This week in progressive state blogs is designed to focus attention on the writing and analysis of people focused on their home turf.
Inclusion of a diary does not necessarily indicate my agreement or endorsement of its contents.
At Progress Illinois, Ellyn Fortino writes—Petcoke Battle Continues On Chicago's Southeast Side:
Chicago Southeast Side residents and environmentalists have won major victories in the battle over petcoke, but they aren't done fighting just yet.
They are awaiting a key decision from the city that will determine how much of the oil refining byproduct can move through a Southeast Side petcoke facility operated by KCBX Terminals Company (KCBX).
Opponents of petcoke—which is being stored on Chicago's Southeast Side along the banks of the Calumet River—want the city to set a zero annual "throughput" rate, which would prevent the material from moving through KCBX's site. Such a decision would essentially force the facility to cease operations, explained Tom Shepherd with the Southeast Side Environmental Task Force, a leading group in the local fight against petcoke, a material commonly used as a fuel source in power plants.
More excerpts can be read below the orange gerrymander.
At Capital & Main of California, Emily Sender writes—Solar-Powered Festival Heats Up Boyle Heights:
Billed as the area’s first 100 percent solar-powered festival, EastSide Sol heated up Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights on Saturday. Under the scorching sun, activists, residents and community leaders gathered to explore how low-income and minority communities like theirs can be part of the growing green economy.
On the surface, EastSide Sol was a festive celebration. The crowd danced to funky live music by pan-Latin band Buyepongo, ate taquitos and pupusas provided by neighborhood restaurant Un Solo Sol and enjoyed live mural painting by Self-Help Graphics. But at the event’s core was a conversation about economics and the environment, and how to deal with the increasing realities of climate change.
In City Council Member Jose Huizar’s opening remarks to the crowd, he said “Oftentimes in the environmental movement, when we’re looking to preserve our planet, our earth and find alternative forms of energy, the Eastside is left out of the discussion.” The need to include low-income and minority areas in environmental efforts was an ongoing theme of the day. A catalyst for the festival was the release of research by the Repower LA Coalition showing Latino neighborhoods like Boyle Heights receive only 1% of all residential solar panel rebates, despite strong support for solar power in the community.
At
Blog for Arizona,
Donna Gratehouse writes—
Jeb Bush meant what he said:
On Tuesday, GOP Presidential candidate and “establishment” (whatever that means these days) favorite Jeb(!) Bush said the following:
The next president should defund Planned Parenthood. I have the benefit of having been governor and we did defund Planned Parenthood when I was governor. We tried to create a culture of life across the board. The argument against this is, well, women’s health issues are gonna be — you’re attacking — it’s a war on women and you’re attacking women’s health issues. You could take dollar for dollar — although I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues — but if you took dollar for dollar, there are many extraordinarily fine organizations, community health organizations, that exist, federally sponsored community health organizations, to provide quality care for women on a wide variety of health issues. But abortion should not be funded by the government, any government, in my mind.
[...]
The first part of that is the same empty argle-bargle about “community clinics” that all the GOP politicians seeking to defund Planned Parenthood are spouting. Which is bullshit because those clinics would face great difficulty accommodating the influx of new patients, even if all the Planned Parenthood funding were shifted to them, since half a billion dollars spread out nationwide is not really going to build much capacity anywhere. But notice in the second part how Jeb(!) actually reiterates his contention that taxpayers are blowing way too much money on mere women. This is followed up with hand-wringing over “selling fetal organs," which is meant to distract you (oh, and how easily many of you are distracted!) by Jeb(!) basically telling you that he has no intention of funding those saintly “community clinics” with the slut money.
At
My Left Nutmeg of Connecticut,
abg22 writes—
Mayor of New London Endorses Sanders—How Many Other Elected Officials Are Feelin' The Bern?
Bernie Sanders may have seen a surge in grassroots support in recent months but that has not translated into support from his fellow elected officials. Outside of Sanders's home state of Vermont, only a handful of elected officials across the country have endorsed the liberal firebrand challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for President. By one account, only two mayors in the entire country have come out for Bernie. One of them is in Connecticut.
New London Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio, a Democrat who became Connecticut's second openly gay mayor when he was elected as New London's first 'strong mayor' in 2011, announced his support for Bernie on his facebook page in June, probably not realizing just how much of an anomaly his endorsement would make him.
Locked in a tight battle for re-election with city councillor (and fellow Democrat) Michael Passero, Finizio has been waging an openly and unapologetically progressive campaign based around issues like raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and universal pre-K. What's notable about this is that Finizio already has the progressive vote pretty much locked up, so it's hard to see how he gains any political advantage from the Sanders endorsement in terms of shoring up his left flank.
Even supporters of Hillary Clinton have to admit it's a pretty ballsy move by someone facing a difficult re-election battle.
At
Show Me Progress of Missouri,
WillyK writes—
Roy Blunt cries crocodile tears for poor folks oppressed by EPA:
Roy Blunt, who's known for doing a good deed now and then for his fossil fuel benefactors, wants us to believe that he's turned over a new leaf. Since President Obama announced his new clean air regulations for coal-fired plants, the Senator seems to have got himself all worked up about the hardships that these regulations will cause Missouri's poor working folks [...]
So where was Blunt when Ameren raised electrical rates six times between 2006 and 2014? The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote in 2014 that:
Rates will have risen more than 50 percent since 2006 if the PSC grants the latest request in full. In recent years, the regulator has approved Ameren's rate increase requests, but a lower amount than originally proposed by the utility.
A full 50%! Seems like that imposition on hard up Missourians might have reduced Blunt to outright sobbing. But I don't remember that he had much to say about these rate increases.
And did you notice? Not one word about Ameren's very generous donations to his campaign war chest:
Ameren is a top contributor to Blunt's campaigns. People associated with the company have contributed more than $100,000 to Blunt, according the Center for Responsive Politics, good for 8th on the list of Blunt donors.
At
Intelligent Discontent of Montana,
Pete Talbot writes—
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly III:
The news today fit nicely into my recurring theme, named after the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western.
Two good things caught my attention: President Obama unveiled his plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the U.S. Senate voted against a Republican attempt to defund Planned Parenthood. [...]
The bad is Gov. Bullock and the Montana AFL-CIO opposing Obama’s carbon emissions reduction plan. It pains me the most when I criticize people and organizations whom I respect and have supported.
Both the governor and organized labor need some forward thinking along the lines of good paying union jobs in the renewable energy field. The old model of protecting any union job, even if it’s in the extractive energy business, is killing our planet. It’s time to retrain our workers for a clean energy future.
At
Bold Nebraska,
Mark Hefflinger writes—
In South Dakota, TransCanada Faces Serious Challenges on Keystone XL:
As rumors have been flying around the Beltway about a decision coming soon on the controversial proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, the battle over the pipeline’s permit in South Dakota rages on, and it’s not looking good for TransCanada.
Hearings taking place this week before the state Public Utilities Commission about the impact of the pipeline and whether or not it’s needed will determine whether TransCanada can continue to meet the 50 conditions upon which the 2010 permit was based. The contentious hearings have now been extended through the weekend and into next week.
Questions have arisen about TransCanada’s track record of safety issues along its pipelines. Issues like dramatic corrosion along the Keystone I line, portions of which are corroded up to 96.8% through the pipeline wall, call into serious question the company’s claims that Keystone XL would not pose a threat to land and drinking water for millions of people. One of TransCanada’s top engineers, Meera Kothari, who is not licensed in the United States, testified that Keystone I was safe, in her opinion, despite the 14 leaks within the first 12 months of its operation.
“Even one spill is too many, much less 14,” said Joye Braun, individual intervener and member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. “This proves that the threat to South Dakota is just too much to bear. The safety of our states resources including our drinking water, wildlife, livelihoods as farmers and ranchers, and cultural resources must be protected.”
At
Miscellany Blue of New Hampshire,
William Tucker writes—
Rep. Frank Edelblut ponies up $250K to explore GOP gubernatorial run:
A one-term Wilton lawmaker is putting his money where his mouth is as he becomes the first Granite Stater to announce he is officially “considering” a run for governor. In a written release, Rep. Frank Edelblut said he is committing $250,000 in personal funds to the exploratory bid and primary campaign.
The entrepreneur and investor has recently raised his profile by writing open letters to Gov. Maggie Hassan regarding high-profile news events. In one letter, Edelblut called on the Attorney General and a bipartisan commission to investigate “the potential illegal sale of body parts” by Planned Parenthood. In another, he asked the governor to allow National Guardsmen serving in military recruitment centers to arm themselves.
Edelblut will likely attempt to consolidate social conservatives and libertarians for his gubernatorial bid. He received a trifecta of conservative endorsements in 2014, garnering nods from the Republican Liberty Caucus, the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance and Cornerstone Policy Research.
During the campaign, Edelblut signed Cornerstone’s “Families First Pledge” in which he promised to “protect innocent human life from conception” and to “defend the natural family and traditional marriage.”
At
The Progressive Pulse of North Carolina,
Alexandra Sirota writes—
Latest proposal in budget debate would lock in harmful policy choices:
The Senate Finance Committee this morning voted to approve SB 607 which included a number of proposals that would make the state’s current economic challenges worse and undermine the foundations of a strong economy. This included an amendment to the constitution to cap the income tax at 5% and another undemocratic amendment creating a flawed formula-based limit on state investments that would force permanent cuts to education, roads and highways, health care and other key services that support our economy and quality of life. This amendment would also require a 2/3rd majority vote to increase spending beyond the formula. There is also a third amendment to the constitution included in the bill which would limit access to Emergency Savings Reserves by requiring a 2/3rd majority of legislators to access it.
The flurry of activity on tax and budget matters comes on the heels of the Senate announcement yesterday that they are willing to address certain policy matters outside of the budget, clearing the way for a final budget deal before the August 14th deadline.
The second proposed amendment which would remove authority from state lawmakers by setting an arbitrary formula for government spending has been tried in only one other state, Colorado, and has been widely acknowledged as a failure. In fact, it did so much damage in Colorado that voters chose to suspend it. Before they suspended it, this rigid formula forced drastic cuts to Colorado’s K-12 and higher education, and it became impossible for the state to keep pace with the rising cost of health care, forcing cuts to child immunization programs and prenatal health care. At the same time, it was clear that it was doing nothing to improve Colorado’s business climate, economy, or quality of life. As a result, business leaders in Colorado were major proponents of suspending the law.
At
Keystone Politics of Pennsylvania,
Jon Geeting writes—
#PA161: Leanne Krueger-Braneky Win Takes Veto Override Off the Table:
Former Sustainable Business Network executive director Leanne Krueger-Braneky’s impressive victory over Paul Mullen last night on Republican turf in the 161st District special election sends a clear signal that Delaware County voters are unhappy with their Republican state representatives’ behavior during the PA budget standoff.
They want the suburban Republicans to support Tom Wolf’s legislative priorities, which they ran on. In 2014, Republicans did everything they could to communicate their support for a liberal agenda, doing everything from leaving their party affiliation off their mailers, supporting a severance tax on natural gas, and promising to restore the 2011-2014 Republican cuts to education.
Many Democratic voters split their tickets to vote for those Republicans, believing their campaign promises, and now those representatives are failing to deliver. Once in office, they did a 180 on the voters, and have been putting partisan politics ahead of the campaign promises they made.
Republican Paul Mullen ran the exact same play from that playbook in the special election in the 161st, trying to repeat the trick his colleagues played.
Voters weren’t buying it though. They are tired of fake liberal Republicans saying one thing on the campaign trail, and then not doing it in office.
At
RIFuture.org,
Steve Ahlquist writes—
Rhode Island needs to invest in Green Jobs, not fracking:
Listening to Robert Pollin speak, I could not help but think about the backwards, corporatist thinking that has lead Governor Gina Raimondo to conclude that building a natural gas energy plant in Burrillville is the right move for Rhode Island. Pollin is professor of economics at UMass Amherst and one of Foreign Policy magazines, “100 Leading Global Thinkers for 2013.” He was delivering the plenary (along with Emily Kawano, who I will get to in a future piece) at the Center for Popular Economics‘ 2015 Summer Institute Northhampton MA.
“Fracking is disastrous,” says Pollin, “burning natural gas means we will never hit the goal” necessary to avert global climate catastrophe. On the other hand, “Building a Green Economy is good for jobs.”
Green jobs create more jobs per dollar invested than other types of energy jobs. Green jobs are are better “in every country, without exception.” Pollin says he’s done the research and has the data to prove his point. He traveled recently to Spain, with its 23 percent unemployment, where he consulted with the leftist party Podemos. Spain generates 50 percent of its electricity through wind power, but the ruling right wing party, under austerity, has cut subsidies to renewable energy in favor of importing more fossil fuels.
At
Juanita Jean's,
Juanita Jean writes—
Must Have Been the Cross Between Her Boobs:
Williamson County, Texas, is about as rightwing nut country as it gets.
Williamson County District Attorney Jana Duty is one of those gun toting, law and order people. Just so long the law doesn’t apply to her.
Judge Rick Mckinnon, overseeing a capital murder case, slapped a gag order on all the attorneys involved. Duty thought he meant all the attorneys except her, so she shot her mouth off.
… Duty emailed the Austin American-Statesman to respond to an article reporting on a defense motion that claimed Duty withheld evidence in the case. The May 6 article quoted Duty’s email.
The next day, Kennon emailed all the attorneys to tell them to come to court on May 8. Duty did not attend the hearing. She explained in an email later that day that she felt Kennon had disrespected her by not telling the reason for the hearing and that she would not show respect for the judge by attending it.
Well, ain’t she special? In case you don’t know, when a judge says jump and you have a question about it, you better ask that question on your way up.
A visiting judge found her in contempt of court.
Judge Doug Shaver found that Duty “intentionally, knowingly and wilfully” acted to violate a gag order, failed to appear in court and disrespected the court with a response email that made “veiled threats."
Way to go, Republicans.