When The Whole World Comes Together...

https://youtu.be/cAl0tStJ6SE

 When The Whole World Comes Together...
words and photos by C.A. Matthews

We start to act--4 million of us in 150 countries showed up for the first global Climate Strike this past Friday. 500,000 demonstrated in the US alone. On Monday, fifteen young persons began a landmark climate lawsuit against five countries. Now, that's some action! 

But we need to do more. We know we can do more. We can't let up now. Greta Thunberg, teenage leader of the worldwide climate resistance, protests every Friday to call attention to the latest travesty committed against our environment.  We should do likewise. Pick a corner, a courthouse step, a mall parking lot and make your stand. Some photos, memes and  slogans follow below to give you inspiration for your signs and banners.

The whole world comes together and hope is born. We need to use that hope to save our planet. There is no Planet B--but there is a world of hope out there. It's time to come together and save the world.  The clock is ticking. As the banner says: "Our home is on fire!" We can't wait to put it out.

#ClimateStrikeToledo

More Great Climate Strike Sign Slogans

You will die of old age. We will die of climate change.

Use less paper (written on a hand-sized sign)

Greed (crossed-out "d "and red "n" written over it) Economy

We are skipping our lessons to teach you one.

Don't Burn My Future

People Change Not Climate Change

This planet needs you to give a shit.

Denial is suicide.

Make Love Not CO2

It's so bad introverts are here (seen at a climate strike event).

Make the Earth cool again. 

I speak for the trees.

Where are the trees? What will I breathe?

Nurture Nature

Keep it in the ground.

You cannot eat money!

Dead planet soon, act now! System change not climate change!

 We're rising up so the sea level won't.

Our home is on fire!


Related Articles:

Greta Thunberg: "Our Planet Is Dying. The Time for Fairytales Is Over."
https://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/58804-focus-our-planet-is-dying-the-time-for-fairytales-is-over

"How dare you": Greta Thunberg tears into world leaders over inaction at UN climate summit
https://news.yahoo.com/greta-thunberg-un-climate-speech-how-dare-you-151148559.html

It's Kids vs. the World in Landmark New Climate Lawsuit
https://earther.gizmodo.com/its-kids-vs-the-world-in-a-landmark-new-climate-lawsui-1838343565?

US/Canada Have Lost 3 Billion Birds Since 1970s. Scientists Say Nature Is Unraveling.
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/58796-us-canada-have-lost-3-billion-birds-since-1970-scientists-say-nature-is-unraveling

Millions Attend Global Climate Strike
https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-49767747 

Our House Is On Fire: Global Climate Strike Draws Out Hundreds of Thousands of Protesters in New York, DC
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/58820-our-house-is-on-fire-global-climate-strike-draws-out-hundreds-of-thousands-of-protesters-in-new-york-dc

Millions Take to the Street as Climate Strike Protests Hit Cities Across Asia, Europe
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/58806-millions-take-to-the-streets-as-climate-strike-protests-hit-cities-across-asia-europe

Kelsey Juliana v. US: Meet the Young Woman Suing the Federal Government  Over the Climate Crisis
https://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/58825-kelsey-juliana-v-us-meet-the-young-woman-suing-the-federal-government-over-the-climate-crisis

***

Bald eagles, grizzly bears, California condors, gray wolves, American alligators... The Endangered Species Act (ESA) successfully brought these and other iconic species back from the brink of extinction. That's pretty amazing.

But the Trump administration just released new rules that undermine endangered species protections to benefit the oil and gas industry and other corporate interests.

Which would you rather have, Florida panthers or more dirty oil wells?
Tell Congress to stand up to the Trump administration and protect the Endangered Species Act.
Big Oil and Gas has wanted the Endangered Species Act out of the way for a long time. And now it has an administration willing to make it happen.

The new rule changes are slated to go into effect this month, and they include weighing economic impacts when deciding if a species gets protection and making it harder to factor in climate change’s impact on at-risk species.¹

Let's not mince words: this attempt to weaken the Endangered Species Act is driven by money. Big Oil and Gas and other corporate interests want to be free to rake in profits regardless of the harm they cause in the process. And the Trump administration has been more than happy to roll out the red carpet for them.

The rest of us have other ideas.

Take Action

Projects like the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines, for example, are facing strong opposition — including court challenges and the revocation of permits — because they threaten endangered bats, salamanders and other at-risk wildlife.

This rollback in wildlife protections isn’t a done deal. These new rules can be challenged in court, as well as by legislators via the Congressional Review Act. Make it clear that you expect Congress to oppose and confront the Trump administration’s attack on this bedrock environmental law.

This is just the latest in a long line of reprehensible actions where the Trump administration has no problem rolling back environmental and climate protections all for fossil fuel profit. But it's important to remember that significant public outcry and bad publicity have torpedoed some previous regulatory rollbacks before — and we can do it again!

Fossil fuel interests shouldn’t get to determine which species survive and which go extinct. Will you stand with me now to protect the Endangered Species Act and the wildlife whose survival depends on it?

Take action with us and our allies to protect the Endangered Species Act!

Onward together,

Wenonah Hauter
Founder and Executive Director
Food & Water Action and Food & Water Watch

---

1. U.S. Significantly Weakens Endangered Species Act, New York Times, August 12, 2019.

*** 

Tell Congress: "Pass the TPS for Victims of Hurricane Dorian Act to allow Bahamians to work and live in the United States without fear of deportation." ADD YOUR NAME

Hurricane Dorian just devastated the Bahamas. Many of those who survived are now climate refugees, trying to make their way to the United States.

Donald Trump’s racist anti-immigrant hysteria is stopping them.

Every member of Congress must make a choice: Will they enable Trump's hate and help close our borders to Black climate change survivors or lead with moral clarity and pass policies that welcome them? Speak out now to make sure they do the right thing.

ADD YOUR NAME: Give protected status to allow Bahamians to live and work in the United States while the country rebuilds!

With great power comes great responsibility. America has a moral responsibility to the victims of human-caused climate catastrophe.

Storms, droughts and floods will only become more extreme as our planet warms and climate deniers like Donald Trump consolidate power. That means climate disasters will displace more and more people around the world, and fast.

How we respond now will set the tone for the next generation of climate refugees. It’s up to us to ensure that the world stands together to fight the climate crisis together instead of putting up walls and blaming other nations.

That means not only coordinated decarbonization efforts, but justice-led movements to help the victims of the climate crisis.

ADD YOUR NAME: It starts here. Congress must give protected status to allow Bahamians to live and work in the United States while the country rebuilds!

Thank you,

Mike Phelan
Progress America

DONATE NOW

***

Unite Behind The Science

JOIN US ON EARTH DAY 2020

Yesterday was historic. Four million people of all ages, and led by young people, went on strike for climate action in more than 150 countries. Thank you! Together, we are making a difference. Now is the time for all our movements to keep building. Today, at another historic gathering for the first United Nations Youth Climate Summit, we called on people, organizations, and communities everywhere around the world to mobilize on Earth Day, April 22, 2020 to stand up for science. April 22, 2020 not only marks the 3rd anniversary of the inaugural March for Science, but it is also the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day when 20 million people took to the streets to advocate a sustainable environment on behalf of future generations.  Half a century later, this call to action grows only more urgent as our planet is under siege from greedy corporations, selfish polluters, and short-sighted governments that choose to disregard the scientific consensus. We must immediately act to combat climate change, protect our environment, and safeguard our communities. These activations will take place around the world in mediums and forms chosen by local communities, such as walk-outs, marches, concerts, teach-ins and more.  To make a transformative impact on April 22 and beyond, we need everyone’s leadership. To uplift and support community organizers all around the world, later this year we will release the first version of a dynamic international tool kit of best practices and lessons learned from social movement leaders who’ve led activations around the world, including March for Science, March for Our Lives, the Global Climate Strike, the Women’s March, and more.  Let’s keep going! Together, we are turning the tide and changing our future. - The March for Science Team

Citizens of the World

Happy Pride Day! (Albeit belatedly for some.) As the summer winds down and the kids head back to school, let us consider what kind of world we are working hard to achieve. Is it a world of perpetual war and violence? Or is it a world where everyone is free to use their divinely-inspired talents for the benefit of all? Are we only members of one nationality, ethnic group, race or religion, or can we become true citizens of the world?

Citizens of the World

by C.A. Matthews 

(Toledo Pride Day Parade snapshots by Cindy and Adrian Matthews) 

It's difficult for me at times to see what all the fuss is about in the world. We are all human beings (at least, I assume we all are) and we are all unique in our own ways. If you believe in a positive creative force in the universe, then you probably see all this diversity as a good thing and even a necessary thing. Where would we be if we all looked alike, thought alike, or talked alike? We would become inbred in fairly short order and cease to exist if we only reproduced clones of ourselves. Our society would stagnate overnight and possibly collapse if we didn't welcome new ways of thinking and communicating with each other. Variety is not only the "spice of life"-- it's essential for life itself.

The super-rich establishment's "divide and conquer technique" is an example of insanity at its best then. It is the antithesis of variety and uniqueness. It worships the negation of life itself. It rips society apart into its smallest components by indoctrinating all factions into the "it's my way or the highway!" mentality. By scorning differences between human beings, the one-percenters use "the fear of the other" to crush individuality. Uniformity and tribalism are to be adored. Violence and war enforce the sameness of the status quo. Group think becomes the order of the day. Who better to tell you what to think and how to act than a white male billionaire who claims he deserves to hoard all the world's gifts at his workers'--and the planet's--expense? Who indeed!

Above the lie of violence, uniformity and group think flies the rainbow flag of peace, love and acceptance of others. Pride Day celebrates the fact that we are all citizens of the world. To rejoice in its message, all that is necessary is to refute the establishment's attempts to divide and conquer us through discrimination and hate and embrace the world's need for diversity and tolerance. A few good "free hugs" along the parade route helps, too.

After all, we all were born here on Earth; we all live here, and one day we will all die here (or among other human beings in space). We all have these things in common. All the rest is icing on the cake of life, and it's okay if some folks like their cake with lemon frosting or pink stripes or rainbow sprinkles or just plain vanilla glaze. It's all cake, and it's all good.

Cherish the goodness. Share it with others. Invest your energy into becoming a true citizen of the world and not a slave to denigrating group think. Don't let the establishment crush our individuality in the name of so-called "freedom" that is anything but. Walk proudly, with head held high into a future that includes all of creation living harmoniously together, equally worthy of all the gifts life has to offer.

                         

***

The attempts by the establishment to divide and conquer ordinary people are ramping up. Lee Camp explains how he and other independent progressive voices are being blocked and banned on social platforms. No diversity of opinion means more uniformity and group think in favor of the wealthy elite's agenda to exploit workers and the world's resources. The way to fight back is by sharing knowledge--knowledge is power. Power to the people!

 

https://youtu.be/pPKVcDn36bQ  

Jimmy Dore explains how ranked choice voting is a more democratic way to vote and actually increases voter turn out. (It's been successfully implemented in Maine.) This is yet another story you won't hear much about on mainstream media outlets since it challenges the status quo's hold on power.

https://youtu.be/q0R_SbMdKYM

To Understand What's Happening in the World, We Need a Diversity of Voices--We Need Independent Journalists 
 

The Revolution Continues has set up an easy way to donate to the cause of independent journalism by keeping it ad-free. We've been publishing over three years without those obnoxious ads (that many news sites have to cover costs). It's been great, but the editor does have to pay for internet, electricity, etc., out of her own pocket. She would like to be able to pay her contributors in the future.

Please consider donating a buck, $5, $10 or $100--any amount you can share with us to keep this progressive site going without those awful ads is appreciated. Help us become a strong alternative voice protesting against the corrupt establishment and its paid-off corporate mouthpieces. Give to TRC today. Thank you.

You can donate via Paypal at http://paypal.me/camatthews 

Power to the people and not the corporations!    ***
 
The world citizenship movement, which now numbers over 1,000,000 world citizens, was sparked by Garry Davis after WWII. Humiliated by his role as a bomber pilot in the war, Davis declared himself a world citizen, founded the World Service Authority (WSA), and refused to conform to the idea that any person must maintain national citizenship when nationhood is inextricably linked to violence, suspicion, hatred, and war.

Now, we're teaming up with the World Service Authority! When you register for a World Passport (or other world document) with WSA, World BEYOND War will receive 20% of the proceeds. In addition to your World Passport, you'll also receive complimentary gifts from WSA, including a "I'm a World Citizen" button + a copy of the UN Declaration of Human Rights in your language of choice. Register here.

The World Passport, issued by WSA, is a neutral, apolitical document of identity and potential travel document, that has been issued for over 60 years and accepted by over 185 countries on a case-by-case basis. It is a meaningful symbol and powerful tool for the implementation of the right to freedom of travel.

Apply here for your own world passport - and identify yourself as a citizen of the world.

You don't have to renounce your national citizenship, as Garry Davis did, to register for a world passport. But you can travel with it! The legal mandate is stated in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including one's own, and to return to one's country." But, as Garry found out in his travels, not every country upholds this universal right (so be sure to bring your national passport as a back-up). The world passport is a mechanism for advocating on behalf of the human right to travel freely.

What the world citizenship movement shares in common with World BEYOND War is our mutual vision for a peaceful world beyond the divisions of nation states and a global political service institution, or mechanism for global governance, that pursues peace through peaceful means.

When you sign up as a referral from World BEYOND War, your World Passport (or other world document) registration fee will not only support the work of World Service Authority - which provides pro bono legal advocacy and documentation assistance to refugees - but also 20% of the proceeds will go to World BEYOND War, to help sustain, and grow, our ongoing peace education programs and advocacy campaigns for war abolition.

Fill out the form to register for a world passport (or other world document) today!

In peace,

Greta Zarro
Organizing Director
World BEYOND War
greta@worldbeyondwar.org

P.S. Attend a World Citizenship Workshop with WSA President David Gallup at this year's #NoWar2018 Conference, September 21-22 in Toronto (and travel there on your world passport, like WBW's own Donnal Walter!). Register here for our Toronto peace conference.

***

From Progressive America:

Manuel Duran Ortega should never have been taken by ICE.

Manuel Duran Ortega―founder of Memphis Noticias, a Spanish-language publication in Memphis, Tennessee―was arrested on April 3 and charged with disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic while covering a local protest. Two days later, the Memphis Police Department dropped the charges against him. But instead of releasing Duran Ortega, Memphis officials turned him over to ICE. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center is fighting for him because he was the only journalist arrested at this protest. His attorneys from SPLC allege that Duran Ortega was targeted by local police in retaliation for his critical reporting.
As Donald Trump continues to attack journalists as "enemies of the people," we need to stand up for truthtellers like Manuel Duran Ortega. An attack on journalists is an attack on our First Amendment rights! 
 

Join Progress America and our allies and demand that ICE release Manuel Duran Ortega immediately.

Thank you!
Mike Phelan
Progress America 

 ***

From Friends of the Earth:

Donald Trump hopes to cut a deal on a renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement by the end of this month.

 You know what that means -- we could soon be one step closer to another trade deal that favors corporate polluters over people and the planet.   

The Senate can still reject Trump’s new NAFTA. But we need your help to push it to act! 
Call your Senators TODAY and oppose Trump’s new NAFTA! 

Trump’s NAFTA would be a disaster for people the planet. It’s yet another example of his administration’s determination to gut environmental protections and hand our lands and waters over to corporate polluters.

This new deal is likely to have a raft of anti-environment provisions. Trump’s stated NAFTA negotiating objectives indicate that he plans to use a new NAFTA to hamstring effective environmental regulation across the board.

 Even worse, Trump could try to sneak these anti-environmental provisions into the fine print -- making it especially hard to stop them. For example, Trump seeks to ease the approval process and promote the export of genetically modified crops. What seems like a small addition could be disastrous for our environment and our food system. And that’s just one instance -- there could be many more! 
 Call your Senators today and stop Trump’s new NAFTA. 

Rejecting Trump’s NAFTA is a no-brainer. It would be horrible for our environment. It would gut protections for food and chemical safety. It would be bad for workers. The only ones who stand to benefit are giant corporations, from Bayer to the fossil fuel industry

Together, we can push Congress to prevent the use of trade deals to gut protections for people and the planet. Thanks to pressure from Friends of the Earth members like you, we stopped the disastrous Trans Pacific Partnership. This shows that when you speak up, your Senators will listen. Now, we need your help to do it again. 

Make a two-minute phone call and tell your Senators to stop Trump from using NAFTA to destroy our environmental protections!

Fighting together with you,
Bill Waren
Senior Trade Analyst
Friends of the Earth

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What Kind Of World Are We Building?

This week, we take a look at the most vulnerable in our society. How does it define us as a people if we treat those who are powerless or without privilege with contempt? How are we made "great" by in turn making others "small"?

"The Doctor" from the BBC's Doctor Who hits the nail on the head with his above comment. How much value do Americans place on a human life? Even more unsettling, why have we allowed ourselves to become so mercenary? Why can't we show our fellow human beings compassion?

Your thoughts and feedback are required. Leave them in the comments below and share this blog with others to get the dialogue going. Start out by asking yourselves the following question:

What Kind of World Are We Building 
For Future Generations?
by C.A. Matthews 

The little revolutionary in the photo above was present at last January's Unity March. The day itself wasn't half cold, and the numbers of marchers were great and enthusiastic.  As this year's planned Unity March is coming together, I wonder what kind of a turnout can be expected. The weather will probably be colder and snowier than last year, but will the events of 2017 have an even greater dampening effect on the hearts and minds of progressive marchers and tempt them to stay home?

This beautiful photograph of a tiny marcher got me thinking about the new grandbaby in our family. My brother and sister-in-law have recently become grandparents. As I enjoy looking at photos of their little bundle of joy, a sadness comes over me. What sort of world are building for my great-nephew and his friends? Will there even be potable water or breathable air by the time he reaches adulthood? Will he and his friends curse us for the gutted and polluted planet we've left to them? Will they shake their heads at our selfish stupidity for burning fossil fuels until they ran out, wasting valuable time we could have used for transitioning to green energy systems?

If we allow nuclear brinkmanship to continue, will there even be a world left for anyone to worry about? I'm told I take a lot of things too seriously. But I have to ask myself over and over again, "How have we become so complacent and flippant about these potential horrors? What do we gain as a people by remaining silent? Why do we place so little value on human life itself?"

Our children are our future. Why are we okay with bankrupting their futures through our selfish and destructive behaviors? Why do some scream "Don't kill the babies!" outside of women's clinics, yet do little to nothing to take care of the needs of these children once they're brought into the world? Is it all some sort of horrible game to them, a game of who can yell the loudest but make the least amount of difference in the lives of the very young and vulnerable? Why is sentencing children to a life of poverty and hunger preferable to providing everyone with free access to birth control? Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B., sums up the hypocrisy in the so-called "pro-life" movement in this statement:

 I do not believe that just because you're opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don't? Because you don't want any tax money to go there. That's not pro-life. That's pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is.

What does it say about a country that cannot provide even the bare minimum in health care for its little ones? It's bad enough we have an orange buffoon in the White House bragging about his "big nuclear button" like a spoiled toddler, but we can't deny we've also elected a legislative branch made up of members willing to accept millions in corporate cash from the health insurance industry and Big Pharma lobbyists while allowing our children to go without health care. Are Americans saying children aren't important in the scheme of things?

That's something to be real proud of, huh?

A recent U.N. survey gives the U.S. the lowest marks in the

modern world for how it addresses the needs of its most vulnerable populations.  Sorry, but we don't get any points for how good the top 1% have it at the expense of the remaining 99%. We are the laughingstock of the planet for giving wealthy corporations "welfare" instead of our own people who are homeless and hungry. 

I know I'm not laughing.

That's the kind of world we are building. How can some shout "We're making America Great Again!" while allowing it to fall into an abyss of greed? It makes no sense. If greed is our country's creed, we were never truly "great" in the first place.

I'm sorry to express such dark and depressing thoughts, but a very long, cold winter and a very dark, cold outlook for ordinary Americans has something to do with it. I'd like to help build a better world for my great-nephew to live in. I want our children to be loved, well-fed, well-taken care of (health care for all) and have a chance to make something of their lives without falling into massive college loan debt like their poor parents' have. Their parents' generation deserves a break, too.

We can't continue to sit at home, trying to keep warm this winter. We're all needed in the streets, in the town halls, in the vaulted halls of our state houses and Congress, pressuring those in power by telling them we will not allow our children's future to be stolen by mostly older, super-rich, white males. We need to march, unite, call, write, and fight back against the immorality of our current culture.  Agreed, the stakes are high, but the end will be worth it.

After all, a child--a whole generation of children--is a terrible thing to waste.

Some related articles that might be of interest:

https://talkpoverty.org/2017/12/12/u-s-eliminate-child-poverty-cost-senate-tax-bill/

https://www.nationofchange.org/2018/01/05/f-35-jet-program-budget-exceeds-406-billion-yet-universal-healthcare-costly/

https://splinternews.com/time-to-make-life-hard-for-the-rich-1821384779

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/21228-americas-real-welfare-queens

***
Ways you can help to build a better world this week...

From 314 Action:

EMERGENCY PETITION: Demand Congress PERMANENTLY fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program →

We need your immediate attention:

4.9 million children are about to lose their healthcare. 4.9 MILLION.

Congress refuses to permanently fund the critical Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

And unless they do something by the end of the month, states will have no choice but to cancel the healthcare of millions of kids.

This is a public health EMERGENCY.  So we’re gathering 25,000 signatures to demand Congress permanently fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program →

SIGN HERE: Tell Congress to fund Children’

Top medical groups -- including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians -- say funding CHIP is absolutely imperative.

Healthcare that kids need and deserve hangs in the balance. It’s despicable that Congress would play politics with something as fragile as children’s lives.

That’s why we’re launching this petition to Congress. As pro-science activists committed to ending attacks on healthcare, it’s up to us to stand up for children everywhere and ensure they get the care they need.
 
If you’re with us, sign our petition right away and help us reach 25,000 signatures to SAVE children’s healthcare:

SIGN HERE → https://secure.314action.org/Fund-CHIP

Your help is needed,

314 Action

 ***

From Friends of the Earth:
 As families gathered to celebrate the holidays, Trump was busy making it easier for Big Oil to attack the environment.

Trump’s administration overturned regulations to protect communities from fracking. It weakened rules that were designed to prevent another Deepwater Horizon spill. And it announced that it will no longer hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for harming protected migratory birds -- all while Congress was standing by.

Meanwhile, Trump took to Twitter to mock climate change after a record-breaking year of hurricanes and wildfires. And EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is ramping up his efforts to destroy our protections for the air, water and climate.

2017 may have seemed like a long year. But Trump’s advisors say that 2018 is when he will really pursue his radical agenda. We need your Senators to stand up, not stand by, as Trump increases his attacks this year. As Senators return to Washington to start the new year, we need your help to push them to act! 

Tell Congress: Stop the Trump administration from letting polluters poison our communities!

Scott Pruitt is a climate denier who has spent his career suing the Environmental Protection Agency. Now that he’s leading that same agency, he’s spent his first year in office remaking it to the benefit of Big Oil.

Pruitt pushed out more than 700 agency staff and started monitoring the emails of anyone who expressed concerns with the agency’s direction. He took steps to gut the Clean Power Plan. And he is spending more time courting fossil fuel industry executives than holding them accountable for destroying our air, water and climate.

Together Trump and Pruitt pose the gravest threat to our environment and public health that we've ever seen. We need your help to fight back.

Tell your Senators to stand up to Trump’s attacks on our environmental protections!

Trump has stacked his government with anti-science extremists, billionaires and fossil fuel industry shills. Now, they’re using their positions to advance their corporate interests -- not the interests of the American people.

Trump is already poised to further gut our environmental protections in 2018. Congress could stand up and stop him, but instead, it’s standing by while he destroys our environment to help corporate polluters.

We need you to urge your Senators to do their jobs and stand up to Trump!

Tell your Senators: Stop Trump’s anti-science, anti-environmental agenda!

Standing with you,
Ben Schreiber,
Senior political strategist,
Friends of the Earth

 ***

Donald Trump is at it again. On Tuesday night Trump took to Twitter to threaten North Korea and, by consequence, most likely the rest of the world, with nuclear annihilation:

This rhetoric is extremely dangerous. This is not how the person controlling our nuclear arsenal should speak -- we don’t know how the North Koreans or our allies will perceive Trump’s reckless tweet, and it undermines the diplomatic efforts being made by our own State Department.
 
We should all be extremely worried and concerned about what the President will do next. It is time to act.

Urge your Members of Congress to take steps to prevent Trump from launching a nuclear war. 

Right now, two members of Congress, Rep. Ted Lieu and Sen. Ed Markey, have introduced legislation to prevent the U.S. president from launching a nuclear war without a declaration of war by Congress. While the President would still be able to defend from an attack against America, he or she could no longer launch the deadliest weapons ever invented just because they wanted to.

We can not overstate the destruction of a nuclear war, and we are closer to that horror today than we have ever been since the Cuban Missile Crisis. We owe it to ourselves and to future generations to take action now to step back from the brink of nuclear war.

No one person - and definitely not someone as erratic and reckless as Donald Trump - should ever be able to single-handedly start such a deadly war. Please sign today.

Thank you for working for peace,
Erica, Ben, Amy, and the Win Without War team

 ***

In June the Trump administration took Yellowstone-area grizzly bears off the list of animals protected by the Endangered Species Act. But there's been a big problem with the legality of that decision that's at last being addressed — and it could save these bears from dying in cruel, state-sponsored trophy hunts.

Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to act on this evidence and reverse its earlier decision to stop protecting grizzlies.

The Service is asking the public to weigh in on the legality of its delisting rule because of a recent case in the D.C. Court of Appeals. The D.C. court rightly voided a rule stripping protections from Great Lakes wolves because of the harm that rule would cause other recovering wolf populations. The flaws are identical to those in the grizzly bear rule.

Take a minute to tell the Service it can't paper over these legal flaws and must restore protection to Yellowstone's grizzlies.  

***

EMERGENCY: In a matter of days, the House will vote on whether to turn the internet into a massive spying tool for the Trump administration. This is not a drill: Click here to demand Congress close the "backdoor search loophole" in S. 139.

We’re only just days into the new year but already, Congress is moving to turn the internet into a giant spying tool for Trump to snoop on Americans.

And both Republicans – and some Democrats – are on board with this.

Call Congress right now, and tell them to vote to close the "backdoor search loophole" in S. 139 that would let Trump use the internet to spy on Americans.

This is not a drill. Last year, Congress had a deadline to re-authorize Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act that uses the internet as a massive spy tool to snoop on Americans without a warrant or probable cause. Activists just like you signed petitions and called Congress to block this and push for strong reforms to protect our privacy from the prying eyes of government.

Now Trump-aligned Republicans – and some turncoat Democrats – want to force this through in the new year. There’s a not a lot of time to fight back. We need to use our voices now and tell Congress not to turn the internet into a giant spy tool for an unstable Trump administration.

Call Congress right now, and tell them to vote to close the "backdoor search loophole" in S. 139 that would let Trump use the internet to spy on Americans.

Thanks for taking action,

Reuben and the team at Demand Progress