck. The way it is now, people are so intimidated by management, they can’t differentiate Wobblies from Girl Scouts. But sooner or later the management will do something bad enough to force action.” [4]
This was reasonable enough, as were the following statements from Judi Bari:
(We’re) all trying to keep the timber companies from liquidating their assets and selling out. It’s desperate here We’re near the end. Tree sitters and millworkers will all be left without forests or jobs if we don’t do something to stop them…(loggers) often are more attuned to environmental issues than anyone else—after all, it’s their lifestyle, their homes, their work.” [5]
However Gilden also inserted wrap around comments that were not quotations by Bari that still implied that she meant for the information conveyed in them to represent her thoughts [6], such as comments about some of the Earth First!ers “being the original back-to-the-landers whose marijuana farms have been stoking the local economy since then.” Gilden also quoted Jeff Ditz as saying, “I didn’t come here to run a museum…this is the new IWW for the 1990s.” [7] The problem with Gilden’s framing of Ditz’s statements is that it suggested that the IWW—hitherto the dialog between itself and Earth First! begun in May of 1988—had indeed been, historically irrelevant, which was both inaccurate and unfair to the many IWW members who had kept its flame burning in the face of unfavorable historical conditions. It was felt by Bari, that Gilden’s presentation of the information, which she wasn’t supposed to have made public in the first place, could only serve to discredit the work IWW Local 1 was attempting. [8] Gilden’s sensationalizing of an obscure and largely insignificant attempt by neo-Nazi Tom Metzger to overtly infiltrate an Earth First! chapter in Southern California and the burning of American flags displayed at a recent Earth First! gathering by some discontented Earth First!ers with more internationalist leanings—events which did not accurately describe the overall cohesion of the loose, but mostly united radical environmental movement—didn’t help matters much. [9]
Bari hoped that the damage from the article would be minimal, and she noted that few timber workers read either In These Times or The Village Voice, but she urged all IWW members to shun any future contact with Julia Gilden. [10] Local 1 decided to modify their “no interviews” policy, finding the original plan unworkable, so that future interviews focused on the workers and their issues, and to try and use that to build the organization. [11] In a promising development, Judi Bari’s interview with Jane Kay on the San Francisco Examiner focused on the workers’ own statements, and Kay’s piece was fair and accurate. [12] Unfortunately, Gilden’s article would not be the last time that Earth First! or IWW Local 1 would be quoted out of context or their words misconstrued. Like it or not, Earth First! and IWW Local 1 were in the corporate media spotlight, and the timber corporations, lead by G-P, L-P, and P-L were likely to milk any negative press about their adversaries to infinity.
[1] “Minutes of the Inaugural Meeting of IWW Local #1”, recorded by Judi Bari, November 19, 1989.
[2] Letter to the editor, by Judi Bari, Industrial Worker, February 1990.
[3] “Minutes of the February 1990 IWW Local #1 General Membership Branch meeting”, recorded by Judi Bari, February 4, 1990.
[4] “Earth First! Brings Wobblies Back into the Woods”, by Julia Gilden, In These Times, January 17, 1990.
[5] Gilden, op. cit.
[6] Bari, February 1990, op. cit.
[7] Gilden, op. cit.
[8] Bari, February 1990, op. cit.
[9] Gilden, op. cit.
[10] Bari, February 1990, op. cit.
[11] “Minutes of the February 1990 IWW Local #1 General Membership Branch meeting”, op. cit..
[12] “Redwood Wrangle: North Coast Split Over Logging of Old Growth”, by Jane Kay, San Francisco Examiner, January 21, 1990.
Tags: Steve OngerthJudi BariPete KayesKelly BettigaLester ReynoldsRedwood UprisingIndustrial Workers of the World (IWW)Earth First!Earth First! - IWW Local 1PEERMail | Help Shape Our Election Year Strategy
I hope you had a wonderful New Year, and that the coming year brings you much success and happiness.
As we pivot to the new year, we want your feedback on how we can or should recalibrate our work during this upcoming election cycle.
Government employees and PEER supporters understand the importance of elections and our vital role in protecting the civil service from improper political influence. In the upcoming national elections, the strength of our democracy will be tested in ways it hasn’t been during my lifetime.
That is why we are developing an advocacy agenda in response to the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025”, a plan to reshape the federal government in the event of a second term for Donald Trump. The heart of Project 2025 is to “gut”, or, in the words of one former Trump administration official, be a “wrecking ball” for the administrative state on day one of the new administration.
No matter who wins the upcoming election, this radical and undemocratic plan will be the right wing’s agenda for the next decade. In response, we will step up our efforts to strengthen the nation’s civil service, whistleblower protection, transparency, and scientific integrity rules this year, and continue to push bold support for stronger environmental laws.
Because so much is at stake, we want to hear directly from YOU. Send us your comments on where you think we should focus our efforts in the coming year. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly with your thoughts (twhitehouse@peer.org) or fill out this form. If you’re inspired, you can also support our work by making a contribution to our efforts here.
The post PEERMail | Help Shape Our Election Year Strategy appeared first on PEER.org.
Report links toxic substance to cancer deaths in at least six baseball players: ‘What happened to exercising caution?’
An investigation showing a possible link between brain cancer and artificial turf strengthened a key argument among champions for natural grass — that nature does it better. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on examinations into the deaths of six former Philadelphia Phillies, who spent much of their baseball careers playing on fake turf at Veterans Stadium, which was open from 1971 to 2003.
They played atop an artificial field made in part with so-called forever chemicals that are linked to cancer. “We don’t know what those chemicals are doing to us — what happened to exercising caution when we’re talking about human health?” Kyla Bennett, a former scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency, said to the Guardian, which also reported on the deaths. Bennett now works for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
The post Report links toxic substance to cancer deaths in at least six baseball players: ‘What happened to exercising caution?’ appeared first on PEER.org.
Colt killed after injuring leg escaping BLM roundup, event captured on video
Video showing a colt hurting its leg as it fights to get away from wranglers is the latest flashpoint in advocates’ criticism of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundups on Nevada ranges. “A mare and her colt escaped. The colt is now dead,” according to an account on Wild Horse Education’s website.
The group also points out that as horses are driven to the trap area, cattle are grazing in the area. A separate lawsuit by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) criticizes BLM for its failure to review grazing permits. Wild horses are blamed for damaging habitats as the population has grown.
The post Colt killed after injuring leg escaping BLM roundup, event captured on video appeared first on PEER.org.
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