Media/Articles
Biden approves massive, controversial Willow oil drilling project in Alaska
MARCH 13, 2023 / 11:29 AM / CBS/AP
Washington — The Biden administration said Monday it is approving the controversial major Willow oil project on Alaska's petroleum-rich North Slope, one of President Biden's most consequential climate choices that is likely to draw condemnation from environmentalists who say it flies in the face of the Democratic president's pledges.
The announcement comes a day after the administration, in a big conservation move, said it would bar or limit drilling in some other areas of Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.
Mr. Biden's Willow plan would allow three drill sites initially, which project developer ConocoPhillips has said would include about 219 total wells. A fourth drill site proposed for the project would be denied. The company has said it considers the three-site option workable.
Houston-based ConocoPhillips will relinquish rights to about 68,000 acres of existing leases in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
The Interior Department stressed the reductions in the scope of the project, saying the actions announced Monday "significantly scale-back the Willow Project within the constraints of valid existing rights under decades-old leases issued by prior Administrations."
Climate activists have been outraged that Mr. Biden appeared open to greenlighting the project, which they said put his climate legacy at risk. Allowing oil company ConocoPhillips to move forward with the drilling plan also would break Mr. Biden's campaign promise to stop new oil drilling on public lands, they say.
The administration's decision is not likely to be the last word, with litigation expected from environmental groups.
ConocoPhillips Alaska's Willow project could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day, create up to 2,500 jobs during construction and 300 long-term jobs, and generate billions of dollars in royalties and tax revenues for the federal, state and local governments, the company says.
The project, located in the federally designated National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, enjoys widespread political support in the state. Alaska Native state lawmakers recently met with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to urge support for Willow.
But environmental activists have promoted a #StopWillow campaign on social media, seeking to remind Mr. Biden of his pledges to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions and promote clean energy.
Christy Goldfuss, a former Obama White House official who now is a policy chief at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), said she was "deeply disappointed'' at Mr. Biden's decision to approve Willow, which NRDC estimates would generate planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to more than 1 million homes.
"This decision is bad for the climate, bad for the environment and bad for the Native Alaska communities who oppose this and feel their voices were not heard,'' Goldfuss said.
A call to activism!
Let me give you a word on the philosophy of reform. The whole history of the progress of human liberty shows that all concessions yet made to her august claims have been born of earnest struggle. If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.
The struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what people will submit to, and you have found the exact amount of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them; and these will continue until they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.
~ FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Letter to an abolitionist associate, 1849
‘Your generation is so out-of-touch with what the going rate is for everything’: Grown millennial gives her boomer mom a piece of her mind after hearing her complain about how “nobody wants to work anymore”
Story by Elna McHilderson
There is no arguing that the work culture that the boomers got started in is completely different than what it is now. Millennials and even older Gen Z are not happy with the mess the baby boomers have left us. We are exploited, abused, and simply put, not paid even remotely enough. After rent, groceries, gas, and other living necessary bills and expenses, we hardly have anything left of our salary. Lucky for us, unlucky for boomers, millennials and Gen Z workers have woken up and are starting to refuse jobs that are stuck in page wages that maybe could've paid the rent in the '70s, but sure don't cut it now.
Recently, a millennial woman, Mary Frost, let her boomer mom in on this movement. Her mom, a boomer who owns her own very lucrative gardening business for multi-million dollar homes, had been whining for years now that "nobody wanted to work anymore." She was having trouble finding good workers and the workers she did find would end up stealing from her or quitting soon after. She turned to her millennial daughter to see if she could get a fresher marketing approach on attracting more responsible young people to work for her. So Mary asked her boomer mom how much she was paying her employees. Her mom told her $12 an hour and Mary laughed in her mom's face. She tried to explain that with the cost of living these days, $12 an hour is simply not livable, so of course she is having trouble finding good employees. She explained in detail exactly why her mom should up her pay to at least $20 an hour and with that, she will definitely find better and longer-lasting employees.
As boomers tend to do, the mom laughed at her millennial and said she was wrong and that her business struggle was simply because "young people just didn't want to work anymore." LOL It must be the avocado toast. Hear the entire story below:
In risky midterm strategy, Democrats boost far-right candidate in Michigan race
By Joseph Ax
(Reuters) -The Democratic Party's congressional campaign arm is airing an ad in Michigan aimed at boosting John Gibbs, a far-right candidate endorsed by Donald Trump, as he challenges one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach the former president.
The effort is part of a controversial and risky Democratic strategy in certain races to elevate more extreme Republicans whom Democrats view as easier to beat in November's midterm elections. Democrats have spent millions on candidates who echo Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was rigged, even as party leaders say those very same candidates pose a threat to U.S. democracy.
The Michigan ad, which was produced and financed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), warns that the "Gibbs-Trump agenda is too conservative for west Michigan."
The content suggests Democrats believe touting Gibbs' ties to Trump will increase his popularity among Republican voters, who still view Trump overwhelmingly favorably.
Gibbs is taking on Republican U.S. Representative Peter Meijer in Michigan's Aug. 2 primary. Meijer was among 10 Republican U.S. House members who defied their party and voted to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. His district, Michigan's 3rd, grew significantly more Democratic this year as a result of the once-a-decade redistricting process.
The ad is the latest gambit by Democrats to promote far-right candidates in the hopes of bettering their odds in November, when Republicans are widely favored to win back control of the House of Representatives.
While it is not new for both parties to interfere in each other's primary elections, Democrats could be playing with fire by promoting the very candidates they are telling America to guard against. If one of those candidates triumphs in November, it would undermine their claim to be the guardians of the country's democracy.
In Pennsylvania, for instance, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Josh Shapiro aired ads to help Republican state Senator Doug Mastriano, who questions the 2020 election results and was present in Washington during the Capitol attack, win his party's nomination. Polls show Shapiro with a narrow lead.
In Maryland, the Democratic Governors Association aired ads highlighting Republican Dan Cox's conservative views. Cox, endorsed by Trump, defeated an establishment Republican in the primary and is seen as an underdog given Maryland's Democratic lean.
And in Illinois, Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire, invested $35 million of his own money to influence the Republican primary, helping Darren Bailey, a far-right state senator, to emerge as his November opponent.
All told, Democratic-affiliated groups had spent nearly $44 million to aid far-right candidates in Republican primaries as of mid-July, according to Open Secrets, a website that tracks campaign finance.
Some Democrats have objected to the tactic. Dean Phillips, a moderate congressman from Minnesota, tweeted on Tuesday: "I'm disgusted that hard-earned money intended to support Democrats is being used to boost Trump-endorsed candidates, particularly the far-right opponent of one of the most honorable Republicans in Congress, @RepMeijer."
In a statement, a Meijer spokesperson said "we are confident that voters will see through Democrats' political games." A DCCC spokesperson declined to comment on the ad.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax, Editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)
Muskegon Green Party statement on the overturning of Roe v. Wade
The United States is a nation in decline. Our two major political parties have been infected and completely corrupted by the ultra-rich super minority using the corporations they own. The recent overturning of the landmark case of Roe v. Wade was not a sudden, shocking twist in a new attack on American women. This travesty of justice is a direct result of our government treating these protections as unimportant or inconsequential, typical of the white supremacist, patriarchal disease which has eroded this country for so long. This is an assertion of white male dominance, nothing more.
The pro-life republican party would have you believe, after forcing a child, who can’t legally adopt a child because she is seen as mentally and financially unfit, to give birth, and take care of a child making less than $15, without access to affordable healthcare or any public assistance. Coupling that with at least 22 states which allow some form of child marriage, this shows that the party which claims to oppose pedophiles and “groomers” are in fact, inundated with them and will continue do what it takes to maintain this lifestyle. The party of freedom systematically eliminating choices.
And the Democratic party’s failure to codify Roe v. Wade makes them complicit. They’ve had many opportunities to prevent issues we’re having now. Instead, the Democrats are using this disaster to act, to paint the republicans as fascist, which they are, as a fundraising platform. A vile and disgusting attempt to grift the American people into giving money they don’t have, due to their failure to protect the American worker and a lack of action to protect women, to finance in some sort of a twisted narrative to keep them in power to save us from the Republicans they claim to want to protect us from in the first place.
Darryl Gibson
Co-Chair
Muskegon Greens
Michigan Climate Action Network Virtual! Summit
Jamie Simmons Michigan Climate Action Network
Response to this year's summit has been fantastic! In-person tickets have already sold out, but free, virtual tickets to the 2022 Climate and Clean Energy Summit are still available! Please sign up now and share!
<https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/1aWvJ5iVTVNe4d5JEZqTjQ>Get Your Free Ticket Here <https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/1aWvJ5iVTVNe4d5JEZqTjQ>
We know for sure that the climate movement will be won by regular folks and citizens moving us toward the clean energy future we need. And it's so crucial that we come together to reconnect and reenergize for the climate work that lies ahead.
Join us from wherever you are on June 9 from 1-5pm ET and get inspired by our two keynote speakers:
Professor Jonathan Overpeck is an interdisciplinary climate scientist and the Samuel A. Graham Dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. He has served as a Working Group 1 Coordinating Lead Author for the Nobel Prize winning IPCC 4th Assessment (2007), and also as a Working Group 2 Lead Author for the IPCC 5th Assessment (2014). Dr. Overpeck has written over 220 published works on climate and the environmental sciences.
Marnese Jackson brings deep experience as an environmental and climate justice activist, advocate, trainer and educator. She’s worked with Mothers Out Front, is the former Midwest and Great Plain States Regional Organizer for the NAACP's Environmental and Climate Justice Program, is a board member of the US Climate Action Network, and is an appointed member of The State of Michigan Council on Climate Solutions. Marnese currently serves as Co-Director of the Midwest Building Decarbonization Coalition.
Summit panelists will offer:
- Perspective on the latest policy developments, including insider insight on the MI Healthy Climate Plan
- Practical advice and tips for moving clean energy change ahead in your community—from people who’ve had success in their own towns.
- Networking will offer opportunity for idea sharing by attendees, with a focus on speeding the expansion of clean energy infrastructure and setting equitable policy at the local and state levels.
We look forward to seeing you there on June 9th! Please share widely with your networks and all those committed to seeing bold climate action in our state.
THE MUSKEGON GREEN PARTY STATEMENT ON THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE
We, the Muskegon Green Party, stand against the terrible aggressive action against the sovereign nation of Ukraine and call for an immediate ceasefire. We ask that our federal government continue to use targeted sanctions and diplomacy to help resolve this violence as soon as possible. We also call for all community governments of the state Michigan, to denounce the egregious actions of the Russian government and immediately engage their communities in finding and promoting peaceful solutions to bring these hostilities to an immediate ending.
In today’s climate, it can be easy to miss the implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. With many issues, we find comfort in dismissing them as unimportant if we aren’t told we’re being negatively impacted. As these terrible events continue, we have the benefit of living our lives without interruption, while posting messages of empathy and hope for the people of Ukraine via social media as attempt at showing our support. However, we must also take more than a moment to reflect on what we could have done to help prevent this atrocity and what we can do to push for peace and learn from our mistakes and recognize that our actions, or lack of, may have far-reaching consequences.
Consider friends of friends, family members, co-workers who may be affected, not to mention our indirect and unassuming financial support of the structures which sustain this incursion. As we have all known for quite some time, our dependency on fossil fuels is a longstanding issue. Now, our energy dependence on Russian oil has cast a blinding light on our ignorance and profit-driven shortsightedness and places us in a very vulnerable position. We must bring a new urgency to continued development of multiple sustainable alternatives to limit our dependence on any specific resource or country.
Thoughts, hopes, prayers, and social media posts, are insufficient means to curbing these shortcomings. It is imperative that we take an active part in searching for and finding a remedy. Our longstanding aggressive foreign policy designed to engorge corporate profits at all costs has once again put the United States in a situation which continually returns to haunt us. Any challenge to our corrupt ways is almost always met firstly with vilification, then extreme military force, hence our outrageous and ever-increasing “defense” budget.
We should self-mandate to eliminating a system based on profits and control and rebuilding a system which values life above all else. Otherwise, we will never escape the consequences of exploiting labor and assigning human worth to potential profitability. We must break this continuing cycle of violence by firs, refusing to be represented by those who support and stand for these draconian methods. Secondly, taking the time to become well-informed and smartly using our voting power to demand a system which is beneficial to everyone.
Party Suppresion is Voter Suppresion.
With more than half the country being in favor of more political choices outside the dominance of the two major parties, there are still those who actively push against free and fair representation. The Green Party has been around for more than 40 years, but we're relatively unknown to most Americans. Here's one of the many reasons why. Krystal Ball exposes Democratic leaders that are pushing to keep Green Party candidates off the ballots in November.
Remember the Green New Deal?
You probably thought the Green New Deal proposed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019 originated with the Democrats. Nope, just another co-op from the Green Party.
A prominent 2019 attempt to get legislation passed for a Green New Deal was sponsored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) during the 116th United States Congress, though it failed to advance in the Senate. In the European Union, a 2019 proposal from the European commission for a European Green Deal was supported by the European Council, and in January 2020, by the European Parliament as well.
Since the early 2000s, and especially since 2018, other proposals for a "Green New Deal" had arisen both in the United States and internationally. The first U.S. politician to run on a Green New Deal platform was Howie Hawkins of the Green Party when he ran for governor of New York in 2010. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein ran on a Green New Deal platform in 2012 and 2016. So if you didn't know, now you know.
The return of Keep Local Alive!
The Muskegon Greens are once again taking the term "support locally-owned" and moving it from "words" to "action!" We believe, locally-owned small businesses are the lifeblood of our local economy. They bring character and uniqueness to the individual communities they serve.
We are recommitted to highlighting all things local all over the lakeshore! So join us, and rally around our locally-owned small business community to make sure they not only survive, but thrive!
Following such a successful 2021, we are very excited to get back to supporting our local economy! Look for our first spotlight, March 22, 2022!
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