Politics

You cannot be faulted for failing to notice the long list of environmental wins that occurred in 2021.  Good news stories do not have the sensationalistic allure of dramatic prophecies of doom, but once you get past the dire headlines, there is a litany of overlooked achievements that tangibly illustrate progress. Environmental successes are easily overlooked in a world ravaged by climate change, biodiversity loss, an ongoing global pandemic and attacks against democracy. We are bombarded with apocalyptic predictions that seem to celebrate defeatism, however, contrary to the prognostications of the ubiquitous prophets of doom, we still have time to act. ...

Memorial Day honors soldiers who died while serving in the US Armed Forces. Millions have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of democracy and freedom . In the revolutionary war, they fell fighting the tyranny of British Rule, in the Civil War they fell trying to free slaves from the scourge of slavery, In World War ll they fell liberating Europe from Nazi despotism, and in the pacific, they fell fighting imperial Japan. Now the US faces a different threat, one that is coming from within. The former president's coup attempt and the insurrection he led on the Capital Building...

U.S. President Joe Biden has rejuvenated hopes that the U.S. will once again lead the world in an ambitious bid to tackle climate change. The Biden administration has put climate change at the center of U.S. foreign policy and national security. Biden's climate plan seeks to eliminate emissions from the electricity sector by 2030 and economy-wide by 2050. Biden won the presidential election of 2020 with the most ambitious climate platform in American history. On inauguration day he immediately went to work enacting his bold climate action plan by rejoining the Paris Agreement, halting efforts to pursue drilling on public lands (including the Arctic National...

Corporate America has come to the realization that it cannot afford to ignore the wave of voter suppression bills in Republican-controlled states. The CEOs of some of the most well-known American brands are speaking out against restrictive new state voter laws that kick people off voter rolls, make voting more difficult, and give more electoral power to Republican legislatures.  The GOP's voter suppression efforts have been compared to the Jim Crow laws that prevented Black people from voting for over a century. They cannot ignore the systemic racism that was stoked by the former president and supported by his party.  The Black Lives...

On Earth Day President Joe Biden is convening a historic two-day virtual climate summit that heralds the return of the United States to the forefront of the climate fight. On April 20-22, Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will come together with 38 other world leaders to discuss global efforts to address climate change. The summit will include all 17 leaders of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate who together are responsible for about 80 percent of global emissions and GDP. It also includes the heads of countries that are especially vulnerable to climate...

In an epic showdown, Democrats are trying to protect democracy from Republican efforts to suppress the vote.  While Republicans are working feverishly to undermine voting rights in state legislatures across the country, Democrats are advancing electoral reforms at the federal level.  The calls for electoral reforms grew louder in the wake of the Republican coup attempt, and the former president's call for an insurrection. The GOP has launched what has been described as the broadest assault on voting rights since the Jim Crow era. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, lawmakers in 43 states have crafted more than 253 bills that...

Chinese President Xi Jinping has put the development of an "ecological civilization" at the core of his policies and he is calling other nations to embark on a "green revolution" as part of global recovery efforts. China's ambitious climate action plan is at the core of the nation's most recent five-year plan.  President Xi has indicated that China's emissions will peak before 2030 and the nation will be carbon neutral by 2060.  To achieve these goals China will need to massively increase clean energy infrastructure alongside equally massive reductions in the nation's reliance on fossil fuel.  Decarbonization is at the...

In his first week as president, Joe Biden's climate plan did more for climate action than his predecessor did in four years. On January 27th U.S. President Biden signed a raft of executive actions. that focus on the interrelated issues of climate change, environmental justice, infrastructure investments, and job creation. These moves build on the executive actions he signed on his first day in office. This includes beginning the process of reversing the environmentally destructive legacy of his predecessor.  At a January 27th press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, "President Biden is continuing to follow through on...

On Wednesday January 20th America started writing a new chapter in the nation's long and storied history.  On day one new U.S. President Joe Biden began dismantling the failed legacy of his predecessor. Within hours of being inaugurated Biden rejoined the Paris accord, killed the Keystone XL pipeline and ended drilling in the Artic wildlife refuge. Biden undid his predecessors regulatory approval process and instructed the OMB director to develop recommendations to modernize regulatory review. Biden has also taken executive actions designed to depoliticize the Justice Department. Going forward all executive branch appointees must sign an ethics pledge barring them from...

The presidency of Donald J Trump ended as it began, with dysfunction and narcissistic self-preoccupation. Trump's presidency is a stain that will not wash. His four years in office have been defined by divisiveness, lies, corruption, and abject failure. Trump will live in infamy for his insurrection, his handling of COVID-19, and his exacerbation of climate change. It was not only that Trump defied all the norms of the executive branch, it is that he systematically tried to dismantle the institutions he was charged to oversee. He may not be remembered for the misogyny in the Access Hollywood admission, the racism...