Politics

Investing in the low carbon economy is a good investment that will supply jobs, cut costs and reduce pollution all while combating climate change. Covid-19 has helped to increase support for a green stimulus. This pandemic has augured an economic crisis and exposed the fault lines in our economy and our social structures. Investing in a more sustainable economy addresses a wide range of issues including the increasingly imminent threat of climate change. We have seen the return of 7.9 million jobs since June but many of the 11.5 million jobs lost since February may be gone for good. According...

The fact that the United States Postal Service (USPS) is protected by the Constitution has not deterred the Trump administration from  slowing mail delivery to undermine a free and fair general election.  Efforts to slow mail delivery began shortly after Trump appointed Louis DeJoy to run the USPS. DeJoy is one of Trump's major donors and within weeks of being on the job he began removing sorting machines and eliminating overtime. This has slowed down the mail and caused the USPS to warn  at least 40 states that their mail-in ballot deadlines conflict with the service's ability to deliver ballots...

The ruling administration's mishandling of the coronavirus gives Americans a reason to reflect on the implications of a government at war with science.  We cannot ignore the tragedy of the 180,000 Americans that have succumbed to COVID-19, however, there is an upside to this horrible plague.  If nothing else it has helped to educate the electorate about President Trump's inability to respond to a crisis. This virus is but one example of the many ways that the Trump administration is at odds with the majority of Americans.  Despite the fact that a growing number of Americans support climate action, this...

Coverage of the 2020 Democratic National Convention from the perspective of four key participants. Former first lady Michelle Obama and former president Barack Obama who called on Americans to defend their democracy. Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Kamala Harris who offered us an intimate portrait of her life and career and the Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden, whose speech earned praise from both the left and the right. There was a sense of history in the making at this years Democratic National Convention (DNC). U.S. president Donald Trump's presidency was formally challenged by a surprisingly hopeful vision for America. The convention...

Voting by mail is the only safe way to vote during a pandemic, however, U.S. President Donald Trump is using his bully pulpit to do everything he can to ensure these votes don't get counted. This president is forcing people to make the choice between their personal safety and their right to vote. This is a clear political calculation designed to help him win reelection. Trump's attempt to deprive people of their right to vote by mail is more than just an attempt to suppress the vote, it is a self-serving attack on democracy.  As Michelle Obama said at the...

Climate action is a high profile election issue in 2020 and presumptive Democratic nominee Joseph R. Biden Jr. gets the urgency of this crisis. His inclusion of Kamala Harris as his running mate cements the Biden ticket as the most climate forward presidential candidacy in the history of the Republic. Biden's climate focus is critical because the U.S. is currently ranked as the worst performing country in the world on climate action.  Another four years of Trump could augur the end of civilization as we know it. CLIMATE PLAN Biden's climate agenda is the product of consultations with climate activists,...

Presumptive Democratic presidential  nominee Joe Biden recently named Kamala Harris as his running mate prompting Sierra Club President, Ramon Cruz Diaz to say the VP pick, "cements" the Democratic ticket as "the strongest ever for proposed climate action." Harris is the first black woman and first person of Indian descent to be nominated for vice president by a major party. Tamara Toles O’Laughlin, North America Director of 350 Action, said, "Harris has demonstrated a solid understanding of the scale of the climate crisis". Harris has proposed investing a trillion dollars a year for the next ten years to cut emissions....

Donald Trump is the world's most powerful advocate of the industry that is at the heart of the climate crisis. It is an irrefutable scientific fact that if we are to minimize global warming we must stop burning coal, oil and gas. The fossil fuel industry has known this for decades. However, they concealed that information and launched sophisticated disinformation campaigns to deceive the public so that they can keep profiting from their energy dominance. Their rejection of science and climate denial has brought us to the brink of collapse. They are complicit in the systemic racism that plagues the...

Veterans and conservative groups are criticizing Trump calling him a failure and a traitor. Even some Republicans are openly disagreeing with him for the first time. Trump is the most consistently unpopular president in the history of the republic and his support is eroding even among the minority that make up his base*. Trump's support is collapsing because he is on the wrong side of all the major issues of the day. His strategy divides Americans with culture wars, systemic racism, secret police, portraying protestors as terrorists, disinformation, conspiracy theories, corruption, nepotism, cronyism, disparaging popular media and rejection of science....

The U.S. has seen months of sustained protests against racism and police brutality, in response Trump is using militarized police dressed in camouflage combat fatigues to intimidate people in Portland. He is also threatening to do the same in many other Democrat run cities. Trump justifies his brazen political theater by casting peaceful protestors--American citizens--as terrorists and enemy combatants. These protestors are being thrown into unmarked vehicles by heavily armed, unidentified paramilitary-style officers that look a lot like the secret police we see in authoritarian regimes. Many of these secret police are from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), specifically...