Quakers, social justice and revolution

Senate Vote on Green New Deal

Posted on February 13, 2019 by Jeff Kisling

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says the Senate will vote on the Resolution for a Green New Deal.

“I’ve noted with great interest the Green New Deal, and we’re going to be voting on that in the Senate to give everybody an opportunity to go on record,” McConnell told reporters.
Mitch McConnell is going to force the Senate to vote on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, Tucker Higgins, CNBC, 2/12/2019

The objective behind this seemingly odd move is apparently to force Senators to go on record about the Green New Deal (GND). Republicans and others have ridiculed many aspects of the GND, most commonly the cost, or the severity of the environmental threats the GND is designed to address, or how impractical the plan is.

The Green New Deal was also targeted by the Republican president at a campaign rally 2/13/2019:

“I really don’t like their policy of taking away your car, of taking away your airplane rights, of ‘let’s hop a train to California,’ of you’re not allowed to own cows anymore!” Trump said at a large rally Monday night in El Paso, Texas.
“It would shut down American energy, which I don’t think the people in Texas are going to be happy with,” Trump said elsewhere in the speech, eliciting cheers from the audience of more than 5,000. “It would shut down a little thing called air travel. How do you take a train to Europe?”
Donald Trump attacks Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal at a campaign rally in a preview of things to come for the 2020 election, Christina Wilkie, CNDB, 2/12/2019

Trump derided the Green New Deal – an economic stimulus concept designed to fight income inequality and climate change – as a “massive government takeover over that would destroy the incredible economic gains” the U.S. has made under his administration.
Ocasio-Cortez blasts Trump’s comparison of Green New Deal to ‘HS term paper’, Bradford Betz, FOX News, 2/12/2019

McConnell is unwittingly playing into the hands of the Sunrise Movement, the main organization promoting the GND. The primary goal of the resolution to create a GND is to create the pieces of legislation that will be needed to make the GND happen.

But the other goal for having resolutions to vote on is what is being called a ‘litmus’ test, putting politicians on record regarding their support for the GND. As soon as votes are held in the Senate and the House, the Sunrise Movement will know which candidates to support and those who need to be defeated.

As Josh Vorhees writes in SLATE, “the Green New Deal also presents a major opening for any progressive looking to stand out in a field (of Democratic presidential candidates) that continues to move left. If no one in the front-runner pack is willing to declare it their top priority, full stop, it would open the door for a lesser-known candidate to enter the picture.”

Here, though, is one thing it (GND) will do: make climate change a major issue in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary. That might not sound like a lot, but it’s truly a breakthrough, considering that global warming got short shrift in the 2016 primary and no shrift in the last general election. Four years ago, the defining fault line ran so neatly between the two parties that it often went without saying: Democrats accepted the science of man-made climate change; Republicans, almost to a man, did not. As a litmus test, it was illuminating. But it also undercut the sense of urgency among liberals. Hillary Clinton had to suffer through the occasional heckling, sure, but she knew that the climate crowd would come around by Election Day given their legitimate fears (since confirmed) about what a climate-science-denying GOP president would do.
The real test isn’t what candidates want in a perfect world; it’s what they’re willing to fight for in this one. In that regard, the Green New Deal also presents a major opening for any progressive looking to stand out in a field that continues to move left. If no one in the front-runner pack is willing to declare it their top priority, full stop, it would open the door for a lesser-known candidate to enter the picture. The 29-year-old Ocasio-Cortez is too young to run for president, but she’s not too young to play the role of king- or queenmaker among progressives.
The plan’s political power lies very much in that holistic approach. It’s a cheat code to move past the either/or debate that tends to define the conversation on the left: Do you want to combat income inequality, or do you want to address climate change? The Green New Deal answers, simply, Yes.
For years, the Republican Party has managed to shirk its responsibility to find climate solutions by refusing to concede there is any problem to solve. The Green New Deal flips that dynamic on its head by focusing on what else can be gained by addressing the problem, instead of what might be sacrificed. That alone will make it a conversation Democratic hopefuls are more eager to have—and primary voters more likely to pay attention to.
The Green New Deal Is Now a Litmus Test for the 2020 Field By JOSH VOORHEES, SLATE, FEB 07, 2019

Posted in climate change, Green New Deal, Sunrise Movement, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Truth is not Bipartisan

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Jeff Kisling

I had to stop and think yesterday when I read something about bipartisanship and the Green New Deal. I was shocked, actually.

The point was being made in the context of needing votes from both parties to pass legislation (if neither party has sufficient numbers to pass the legislation on its own).

These discussion are often nuanced, with valid points on both sides.

I know there will be immediate objections when I start to talk about what is correct vs what is wrong, and who is the judge of that. This is especially true when it comes to issues of personal and community values.

It was once possible to make arguments based on facts but the current political climate has been successful in persuading some that there are alternative facts.

To be specific, what shocked me was the argument that we need bipartisanship if a Green New Deal is going to be passed.

That is wrong.

That’s like suggesting a bipartisan plan to go to war. To make the plan bipartisan, one zone of the enemy’s territory would be designated a peace zone with no fighting allowed there.

That would be like suggesting certain corporations should be allowed to pollute, while the rest of us are doing the work of the Green New Deal. The Green New Deal (GND) calls for a complete mobilization of the country to switch to 100% renewable energy in a just manner, in one decade. This scope and urgency is our last hope for possibly preventing runaway global burning.

The reason the Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats usually only engage with Democrats is because the Republican party continues to resist the extent of the climate chaos, how rapidly it is coming at us, and what we should to about it. Any Republicans who embrace the Green New Deal, and refuse to accept any fossil fuel money, would be supported.

One of the main goals of the Sunrise Movement is to campaign for the election of progressive candidates of either party who refuse fossil fuel money and support the GND. The Sunrise Movement might be campaigning for Republicans in some races, or for Democratic candidates different from those selected by the party leadership in certain primary elections.

As I recently wrote in Not Politics as Usual, this requirement to refuse fossil fuel money and support the GND might split the Democratic party. The Sunrise Movement is not going to endorse candidates, Republican or Democrat, who don’t. I don’t think politicians realize, yet, what a force the youth behind the Green New Deal represent.

Political Engagement (Sunrise Movement)

1. We support candidates who, if elected, would represent a significant break with the status quo for their district. We want candidates who take major leaps forward in one or more of our policy priority areas (see below). This looks different in different parts of America.

2. We support politicians who will represent us, not the fossil fuel industry. Whether or not a candidate is willing to take money from the oil, gas and coal industry is a fairly clear litmus test of whose interests that politician is likely to represent.

In primary elections, we only endorse candidates who take the “No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge” to “reject contributions from the oil, gas, and coal industry and instead prioritize the health of our families, climate, and democracy over fossil fuel industry profits.”

In general elections, we may support (but not endorse) a candidate who has not signed the pledge or has taken money from the fossil fuel industry because we recognize that an imperfect candidate could, in some cases, still represent a significant leap forward (see above) by defeating a powerful opponent with a long history of putting the interests of oil and gas executives first. No matter what, we will make this a major demand for general elections and push candidates on this issue.

3. No permanent friends. No permanent enemies. Our only permanent allegiance is to protecting our communities, our shared home, and our future. We have to make it clear to politicians that our power and support are earned, and not a given. Just because we have supported a candidate in the past doesn’t mean that we will continue to support them in the future if there emerges (or the movement puts forth) a viable candidate that is better aligned with and more committed to our values and policy priorities.
https://www.sunrisemovement.org/political-engagement/

We are at a precipice. Our only hope is to embrace the ideas of a Green New Deal and implement them as soon as possible.

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H.Res.109/S.Res.59 – Green New Deal

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Jeff Kisling

The Green New Deal began to attract national attention on November 13, 2018, when over 250 Sunrise Movement protesters staged a sit-in at Speaker Pelosi’s office. They were joined by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who later spoke about how nervous she was then. Eventually 51 protesters were arrested. On December 10th there were Sunrise sit-ins at Speaker Pelosi and Jim McGovern’s offices. Over 1,000 showed up with about 138 being arrested.

As noted at the end of this post, now that these Resolutions have been introduced in the House and the Senate, this week is the time to contact your congressional representatives to support the Green New Deal.

The House Resolution (H.RES.109) Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal was introduced 2/7/2019. The same day the same resolution was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Ed Markey, S.Res.59 – This was referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works committee.

Following is the bill summary from www.congress.gov

H.Res.109 — 116th Congress (2019-2020)

Bill Summary https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-resolution/109

Sponsor: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Committees: House – Energy and Commerce; Science, Space, and Technology; Education and Labor; Transportation and Infrastructure; Agriculture; Natural Resources; Foreign Affairs; Financial Services; Judiciary; Ways and Means; Oversight and Reform
Last action: House – 02/07/2019 Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Science, Space, and Technology, Education and Labor, Transportation and Infrastructure, Agriculture, Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, Financial Services, the Judiciary, Ways and Means, and Oversight and Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

This resolution calls for the creation of a Green New Deal with the goals of:

achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions;
establishing millions of high-wage jobs and ensuring economic security for all;
investing in infrastructure and industry;
securing clean air and water, climate and community resiliency, healthy food, access to nature, and a sustainable environment for all; and
promoting justice and equality.

The resolution calls for accomplishment of these goals through a 10-year national mobilization effort. The resolution also enumerates the goals and projects of the mobilization effort, including:

building smart power grids (i.e., power grids that enable customers to reduce their power use during peak demand periods);
upgrading all existing buildings and constructing new buildings to achieve maximum energy and water efficiency;
removing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation and agricultural sectors;
cleaning up existing hazardous waste and abandoned sites;
ensuring businesspersons are free from unfair competition; and
providing higher education, high-quality health care, and affordable, safe, and adequate housing to all.

The following is from the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL)

It (Green New Deal Resolution) emphasizes that frontline and vulnerable communities must not be harmed by the transition to a green economy, and specifically seeks to promote justice and equity for “indigenous communities, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhouse, people with disabilities, and youth.” Other economic goals are named, including rights to labor organizing, quality healthcare, good-paying jobs, housing, and access to essential resources like healthy food and clean water, among others.

FCNL welcomes such an ambitious plan, as the crisis of climate change requires ambition and urgent action. We are inspired and encouraged by the groundswell of activism, particularly youth-led engagement, that has recently coalesced around the need for bold action. An engaged and activated movement is necessary to ensure our government responds to the threat of climate change in a timely and effective manner. We appreciate the importance of legislators crafting policy at the speed and scale needed to address the problem.
Green New Deal Resolution Introduced in Congress By Emily Wirzba, February 8, 2019

On December 16, 2018, Bear Creek Friends Meeting approved the following Minute: Bear Creek Friends Meeting supports the idea of a Green New Deal, including the establishment of a House Select Committee for a Green New Deal.

Sunrise Movement: Operation Green New Deal Blitz

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey have introduced a Joint Resolution for a Green New Deal. If resolutions get enough cosponsors, they can become a major driver of the policy debate! If not, they can get lost in the political shuffle and fade into oblivion.
That’s why from Feb. 11-13, we are going to show up in person at our Senators’ and Representatives’ offices and ask them to cosponsor the Green New Deal Resolution.
If every representative gets office visits from dozens of their constituents, it will send shockwaves through the halls of Congress.
sunrisemovement.org/gnd

Posted in #NDAPL, climate change, Green New Deal, Indigenous, Sunrise Movement, Uncategorized | Tagged FCNL | Leave a comment

Faith and Green New Deal

Posted on February 10, 2019 by Jeff Kisling

Those who know me, know I tend to jump all in for what catches my interest. With experience and age (in that order) I like to think I have learned some life lessons. One of the most important lessons I have learned, and forgotten, and learned again, is to try to discern what the Spirit is asking me to do. I’ve found that might not be what my mind was hoping for.

I’ve also worked on being more patient. This has been especially difficult for me because I have had a deep concern about the ever worsening destruction of Mother Earth all of my life (nearing 70 years now). One of the core Quaker and other religion’s beliefs is we must live our lives as expressions, examples of our faith. That others might change themselves as they see your witness. I often wondered why, then, others did not give up their cars as I had done. I had to learn patience, and remember what I wanted to happen as a result of this witness might not be what God had in mind.

It was becoming increasingly clear to me that we could not begin to reduce greenhouse gas emissions until we created a better economic system. One that focuses on the health and well being of everyone. One that embraces justice and sustainability.

The more I think about our broken economic system, the more sinister my thoughts become. How have we come to accept millions of people living in extreme poverty, living without adequate food, water, shelter, healthcare, safety or hope? How have we come to the point where African American men have been removed from society via incarceration at ridiculous rates for ridiculous offenses? How have we come to the point where private security firms and police from surrounding states can violently attack and brutalize Native American and other men, women and children who are merely peacefully praying for protection of water?
The rich and their corporations have forced millions into economic concentration camps. These camps don’t have physical walls, but are just as real as if there were walls enclosing, entrapping vast numbers of us.
Economic Concentration Camp, Jeff Kisling, https://kislingjeff.wordpress.com/2017/05/28/economic-concentration-camp/

I find the ideas of the Green New Deal (GND) to be really exciting because it recognizes the need to build a better economic system, as well as the framework for a plan to convert to renewable energy, and how quickly.

It forces us to face the reality of how much work needs to be done, and done very quickly, if we want to try to avoid runaway global heating (latest reports say 12 years).
It points out we already have the technological knowledge and experience to ramp up production of renewable energy systems. This will create millions of good, well paying jobs.
It offers a workable way to begin to address racial and economic injustices, by focusing on first bringing these benefits to the communities that have been most negatively impacted.

My experiences with the Green New Deal have included joining the Sunrise Movement (“Together, we will change this country and this world, sure as the sun rises each morning.”). The Sunrise Movement is a youth-led movement of, largely, young people that has done an astonishing job of creating an excellent outline for a Green New Deal and a rapidly growing movement to support it. The Sunrise Movement contributed to the successful elections of progressive political candidates in the last Mid-Term elections.

As I’ve been thinking about all these things, I came to realize the youth I’ve been able to spend hours with during online meetings, had created a Beloved Community, though I’m fairly sure few of them would put it in those terms. I was immediately touched by the way everyone was so patient and kind with each other. There was always a “thanks” after someone contributed something. If someone was having trouble expressing themselves, someone would always say, “it’s OK. Take your time.” Or, “that was my experience, too.” Or, most commonly, “awesome!”.

I’ve come to believe the power of the Sunrise Movement comes from, and will continue to come from these Beloved Communities or “Sunrise Hubs” that are growing in cities and towns across the country.

That leads me to believe what those of us who are older, but have spiritual experience, might have to offer is our spiritual support. In my experience, it is really important to wait until you are asked to speak about your spiritual experiences. Its also best to be very careful about what assumptions you might be making. You first have to have a connection with someone before you can begin to have a serious discussion about spirituality.

So, I hope those of you who have spiritual experience will think about how to be aware of opportunities to begin to share some of that experience, if you aren’t already. (As an example about making assumptions, I almost made the mistake of assuming whoever reads this doesn’t already know this, or had some of these experiences.) As my experience, and the following quotes say, faith leaders need to go where the youth are. We need to closely observe and learn what the youth are teaching us. This is the attitude I hope you will bring to these situations, that you are present to observe and learn, not lead.

The video at the end of this is about how a Quaker group supported us as we walked during the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March. I learned a lot about spirituality from those I was on the March with and from those who joined us remotely (story in the video).

“What many of the clergy interviewed in this book realized in the course of the Ferguson protests was that rather than sitting back in their sanctuaries and waiting for the young people to seek out the church for guidance or leadership, it was the church that needed to go out and meet the young people where they were, joining them shoulder to shoulder, on the streets, in the struggle for justice. Equally important, the clergy did not go out there expecting automatically to lead or be listened to simply by virtue of being clergy. They understood that these young protestors were already leaders who were accomplishing extraordinary things, and that they needed allies in the clergy more than they needed the clergy to act as their leaders. At the same time, by meeting these young leaders where they were and being their allies in the truest sense of the word, these clergy were able to use their gifts, experience, and networks to complement and elevate the gifts and experience of the young activists.”
Ferguson and Faith: Sparking Leadership and Awakening Community Kindle Edition
by Leah Gunning Francis

“Throughout my life, it has been an honor to watch my elders make medicine in their mouths and feed the world with their tender sacred speech. Following their example, I want to share the words that make waterfalls, lakes and rivers, and offer some medicine to those who are wondering how we will continue living when the Earth that sustains our lives is so damaged. What I share here, far from being my own creation, is ancient memory that belongs to all of us.
In speaking about the gifts of my elder, I do not want to impress anyone. My intention is to share the spiritual depths of a culture that creates individuals like my tayta, ones with a real capacity to have an influence on the health of the Earth. I am one of those who believe all of humanity can regain an ancient way of being that allows us to talk to our Mother Earth to resolve dangerous imbalances of the environment under her guidance. The state of humans and the state of the Earth are completely intertwined, and the full recovery of the best of our human nature will be the healing of Nature.”
Deer and Thunder; Indigenous Ways of Restoring the World, Arkan Lushwala

The following video talks about the ways faith played a role during the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March, September, 2018.

Posted in climate change, First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March, Green New Deal, Indigenous, Quaker, Sunrise Movement, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Congressional Press Conference: Green New Deal

Posted on February 9, 2019 by Jeff Kisling

Below is the video of the press conference of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey announcing their resolution for the creation of a committee to create the plan for a Green New Deal (Thursday, February 7, 2019).

I think one of the things that confuses people about the Green New Deal is that it is meant to be a framework to ensure a rapid but also a just transition to !00% renewable energy in 12 years. The specific ways these ideas are worked out will vary from community to community. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez explains that in the video.

“I want to thank you all for being here today on this very important moment…This is an incredible moment because all of the supporters who are here today support the climate, clean energy, social justice, public health. Grassroots organizations that make up the most powerful grassroots organizing movement in the United States today. Never in our history have the interests of all Americans been so united on a single issue: climate change. From the air we breathe, to jobs that employ us, to the neighborhoods we live in, to the economy we operate within, climate change defines our existence. Global temperatures are the highest in recorded history. Wealth inequality is the highest point since the era of the Great Depression. The erosion of our coastlines, the erosion of the earning power of workers, the pollution of our planet, the pollution of our democracy by big oil and Koch brother financing. The interrelationship of these ills and injustices is undeniable. But the challenge is not insurmountable. It will only be through an historic generational commitment to end climate change, that we create the kind of democracy that works for all Americans. We will save all of creation by engaging in massive job creation in our country.
I thank you all for being here today, on this historic day.”
Senator Ed Markey

“This is so incredible, this is such a major, watershed moment. And I am so incredibly excited that we are going to transition this country into the future and we are not going to be dragged behind by our past. I’m so excited by that. I think that today is not just a big day for us as a delegation, us as a party, us as a movement, but this is a big day for activists all of the country, and for front line communities all over the country.
Today is a big day for people who have been left behind. Today is a big day for workers in Appalachia. Today is a big day for children that have been breathing dirty air in the South Bronx. Today is a really good day for families who have been enduring the injustices of drinking dirty water, or who have seen their living rooms being flooded with the waves of rising sea levels. And today, I think, is a really big day for our economy, the labor movement, the social justice movement, indigenous peoples and peoples all over the United States of America.
Because today is the day that we truly embark on a comprehensive agenda of economic, social and racial justice in the United States of America. That’s what this agenda is all about. Because climate change and our environmental challenges are one of the biggest existential threats to our way of life, not just as a nation, but as a world. In order for for us to be able to combat that threat we must be as ambitious and innovative in our solutions as possible.
So what we are doing today in introducing these resolutions today is that it’s not a bill, it is a resolution. And what this Resolution is doing is saying “this is our first step. Our first step is to define the problem, and define the scope of the solution.”
And so were here to say that small, incremental policy solutions are not enough. They can be part of a solution but they are not the solution unto itself. There is no justice and there is no combating climate change without addressing what has happened to indigenous communities. That means that there is no fixing our economy without addressing the racial wealth gap. That means that we are not going to transition to renewable energies with also transitioning font line communities and coal communities into economic opportunity as well. That is what this is about.
It is comprehensive, it is thoughtful, it is compassionate, it is extremely economically strategic as well. Today is also the day that we choose to assert ourselves as a global leader in transitioning to 100% renewable energy and charting that path. That means that we are not going to peg ourselves by the lowest standards of other nations. It doesn’t mean that we’re going to say “what about them, they aren’t doing it. What about them, they’re not doing it, why should we?”
We should do it because we should lead. We should do it because that is what this nation is about. We should do it because we are a country founded on ideals, of a culture that is innovate, that cares for our brothers and sisters across this country. We should do it because we are an example to the world. That is why we should do it. And we need to save ourselves and we can save the rest of the world with us. That is why we should do it. And that is why we should do it.
And that is why we defined the scope of this resolution to be so broad and to be so comprehensive. Because we are defining the Green New Deal. And in the spirit of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, we have the Green New Deal and we have Green New Deal Projects. The Tennessee Valley Authority was a New Deal project that was part of a larger vision.
And today we are laying down what that larger vision is. So when people say what about this, what about that? the answer isn’t “this is why its not in here”, the answer is “that is part of the solution, too.” I hope you all can see this. I hope you all see the scope, the scale.
Because the solution is not going to come from just one Congresswomen from the Bronx, its not going to come from just one Senator. Its going to come from all our representatives as a county. saying this is what Iowa needs, this is what Virginia need, this is what Michigan needs, this is what Illinois needs, this is what New York needs. Because when we have this threat that challenges all of us, the solution is going to take all of us, too.
I’m so thankful. I want to reiterate my thanks to the activists and the advocacy, and the organizers who made this moment happen, and created the political energy to be relevant and to put it at the top of the agenda, not the bottom of the agenda.
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez s

“What is especially exciting about this morning is the opportunity for reform on several fronts. And I am here to say, as the senior Democrat on the committee that writes tax law in the Senate, the Senate Finance Committee, that it is my intention to work with all these good people to throw the dirty energy tax relics of yesteryear into the garbage can, and work to put clean energy front and center for a healthier future for Americans from sea to shining sea.”
Senator Ron Wyden

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Not Politics as Usual

Posted on February 8, 2019 by Jeff Kisling

One of the reasons for introducing the Resolution Recognizing the Duty of the Federal Government to Create a Green New Deal now is because numerous people are saying they support a Green New Deal, but what that means hasn’t been clear because the framework hasn’t been defined. The Resolution’s purpose is to create the framework for a Green New Deal, the details of which will continue to evolve with time and experiences to plug into such a framework.

The fact this proposal is a catch-all of the most progressive programs means it probably isn’t going anywhere in the House, where House Energy and Commerce Chair Frank Pallone has already called the plan too ambitious and unlikely to generate consensus among moderate Democrats in the House, never mind the Senate.
“The goal of trying to reduce fossil fuels and get to a carbon neutral economy is important and something that I agree with,” Pallone told the Asbury Park Press last month. “The Green New Deal says you can do it in 10 years. I don’t know if that’s technologically feasible. … Beyond that it’s probably not politically feasible.”
But to Ocasio-Cortez and Green New Deal backers, that’s not the point. They are banking that the idea will keep spreading. Even some in the House who are skeptical of whether the plan is feasible agree that the branding of the Green New Deal — harkening back to the days of FDR — is a brilliant marketing strategy.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is making the Green New Deal a 2020 litmus test
Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal House resolution is officially here.
By Ella Nilsenella.nilsen@vox.com Feb 7, 2019, 8:40am EST

Discussions of the Green New Deal often talk about Democrats but not Republicans. Decisions were made early in the planning for a Green New Deal (GND) to focus on political candidates that do, or might be persuaded to support the GND. A Republican candidate would be supported if they embraced GND. For similar reasons, the Sunrise Movement is a youth-led movement that targets gaining youth members, although they say all ages are welcome, and that has been my experience.

But as the following about Political Engagement says (from the Sunrise Movement website), there are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends. Perhaps one of the biggest hurdles the GND faces is from Democrats who are not progressive about environmental and social justice.
Originally anyone who took fossil fuel many was not going to be asked to serve on the Climate Committee, but that idea has since been scrapped. Really disappointing.

” In primary elections, we only endorse candidates who take the “No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge” to “reject contributions from the oil, gas, and coal industry and instead prioritize the health of our families, climate, and democracy over fossil fuel industry profits.”

Political Engagement
1. We support candidates who, if elected, would represent a significant break with the status quo for their district. We want candidates who take major leaps forward in one or more of our policy priority areas (see below). This looks different in different parts of America.
2. We support politicians who will represent us, not the fossil fuel industry. Whether or not a candidate is willing to take money from the oil, gas and coal industry is a fairly clear litmus test of whose interests that politician is likely to represent.
In primary elections, we only endorse candidates who take the “No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge” to “reject contributions from the oil, gas, and coal industry and instead prioritize the health of our families, climate, and democracy over fossil fuel industry profits.”
In general elections, we may support (but not endorse) a candidate who has not signed the pledge or has taken money from the fossil fuel industry because we recognize that an imperfect candidate could, in some cases, still represent a significant leap forward (see above) by defeating a powerful opponent with a long history of putting the interests of oil and gas executives first. No matter what, we will make this a major demand for general elections and push candidates on this issue.
3. No permanent friends. No permanent enemies. Our only permanent allegiance is to protecting our communities, our shared home, and our future. We have to make it clear to politicians that our power and support are earned, and not a given. Just because we have supported a candidate in the past doesn’t mean that we will continue to support them in the future if there emerges (or the movement puts forth) a viable candidate that is better aligned with and more committed to our values and policy priorities.
https://www.sunrisemovement.org/political-engagement/

But the most significant reason these can no longer be times of politics as usual (aside from all the turmoil from the Republican administration) is because of the unprecedented severity of the climate chaos we are experiencing, which is rapidly becoming more frequent and devastating.

#NoExcuses is a fundamental part of the movements supporting a Green New Deal (such as the Sunrise Movement I belong to, and Justice Democrats). The remarks from representative Frank Pallone above, and Nancy Pelosi below, are examples of what the youth in these movements will not stand for, regardless of the representative’s political party.

Is it possible this requirement (No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge) might split the Democratic Party? With the implosion of the Republican party, perhaps conservative, establishment Democrats will join the Republican party, and the Democratic party will be the home of progressives who support the Green New Deal?

Nancy Pelosi isn’t all that impressed. Asked about the “Green New Deal” in an interview with Politico on Wednesday, Pelosi dropped this amazing bit of shade on it:“It will be one of several or maybe many suggestions that we receive. The green dream, or whatever they call it, nobody knows what it is, but they’re for it, right?”
Nancy Pelosi just threw some serious shade at Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘Green New Deal’, CNN, Chris Cillizza February 7, 2019

The multiple consequences of climate change will increasingly dominate all our lives Basically we have two choices

create a massive mobilization framework to tackle these environmental catastrophes (GND)
or not, and the planet dies

We are in a life and death struggle.

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Resolution for Green New Deal Introduced

Posted on February 7, 2019 by Jeff Kisling

A resolution for a Green New Deal was introduced in the House today by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Senator Ed Markey in the U.S. Senate. It had been hoped that a Select Committee on a New Green Deal would be created as the new Congress was getting organized. Unfortunately the Democratic leadership decided instead to organize a committee on climate change without much of a vision and no power to introduce legislation. It appeared a number of people in the Democratic leadership were were alarmed at the either the scope of the New Green Deal, or didn’t think new members should wield so much power, so soon.

Led by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, the proposal does not set a date for eliminating of phasing out fossil fuels. It does call for generating 100 percent of electricity through renewable sources like wind and solar in the next 10 years, eliminating greenhouse emissions in manufacturing and forestry “as much as is technologically feasible,” and re-engineering cars and trucks to end climate pollution.
The measure also includes social justice goals not usually attached to antipollution plans, like eradicating poverty by creating high-paid jobs.
It also aims to “promote justice and equity by stopping current, preventing future, and repairing historic oppression of indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth.”
Sixty members of the House and nine senators are co-sponsoring the resolution, including several presidential candidates, according to a fact sheet provided by Ms. Ocasio-Cortez’s office.

Democrats Formally Call for a Green New Deal, Giving Substance to a Rallying Cry by Lisa Friedman, New York Times, 2/7/2019

Following is an interview of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez about the New Green Deal on NPR today.

NPR February 7, 2019

This message is going out to every organization who backed the fight for a Select Committee on a Green New Deal in November and December. While the Select Committee didn’t match our ambitions, AOC is coming back today stronger than ever with an official House resolution on a Green New Deal! Ed Markey is introducing a parallel version in the Senate.
Like November’s resolution for a select committee on a Green New Deal, this resolution calls for:
• 100% clean and renewable energy by 2030
• a guaranteed living-wage job for anybody who needs one
• a just transition for both workers and frontline communities
This is the most ambitious climate plan and perhaps the most ambitious economic justice reform to come before the US Congress in my lifetime, and it’s arriving at just the right time. In 2019, we can use this resolution to push all Congresspeople, Congressional candidates, and Presidential candidates to take a stand on the Green New Deal, so we can defeat the opposition in 2020, and pass a Green New Deal in 2021.
I hope you’ll join Sunrise Movement and hundreds of other groups in backing this resolution and pushing all Congresspeople to do the same. Sign-on here!
The resolution has already been backed by an impressive list of groups from across the progressive landscape, including the Center for Popular Democracy, People’s Action, Sierra Club, Justice First, Indivisible, Honor the Earth, SEIU 32BJ, NextGen America, Avaaz, and many more. We’re thrilled to see a coalition coming together that represents workers’ rights, racial, environmental, and economic justice, because the Green New Deal is more than just a climate plan — it’s a vision of progressive governance for and by the people. Stopping climate change will not happen without transformative change in our economy, our society, and our democracy. Truly, our fights are bound up together.
I also want to make clear that, in Sunrise Movement’s view, the resolution is primarily an organizing tool, and should be seen as a starting place rather than the final destination on policy. Some people have expressed concern that there is not explicit enough language about fossil fuels, and plenty of other things need to be expanded beyond the level of specificity than is possible in a 5-page resolution. We share a commitment to fill these gaps and are confident that they can be addressed over the next two years before our window of opportunity to pass GND legislation in 2021. Sunrise has not and will not play a leading role in policy development (we gotta focus on organizing!), but we want to engage in the conversation whenever possible, protect the massive ambition in this resolution, and expand it where needed.
William Lawrence, Sunrise Movement

https://theleap.org/

Posted in civil disobedience, climate change, Green New Deal, Sunrise Movement, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Holding in the Light

Posted on February 5, 2019 by Jeff Kisling

I’m thinking about what “holding in the Light” means this morning. I’m asking those who are so led to hold my godsons Shawn and Brandon in the light today. Shawn is in the hospital, and Brandon is going to have surgery today.

Asking for prayers isn’t something I usually do often or publicly, although it does seem natural to ask members of my Quaker meetings, Bear Creek and North Meadow.

I’m not saying I’m more spiritual these days, but the week I spent on the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March made me more aware of the presence of the Spirit all around me, all the time. Learning from Native Americans on the March, and through books and movies some of them have recommended since, has deepened and broadened my spiritual awareness.

In addition to prayer, I had rightly understood ‘holding in the Light” to have an element of metaphysical healing and illogical near-magic of the kinds attributed to Jesus of Nazareth, and found in the mystical faith traditions of many religions including Quakerism.
Alan Schmaljohn

I am holding you in the Light. We Quakers say that when we intend to pray for someone, when we want for someone what God wants for them–peace and healing and well-being and soundness of mind and body and spirit. Though we often say it very casually, without much thought, ideally, it is more than just words.
I remember years ago reading a story of two prisoners of war who were imprisoned in a dark cell, illuminated only by a small six-inch square of window about eight feet off the ground. Each day, they would take turns lifting one another up to the window, so each could feel the light upon his face, and see the sun and the outdoors and that way keep from going mad. To say to someone “I will hold you in the Light,” is the verbal equivalent of lifting them up to God, lifting them up to the light and goodness, so they can have hope and peace.
But it is more than words. We ought never say we are holding someone in the Light unless we are willing to lift them up to the window. In the book of James, it says, “if you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” and walk off without providing so much as a coat of a cup of soup–what good does that do them? God-talk without God-acts is meaningless?” James 2:15
Philip Gulley. QuakerSayings

Today, like the Warrior of the Light, I’m feeling “life carries him from unknown to unknown”.

A Warrior knows that the ends do not justify the means. Because there are no ends, there are only means. Life carries him from unknown to unknown. Each moment is filled with this thrilling mystery: the Warrior does not know where he came from nor where he is going. But he is not here by chance. And he is overjoyed by surprises and excited by landscapes that he has never seen before. He often feels afraid, but that is normal in a Warrior. If he thinks only of the goal, he will not be able to pay attention to the signs along the way. If he concentrates only on one question, he will miss the answers that are there beside him. That is why the Warrior submits.
Coelho, Paulo. Warrior of the Light: A Manual (p. 131). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

During the Internet search about holding in the light, I came across (and purchased) this song, that I hadn’t heard before, “Let me hold the light” by Dierks Bentley. The song is from the movie “Only the Brave” about the 19 firefighters from the Granite Mountain Hotshots who were killed by a wildfire near Yarnell, Arizona, June 30th, 2013, 19

Let me Hold the Light
If it wasn’t known, that our love will carry on
I will be the wind that echo’s on the canyon wall
One more day with you, to walk around our neighborhood
We will never know like it was understood
We never say goodbye
Just let me hold the light
If you’ve given up, I will call an end to this
I will be your rock from our perch
If you walk the ridge, you will find the marks, the scars
Kneel down by the tree, under the city stone
We never say goodbye
Just let me hold the light
We never say goodbye
I’ll see you on this side
Or the other way
The desert sun kisses the sky
Baby hold the light
And keep it in your eyes
And promise that you dream with me
Beyond the walls of time
And when we laid aside
Just look up at the light
Just let me hold the light
Just let me hold the light
Songwriters: Dierks Bentley / Jon Randall / Joe Trapanese / Sean Carey
Hold The Light (From “Only The Brave”) lyrics © Blue Bonsai, Black Label Media Film Music, Dudetunes

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA
KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA
Christina Nobiss
Hickory Grove meetinghouse at Scattergood
North Meadow Friends Indianapolis
Bear Creek meeting

Posted in First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March, Indigenous, Quaker, Quaker Meetings, Spiritual Warrior, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Lakota People’s Law Project and Nathan Phillips

Posted on February 2, 2019 by Jeff Kisling

There have been many, often conflicting, stories about the confrontation between Nathan Phillips and High School students, many wearing MAGA caps.

This morning I received an email message from Daniel Nelson, Director of the Lakota People’s Law Project, telling their story of helping Nathan Phillips.

In recent days the Lakota People’s Law Project helped shape history. You might not know me. I’m Daniel Nelson, the director of the Lakota People’s Law Project. I have worked closely with my colleagues Chase Iron Eyes, Madonna Thunder Hawk, and Phyllis Young for the past eight years, spending months at a stretch at Standing Rock and other tribal nations. This work has been of transcendent importance to me, and I’m deeply honored to do it. I must now share some important news with you about our organization’s work over the past two weeks and our plans for the coming year. I’ll summarize: Chase and I were with Nathan Phillips most hours of every day last week, helping him bring his message of a just peace into every household in America.
We traveled to D.C. on Wednesday January 16th, and Chase, Phyllis, and I participated fully in the Indigenous People’s March on Friday. Chase and Phyllis spoke during the rally and we met with Congresswoman Deb Haaland, one of the first two Native women elected to Congress. The march was a success, and we were feeling grateful to have played a role—but then, as you know, something alarming and extraordinary happened: a serious act of racism at the Lincoln Memorial on Martin Luther King Day weekend.
As I mentioned, Chase knew Nathan. He had actually asked someone to take this photo (below) immediately before the incident at the Lincoln Memorial. And during the media frenzy that followed our release, it didn’t take long for Chase and me to find ourselves in the same room with Nathan—we encountered one another at CNN’s studio, where both Nathan and Chase were doing interviews. We had a brief exchange and then Nathan slipped away.
Daniel Nelson, Director, Lakota People’s Law Project

Chase Iron Eyes and Nathan Phillips at Indigenous People’s March 2019

Nathan’s courage will be remembered forever. He stepped into the middle of a profane, racially charged exchange that symbolized the dark side of race relations in our country: it was the MAGA hat-wearing sons of southern, white plutocrats against a small group of strident, abysmally missguided African Americans, the Black Hebrew Israelites (if you need a comprehensive overview of the entire incident, ABC Nightline did a good one). Remarkably, a Native American, whose ancestors faced genocide at the hands of European immigrants to America, stepped into danger with a drum and ceremonial song to deliver peace. When confronted by both hostile parties, he kept his rhythm; he stayed until his work was done that day. He made good on the memory of Martin Luther King, whose “I Have a Dream” Speech was uttered at that same location 56 years ago.
Daniel Nelson, Director, Lakota People’s Law Project

In this video Nathan Phillips speaks of historic injustices against Indigenous people in the United States, including taking Native children from their families to try to assimilate them into white settler colonialist culture. And speaks of the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women. But he also speaks of his hope for a better future.

Nathan Phillips on racism

Indigenous people don’t believe we have time to be squabbling and bickering over race, religion. But he believes things are only getting worse for Indigenous people. There are a lot of people who are just realizing that if we don’t do something now, its going to be too late. I guess what I say to a lot of people: peace and love. Put that in your heart and love for all humans.
Nathan Phillips

Now Nathan’s work continues, and the Lakota People’s Law Project stands ready to help him in any way we can. We are advising him to stay on the side of Peace with Justice. Here is the best rendition of Nathan’s vision for the world that I have seen to date, a moving video made by Al Jazeera. Please watch it. The culture of violence and inequality that Trump has fostered in America must be confronted aggressively but without malice. This is the pathway to healing. We will look to King, to Gandhi, and now to Phillips for modeling, despite Phillips being imperfect, as we all are. We will dig deeply into ourselves and find the resources to preserve and strengthen the first modern democracy in the world, while never forgetting to make it increasingly just. Peace without justice is just tinder waiting to be lit, avoidable suffering covered over by disguises. We do not want that kind of peace.
Daniel Nelson, Director, Lakota People’s Law Project

Indigenous People’s Rally 2019

Posted in enslavement, Indigenous, Uncategorized | Tagged Missing and Murdered Native Women | Leave a comment

Sacred Ground, Underground Railroad, Butterflies and Border Wall

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Jeff Kisling

“Indigenous Activists Set Up Protest Camp at South Texas Cemetery to Stop Trump’s Wall” by Gus Bova was published by the Texas Observer, 1/31/2019. “Environmentalists, veterans of the Standing Rock protests and Carrizo/Comecrudo tribal members are vowing to stare down the president’s bulldozers.”

Activists raise their fists atop the levee overlooking the Eli Jackson Cemetery, the exact location of Trump’s impending border wall. Gus Bova

DuWayne Redwater sings at the Jackson Ranch Church Cemetery, another graveyard about 500 feet west from the Eli Jackson Cemetery.

The 154-year-old Eli Jackson Cemetery sits about a mile from the Rio Grande, south of the Hidalgo County town of San Juan. Encompassing just a single acre, it hosts the remains of some 150 South Texans. Just a few feet north rises a sloped earthen river levee, which the Trump administration soon plans to transform into a 30-foot concrete and steel border wall. South of the wall, the feds plan to clear a 150-foot “enforcement zone,” raising fears that bodies will be exhumed, and most of the cemetery razed. But the dead have new company: a small group of Native American activists and allies who say they’ll stand in front of the bulldozers and refuse to move.

On Wednesday, about 15 people milled about a makeshift campsite at the cemetery where they’d recently erected 10 tents. Over the last three weeks, they’d cleared out Johnson grass and other weeds that had overgrown many of the graves. As I approached the site, Juan Mancias, a long-time environmental and Native American rights activist, came out to welcome me to what he called “Yalui Village.” Mancias, 64, is the tribal chair of the Carrizo/Comecrudo, a group Indigenous to South Texas and Northern Mexico that claims about 1,500 members but isn’t recognized by the federal government. “Yalui” means “butterfly” in the Carrizo/Comecrudo language.
https://www.texasobserver.org/indigenous-activists-set-up-protest-camp-at-south-texas-cemetery-to-stop-trumps-wall/

The group has pledged to commit acts of civil disobedience if necessary to protect the site.

“We’re here, ready to protect the environment and our rights as the original people of this land,” Mancias said. “What are they gonna do? Run us over?”
Some of the activists are veterans of the Standing Rock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. One Lakota/Dakota activist, DuWayne Redwater, came from South Dakota to join the Texas encampment. On Wednesday, Redwater led the group twice in prayer songs. Asked why he traveled so far, he rebuffed the question. “Being from where I’m from, it’s kind of our job,” he said, “to be landlords and caretakers of this land.” Others are locals, like Patricia Rubio, who works as a plant nursery technician at the nearby National Butterfly Center, which is also threatened by the wall. Rubio said she plans to grow plants near the cemetery to attract bees and butterflies. The group also plans to set up camps on other properties in the area, depending on how wall construction advances.
https://www.texasobserver.org/indigenous-activists-set-up-protest-camp-at-south-texas-cemetery-to-stop-trumps-wall/

Last summer Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) released plans to build a wall, including going through the cemetery. Documents also indicate that nearby land will be taken by eminent domain. (The abuse of eminent domain was one of the main reasons for the First Nation-Farmer Climate Unity March, from Des Moines to Fort Dodge, Iowa, along the path of the Dakota Access Pipeline.)

The Eli Jackson Cemetery has been a designated state historical site since 2005. It was originally a family cemetery for the Jacksons, whose patriarch fled Alabama with his African-American wife in the 1850s and purchased a swath of ranchland, including the plot the graveyard sits on, according to Jackson descendants and documents submitted to the Texas Historical Commission. More families used the cemetery over time, including other prominent Anglos who left the Deep South, along with local Hispanic families of less gilded backgrounds. The area was even a waystation for a time on the Underground Railroad, and some escaped slaves settled there permanently, eventually burying their dead in the cemetery. Not all graves are marked.
https://www.texasobserver.org/indigenous-activists-set-up-protest-camp-at-south-texas-cemetery-to-stop-trumps-wall/

From my experience with the resistances to the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, I think this has the potential to be as much of an obstacle to building the border wall as the political opposition in the U.S. Congress.