JOBS POLICIES, ANALYSIS, AND RESOURCES
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Will the Governor be Recalled?
Brief #1—California Dispatch
By Patrick Dwire
The vote for the recall of Gavin Newsom as the governor of California is now a political certainty, with a Special Recall Election to be scheduled later this year. If a simple majority of voters decide Newsom should be removed from office, then the highest vote –getter on the ballot, even if less than 50 percent of the total number of votes cast becomes the next governor of California. If the 2003 recall election in California is any kind of historic guide, scores of colorful candidates from all walks of life can to be expected to get qualified for the ballot.
Ransomware on the Uptick: A Clear and Present Danger
Brief #45—Technology
By Charles A Rubin
The Colonial Pipeline Company, which describes itself as “the largest refined products pipeline in the United States” transporting gas and jet fuel through a pipeline system spanning 5,500 miles between Texas and New Jersey reported on Friday May 7 that it was the victim of a ransomware cybersecurity attack. The company assured the public that the attack had only affected its information technology systems and not its operation capacity but, as a precaution, it was proactively taking certain systems offline to contain the threat. The action temporarily halted all pipeline operations effectively cutting supplies to much of the Eastern seaboard.
Forever Chemicals May Not Last That Long
Brief #115—Environement
By Shannon Q Elliot
“But I suspect most people across the United States are still unfamiliar with PFAS and don’ t realize the exposure that occurs. I’m going to continue doing what I can elevating that awareness.”- Robert Bilott
Polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) and Perfluorooctanoic (PFOS), are not only impossible to pronounce, they are toxic chemicals that wreak havoc on all living and breathing beings. According to Scientific American, of the more than 9,000 known PFAS compounds, 600 are currently used in the U.S.
Wood Pellets: The New Renewable or the Same Old Story?
Brief #114—Environment
By Jacob Morton
In 2012, the U.K.’s Department of Energy and Climate Change published its guidelines regarding new British renewable energy policy. These guidelines encouraged the transition of coal-fired electrical generation plants to biomass or wood pellet burning plants, as a way for utility companies to meet European Union air pollution and renewable energy standards. Burning wood pellets to generate electricity has been touted as a renewable energy source because it requires new trees to be grown, offsetting the carbon released by the burning of the trees that preceded them.
Power for Power’s Sake: The Motto of the Modern Republican Party
Brief USRN Blog
By Sean Gray
The Republican Party is disdainful of democracy. In 2021 it has become an authoritarian personality cult led by disgraced former President Donald Trump.. It’s members have embraced blatant electoral untruths and stoked cultural wars in a a cynical political game. 30 state legislatures are controlled by the GOP. Voter suppression and cracking down on dissent are on the docket in many of them.
Stolen elections and burning cities received a disproportional amount of election coverage in the last few years. Neither represented an accurate portrayal of the 2020 election or the widespread well founded Black Lives Matter Protests. Nevertheless, as spurred on by Trump, the GOP and their chums in conservative media have spent a fair amount of time inciting their base over election fraud and antifa terrorists. The phony hysteria sounding these issues serves as a pernicious pretext to cripple democratic institutions. Self-governance and freedom to assemble and criticize said government is a bedrock of a free society. Those tenets are under assault in Republican-led state houses.
Is Change on the Horizon for Gig Workers?
Brief #115—Economics
By Lily Lady Cook
U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh told Reuters in an exclusive interview at the end of April that he supports reclassifying certain gig workers as employees. In 2017, approximately 34% of the workforce in the US were independent contractors, and even more supplement their income with freelance work. These types of jobs can allow for greater flexibility and independence with regards to hours and variety of work. Yet the tradeoffs can be disproportionate: there’s often less job security, no employee-provided health or retirement benefits, and more expensive taxes.
Attorney General Merrick Garland Brings Back DOJ Consent Decrees As A Tool For Police Reform
Brief #160—Civil Rights
By Rod Maggay
On April 16, 2021 new U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memorandum titled “Civil Settlement Agreements and Consent Decrees With State and Local Governmental Entities.”
The memo was comprised of four points. First, the new memo rescinded a November 2018 memo that imposed restrictions on the traditional use of consent decrees against state and local law enforcement entities. That November 2018 memo was issued by then Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Second, the new memo instructs that settlement agreements and consent decrees would return to the traditional process of approval that had been in place prior to Attorney General Sessions November 2018 memo. Third, the use of consent decrees again must lay out specifically what the violations are, what remedies are being proposed and how the remedies will address the violations. And lastly, the memo instructs that if monitors are brought in to help oversee the proposed consent decree that the monitors are independent, highly qualified and free of conflicts of interest. LEARN MORE
The Many Important US Foreign Policy Questions Raised by Alexei Navalny
Brief #109—Foreign Policy
By Will Solomon
The saga of Alexei Navalny continues to play out in Russia. Navalny, the dissident anti-corruption activist, was jailed on January 17, after returning to Russia from Germany, and ultimately sentenced to over two and a half years in prison. He was in Germany recuperating from what appears to be an attempting poisoning by the Russian government.
Navalny is a popular and controversial figure in Russia and is increasingly well-known abroad. For the last several years, his profile and stature have grown in Russia, as he’s become the most prominent anti-Putin voice in the country. His movement largely centers on “anti-corruption,” and his exposes—like this recent one on Putin’s apparent luxury retreat on the Black Sea coast—are extremely popular in Russia. He’s also become a heroic figure in the West for his strident opposition to Putin
The Biden Agenda for Women Series Part 4: Ending Violence Against Women
Brief #105—Health and Gender
By Erin Mcnemar
President Joe Biden has stated that ending violence against women has been a priority for him throughout his career. During the 1990s, Biden pushed for legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act to empower and protect women who had become the victims of violence. Since then, he has worked to continue strengthening and renewing that act. In The Biden Agenda for Women policy, Biden has pledged he will continue to build upon VAWA and provide better support for survivors.
Biden’s Health Policy Priorities
Health and Gender Policy
Brief # 90
Biden’s Health Policy Priorities
By Erin McNemar
January 12, 2021
Policy
In March of 2010 after a long fought battle between Democrats and Republicans, President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. The policy made instrumental changes to healthcare in the United States. According to Reuters, over 23 million people are now insured by Obamacare. Since that law passed, Congressional Republicans have continuously tried to repeal it.
During his campaign, President-elect Joe Biden presented his healthcare policy as an expansion of Obamacare. In this expansion, Biden’s plan highlights how he will increase coverage to insure 97 percent of Americans by giving individuals a public health insurance option similar to Medicare. By negotiating with providers, this new public option will be more affordable to those who struggle to pay health insurance costs.
Additionally, the plan calls for lowering prescription drug prices by limiting price increases for drug companies facing no competition, allowing Americans to purchase prescriptions from other countries and getting rid of pharmaceutical corporations’ tax break. The plan also says Biden will repeal laws that prevent Medicare from negotiating lower prescription prices with drug corporations.
Lastly, Biden’s plan implements the idea that healthcare is a human right. Focusing on women’s healthcare rights, Biden states that his plan will expand access to contraceptive, reduced maternal mortality rate, especially among women of color, and protect the constitutional right to an abortion. Biden has also said he supports striking down the Hyde Amendment and restoring federal funding to Planned Parenthood.
Overall, Biden’s plan aims to protect healthcare coverage for those who are covered and expand coverage for those who are not. By bringing down the costs, repealing laws that prevent negotiating and investing in community healthcare, Biden hopes to expand and protect the policies created by Obamacare.
Analysis
Going into his first term in office, Biden has something that Obama didn’t; a Democratic majority in congress. With the Democrats maintaining their lead in the House and the Senate being split 50/50, making Vice President-elect Kamala Harris the tie breaking vote, Democrats will should be able to move their bills through Congress and sign them into law with ease. While this works in theory, it doesn’t necessarily ring true.
With division among Democrats and Republicans, there is also division among members of the Democratic party itself. More progressive Democrats often criticize moderate Democrats for creating policies liberals believe do not go far enough to help people. This interparty division could prove to be a challenge for Biden in implementing his plans such as healthcare reform.
Additionally, history shows us that healthcare reform can be difficult even with a one party majority in Congress. During President Bill Clinton’s time in office, he attempted to pass major healthcare reform. With Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate, this task shouldn’t have been terribly difficult. However, the bill was declared dead on September 26, 1994 by Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.
During the time of COVID-19, healthcare has become a pillar issue for many Americans. We will be watching carefully to see what kind of relief is provided for people in this country. While Biden’s plan to expand and protect Obamacare looks like it definitely has the potential to make it through Congress, we are going to have to see what kind of opposition it gets from Repuboicans as well as within his own party.
Engagement Resources
- Read more about President-elect Joe Biden’s Healthcare Plan.
- Reach out to your senators and representatives to take action!
- To keep up to date on the latest health & gender policy news, SUBSCRIBE HERE!
Trump’s EPA Seeks to Hide Science with New “Transparency” Rule
Environment Policy
Brief # 105
Trump’s EPA Seeks to Hide Science with New “Transparency” Rule
By Jacob Morton, 1/11/2021
Policy
On January 5, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a new rule requiring that any scientific evidence that is to be considered by the agency when crafting new environmental regulation, such as limiting the use of certain chemicals or determining levels of allowable pollution, must make all relevant data publicly available (including study participants’ personal medical records) to be considered credible. The rule specifically targets “dose-response” studies that aim to show the effects of exposure to certain toxins and pollutants on human health.
For instance, in the 1990s, a Harvard study, called the Six Cities study, “drew on anonymized, confidential health data from thousands of people to better establish links between air pollution and higher mortality.” The study was “instrumental in crafting health and environmental rules” and “led to new limits on air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.” The EPA’s new rule would require that same Harvard study to officially release all its subjects’ personal and confidential medical information, otherwise risk being categorized as weak or not credible, and potentially lead to rollbacks of its associated environmental policies.
The new rule, known as the Strengthening Transparency in Pivotal Science Underlying Significant Regulatory Actions and Influential Scientific Information Rule, claims not to require the release of Personal Identifiable Information (PII) or Confidential Business Information (CBI). The EPA’s official news release announcing the new rule states that “when proposing a significant regulatory action, the Agency is required to clearly identify and make publicly available the science informing the rule.” However, the rule also states that, “Under certain criteria outlined in the rule, the Administrator can grant case-by-case exemptions to the requirements of this rule.”
Attempts to discredit influential, peer-reviewed science that runs counter to industry interests, in the name of “transparency,” is not new. Early in the Trump administration, former Texas congressman Lamar Smith unsuccessfully attempted to push the “Secret Science Reform Act” through congress, and the idea has floated around the EPA ever since. The New York Times has even traced the idea back to the Tobacco Industry’s attempts to discredit studies warning of harm from second-hand smoke.
Analysis
While a rule to require complete transparency of any study used as pivotal scientific evidence seems practical, it becomes problematic when a study uses patients’ confidential medical records. Many believe that by requiring the release of patients’ personal medical information used in these studies, the EPA will no longer be required to consider the evidence presented by studies containing the clearest indications of public harm, because those studies will not legally be able to release their subjects’ medical records. Environmentalists and public health experts fear this will lead to weaker protections or a decision not to regulate at all.
EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, praised the new rule for its angle on transparency, saying, “We’re going to take all this information and shine light on it, … It’s sunshine, it’s transparency.” Meanwhile, medical experts say the new rule, “essentially blocks the use of population studies in which subjects offer medical histories, lifestyle information and other personal data only on the condition of privacy. Such studies have served as the scientific underpinnings of some of the most important clean air and water regulations of the past half century.”
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Ranking Member for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, writes of the rule, “You can’t expect people to believe in science if data is kept secret. It’s impossible. Transparency, public access to underlying data, rigorous review are all key to building trust.” However, critics of the rule say it threatens patient confidentiality and privacy of individuals in public health studies. Richard Revesz, an expert in pollution law at the New York University School of Law says the kinds of studies being targeted are those which would “present the most direct and persuasive evidence of pollution’s adverse health effects” (“dose-response” studies). He says, “Ignoring them will lead to uninformed and insufficiently stringent standards, causing avoidable deaths and illnesses.”
Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, has criticized the new rule, saying, “We’re going to put at risk the health of a whole lot of people and maybe even lead to their deaths.” Carper’s staff have pointed to several studies that could be deemed ineligible for use by the EPA, including a March 2020 study that describes “how various coronaviruses react on surfaces with chemical agents,” and a 2003 study observing “a statistical correlation between SARS fatalities in China and higher air pollution.”
The Trump administration has already used the policy to deny findings from several epidemiological studies including one from Columbia University, that shows exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos (widely used on corn, soybeans, almonds, grapes, and golf courses) can stunt brain development in infants and young children. Had this new rule previously been in place, the E.P.A. under the Obama administration could not have made the case to regulate mercury pollution from power plants “because it could not have shown that the heavy metal impairs brain development” without releasing confidential medical records. Despite the administration’s enthusiasm for the new rule, Trump administration officials have been unable to provide any examples of policies that they say, “were wrongly enacted based on studies that did not make underlying data available.”
Dr. Mary Rice, pulmonary and critical care physician, and chairwoman of the environmental health policy committee at the American Thoracic Society says, “Right now we’re in the grips of a serious public health crisis due to a deadly respiratory virus, and there’s evidence showing that air pollution exposure increases the risk of worse outcomes.” Rice says of the new rule, “We would want E.P.A. going forward to make decisions about air quality using all available evidence, not just putting arbitrary limits on what it will consider.”
An anonymous senior transition official for the incoming Biden administration says the new rule is simply another attempt by Trump to “make it more difficult for the next administration to rebuild the government to do its job.” President-elect Joseph R. Biden has not yet commented on the new rule, but activists expect he will suspend and repeal it. Even if the rule remains in effect, President-elect Biden’s pick for EPA Administrator, Michael S. Regan, may still be able to exempt studies, on a case-by-case basis, from the rule. Advocacy groups such as the Environmental Defense Fund and the Union of Concerned Scientists have begun to discuss taking legal action.
Resources
Environmental Defense Fund
- One of the world’s largest environmental organizations and a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Preserving the natural systems on which all life depends. https://www.edf.org/
Union of Concerned Scientists
- The Union of Concerned Scientists is a national nonprofit organization founded more than 50 years ago by scientists and students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Union uses rigorous, independent science to solve our planet’s most pressing problems. https://www.ucsusa.org/
Learn More Sources Cited
Friedman, L. (2020, September 23). E.P.A. Rejects Its Own Findings That a Pesticide Harms Children’s Brains. Retrieved January 11, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/climate/epa-pesticide-chlorpyrifos-children.html
Friedman, L. (2021, January 04). A Plan Made to Shield Big Tobacco From Facts Is Now E.P.A. Policy. Retrieved January 11, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/climate/trump-epa-science.html?auth=login-email&login=email
Johnson, S. K. (2019, November 13). EPA still moving to limit science used to support regulations. Retrieved January 11, 2021, from https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/11/epa-still-moving-to-limit-science-used-to-support-regulations/
Knickmeyer, E. (2021, January 05). A final EPA rollback under Trump curbs use of health studies – The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 11, 2021, from https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/04/nation/final-epa-rollback-under-trump-curbs-use-health-studies/
Price, A. (2021, January 7). Trump EPA’s Controversial “Secret Science” Policy Faces Pushback from Scientists. Retrieved January 11, 2021, from https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/trump-epas-controversial-secret-science-policy-faces-pushback-from-scientists
Timmer, J. (2021, January 05). In a parting gift, EPA finalizes rules to limit its use of science. Retrieved January 11, 2021, from https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/01/in-a-parting-gift-epa-finalizes-rules-to-limit-its-use-of-science/
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, January 05). EPA Finalizes Rule Strengthening Transparency in Pivotal Science Underlying Significant Regulatory Actions and Influential Scientific Information. Retrieved January 11, 2021, from https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-finalizes-rule-strengthening-transparency-pivotal-science-underlying-significant
With 2 Weeks To Go Trump Incites Followers to Storm the Capital
U.S. RESIST NEWS Blog
The Trump Watch: A new U.S. RESIST NEWS Blog Post series intended to report on the
activities of President Trump at the end of his Presidency and after he leaves the White House.
# 1 With 2 Weeks To Go Trump Incites Followers to Storm the Capital
By Sean Gray
Wednesday’s grotesque spectacle at the Capitol building was an appalling affront without precedent in American history. Trump supporters formed a raucous mob and sought to prevent the certification of electoral college results. Five peoples have been reported dead with dozens more injured and arrested. Authorities continue to pursue those responsible for the melee. Bearing as much individual responsibility is President Donald Trump. Since the deadly Charlottesville rally of 2017, Trump has habitually encouraged the worst instincts of his cultish following. The scene at the nation’s capital was indeed nightmarish, but predicted by numerous pundits. It was in fact the logical progression of a would-be authoritarian in his desperate bid to retain power.
In four years at the helm Donald Trump has shown a consistent disdain for democratic processes. He has insulted the US’ longstanding democratic allies and fawned over brutal authoritarians. He has disregarded checks and balances, and operated with lawless abandon. Freedom of the press has been under consistent assault since Trump began his political ascendancy. He has kept a stranglehold on his party through deceit and divisive rhetoric echoed through social media. Trump has utilized every dictatorial tactic common to favorite strongmen.
Criminal charges, civil suits and staggering personal debt likely await him on the other side of his presidency. Trump was always going to attempt every conceivable gambit to stay in power, just as every aspiring despot would.
As soon as the Associated Press called the election in Biden’s favor, Trump unleashed a baseless stream of voter fraud conspiracy accusations to his 80 million Twitter followers and conservative media echo chamber that has served him so well. He hurled a gaggle of lawsuits (some so flimsy they didn’t even allege actual fraud) against the wall to see what would stick. 59 of 60 (some heard by Trump-appointed judges) were dismissed. It seems the president’s flunkies were less comfortable making empty claims of a rigged election under penalty of perjury.
The meeting of the electoral college put a serious dent in Trump’s subversive designs. However he repeated his various claims of voter fraud and irregularities with such effectiveness that a large chunk of the electorate came to believe him. A fact not lost on the collective GOP, who have spent the less four years kowtowing to Trump for fear of political retribution. By the time Congress was set to convene and certify the 2020 election results, some 13 Republican Senators and over 100 House members were prepared to challenge the results, without a shred of evidence to support their objections.
Overshadowed by Wednesday’s hubbub is the call between Trump and much-maligned Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, on the preceding Saturday. In said call, the president revealed himself to be still very much immersed in his alternate reality in which he rightfully won the state. Astonishingly, he asked Raffensperger to ‘’find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.” The number in question is the approximate margin of defeat Trump suffered in the Peach State. Over the course of an hour, Trump (with Chief of Staff Mark Meadows) harangued the Georgia Secretary incessantly, peddled his tired delusions and insisted that the state and its 16 electoral votes had been stolen from him. To his credit, Raffensperger resisted the pressure, contradicted Trump and reported the call. Had it not been for the events of Wednesday, the possibility of Trump standing trial for solicitation of election fraud would have received more media coverage this week.
Vice President Mike Pence has been loyal to Trump to the point of obsequiousness in their time in office together. As President of the Senate he presided over the certification of the election results. Trump, on Twitter and in person, pressured his right-hand man to reject the results, sending them back to the states, an unconstitutional move which Pence had no authority to make.
Which brings us to January 6th, 2021, a day that will be remembered among the ugliest in American history. The President of the United States called a rally of his supporters on the White House grounds. Primed with the stolen election rhetoric he’d been offering up for months, Trump whipped his supporters into a frenzy (not sparing his VP in the process), told them they needed to fight hard for the country, directed their attention to the ‘‘scene of the steal’’ and told them to walk on down. What ensued was the final lawless crescendo of a unhinged president, emboldened to do as he pleases. As MAGA-loving insurrectionists burst into the seat of government, Trump sat in radio silence. The siege was reminiscent of military coups in Argentina or Chile.
Wednesday’s debacle was hard to watch and represented a serious hit to American prestige. But it should not honestly elicit shock and awe from the viewing public. Conditions in American government have been trending in this direction for at least the last four years. Trump’s bellicosity and disregard for the rule of law is a volatile mixture which culminated in failed coup in D.C. this week. And it was the logical progression of his unlawful bid to undo his election loss.
Successfully putting down the insurrection was a positive, but hardly a lasting victory. If the United States is to remain a beacon of democracy the world over, the conditions that preceded Wednesday’s deadly events need be better combatted. American ideals of freedom and democracy are only of value if the public has faith in them. Based on what transpired at the capitol building, a troubling number of our fellow citizens do not, or worse, are so blinded by propaganda that they believe themselves to be fighting for these values. Depending on one’s philosophical vantage point, the riots at the Capitol building could be viewed as a successful stress test of American democracy or a harrowing bellwether of what the future holds. Regardless, it should serve as a reminder to all, that it can happen here.
AMERICANS ON AMERICA: WHAT MY COUNTRY MEANS TO ME
A U.S. RESIST NEWS INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
AMERICANS ON AMERICA: WHAT MY COUNTRY MEANS TO ME
BY LINDA F. HERSEY
Americans on America is a U.S. RESIST NEWS investigative report series in which we interview ordinary American on the values they believe their country stands for, and what their country needs to do to live up to those values.
# 1 Tiffany Kay ( Manager of a Job Services Nonprofit) – “My dream of an America where equality and opportunity can flourish is now at-risk”
By Linda F. Hersey
Tiffany Kay is the first to admit she does not fit neatly into a single category or group. With ancestry that spans Europe, Africa and Central America, Kay more often than not checks the “Other” box on applications and forms asking about ethnicity.
Kay, who manages a San Francisco employment agency, is proud of her unique heritage, which reflects this nation’s history and personifies the American Dream.
Multiracial Americans like Kay are “at the cutting edge of social and demographic change in the U.S.,” with their numbers growing three times faster than the U.S. population, according to the Pew Research Center.
A California native, Kay grew up in an impoverished neighborhood, working her way through community college, earning an associate’s degree in early childhood education and steadily advancing her career to oversee the staff, budget and daily operations at a nonprofit company whose job services are stretched during business closings from the pandemic.
Kay credits her achievements to values of equality that her parents instilled in her, which have guided her life. “I live my values. That is how I was brought up,” Kay said. “I watched my dad treat people with respect. He taught me to treat others how I want to be treated. We followed the golden rule.”
But today that dream of equality and opportunity, the American Dream, is deferred and at risk to Kay and other Americans who report feeling marginalized by U.S. leadership and government, according to national polls.
Trump’s ‘Racially Divisive Rhetoric’
Kay says she is troubled by what she sees as a decline in traditional American values, “racially divisive rhetoric” by President Donald Trump and systemic racial injustice, most visible by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, videotaped by a teenage girl, that led to protests in the U.S. and across the globe.
“I have been on this earth for 37 years, and because of my ethnic background I always felt different than the next person. I did not identify with one group. That was OK,” Kay said, noting that she considers her diverse family background a positive source for opportunity and growth.
She did not see limits based on race, which she considered a “myth.” She believes that Trump sought to change that.
“In the area of racial politics, Donald Trump has divided us. Until Trump, I never had seen a president name individuals by their ethnic group. ‘I help the African Americans,’ is one of the things he says often,” Kay noted. “He is trying to reduce people to broadly generalized groups and stereotypes attached to them.
“Donald Trump made our differences personal. He revealed things about our lesser selves as Americans,” Kay said referring to the highly visible rallies by the Proud Boys and other hate groups that espouse bigotry and white separateness – and that Trump refused to disavow.
Fringe groups carrying weapons were spotlighted on social media and national TV marching alongside white, mainstream Republican Trump supporters in MAGA baseball caps.
Trump Sought to ‘Socially Engineer a Whiter America’
Kay worries about the safety of her school-age nieces and nephews. She has sought to shield them from conversations on social media about race-based violence and white nationalist rallies, while also addressing their questions about unrest in this country.
Trump abused the power of the Oval Office to “socially engineer a whiter America,” writes journalist Andrew Serwer, in a November 2020 article, for Atlantic magazine, “The Crisis of American Democracy Is Not Over.”
Serwer asserts that President-elect Biden will enter office during an economic — and moral — crisis in this country. Not only does he need to revive the economy post-pandemic, he also needs to restore faith in democracy. Biden received the most popular votes ever in a presidential election, but Trump holds sway over a sizable number of American supporters.
Indeed the incoming president needs to “make us comfortable and trust again,” Kay said.
She wonders what the future holds. Kay believes the nation needs to rebuild core values of racial justice, equal opportunity and freedom of speech that support democracy and define the American experience, not just for a select few but for everyone.
Said Kay: “We need to rediscover the moral leadership we once had.”
RESOURCES:
Here are resources to learn more about racial justice, equality and democracy.
NAACP: The NAACP fights for racial justice through legal advocacy, education and advocacy.
National Equity Project: The National Equity Project provides consulting and coaching to leadership, teams and educators in helping transform organizations for equality and supporting diversity.
https://www.nationalequityproject.org
Alliance for Justice
With more than 100 nonprofit members, the alliance mission is to advance justice and democracy and core constitutional rights.
TRUMP SUPPORTERS BECOME INSURRECTIONISTS: SOMETHING MUST BE DONE
U.S. RESIST EDITORIAL
January 8, 2021
TRUMP SUPPORTERS BECOME INSURRECTIONISTS: SOMETHING MUST BE DONE
On Wednesday of this week a mob of Trump supporters invaded the US Capitol wearing MAGA hats and waving Confederate flags. They desecrated the Senate chambers, took over offices of members of Congress, including Speaker Pelosi, broke windows, smashed furnishings, and overran the Capitol police. Their actions were inspired by conspiracy-driven words of President Trump, on Twitter for the past several months and at a kickoff rally on the Washington Mall. Trump has been falsely insisting that the 2020 Presidential election had been stolen from him and urging his supporters to “stop the steal.”
Commentators have called this an “attempted coup, “an “insurrection “and a “dark day in American history”, all of which are true; but the question before us now is what are we going to do about it? We cannot let this attack on our democracy continue. We do not want to go through 4 years of Trump rallying his followers to take similar seditious actions and delegitimize our electoral process. We cannot let the country fall apart because of the ego and misguided psychological makeup of a man who cannot admit that he lost an election.
U.S. RESIST NEWS recommends that the following actions be taken:
- A High-Level Bi-Partisan Commission should be established to make recommendations for ensuring the integrity of our electoral system going forward, and considering the possibility of getting rid of the electoral college..
- The FBI should undertake an investigation into the January 7th protests with the ability to prosecute wrong doers.
- The effort to track and prosecute home-grown white nationalist terrorism should be given highest priority.
- Any effort by President Trump to pardon himself should be legally challenged by the new Attorney General.
- State level efforts to prosecute President Trump for his attempt to change the vote-tally in Georgia should be implemented.
- Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites should take down any tweets or posts from President Trump, Rudy Giuliani and others that claim the election was stolen. (Notably Facebook has recently banned Trump from posting on their platform.)
- Efforts by New York State and other local authorities to prosecute crimes committed by President Trump should be accelerated.
- Congress should consider impeaching President Trump and barring him from future office-holding because of his role in instigating the January 6th break in.
- Republican lawmakers should review the leadership of the Republican National Committee (RNC) to ensure that Mr. Trump has no role with the RNC once he leaves office. This will help to ensure that his rhetoric and ideals become separate from future Republican policies. The RNC can still be the RNC but with less “Trumpism” in the policies they stand for.
We realize there are risks involved in taking these actions; that they may further polarize our political environment and make Trump appear as a martyr to his followers.. But to do nothing at this point would be a greater risk. We would be turning our back on injustice, and the criminal and seditious acts committed by President Trump and his followers over the past 4 years and allowing them to continue.
Biden Expected to Reverse Trump Rollbacks and Strengthen Policies Affecting Americans with Disabilities
Brief # 89 Health and Gender
Biden Expected to Reverse Trump Rollbacks and Strengthen Policies Affecting Americans with Disabilities
By Linda F. Hersey
January 8, 2021
For people with disabilities and their advocates, the victory of Joe Biden over Donald Trump offers hope the incoming president will renew support of, and emphasis on, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which offers protections to people with disabilities in the workplace and in the community.
It is with some irony that Trump, who has openly mocked people with disabilities, lost the presidency to an accomplished U.S. senator who himself has a disability. Biden has a neurological disorder that causes stuttering, which he has experienced since childhood.
Trump has a well-documented history of deriding people with disabilities and of allegedly violating the ADA at his properties and businesses. In one high-profile lawsuit, a Purple Heart veteran sued Trump International Hotel and Tower for lacking handicapped-accessible emergency exits, guest rooms and restrooms.
In 2015, when Trump sought a first term in office, he mimicked a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter afflicted with spasms. According to the New York Times, Trump said at a South Carolina rally: “Now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy,” Mr. Trump said, before jerking his arms around and holding his right hand at an angle. “ ‘Ah, I don’t know what I said! I don’t remember!’ ”
Environment of Increased Intolerance
Providing legal protections for and upholding the civil rights of workers with disabilities, under ADA, impacts millions of Americans.
- At least one in four people has a disability.
- More than half of American voters have a disability or a loved one with a disability.
“By ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to work, free from discrimination based on disability, the ADA is an affirmation of our nation’s founding ideals and a cornerstone of our efforts to ensure a fully inclusive American workforce and economy,” according to the EEOC and Labor and Justice Departments, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the landmark civil rights act in 2020.
While the Trump Administration points to the number of people with disabilities hired by the federal government each year, advocates in the disabled community have described an environment of increasing intolerance to people with disabilities, encouraged by the Trump administration.
Trump, after taking office, was criticized for proposing to end funding under the Autism CARES Act. He also proposed to defund the Special Olympics, which led to such an outpouring of complaints and negative publicity that he reversed his position and denied ever suggesting it.
When Special Olympics athletes visited the White House, Trump told reporters: “And I watched [them on TV] — it’s a little tough to watch too much, but I watched as much as I could.”
People with Disabilities Losing Work at Higher Rate Than Non-Disabled
Statistics underscore discrimination that people with disabilities have experienced in the workplace during the four years Trump has been in the Oval Office.
- Since Trump has been in office, adults with disabilities have lost federal jobs at a much faster pace than working people without disabilities.
- The EEOC reported that people with disabilities in federal jobs were fired at twice the rate of people without disabilities.
- Under Trump, there has been a significant increase in the number of people with disabilities in federal jobs who report discrimination in the workplace.
- There was a 20 percent increase from 2016 to 2017, in the number of disability discrimination complaints filed by federal employees of cabinet-level agencies, according to an NBC News report based on EEOC data.
Subminimum Wage Criticized as Exploitative
Led by Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a disabled Iraq War veteran, Democratic senators have complained about the treatment of disabled federal workers by the Trump administration.
Duckworth has made it a priority that people who need workplace accommodations for disabilities are able to receive them, under ADA. She also has worked to make sure that the federal government remains a “model employer” that does not harass or fire people because of their disabilities.
While the ADA is designed to protect workers, it also allows employers to get a special certificate to pay disabled workers less than the minimum wage. Advocates are hoping the Biden administration ends the practice of sub-minimum wage.
The Transformation to Competitive Employment Act would provide grants to states to help employers pay disabled workers minimum wage and better integrate them in the workplace. Attorneys argue that the provision is discriminatory.
“The subminimum wage sends a message to the disability community that their work isn’t as valuable as the work done by able-bodied people,” Duckworth, the first woman with a disability elected to the Senate. She described the provision as exploiting people with disabilities.
Biden is expected to take additional steps as well to protect the rights of people with disabilities in the workplace and support diversity. The new administration is expected to:
- Overturn Trump’s order that banned diversity training and implicit bias training by government agencies and contractors
- Advance employment opportunity equality regardless of sexual orientation
- Emphasize and prioritize OSHA protection laws in the workplace.
- Prioritize employee rights.
In his campaign for office, Biden offered a detailed plan for supporting the rights of people in the disabled community. It is a distinct departure from the tone and practices of the past four years under Trump.
“Biden will work with the disability community to build a stronger, more expansive middle class so that everyone—regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or disability—can find a place,” according to his policy statement. “That means amending our laws, policies, and culture to ensure full inclusion of the 61 million individuals with disabilities in the United States in all parts of our society.”
Engagement RESOURCES
- “The Biden Plan for Full Participation and Equality for People with Disabilities”: The plan outlines Biden’s pledge to support civil rights, equal opportunity and protections against discrimination for people with disabilities.
- The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. It protects people in the areas of employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government’ programs and services.
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces the policies and laws in the ADA.
- Policy, Data and Oversight in Disability Employment is a federal government website that provides statistics on employment of people with disabilities in federal government.
Breonna Taylor Case Update
Brief # 2 Social Justice
Breonna Taylor Case Update
By Erika Shannon
January 7, 2021
On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor was sleeping in her home when Louisville, Kentucky police executed a no-knock search warrant. The warrant was for another person, not Breonna Taylor or her boyfriend, the only people in the apartment at the time. While police claim that they announced themselves prior to entering, there are statements from neighbors to the contrary. When police entered without announcing who they were, Breonna Taylor and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, feared for their lives and her boyfriend brandished a gun. Walker was a licensed firearm holder and fired a shot in self-defense when the officers continually would not announce that they were members of law enforcement. Officers then negligently shot over twenty rounds into the apartment and ended up hitting Taylor eight times, killing her. While the case did not gain national attention at first, it did not take long for protests to pop up across the country in support of justice for Breonna Taylor.
There was no action being taken against the officers by the city of Louisville, and so the Taylor family filed a lawsuit against Louisville Police. The allegations were wrongful death, excessive force, and gross negligence. The family wished to be awarded compensatory and punitive damages, along with legal fees. On September 15, 2020, the mayor of Louisville announced that the city reached a $12 million dollar settlement with Breonna Taylor’s family. Besides compensation, the settlement also included policy changes that could help to reform police conduct in the city of Louisville and help stop situations like this from happening again in the future. There is no amount of money that could bring her daughter back or make this killing just; because of that, her mother decided that they will move forward and attempt to have the cops involved criminally charged in Taylor’s death.
Months and months went by before any type of justice was served for the killing of Breonna Taylor. This past September the attorney general of Kentucky, Daniel Cameron, convened a grand jury to review Taylor’s case. On September 23, 2020, it was announced that only one police officer would be indicted on three criminal charges of wanton endangerment. Officer Brett Hankison was indicted of the Class D felony, which is the least serious type of felony in Kentucky; his punishment would be possibly one to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000. The most heinous part of it all is that these charges are reportedly not related to Breonna Taylor’s death in any way, but have to do with Officer Hankison shooting his firearm ten times into neighboring apartments. There were two other officers in question, Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove. They were not indicted, for the grand jury found they were justified in their use of force due to “self-defense.” It was revealed that Officer Cosgrove shot his weapon sixteen times total and he was the one who actually fired the shots that killed Taylor that night. At the time of Officer Hankison’s indictment, Cosgrove was still employed by the Louisville Metro Police Department.
In the latest news related to the Breonna Taylor case, two officers related to the fatal incident have received notice from the Louisville Police Interim Chief that they will be fired. The two detectives who received the notices were Joshua Jaynes and Myles Cosgrove; Cosgrove is the one thought to have fired the bullet that killed Taylor, while Jaynes allegedly lied about information obtained in the search warrant. Had Jaynes not violated procedures in preparing and obtaining that no-knock search warrant, Taylor may still be alive today. Firing these police officers is the first step to getting justice for Taylor’s family, but there is still a lot that can and should be done. Many people are still holding out hope that proper charges will be fired against the police officers who acted recklessly that night.
It is clear that justice has not yet been served in the excessive police killing of Breonna Taylor. The fact of the matter is that it took too long for something to be done in the first place. No-knock warrants should be a thing of the past, and police should be required to announce their presence in all situations. In today’s society, you never know who may want to harm you; it is like that if Kenneth Walker had shot an intruder that night, he would have been a hero to those around him. Instead, trained police officers barged into a home unannounced where a couple was sleeping and murdered one of them in cold blood. They proceeded to taunt Walker and tell him it was “unfortunate” that none of the gunfire had hit him. While all of this was happening, the actual target of the search warrant, Jamarcus Glover, was already allegedly in police custody. Let’s not forget, Taylor was designated as a “soft target,” which means she posed no threat to the officers serving the warrant. While the cops maintain that they did knock and identify themselves, there is a lot of evidence to the contrary. In the grand jury proceedings a neighbor testifies that the police did not identify themselves. Walker says there was pounding at the door but no one identified who they were. Had they announced who they were, Kenneth Walker would have never feared for his and Taylor’s life, and acted accordingly. Had they announced who they were instead of barging in with a battering ram, Breonna Taylor would still be alive. In a world where police officers cannot follow the rules any better than the criminals they are supposed to apprehend, there will never be any justice.
Resistance Resources
- To find out how you can help in the fight for justice, visit org
- The Center for Policing Equity seeks to reform police bias across the nation and is a great resource for those interested in joining the cause.
Remote Learning Projected to Increase Inequality in Education Achievement
Brief #104
Remote Learning Projected to Increase Inequality in Education Achievement
Rosalind Gottfried
Education, Inequality, Stimulus Relief
January 2, 2021
Policy
Demographic inequities characteristic of American society continue to grow in different sectors. In education the widespread shift to remote learning will have a dramatic impact on students, long after the virus has been controlled and students returned to the classroom. Young students are more likely to suffer setbacks from remote learning, especially in reading, which is a challenging subject to learn even in the classroom. It becomes even more difficult after third grade when education shifts from learning to read to reading to learn.
The first comprehensive study on the impact of remote learning was released in December and showed that disadvantaged students are significantly more at risk from remote learning as well as more likely to be learning exclusively, or primarily, remotely. Remote learning only schools affected 36% of white students; 51% for Black students; 60% for Latino students; and 64% for Asian students. Overall, two thirds of the students of color live in districts where remote only education is occurring. Large cities, generally clustered in more Democratic voting states, tended to have more schools closed (opting for remote learning only) and to educate a greater proportion of at-risk students. Rural schools, especially in less densely populated states serving a greater proportion of white students were more likely to have “mostly open” campuses.
Lower income students suffer on multiple fronts. They are more likely to have parents facing unemployment; increased poverty rates; increased food insecurity; lack of internet access; lack of space for study; and less access to parental or tutor support. The long term harm is difficult to assess but predicted to be extensive. Some dire predictions of achievement drops from last spring were assessed as better than anticipated. In one early study, reading scores did not drop and math scores dropped less than predicted, about 14%. However, the fear is that many students at risk did not take the tests resulting in skewed outcomes.
Parental surveys indicate that low income children are ten times more likely to be lacking in attendance at remote learning than children of parents making over 100,000 dollars. Fifteen million children have unreliable internet access. Only two thirds of students have access to broadband internet. Two thirds to three quarters of teachers report their students are less engaged in their remote learning than when in the classroom and that levels fell further as the semester progressed. Low income and non-white students are reportedly less likely to engage in remote learning regularly. On the plus side, some small number of students report benefits from online learning. These re most likely “atypical learners” and “self-starters” who enjoy the lack of peer distraction and gain focus when they can manage their own time.
Research indicates that low income teens spend more time in on screen activities, an average of 8 hours and 7 minutes compared to 5 hours and 42 minutes among higher income teens. Screen time is associated with negative outcomes in education and mental health and may indicate a significant detriment to students who depend on it for too much of the day. In some affluent areas, such as Silicon Valley, there is a growing trend to remove screens from children and teens during school day and return to more exclusively human interactive classrooms and play based preschools. At the same time, some publically funded initiatives are promoting online preschool in more rural states such as Utah, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Idaho, and Montana. Some technology companies, such as Apple and Google, actively solicit business from school districts in the hope that gaining a foothold with young children will garner lifelong brand loyalty.
Analysis
There are myriad fixes to stem the repercussions of remote learning. These would include supporting low income parents by providing paid parental leave; increase internet access; increase distribution of computers; pair students with college students and graduates for tutoring; establish learning pods and publically funded learning hubs; assure adequate food access; increase SNAP access; and develop a more defined federal program for stemming the pandemic. The December stimulus bill makes some strides in this direction but not nearly enough. It does include 54 billion dollars for school aid, four times more than in the March 2019 CARES program. However, the cost of funding the system has increased because of reduced tax revenues from business losses and decreases in student enrollment. The stimulus included seven billion for broadband internet access and school meal programs but provided no money for state and local governments to help with corona virus costs. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell justified this lack by stating that to aid localities would be to bailout “fiscally irresponsible states.”
Estimates suggest a 200 billion dollar loss of education funding.An estimated 6% of public school students are not attending school and private and charter schools are further siphoning money from mainstream public schools as their enrollments increase. So far the direst consequences of these losses have been avoided due to consistent property tax revenues and reserves that states utilized. Some states are moving to increase capital gains taxes and taxes on insurers to promote greater revenue. Additionally, to preserve school funding some jurisdictions are using pre-pandemic student numbers to inform their budgets for the 2021-22 school year. The next year’s financial viability promises to be more in jeopardy as local and state budgets suffer from the lack of federal aid. President elect Biden has set a goal of opening schools in his first 100 days in office but such a move would require federal relief and his ability to gain that from Congress is tenuous, at best. Something should be done, policy wise, or the country will suffer the future costs related to under education, such as reduced income tax; unemployment; poor health outcomes; and decreased life expectancy.
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The New COVID-19 Variant: What We Know, and What Should be Done
Brief # 88
Health and Gender Policy
The New COVID-19 Variant: What We Know, and What Should be Done
By Justin Lee
January 5, 2021
Policy
In early December 2020, President-elect Joe Biden announced the new members of his public health team and objectives he plans to implement within in his first 100 days in office. These objectives include a federal requirement for Americans to wear masks where Biden is legally able to enforce compliance and seeking strategies to open the majority of schools across the country.
Since then, a new COVID-19 virus variant has been detected in over 30 countries. First publicly recognized in the UK, the variant has forced British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to issue a nationwide lockdown for England on January 4th, 2021. The variant has also since been detected in California, Colorado, Florida, and New York. California alone continues to report over 35,000 new COVID-19 cases daily, with public health experts cautious the current surge across the nation will only get worse as millions of Americans defied pleas not to travel during the holiday season.
More than 350,000 Americans are dead from COVID-19. Healthcare infrastructures in major US cities are collapsing. Vaccine distribution and administration has been at a snail pace. Are masks and social distancing enough? Should Biden also consider a federally mandated lockdown?
Analysis
When looking at this situation, it is important to analyze what we currently know.
What We Know: It is important to first state that viruses undergo mutations constantly, and there are currently multiple COVID-19 strains globally. The variant detected in the UK is more distinct because the variant has more mutations than other variants. Scientists and clinicians have reported the new variant is more easily contagious and transmissible by 50-70%. The new variant also seems to affect younger people more than previous strains.
There is no evidence, however, that the new variant is deadlier or more dangerous. There is also no evidence that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are ineffective on this new variant.
We also know that lockdown measures have profound effects on people. As the socio-economic factors are rather clear and obvious, studies have shown lockdown measures also affect mental health. These studies have shown that participants, particularly young adults and women, had increases in rates of suicide, anxiety, depression, and risks for self-harm.
What Should be Done: As dire as the current pandemic is for the US, a nationwide lockdown should be one of Biden’s last options. Instead, the next administration should focus on:
- Establishing federal leadership and presence: Since the election, the current administration has shown a lack of interest and concern regarding the pandemic. With President Trump more concerned about his re-election and staying in office, states are forced to scramble in maintaining their healthcare infrastructures and navigate through vaccine distribution delays. Biden has the opportunity to step in at one of the worst moments of the health crisis and show true leadership through establishing concrete, viable plans for states to follow and allowing public health experts to do their jobs in advocating vaccines, wearing masks, and social distancing.
- Expediting COVID-19 variant research and testing: The more we know about the COVID-19 variants, the faster the CDC, FDA, and life science industry can work together to develop or adjust treatments and vaccine candidates. The FDA should also keep a close eye on upcoming AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccine candidates, as more late-stage data will be available for their review in the coming weeks.
- Addressing and creating a vaccine distribution network: It comes as no surprise the current vaccine distribution system is failing, with the US far behind in inoculating Americans and millions of doses sitting in storage. Biden’s COVID-19 team will have to rethink the current distribution network. Some solutions could be involving major pharmacy retailers in administering vaccines or temporarily allowing other licensed health professionals (such as dentists) to administer vaccines. Other reports suggest having more Americans have access to receiving their first dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, and focus less on ensuring inoculated recipients receive their second dose.
Learn More
Helpful links
- Mayo Clinic: COVID-19 Map
- NPR: COVID-19 Variant
- Washington Post: British Lockdown
- CDC: COVID-19 Variant
- BBC: Lockdowns and Mental Health
Engagement Resources
The American Red Cross heavily relies on volunteers to assist during a health crisis; including the COVID-19 pandemic. Volunteers play active roles in clinical and non-clinical settings. The American Red Cross also operates one of the largest blood donation networks in the US. To volunteer in a clinical setting and/or to give blood, use the links below:
Trust for America’s Health is a public health policy and research organization that advocates for a nation that values the health and well-being of Americans. Their organization has valuable information regarding health policies and issues on a federal and state level, and also actively publishes reports regarding public health on their website. To find more information or to get involved, use the link below:
The American Public Health Association is an organization aimed to Improve the health of the public and achieve equity in health status. As the main publishers for the American Journal of Public Health and The Nation’s Health newspapers, APHA educates the public on public health, policy statements, and advocacy for public health. To volunteer or become a member, use the link below:
The Trump Administration’s Last Push to Open Land to Energy and Mining Companies
Brief # 104 Environment
The Trump Administration’s Last Push to Open Land to Energy and Mining Companies
By Jacob Morton
January 4, 2021
Policy
As the Trump administration’s single term nears its end, top agency officials are attempting a last-minute push to approve a flush of large-scale energy and mining projects for companies hoping to secure contracts to extract various natural resources.
In Arizona, the U.S. Forest Service announced a new release date for the final Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Resolution Copper Mine project in the Tonto National Forest, east of Superior, Arizona. The original release date was set for some time in 2021 or 2022. The Forest Service has moved that date to the end of this year, December 31, 2020. Conservationists and tribal communities have opposed the 2,422-acre mining project for years, citing the destruction of the Oak Flat Campground above the ore deposit and harm to its Emory Oak trees, sacred to the neighboring San Carlos Apache Tribe. Apache communities still harvest acorns from the Emory Oaks.
In Utah, the Bureau of Land Management has attempted to approve a helium mining project in the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness of southwest Utah. In 2018, Congress passed the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (the Dingell Act), “an enormous package of conservation-focused bills,” to protect the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness from any new energy developments. Despite the move by Congress to protect Labyrinth Canyon, the Bureau of Land Management moved quickly to issue a lease of a 1,410-acre parcel within the soon to be wilderness area to the Twin Bridges mining company. Because the lease was issued in December 2018, before the President officially signed the Dingell Act into law on March 12, 2019, Twin Bridges has maintained the right to develop the lease if the proposed project is approved by the BLM.
The 55,000-acre Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness area “borders the Green River and includes the iconic Bowknot Bend—a deep, red rock river canyon where the river turns 180 degrees and forms a deep, colorful U in the landscape.” Final approval for the helium fracking project was expected to be approved just before Christmas on December 23. However, federal district court Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia pushed back the approval date until at least January 6, 2021. Local communities and tribes in the Labyrinth Canyon region have fought for permanent protection of the wilderness area for at least 20 years.
In Nevada, the Interior Department has fast-tracked the permitting process for a new 5,500 acre open-pit lithium mine on federal lands. If approved, the mine planned by Canada-based mining company Lithium Americas, would be one of the world’s largest lithium mines. The project was first listed in July 2020 and final approval for the project is expected in early January 2021, meaning construction could start very soon.
In Virginia and West Virginia, the Forest Service and BLM are reviewing the environmental impact statement with expectations to approve construction and operation of “a buried 42-inch natural gas pipeline across approximately 3.5 miles of the Jefferson National Forest.” Drawing from the same Marcellus and Utica oil shale as the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), proposed by Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC., would extend in total 303.5 miles from West Virginia to North Carolina. A 3.5-mile section of the pipeline would cut across the Jefferson National Forest and burrow beneath the Appalachian Trail. If completed, the pipeline could deliver up to two million dekatherms of natural gas energy per day to the South.
In South Dakota, the Environmental Protection Agency has given its final approval for the construction of a new uranium mine called the Dewey-Burdock project. The mine would extend over 12,613 acres near the Black Hills National Forest region in western South Dakota. Azarga Uranium Corporation, The Canada-based organization backing the project, plans to inject the chemical Lixiviant “into more than 1,461 wells, sending the chemical into the underground water supply. The chemical would cause uranium trapped in sandstone below the surface to leach into the aquifer, contaminating the water but allowing the uranium to be captured, extracted and transformed into so-called yellow cake that can be used to fuel nuclear power plants.” The mine could produce up to one million pounds of uranium a year, much more than all current uranium mines in the country combined, however, the country’s uranium mines are already sitting at excess capacity.
The list of proposed projects goes on. With less than a month until the end of President Trump’s single term, the push by his administration to approve energy and mining projects has only accelerated.
Analysis
Donald Trump and top appointed officials such as Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross have long sought to increase domestic production of fossil energy and key minerals such as copper, uranium, and lithium. Commerce Secretary Ross was a steel industry investor before serving under the Trump administration. Ross has pushed for approval of the Resolution Copper Mine in Arizona, meeting with Rio Tinto Mineral Corporation, the mine’s parent company, at least three times this past year. Andrew Wheeler, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency was an energy lobbyist before joining the Trump administration, lobbying for an electricity utility, a uranium producer, and a coal magnate. David Bernhardt, Secretary of the Department of Interior (DOI), was a former oil and mining lobbyist.
These latest projects all reflect a larger push by the Trump administration’s Interior Department and the Forest Service to increase the country’s domestic mineral and energy production. Supporters of the projects and agency officials, such as Richard Packer, a spokesperson for the DOI, says, “Our science-based decisions are legally compliant and based on an extensive process involving input from career subject matter experts and the public.” Packer adds that the DOI “continues to balance safe and responsible natural resource development with conservation of important surface resources.”
Statements from private industry involved in the latest projects largely mirror that of David Wallace, an executive at Twin Bridges, the mining company hoping to frack for helium in Utah. Wallace says, “We also love these lands and are committed to our project enhancing, and not detracting from them.” He also points out, “the project could ultimately generate hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of royalty and tax payments to federal, state and local governments.”
Environmentalists, conservation organizations, and tribal communities are skeptical. In South Dakota, the site of the proposed Dewey-Burdock uranium mine is located adjacent to the Oglala Lakota Nation’s 2.8-million-acre reservation. The Sioux tribe claims the land the mine would be built on was illegally taken by the United States and has sued to block the project. Kyle White, a Lakota Tribe member, and the former director of its natural resources regulatory agency, says, “The voice of Indigenous people needs to be heard — and federal Indian policy has made us invisible and dehumanized us.”
Meanwhile, in Arizona, camped out in protest at the site for the proposed Resolution Copper Mine, San Carlos Apache Tribal Leader, Wendsler Nosie Sr. says, “This is a disaster. As far as I am concerned, this is an invasion by a foreign power. We cannot afford to lose our identity and our history. Imagine if the biblical Mount Sinai became a location for mining and it caved in and disappeared. You would not stand by and watch.”
Resolution Copper Company’s own website admits the surface of the mine site will sink 700 – 1,000 feet over 40 years of mining. According to Federal reports, “The project would create 3,700 jobs and supply as much as one billion pounds of copper per year, a quarter of the current annual demand in the United States.” The San Carlos Apache Tribe commissioned its own impact study for the proposed mine and submitted it to the Forest Service when the agency’s original draft environmental impact statement for the mine was released. According to the tribe’s study, the total number of local jobs created by the mine would be only 10% of the total mining jobs in the four counties the Forest Service surveyed, and only 0.5% of the total number of jobs in those counties. The study also showed a substantial loss in revenues to Pinal County’s tourism industry.
In Virginia, Laura Belleville, Vice President of Conservation & Trail Programs for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, says of the proposed natural gas pipeline, “The Mountain Valley Pipeline [would] carry fracked natural gas for over 300 miles through the Virginia and West Virginia countryside, crossing over dozens of water sources, through protected areas and breaching the [Appalachian Trail] corridor. The pipeline would run parallel to the Trail for over 90 miles and carve ugly gashes in the landscape that could be seen from 20 miles away.”
In Nevada, The BLM’s environmental assessment for Lithium America’s proposed lithium mine admits, “the project will cause harm, including to the habitat of a threatened bird species known as sage grouse.” The birds’ sagebrush habitat could take several decades to recover and for “pre-disturbance sagebrush vegetation community characteristics to return.” Local ranchers and residents also fear surface disturbances from the mine upland of them will cause local springs to dry up both within and outside of the Project area, as well as result in “increased surface flows” in other areas “contributing sediment and debris into riparian areas and wetlands.”
In most cases, when private industry and agency officials have been pressed whether these projects are being rushed for approval before President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s inauguration date, request for comment is denied. However, project manager for Resolution Copper Company, Andrew Lye says of the proposed Arizona mine, “It is not being fast-tracked and Resolution Copper has not sought to apply for programs that are available to expedite projects.”
Randy Serraglio, conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, thinks otherwise. Serraglio points out that shortening the timeline for the Final environmental impact statement for the proposed copper mine seems premature because the Draft environmental impact statement was not even complete, omitting key details such as, “the site where the tailings will be stored and where the company would locate the pipeline and the power lines to make that work.” Serraglio notes that “the same type of pressure and influence have been applied at the highest levels of the Trump administration for other such projects.” He says, “It seems clear they want to get it out while Trump is still president. It’s not clear whether they’ll be able to do that or not or whether they can do it legally.”
Resistance Resources
Natural Resources Defense Council
- NRDC works to safeguard the earth, its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. nrdc.org
Appalachian Mountain Advocates
- A non-profit public interest law and policy organization dedicated to fighting for clean water and a clean energy future. They work to advocate for a sustainable energy economy, fighting further investment in fossil fuels and forcing polluters to pay the costs of cleaning up the messes they have already made. appalmad.org
Environmental Defense Fund
- For more than 50 years we have been pioneers, using science and different perspectives to make the environment safer and healthier for us all. Environmental Defense Fund (edf.org)
Sources Cited (Learn More)
Axelrod, J. (2020, December 23). Judge Halts Action on Utah Helium Drilling. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://www.nrdc.org/experts/josh-axelrod/judge-halts-permitting-utah-helium-mining
Krol, D. (2020, December 11). Did feds fast-track Resolution Copper mine project in Trump’s last days? Foes say ‘yes’. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2020/12/11/resolution-copper-may-fast-track-trumps-final-days/5981085002/
Lipton, E. (2020, December 19). In Last Rush, Trump Grants Mining and Energy Firms Access to Public Lands. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/19/us/politics/in-last-rush-trump-grants-mining-and-energy-firms-access-to-public-lands.html
Mountain Valley Pipeline Project. (2020). Overview. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://www.mountainvalleypipeline.info/
Resolution Copper. (2020). Subsidence. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://www.resolutioncopper.com/subsidence.html
United States, US Department of Interior, US Bureau of Land Management. (2020, December 4). Retrieved January 1, 2021, from https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/thacker-pass-feis-chapters1-6-508/f5d9956ac05f6601/full.pdf#page=78
USDA Forest Service. (2019, August). Draft Environmental Impact Statement: Resolution Copper Project and Land Exchange. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://www.resolutionmineeis.us/sites/default/files/deis/resolution-deis-vol-1.pdf
USDI Bureau of Land Management, & US Forest Service. (2020, December). Mountain Valley Pipeline and Equitrans Expansion Project: Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. Retrieved January 01, 2021, from https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd863227.pdf