Daily Archives: October 18, 2020

2020-10-18: News Headlines

Tina Landis (2020-10-18). Remote work aids climate protection, fuels inequality under capitalism. liberationnews.org By the author of Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism.

Zoe PC (2020-10-18). Hours before Bolivia goes the polls, early results system suspended, military mobilization in La Paz. peoplesdispatch.org The first elections since the coup d'état will be held on October 18 amid a tense social and political climate. This includes a military mobilization in La Paz the night before the polls and the suspension of the DIREPRE early results system…

Dan Bacher (2020-10-18). Newsom Administration approves 6 more fracking permits, bringing the total to 54 this year. indybay.org "Gov. Newsom sacrifices our health, food, water and climate while dodging criticism when he issues new fracking permits on a Friday night," said Alexandra Nagy, California Director of Food & Water Watch and Food & Water Action. "Newsom's concern over climate change is a deceptive mirage as his actions reveal a strong adherence to the status quo.

Staff (2020-10-17). Amid Climate Crisis, Many Americans Still Don't Know What the Green New Deal Is. truthout.org Americans could be forgiven if the first time they heard about the Green New Deal was during the October 7 vice-presidential debate between Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence. Viewers of Fox News may have heard about the Green New Deal, but the coverage on Fox, according to Media Matters, has, for the last two years, focused on

Noam Chomsky (2020-10-17). The President, the Pandemic & the Election. zcomm.org The urgent problem of overcoming the existential crises—global warming, nuclear war, pandemics—has to be done within the general framework of existing institutions. We can improve them. But you won't be able to overcome them in the relevant time frame…

Mariah Kreutter (2020-10-17). Dianne Feinstein Was Harder on Preteen Climate Activists Than She Was on Amy Coney Barrett. commondreams.org Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., speaks as the Senate Judiciary Committee hears from legal experts on the final day of the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, on October 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Susan Walsh-Pool/Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/feinstein_1.jpg

Peoples Dispatch (2020-10-17). Fishermen oppose release of contaminated water from Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan. peoplesdispatch.org The company which operates the plant, Tokyo Electric Power, has collected over 1.23 million tons of contaminated water since the collapse of the nuclear plant in 2011…

_____ (2020-10-17). Agribusiness Interests Hijack 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. popularresistance.org Oakland, CA -This World Food Day (October 16) amidst the ongoing pandemic and the devastating impact of the climate crisis, a Food Systems Summit is being planned a year from now by the United Nations, to fulfil the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals. As the Summit takes shape, it is obvious that it does not intend to trigger the deep systemic changes necessary to address the massive challenges that we face. The Summit will do more of the same — green and poor wash — to preserve and perpetuate interests of agribusiness and agro-chemical corporations at the expense of people and the plane…

Staff (2020-10-16). Deeply Troubling: Kristen Clarke on How Rush to Confirm Barrett Endangers Voting & Civil Rights. democracynow.org The Senate confirmation hearing for President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett ended Thursday with Republicans on the Judiciary Committee scheduling a vote on her nomination for October 22, with a full Senate vote to follow shortly thereafter — less than two weeks before the presidential election, in which the Supreme Court could play a decisive role. The right-wing judge's confirmation looks all but assured, after four rushed days of questioning in which Barrett refused to state her position on abortion rights, gay marriage, the Affordable Care Act, voting rights, climate change, and even if…

Juan Cole (2020-10-16). Pro-Life, Judge Barrett? Climate Denialism Is Mass Murder. commondreams.org The likelihood is that Barrett will go on looking out for the interests of Big Oil. (Photo: Shutterstock) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/world_1_0.jpg

Eve Ottenberg (2020-10-16). How Trust in a Covid Vaccine Eroded. counterpunch.org The Trump regime has managed to scare most Americans off taking a covid vaccine, by convincing them it politicized the science to rush it to market. People have concluded it may not be safe. So much for Operation Warp Speed. It turned into Operation Warp Distrust. So what if it provides 300 million vaccine doses by early 2021 — if few people take it, that's a waste of time and effort.

People's World (2020-10-16). People's World Oct. 25 Voter Town Hall: 'The People Have the Power'. peoplesworld.org Join us Sunday, Oct. 25, for a People's World event: The People Have the Power: A Voter Town Hall We're now in the home stretch, the last big push before the election, but we can't let up for a minute. Issues like COVID-19, the Heroes Act, aid for the unemployed climate change, the fight for …

Ramona du Houx (2020-10-16). During apocalyptic fires, elected officials called on Newsom to declare state of emergency. indybay.org Climate change created drought conditions and tinder box forests yet California remains a top oil producer adding to greenhouse gas emissions.

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2020-10-15). Greta Thunberg Rebukes Amy Coney Barrett Over Her Anti-Science 'Views on Climate Change'. commondreams.org "To be fair, I don't have any 'views on climate change' either. Just like I don't have any 'views' on gravity." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/acb_2.jpg

Staff (2020-10-15). Amy Coney Barrett Won't Say Climate Change Is Real; Forgets 1st Amendment Protects Right to Protest. democracynow.org We air highlights from the second day of questioning of President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, who faced eight hours of questions on Wednesday about her views on issues ranging from climate change to voting rights to gay marriage and abortion, as Republicans race to confirm her ahead of the election and secure a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court for conservatives.

Juan Cole (2020-10-15). Amy Coney Barrett: You can't be pro-life if you deny burning Fossil Fuels causes Climate Emergency. zcomm.org Denialism is Mass Murder…

Mark Hertsgaard (2020-10-15). Journalists Must Demystify The Green New Deal. commondreams.org Climate Activists Protest Against Senate Leader Chuck Schumer Demanding He Sign On To Green New Deal. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-10-15_at_10.02.29_am.png

Paul Haeder (2020-10-15). Lighting up the Elite's Solutions will Still Smell of Sulphur. dissidentvoice.org I also know that one must do what one can do. No matter how little it is, it is nonetheless a human testimony and human testimonies, as long as they are not based on greed or personal ambition for power, can have unexpected positive effects….I believe in local action and in small dimensions. It is …

Staff (2020-10-15). Amy Coney Barrett Says Climate Change Is a "Very Contentious Matter" truthout.org We air highlights from the second day of questioning of President Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, who faced eight hours of questions on Wednesday about her views on issues ranging from climate change to voting rights to gay marriage and abortion, as Republicans race to confirm her ahead of the election and secure a 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court for conservatives. | TRANSCRIPT: | This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. | AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I'

Bill McKibben (2020-10-15). The Breakage Machine Meets the Climate Crisis. progressive.org Trump's response to this existential planetary threat has been uniquely destructive.

Marlee Kokotovic (2020-10-15). Barrett's views on climate crisis worry and appalls environmentalists as her confirmation hearings continue. nationofchange.org "If you're neutral on climate change, you're complicit in the collapse of the planetary ecosystem upon which the survival of every living thing depends."

Matt Sedlar (2020-10-15). Biden's Treasury Could Fight Climate Change, But Would Lael Brainard's? cepr.net Common Dreams See article on original site If Joe Biden wins in November, he will have no time to spare to shift our trajectory away from climate disaster. He will need to move quickly to install forward thinking, dynamic, and aggressive advocates for climate action, especially in his Treasury Department. What does the Treasury department …

imperial.ac.uk (2020-10-15). Fraction of money earmarked for COVID-19 recovery could boost climate efforts. imperial.ac.uk Global stimulus plans for economic recovery after the pandemic could easily cover climate-friendly policies, suggests new study.

Timi Iwayemi, Miranda Litwak (2020-10-15). Biden's Treasury Could Fight Climate Change, But Would Lael Brainard's? commondreams.org The Treasury Secretary has untapped capacity to push Wall Street to take the risks of the climate crisis seriously. (Photo: Kiyo/flickr/cc) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/treasury.jpg

Karthik Ganapathy (2020-10-15). Democrats Should Stop Worrying About Debating Climate Change. thenation.com Democrats Should Stop Worrying About Debating Climate Change…

Staff (2020-10-14). This is what the sixth mass extinction looks like. And here's why you should care. therealnews.com Unhealthy ecosystems jeopardize our ability to meet our most basic needs: Water, food, medicine, clean air. There is no one on the planet this doesn't impact. And loss of biodiversity hurts the poorest the most.

Kenny Stancil, staff writer (2020-10-14). Planet Earth, Says NOAA, Just Had Its Hottest September on Record. commondreams.org "We've broken the climate system. We are in a climate emergency." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/global_heating.jpg

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2020-10-14). 'No Time to Lose': New Study Shows 50% Coral Decline on Great Barrier Reef. commondreams.org "We expect this decline to continue," predicted one of the study's authors, who said that unless urgent climate action is taken, "the reef will be unrecognizable." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/turtle_and_bleached_coral_gbr_0.jpg