It has become very clear, the data could hardly be plainer, that America’s poor response to climate change is the result of the evil alliance of the carbon oligarchs and the Republican Party. The worst of the lot being criminal Trump who, when he was president, gutted the EPA at every turn and yanked America out of the Paris climate accord. I see this as the same thing as a war crime, a crime against humanity. And it is fueled by the fact that 3 out of 4 Americans who are Republicans do not recognize the reality of climate change, nor do they recognize how much their own lives are in danger. It is an historically significant act of willful ignorance.
Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush Credit: David Bohrer/U.S. National Archives / Getty
Once upon a time, the mainstream Republican Party did not deny the reality of climate science and even saw the environment as something to be valued and protected, not exploited.
“They staged a coup… the fox was now guarding the hen house from that point forward. Energy and environmental policy, and the Republican Party, was controlled by polluters and they would not look back.”
This can be difficult to believe, much as it is hard to imagine that environmentalist presidents like Theodore Roosevelt (who conserved over 230 million acres of wilderness, at least for white people) and Richard Nixon (who originated the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA) actually identified as Republicans. As recently as the early 1990s, a Republican president (George H. W. Bush) was willing to sign landmark environmental legislation to clean up acid rain and amend the Clean Air Act.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres states reality accurately when he says the principal problem humanity faces in dealing with climate change is the fossil fuel corporations, and the corruption they buy in nations, most definitely including the United States, around the world. Basically humanity is being held hostage to the industry’s insatiable lust for profit, and the influence that profit buys them.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speaks to reporters in New York City Credit: Mark Garten/U.N. Photo
As United Nations climate talks came to a disappointing conclusion in Germany on Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres delivered remarks in New York City targeting “the polluted heart of the climate crisis: the fossil fuel industry.”
Guterres’ comments came just after he met with civil society leaders and ahead of his September Climate Ambition Summit in NYC, which is set to be followed in November by the U.N. conference COP28, hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Dubai.
“Countries are far off track in meeting climate promises and commitments. I see a lack of ambition. A lack of trust. A lack of support. A lack of cooperation. And an abundance of problems around clarity and credibility,” he said. “The climate agenda is being undermined. At a time when we should be accelerating action, there is backtracking. At a time when we should be filling gaps, those gaps are growing.”
“Meanwhile, the human rights of climate activists are being trampled. The most vulnerable are suffering […]
Evan Vorpahl , Senior Researcher for True North Research - truthout
Stephan:
Leonard Leo for several decades now has been a principal agent of the christofascist oligarchs. Like a black widow he sits at the center of a corruption network seeking to transform America into a White racist male dominance anocracy the oligarchs can control.
Leonard Leo, a principal agent of the christofascist oligarchs trying to turn America into an anocracy. Credit: Carolyn Kaster / AP Photo
Newly obtained documents show that the billion-dollar trust fund given to Leonard Leo — the right-wing attorney and longtime leader the Federalist Society who orchestrated Donald Trump’s Supreme Court picks — has dumped at least $411 million into fueling right-wing infrastructure in the U.S. since mid-2020.
The latest IRS filing of the new nonprofit, Marble Freedom Trust — obtained by Accountable.US, a progressive watchdog group — shows that Leo has spent at least $182 million during the Biden administration to fund right-wing groups from May 1, 2021, through April 30, 2022. This surge has come as Leo has become more publicly outspoken in attacking reproductive rights as well as efforts to protect our environment and crucial measures that advance Americans’ equality.
Leo chose to have most of that, more than $153 million, wash through the Schwab Charitable Fund, a “donor-advised fund” that serves as a passthrough to help obscure the money trail between a funder and […]
Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan, and Alex Mierjeski, Staff Reporters - ProPublica
Stephan:
The corruption of the christofascist clique of justices on the Supreme Court is mind-boggling. The stories, like this one, just keep coming out as journalists dig into their lives. And please note all of this corruption is centered on the christofascists. There has not been a single corruption story about the justices who vote to foster wellbeing. It is specifically only the MAGAt justices.
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, center, and hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, right, hold king salmon with another guest. Credit: Photo obtained by ProPublica
In early July 2008, Samuel Alito stood on a riverbank in a remote corner of Alaska. The Supreme Court justice was on vacation at a luxury fishing lodge that charged more than $1,000 a day, and after catching a king salmon nearly the size of his leg, Alito posed for a picture. To his left, a man stood beaming: Paul Singer, a hedge fund billionaire who has repeatedly asked the Supreme Court to rule in his favor in high-stakes business disputes.
Singer was more than a fellow angler. He flew Alito to Alaska on a private jet. If the justice chartered the plane himself, the cost could have exceeded $100,000 one way.
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In the years that followed, Singer’s hedge fund came before the court at least 10 times in cases where his role was often covered by the legal press and mainstream media. In 2014, […]
I am always pleasantly surprised when I find something, some trend, I have been predicting for years (see SR archives) being suddenly recognized by others. Here is another example. When you look at the social outcome data it is perfectly clear that many of the Red states, particularly the Southern states, would decline into third world status if they were not supported by the Blue states. The data makes this clear; it is irrefutable. Republican governance is always inferior because the Republican agenda is not focused on fostering wellbeing, it has other agendas. Here is a good summation of the economics of the Great Schism Trend.
Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) reacts during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Credit: Chip Somodevilla / Getty
A so-called “national divorce” would work out poorly for red states, which a new analysis shows depend heavily on blue states.
MSNBC economic analyst Steve Rattner presented data on “Morning Joe” showing that states won by Donald Trump contribute far less to the federal budget than states won by President Biden, which Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and some other Republicans said should be separated from one another.
“The Trump states, virtually every single state except for Utah, don’t ask me why Utah, got back more from Washington than it paid,” Rattner said. “So it would not really work very well to their advantage to leave. In fact, the top states for getting a better deal from Washington are Kentucky, Mississippi and West Virginia.”
Higher state-level poverty rates correlate with support for Republican candidates, Rattner said, while Democratic-leaning states tend to have higher income.
“You can see with your eye that the red states tend to be […]
