Month: September 2020

Kellyanne Conway calls out 'Old White Male Career Politicians' leading 2020 Dem field

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White House counselor Kellyanne ConwayKellyanne Elizabeth ConwayGeorge Conway group hits Ernst in new ad George Conway group contrasts Trump, Eisenhower in battleground states ad Sunday shows preview: Protests against George Floyd’s death, police brutality rock the nation for a second week MORE on Monday called out the “Old White Male Politicians” leading the 2020 Democratic presidential field after a poll showed Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Milley apologizes for church photo-op Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness MORE (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook MORE topping the list.

“Old White Male Career Politicians are in 1st and 2nd Place in the Democratic Presidential Primary, taking more than half (53%) of the vote,” Conway tweeted in response to an Emerson College poll.

ADVERTISEMENTThe poll showed Sanders, 77, leading the Democratic presidential field with the support of 29 percent of Democratic primary voters. Biden, 76, came in second place in the poll, attracting support from 24 percent of voters. President Trump is 72 years old. 

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D), who officially launched his campaign on Sunday, came in third in the Emerson poll with 9 percent. He was closely followed by Sen. Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook McEnany says Juneteenth is a very ‘meaningful’ day to Trump MORE (D-Calif.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) at 8 percent each. 

The pool of Democratic candidates is notably diverse in age, race and gender, with six women running to take on Trump in 2020. Buttigieg, 37, is both the youngest candidate running and the only openly gay candidate. Biden, who has yet to announce his candidacy, has repeatedly topped polls among Democratic voters, even after controversy surrounding women who have accused him of inappropriate touching.

Conway has criticized Biden amid the controversy, saying last month that the former vice president “has a big problem” after the accusations.

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Obama offers praise for Biden, stops short of endorsement

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Former President Obama on Thursday heaped praise onto Joe BidenJoe BidenHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook MORE after his former vice president entered the 2020 presidential campaign, but stopped short of issuing an endorsement.

“President Obama has long said that selecting Joe Biden as his running mate in 2008 was one of the best decisions he ever made,” Katie Hill, a spokesperson for Obama, said in a statement.

“He relied on the vice president’s knowledge, insight, and judgment throughout both campaigns and the entire presidency. The two forged a special bond over the last 10 years and remain close today.” 

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Obama, who remains popular among the Democratic base, has thus far declined to issue endorsements for any of the 21 candidates running in the primary field but has not released any other statements as glowing as the one for Biden.

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Obama and Biden were known to be close during their eight years in the White House, with the former president surprising his “brother” with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2017 shortly before their term ended.

Biden officially announced the launch of his presidential campaign Thursday morning after months of speculation, casting himself as a bulwark against what he says is the threat of another four years of a Trump presidency.

“I believe history will look back on four years of this president and all he embraces as an aberrant moment in time,” Biden said in a video announcing his White House bid. “But if we give Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE eight years in the White House, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation — who we are — and I cannot stand by and watch that happen.

“Everything that has made America America is at stake. That’s why today I’m announcing my candidacy for president of the United States.”

Despite already garnering support from a trio of senators, Biden will have to deflect criticism from a progressive base that has proven skeptical over his reputation as a centrist, his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the 1991 Anita Hill hearings and recent allegations from several women that he inappropriately touched them.

In Final Hours, COP 25 Denounced as 'Utter Failure' as Deal Is Stripped of Ambition and US Refuses to Accept Liability for Climate Crisis

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After the COP 25 talks on the Paris climate agreement went into overtime Friday night amid a stalled agreement on wealthy countries’ contributions to greatly reducing climate-warming carbon emissions, civil society groups and climate scientists were shocked by the weak language that emerged from the late-night talks on Saturday.

The latest text includes an “invitation” for countries to communicate their mid-term and long-term climate plans, and the majority of delegations, which attempted to push countries including the U.S. towards ambitious climate targets, were unable Saturday to sway the U.S. away from language regarding carbon markets.

Nearly 100 civil society organizations on Saturday released a joint statement condemning the U.S., Australia, the E.U., and other wealthy countries that emit much of the carbon that’s warming the planet, for insisting on a deal “only for the corporate elites, while damning people and the planet.”

As of Saturday, civil society groups including the Center for Biological Diversity, Oil Change International, and Friends of the Earth said, the deal that had been hammered out by the parties included an agenda brought by big polluters “straight to the halls of the U.N.” with the help of countries “historically most responsible for the climate crisis.”

“From the Amazon to the Arctic, our world is on fire. Allowing expansion of coal, oil and gas production at this moment of history is throwing gasoline on the fire.” —70+ civil society organizations

At the behest of fossil fuel corporations, they said, wealthy countries are insisting on using carbon markets to “offset” instead of cut emissions, and  “nature based solutions,” which the civil society groups said is likely a euphemism for “large scale biomass burning, carbon storage technologies, the commodification of the ocean”—which will contribute to deforestation and displace food production.

The U.S. is also reportedly still objecting to provisions that would hold it liable for the destruction the climate crisis has already wreaked in island nations.

The deal as it stands would “condemn those on the frontlines of the climate crisis, while hiding the crimes of polluters,” said the groups. “And it would lead to increased inequality with no increase in ambition, no real emissions reductions, and no pathway to 1.5 [degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.]”

The COP 25 summit approached its end after demonstrators staged sit-ins and other protests, with security officials barring about 200 campaigners from the talks after they staged a sit-in. The demonstrators followed in the footsteps of the global climate strike which have drawn millions in the past year.

“I’ve been attending these climate negotiations since they first started in 1991,” Alden Meyer, director of strategy for the Union of Concerned Scientists, told the BBC. “But never have I seen the almost total disconnect we’ve seen here at COP25 in Madrid between what the science requires and the people of the world demand, and what the climate negotiations are delivering in terms of meaningful action.”

Other critics on social media wrote that the talks had descended into “disarray,” with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) calling them an “utter failure.”

“This is nothing less than a breakdown in the Paris Agreement. This is not climate leadership, this is a betrayal of humanity and future generations,” tweeted climate scientist Eric Holthaus.

“What’s happening today at COP 25 is a clear and present threat to civilization itself,” Holthaus added. “The Trump administration and its fossil fuel allies around the world have sabotaged the Paris Agreement—the only global treaty we have to fight climate change. This is a betrayal of humanity.”

Catherine Abreu of Climate Action Network Canada was among those who spoke at the People’s Closing Plenary Saturday afternoon, where people from marginalized and frontline groups decried the breakdown of the conference and the real-world consequences it will have.

“For so many people gripped by devastating floods, fires, and storms, time is up,” Abreu said. “And instead of helping them, rich countries hold on to your dollars and hold up loss and damage. Public mobilizations are swamping the streets. The status quo you are working so stubbornly to protect is not working for people or the planet.”

Harjeet Singh, of ActionAid International lambasted wealthy countries including the U.S. for fighting to avoid liability for helping to accelerate the climate crisis.

“Developing countries came to this climate conference with the expectation that the people who have lost their crops to drought, or who have lost their homes to cyclones, will finally get help from the UN system,” said Singh. “Instead, they have faced bullying, arm-twisting and blackmail. Rich countries most responsible for the crisis have refused to provide a single penny of new money to support communities to recover from the devastation caused by increasingly frequent and severe climate disasters.”

The civil society groups’ joint statement noted that in the final hours of the summit, “it is not too late for developing countries to stand strong, to resolutely refuse the agenda of polluters.”

“From the Amazon to the Arctic, our world is on fire,” the statement read. “Allowing expansion of coal, oil and gas production at this moment of history is throwing gasoline on the fire.”

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Evo Morales Says He Is 'Absolutely Convinced' US Led Coup in Bolivia to Exploit Lithium Reserves

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Former Bolivian President Evo Morales said in an interview Tuesday that he is “absolutely convinced” the United States orchestrated the military coup that removed him from power last month with the goal of exploiting Bolivia’s enormous lithium reserves.

Morales told AFP that he believes the U.S. had not “forgiven” him for pursuing lithium partnerships with China and Russia over Washington.

“Transnational companies are behind the coup. The United States, too, because of the lithium issue.”
—Evo Morales

“It was a national and international coup d’etat,” said Morales. “I’m absolutely convinced it’s a coup against lithium. We as a state had begun industrializing lithium… As a small country of 10 million inhabitants, we were soon going to set the price of lithium. They know we have the greatest lithium reserves in the world of 16,000 square kilometers (over 6,100 square miles).”

U.S. President Donald Trump and officials in his administration have openly and enthusiastically celebrated the coup in Bolivia, but it is not yet clear whether the White House played a direct or indirect role in Morales’ ouster, which brought to power a right-wing anti-indigenous government.

Morales was initially granted asylum by Mexico following the coup, but earlier this month he moved to Argentina after that country’s leftist leaders granted him refugee status.

The former Bolivian president has been outspoken about the coup and its aftermath since his ouster last month. On Twitter and in interviews, Morales has condemned the interim government of Jeanine Añez for giving the Bolivian military and security forces a blank check to gun down peaceful indigenous protesters.

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Morales has also accused the U.S.-dominated Organization of American States (OAS) of deliberately misleading the public about the results of the November presidential election.

“Luis Almagro deserves to be put on trial for being responsible for so many massacres and deaths in Bolivia,” Morales told AFP, referring to the OAS secretary general.

The Tuesday interview with AFP was not the first time Morales has alleged that Bolivia’s lithium reserves were a key factor in last month’s coup.

“Transnational companies are behind the coup,” Morales told The Intercept‘s Glenn Greenwald in an interview earlier this month. “The United States, too, because of the lithium issue.”

Watch the full interview:

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More Than One Billion Animals Killed in Australia Wildfires Called a 'Very Conservative' Estimate

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As Australia’s catastrophic wildfires rage on with no end in sight, University of Sydney ecologist Chris Dickman said the number of animals killed in the blazes has topped one billion—a horrifying figure that the scientist described as a “very conservative” estimate.

Dickman told HuffPost late Monday that the original estimate of nearly 500 million animals killed was based solely on figures from the state of New South Wales (NSW) and excluded groups of animals that have been devastated by the wildfires, which have scorched 18 million acres of land, destroyed thousands of homes, and killed at least 25 people.

“It’s our climate impact and our obsession with coal that is helping wage war on our own country.”
—Stuart Blanch, World Wildlife Fund Australia

“The original figure—the 480 million—was based on mammals, birds, and reptiles for which we do have densities, and that figure now is a little bit out of date,” Dickman said. “It’s over 800 million given the extent of the fires now—in New South Wales alone.”

When animals such as bats, frogs, and invertebrates are included in the total, Dickman said, “without any doubt at all” the death toll has exceeded a billion.

“Over a billion would be a very conservative figure,” the ecologist said.

Stuart Blanch, scientist with World Wildlife Fund Australia, agreed with Dickman’s assessment of over a billion animals lost to the fires.

“It’s our climate impact and our obsession with coal that is helping wage war on our own country,” Blanch said in an interview with HuffPost.

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Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg highlighted the shocking numbers on Twitter:

The unprecedented fires across Australia, fueled by record heat driven by the global climate crisis, have put several endangered species in Australia at risk of total extinction.

“Critically endangered species, including the southern corroboree frog and mountain pygmy-possum, could be wiped out as fires ravage crucial habitat in Victoria’s Alpine National Park and New South Wales’ neighboring Kosciuszko National Park,” HuffPost reported. “Threatened species, such as the glossy black cockatoo, spotted-tail quoll, and long-footed potoroo (both small marsupials), are also facing real risks of extinction in large parts of their range.”

Janine Green, a volunteer at WIRES Wildlife Rescue, told CNN Tuesday that it will be extremely difficult for animal populations to recover in the aftermath of the fires.

“They’re not coping, and now they’ve got no grass, no water, no habitat,” Green said. “Who knows if they can breed after this? We’ve never seen anything like this before.”

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Citing Threat From Armed Groups, Virginia Gov. Declares Emergency and Bans Guns at State Capitol

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Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Wednesday declared a temporary state of emergency in the capitol of Richmond and banned the carrying of weapons at a gun rights rally scheduled for next week, citing threats of armed demonstrators storming government buildings.

“We have received credible intelligence from our law enforcement agencies that there are groups with malicious plans for the rally that is planned for Monday,” Northam said in a press conference announcing the state of emergency.

The order (pdf) ends on Tuesday, January 21 at 5:00pm. 

The declaration was triggered by credible threats of violence discovered by law enforcement from potential attendees of the rally. Northam said some of the “out-of-state militia groups and hate groups planning to travel from across the country to disrupt our democratic process with acts of violence” cited the white supremacist violence in the nearby city of Charlottesville in 2017, where a young woman named Heather Heyer was murdered, as inspiration.

“Please know that we have been preparing extensively to protect public safety at Monday’s rally,” said Northam. “But no one wants another incident like the one we saw in Charlottesville.”

According to VICE reporter Tess Owen, the violence that occurred in Charlottesville looms large over the order and the expected enforcement:

The rally, “Lobby Day,” is being organized by the Virginia Citizens Defense League.

As NPR reported:

“This isn’t about the Second Amendment,” said activist Molly Conger, “this is about threats of terrorism.”

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'An Appalling Act of Industrial Vandalism': Japanese Officials Do PR for Plan to Dump Fukushima Water Into Ocean

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As cleanup of the 2011 Fukushima disaster continues, the Japanese government made its case to embassy officials from 23 countries Monday that dumping contaminated water from the nuclear power plant into the ocean is the best course of action.

According to Kyodo News, officials from the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry claimed releasing the water and evaporating it are both “feasible methods” but said the former could be done “with certainty” because radiation levels could be monitored.

There’s more than one million tons of contaminated water already stored at the plant, with 170 tons more added each day. Utility TEPCO says there will be no more capacity for tanks holding contaminated water by 2022.

As Agence France-Presse reported, “The radioactive water comes from several different sources—including water used for cooling at the plant, and groundwater and rain that seeps into the plant daily—and is put through an extensive filtration process.”

That process still leaves tritium in the water and “has been found to leave small amounts of other radioactive materials,” Kyodo added.

The session for embassy officials followed Friday’s recommendation by a Japanese government panel that releasing the water into the ocean was the most feasible plan. As Reuters reported Friday:

Local fishermen oppose the plan and Reuters noted it is “likely to alarm neighboring countries.”

They’re not alone.

Nuclear policy expert Paul Dorfman said Saturday, “Releasing Fukushima radioactive water into ocean is an appalling act of industrial vandalism.”

Greenpeace opposes the plan as well.

Shaun Burnie, a senior nuclear specialist the group’s German office, has previously called on Japanese authorities to “commit to the only environmentally acceptable option for managing this water crisis, which is long-term storage and processing to remove radioactivity, including tritium.”

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'Investing in Humanity': British Medical Journal Praised for New Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign

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Respected medical journal The BMJ drew praise online from climate activists and medical professionals for its newly-announced fossil fuel divestment campaign.

“Thank you for your leadership,” pediatrician and child psychiatrist Elizabeth Pinsky wrote Friday on Twitter.

In an editorial published January 23 and entitled “Investing in Humanity: The BMJ’s divestment campaign,” the journal’s executive editor, Kamran Abbasi, and editor in chief, Fiona Godlee, explained how fossil fuel divestment can restore hope that’s “not yet abandoned in our world today” but “merely besieged” and exert pressure on politicians and the industry putting the planet’s—and therefore humanity’s—health in peril.

The publication will not accept funding or advertising from the industry, Abbasi and Godlee wrote. “We will also explore how else our business might be dependent on fossil fuel companies and take steps to end any such reliance. The BMA [the journal’s owner] has no direct holdings in tobacco or fossil fuel companies.”

“We are clear that income from companies that produce fossil fuels is revenue that The BMJ does not want now or in the future,” they added.

The editorial praised other medical organizations like the AMA who have already pledged to divest from fossil fuels. “Health professionals and medical organizations should not accept the world as it is,” wrote Abbasi and Godlee. “Taking action is a duty to the people we serve and to future generations.”

The piece was also a call to action.

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Abbasi and Godlee encouraged other medical professionals and health organizations to sign an online declaration of intent to divest from fossil fuels and to back that action up with divestment in personal finances.

“Divestment offers us an opportunity to end despair and disempowerment, to begin to reclaim our world from misguided political and commercial agendas,” the editorial said. “By divesting now we wish to restore hope for the future wellbeing of our planet and for human health.”

Keith Stewart, climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace Canada, shared the editorial on social media, writing, “Fossil fuels are the new tobacco.”

“The footnotes alone are devastating to the climate delayers’ case,” he added.  

Others welcomed the new campaign as well: 

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Andrew Cuomo: Biden has best chance at 'main goal' of beating Trump

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said Monday that former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook MORE is the Democratic presidential hopeful with “the best chance” of defeating President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE in 2020.

“I think he has the best chance of defeating President Trump, which I think is the main goal here,” Cuomo told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. “He has the experience, he has the background, he has the talent, I think he has the personality for the moment and I think he can unify the Democratic Party.”

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Biden has not yet formally announced a bid for the presidency but is expected to make it official this week. He has led nearly every poll of the field despite not being an official candidate, with Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Milley apologizes for church photo-op Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness MORE (I-Vt.) in second place in most surveys. South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete ButtigiegPete ButtigiegScaled-back Pride Month poses challenges for fundraising, outreach Biden hopes to pick VP by Aug. 1 It’s as if a Trump operative infiltrated the Democratic primary process MORE (D) has occupied third place in several recent polls.

Biden was recently hit with a series of accusations from women who say he touched them inappropriately at past public events, beginning with former Nevada Assemblywoman Lucy Flores (D). However, Biden’s position in the field has been largely unaffected by the allegations, and it does not appear to have hurt his standing with donors, either.

Camerota also asked Cuomo if he regretted not entering the race himself. Cuomo, who was reelected for a third term in 2018, was rumored earlier this year to be considering a bid if Biden chose not to run.

“I do not regret [it]. I have a great job, I love what I’m doing. I want to help elect the next Democratic president and I think Joe Biden has the best shot at doing that,” Cuomo said.

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Trump jokingly fires Sarah Sanders at rally for being 'too popular'

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The crowd at President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE’s rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Saturday night broke into cheers when White House press secretary Sarah HuckabeeSarah Elizabeth SandersMcEnany stamps her brand on White House press operation Sanders mocks NY Times urging DNC to investigate Biden allegations: ‘I thought it was an Onion headline’ Donald Trump: The Boomer TV president MORE Sanders took the stage, prompting Trump to jokingly fire her in “The Apprentice” fashion.

Trump brought Sanders on stage early into his rally, which was held during the same time as the 2019 White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner.

As she made her way to the microphone, the crowd erupted into cheers of “Sarah, Sarah, Sarah.”

“Last year this night I was at a slightly different event, not quite the best welcome. So this is an amazing honor. I’m so proud to work for the president,” Sanders said after taking the stage, making a jab at last year’s WHCA dinner where comedian Michelle Wolf roasted Sanders and sparked backlash. 

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This year’s annual dinner celebrating journalists broke with the tradition of having a comedian as the headliner, instead opting for historian Ron Chernow. The president urged his staff to boycott the event, allowing for Sanders to be in attendance at Trump’s dueling rally.

Sanders went on to praise Trump for this economic and military policy, and jabbed at special counsel Robert MuellerRobert (Bob) MuellerCNN’s Toobin warns McCabe is in ‘perilous condition’ with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill’s 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE’s final report.

“They said there was collusion and there wasn’t. They’ve questioned him at every step and he’s proven them wrong every time because of you.” 

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The brief appearance was followed by more applause for Sanders, prompting Trump to joke: 

“She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t understand me after all these years. She’s becoming too popular, Sarah, I’m jealous. You’re fired!”

He then added, “she’s great.”

Sanders has become one of the mainstays of Trump’s administration, which has seen a rapid amount of turnover at the highest levels. Sanders, along with White House counselor Kellyanne ConwayKellyanne Elizabeth ConwayGeorge Conway group hits Ernst in new ad George Conway group contrasts Trump, Eisenhower in battleground states ad Sunday shows preview: Protests against George Floyd’s death, police brutality rock the nation for a second week MORE, is a rare White House official who worked on both Trump’s 2016 campaign and has remained in the White House through the duration of his first two years.