Fighting Back: Earth Day – “Our respect for science is essential for the future of our country and our planet.”

April 22, 2017 JanF Editors' Choice, Fighting Back 19

The weekly Fighting Back post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

Found on the Internets …

Today is Earth Day and people around the globe will be joining together to March for Science in support of, well, science. It is incredible that in 2017 there are still people, indeed an entire political party, that denies the value of science, the results of scientific inquiry, and the use of science to make our lives better.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi:

“This Earth Day, Americans across the country are stepping forward to oppose the anti-science crusade that harms the health of our communities, the strength of our economy, and the security of future generations.

“Our respect for science is essential for the future of our country and our planet. America’s leadership in clean energy is critical for creating good-paying jobs, and the climate crisis remains one of the greatest challenges of our time. We must build on the legacy of the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Endangered Species Act, not embolden polluters and insult the clear verdicts of science. Yet the President has tapped a climate denier to head the EPA and seems determined to ransack America’s investments in science – from clean energy to lifesaving medical research.

“All across our nation, Americans are standing up for science and demanding their government act to protect the health of our communities for future generations. House Democrats are committed to working side-by-side with the scientific community to ensure a better, stronger, healthier world for our children by embracing our shared stewardship of this planet.”

~

Congressman Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico delivered the Weekly Democratic Party Address:

Congressman Ben Ray Luján

“When I came to Congress, I swore an oath – on my family’s Bible – to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution. My Democratic colleagues in Congress and I will do our duty and insist that President Trump and his Administration follow the Constitution and uphold the rights of all our citizens – no matter their race, creed or economic status – not just for the next 100 days, but for the rest of Donald Trump’s presidency and beyond.”

(Link to Nancy Pelosi Newsroom here)

Transcript: Congressman Ben Ray Luján Delivers Weekly Democratic Address

“Hello, I’m Ben Ray Luján, and I serve the people of New Mexico’s Third Congressional District. In just a few days, President Trump will complete his first hundred days in office.

“Historically, the hundred-day mark is an important opportunity for the nation to take stock of a new President – to evaluate his progress and measure the accomplishments – or lack thereof.

“As we evaluate his first hundred days in office, it seems like President Trump has spent more time golfing than governing.

“He has broken many of the promises made on the campaign trail, and has pushed policies that hurt, rather than help, middle-class families across the country.

“My background and upbringing is very different from President Trump’s, and I see the world a bit differently. My mom retired from the local school district and my dad was an union ironworker – our family didn’t have material wealth, but we had something more valuable – honesty, integrity, a strong work ethic and respect for others.

“Since President Trump was sworn in, he has disrespected the rule of law, dismissed the obligations of honesty and transparency that go hand-in-hand with public service, and has issued executive orders that deepen mistrust in government and tear at the fabric of our democracy.

“He has been inconsistent on foreign policy – acting erratically with critical allies while showing deference to adversaries like Russia.

“Using military force – without involving our allies, articulating a long-term strategy to the American people, or consulting Congress.

“At home, he has broken his promise to focus on jobs and invest in areas that have seen jobs go overseas.

“Instead of working with Democrats to strengthen the economy, he forced through a disastrous health care repeal bill that would have ripped away health coverage from 24 million Americans, increased out-of-pocket costs for hard-working families, and slapped an age tax on those over 50.

“Now, after TrumpCare was rejected by the American people, President Trump and Speaker Ryan are desperately trying to revive their repeal plan – only this time, it will weaken if not eliminate protections for those with preexisting conditions.

“Instead of focusing on jobs and improving the lives of struggling Americans, President Trump has been preoccupied with his unconstitutional ban on refugees based on religion – and after having his Muslim ban struck down by the Courts on two separate occasions – his response was not to focus on bipartisan immigration reform; it was to ridicule judges and ignore the Constitution by doubling down on his misguided policy.

“Potentially most troubling, is the dark cloud of suspicion and mistrust hanging over the Trump White House regarding ties between Russian intelligence operatives and the President’s closest advisors.

“The President has done everything possible to distract and mislead the American people about his connection to Russia and his truly unprecedented web of conflicts.

“He has refused to divest his business ties or release his tax returns to the American people so they can understand his conflicts of interest and get to the truth.

“While American workers are forgotten and he strips away protections for those workers, President Trump has made it possible to profit from his overseas business interests at any time, and he has hired his daughter and son-in-law, who maintain Trump business ties, to work in the White House.

“All the while, he’s tried to stifle a free press and confuse the truth with fake news and alternative facts.

“Now, more than ever, we need an independent, bipartisan investigation into President Trump’s ties to Russia and his shady business dealings.

“What’s the President hiding? He needs to stop the stalling, stop the distractions and stop blocking an unbiased, impartial investigation.

“He’s not putting our country first; he’s putting Donald Trump first.

“The most recent Gallup poll shows that fewer than half of all Americans – just 45% – believe the President keeps his promises. This is not a measure of the President’s approval – this is something more fundamental – can we trust what the man says?

“When the White House tells American families that a warship carrying their sons and daughters has been deployed to a hot zone like the Korean peninsula – and we then find out it was never in the region at all. What are we to think?

“We must tell President Trump: enough is enough, and to stand up for the little guy.

“All across the country, we are seeing a resurgence of citizens who are becoming more involved and more active in their public life and their communities and their country. Men and women of every stripe who are supporting the causes they believe in and opposing policies they don’t.

“My message to the American people is simple: I hear you.

“When I came to Congress, I swore an oath – on my family’s Bible – to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution. My Democratic colleagues in Congress and I will do our duty and insist that President Trump and his Administration follow the Constitution and uphold the rights of all our citizens – no matter their race, creed or economic status – not just for the next 100 days, but for the rest of Donald Trump’s presidency and beyond.

“Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you. May God bless you and may God bless America.”

Any bolding has been added.

~

Last week’s Democratic Party Address was delivered by Tom Perez, chair of the Democratic National Committee.

“April 15, 2017 Weekly Democratic Address: Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez delivered the weekly Democratic address. He talked about President Trump’s first 100 days in office.”

~

19 Comments

  1. Nancy Pelosi burn:

    Washington, D.C. – Drew Hammill, spokesman for Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, released the following statement in response to recent statements by OMB Director Mick Mulvaney on ongoing spending negotiations in Congress to keep government open for the American people:

    “OMB Director Mulvaney was one of the architects of the disastrous Republican Government Shutdown of 2013, and the last-minute White House interventions into bipartisan negotiations suggest he’s hoping to engineer another one,” said Hammill. “The President was very clear in promising that Mexico would pay for his wall, and the White House’s demands that American taxpayers now foot the bill for a multi-billion dollar boondoggle are intensely opposed by Democrats and many Republicans.”

    “Any bill with a hope of passing the Senate will need Democratic votes in the House,” Hammill continued. “The Trump White House’s radical and late-breaking demands for next week’s legislative schedule, including their renewed push to raise Americans’ health costs, are making a bipartisan agreement to keep government open more difficult to reach.”

    A lying liar called on his campaign lies.

    • Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer weighs in:

      In a pretty blunt repudiation of the president’s alleged deal-making prowess, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, who holds the keys to a potential Democratic filibuster of the funding measure necessary to head off a government shutdown next week, mocked Trump’s new proposed “dollar-for-dollar deal,” as Politico reports:

      [OMB Director Mick] Mulvaney told Bloomberg Live on Friday that White House officials have told Democrats they’re willing to fund $1 in Obamacare subsidies for every $1 that’s provided for the border wall as both parties look to avert a government shutdown next Friday.

      Schumer’s spokesperson quickly cracked wise:

      Schumer’s office quickly threw cold water on the proposal, with spokesman Matt House saying Democrats thought Mexico was supposed to pay for the wall.

      “The White House gambit to hold hostage health care for millions of Americans, in order to force American taxpayers to foot the bill for a wall that the president said would be paid for by Mexico is a complete non-starter,” he said. “If the administration would drop their 11th hour demand for a wall that Democrats, and a good number of Republicans, oppose, Congressional leaders could quickly reach a deal.”

  2. United Kingdom runs, literally, off coal:

    • From the Guardian:

      Friday was Britain’s first ever working day without coal power since the Industrial Revolution, according to the National Grid.

      The control room tweeted the milestone on Friday. It is the first continuous 24-hour coal-free period for Britain since use of the fossil fuel began. West Burton 1 power station, the only coal-fired plant that had been up and running, went offline on Thursday.

  3. The Angry Apricot denies that he ever said anything about that “ridiculous” 100 day standard. As usual, that is a brazen lie:

    Trump has good reason to try to lower expectations ahead of the 100th day of his presidency, which will be April 29 — he hasn’t accomplished much of anything.

    Trump hasn’t shepherded a major piece of legislation through Congress, despite the fact his party controls both chambers. His second attempt at a Muslim ban executive order was blocked by a federal court. The Affordable Care Act repeal/replace package Congress considered last month had a 17 percent approval rating and didn’t go anywhere. The new package that’s in the works will make premiums spike for people with pre-existing conditions and hence will likely be just as unpopular.

    But Trump’s claim about the “ridiculous standard” he thinks he’s being held to is odd, because during the campaign and just after, Trump himself repeatedly touted the importance of his first 100 days in office.

    Oops!!

    Sad!

    • From town halls:
      Voters send lawmakers back to D.C. with a message: Protect the environment from Trump

      The extreme anti-environment policies of President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers are inspiring a growing number of Americans to learn about climate change and join campaigns to fight budget cuts targeting the Environmental Protection Agency and other green programs.

      Meanwhile, support for politicians who are making environmental protection and climate action a bigger priority appears to be growing, based on the level of concern demonstrated at town hall meetings.

      Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) met with constituents in the Philadelphia suburbs this week where he blasted Republicans for their willingness to side with Trump’s climate denial position. “Climate change is not a hoax” and “is a problem that is happening right now,” Boyle said, according to a First Digital Media report. […]

      In Arizona, constituents reportedly asked Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) questions about Trump’s actions in office, including his broader agenda on climate change. “Can you please take your job more seriously, Senator? We would appreciate it,” one woman reportedly said, unhappy with Flake’s response to a question about holding Trump accountable.

  5. Thanks for the weekly “Fighting Back” roundup, JanF. I know I shouldn’t waste my time or energy thinking about “might have been” with so much to do on what is – but if these “newly awakened” voters had gotten their effen butts to the polls on 11/8 we wouldn’t be in this mess. Yeah, we’d be dealing with the same R obstruction that President Obama faced – and the same intensity of Hater attacks – but we’d be dealing with someone committed to peace and progress, someone we wouldn’t have to March against to try and reinstate science in government, someone who is and always has been on our side. sigh.

    OK, sigh heaved, now back to work – even if it’s only posting my Street Prophets Sharing Saturday diary at DK and trying to keep my “Eyes on the Prize, Team Blue” list updated. (I’d copy that into a comment on the Village diaries at least occasionally but it’s got way too many links on it.) Thanks again.

    • I think I have gotten my fill of November 8th retrospectives now. For the three months after the election, I stayed away from them for my sanity. Since then, I have been scanning headlines and reading a story or two. Now the knives are coming out about the “mistakes” Hillary’s campaign made and the “mistake” that Democrats made in entrusting the nomination to her (fk those people, btw).

      Charlie Pierce wrote a piece a few days ago that gave me a release of sorts:

      That Trump never paid a price in the eyes of his voters for the kind of meretricious goonery [he engaged in during the primary] is the best evidence there is that, in 2016, anyway, he was in every sense a formidable political force.

      Moreover, and I owe a hat tip to Scott Lemieux here, it’s likely in retrospect that Trump’s plan of action, while unconventional in the extreme and relentlessly eccentric, also was based in a kind of mad logic. There really was a big slice of the electorate, concentrated in states that were vital in the Electoral College, that was uniquely susceptible to Trump’s appeal. He and his people spotted it and campaigned accordingly.
      […]

      Trump is merely a cruder manifestation of the political prion disease that has afflicted conservatism and the Republican Party since it first ate the monkeybrains 35 years ago. It was all leading to someone like Trump, and something like last year’s election. There are any number of reasons for people to deny that simple truth.

      The margin of victory was to be found in a unique candidate responding uniquely to a unique set of circumstances. Nobody lost that campaign. Donald Trump won it.

      I think the mistake I made was in underestimating the awfulness of Republican voters and being completely unprepared for what happened. It would not have changed the outcome but possibly my shocked reaction to it would not have gone on for so long.

      Now it is time to roll up our sleeves and fight back and regain power.

      • I’ve frequently said that the reason the Haters manage to periodically pull off something like this is that once we’ve shoved them under their rocks and aren’t in active combat with them, we forget just how evil they are. We don’t believe anybody would do the kinds of things they do out of pure meanness – especially if it costs them money, jobs, education, healthcare, and security to do it. But they are evil and they are willing to lose just about everything they hold dear if they can just beat up or kill somebody else.

        This is why we are unprepared for them when they come surging out from under their rocks and this is why it’s such a shock. Good people just don’t believe in evil people until they are hit upside the head. Think of it as an emotional concussion you’ve had since the election. And yes, now it’s time to get to work, regain power, and shove the haters back under their rocks for another generation.

      • Jan, I was completely unprepared as well. As far as I’m concerned, the world ended (or if not the world, American history) on November 8, 2016.

        I’m effing sick and tired of hearing how she was a “weak” candidate who ran a “terrible” campaign. WEAK? TERRIBLE? Who had the ground game and the policy positions and the preparation? I’ll tell you who did. SHE did!

        We underestimated the number of deeply stupid people in this country. And no, I don’t want to try to “understand” them. I understand racism, homophobia, and misogyny perfectly well, thanks. To hell with them all. Just wish we didn’t have to go there with them.

    • John Nichols, who writes for my weekly left-leaning newspaper, interviewed comedian/pundit John Fugelsang, who is in town for a show:

      NICHOLS: How did Donald Trump become president?

      FUGELSANG: Everyone will give you a different answer on this. Some say he spoke to forgotten middle-class Americans, hardworking folks who fell for an actual conman. Others will say these voters just hated Hillary Clinton more than they loved America. And some just consider it a victory for all white men who haven’t yet mastered that tricky “your” and “you’re” thing. I think he won because 46 percent of Americans who could have voted stayed home. Apathy won and there was a two-way tie for second.

      From sadness to hope:

      NICHOLS: Were you surprised by the immediacy and strength of the resistance?

      FUGELSANG: I was at the women’s march in D.C., and a week later I was at the immigration march in Battery Park NYC. All the faith I had lost on election night was restored by the kind of people I saw at those gatherings — including the sane conservative people that showed up. The best part of the resistance is that it’s grounded in morality. It’s inspiring on every level. The majority of voters rejected putting a reality show personality in charge of the nuclear codes and I don’t think the majority is going to check out just yet.

      About the role of humor:

      NICHOLS: How important is humor as a tool for taking on Trump?

      FUGELSANG: Ridicule has always been one of the most effective tools against authoritarianism. If a joke is funny, it’s usually funny because people find some truth in it. In the era of Trump, humor is a delivery system for truth.

      More than that, I think it’s important for the national psyche. The majority of voters who showed up rejected this agenda and we’re all a bit in shock that a reality show landlord conman duped this many of our fellow citizens. Sixteen Republicans, Hillary Clinton and the majority vote couldn’t beat this guy so it’s up the American people.

  7. Daniel Dale, Toronto Star: Trump’s hostility turns scientists into marching protesters

    American scientists research and write and teach. They vote, maybe sign a petition if they’re feeling especially indignant, but that’s it for most of them: politics are for the political scientists, not people running actual laboratories. Morris’s brand of march is a family hike on the trails of a Tennessee park.

    On Saturday afternoon, though, she will be walking unfamiliar terrain: the streets of Washington, D.C. And the president of the Association of Southeastern Biologists, a professor who teaches genetics at Middle Tennessee State University, will be carrying the first demonstration sign of her life.

    “My own young children recognize the value and importance of science,” Morris, 42, said Wednesday. “I march to show the administration that they should, too.”

    The ascent of President Donald Trump has spawned an unusual wave of political activism.

  8. Hi everyone, celebrating Mother Earth and Science!. I just read a diary on Kos about the real President being back so now I’ve got the song ‘My boyfriend’s back and there’s gonna be trouble’ playing in my ear. Kind of cheerful actually

    • When Bush was president, I was glad that presidents were term limited! But the forced retirement of Barack Obama is difficult to deal with.

      I am glad that he and Michelle got their lives back, though. I cannot imagine how it would feel to be “ON” 24×7.

  9. NPR has some photos from the Science March:

    Attendees from across the country descended on the nation’s capital to speak up for science.

    The March for Science unfolded on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, and in multiple cities around the world. Coinciding with Earth Day, the event drew researchers, educators and scientifically-minded people.

    The event kicked off with open teaching sessions on the Mall, followed by a rally near the Washington Monument, and then a march that traveled to the U.S. Capitol building.

    NPR spoke to some of the participants about why they decided to attend the March for Science.

    Great “I heart science” sign:

  10. John Kerry on optimism:

    Despite all the reasons for concern and condemnation that I could dwell on, I’m an optimist this Earth Day. I’m an optimist because of the lesson I learned on the first Earth Day 47 years ago when I was one of 20 million Americans who took to the streets to demand that leaders protect our environment. Before that first Earth Day, there was no Environmental Protection Agency, no Clean Water Act, no Clean Air Act as we know it. Citizens created the demand signal — and politicians followed because they had no choice.

    What a journey from 1970 to Earth Day 2016, when I joined leaders from more than 100 nations to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change. When it was my turn to take the pen, my 2-year-old granddaughter was on my lap. Earth Day was no longer just an American impulse — it was the entire world coming together to protect the future for Isabelle and children everywhere.

    I know that on Earth Day 2017, that future feels a little less certain, and understandably so. But — for the same reason 1970’s people-powered activism turned power structures upside down — something big has already begun around the world that can be slowed but not stopped.

    • Hard not to be optimistic when we think of how far we’ve come. Hard not to be pessimistic when we think of not only how far we have left to go but that the current administration is dead set on pushing us back. Hard not to be determined when we know we’ve done it before and can do it again. Has been done, can be done – will be done.

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