Progressives have become used to being ignored and shoved aside by centrist Democrats, in a pattern that has been going on since at least 1993. Progressives got no respect, and little influence under the centrist Clinton and Obama administrations, and now that pattern seems to be continuing under Biden.
BY EWAN PALMER
Climate change activists chained themselves to the gates of the White House on Wednesday in protest of proposed oil pipelines.
Protesters from several campaign groups used kayaks and their bodies to block the entrances to into the building, pictures shared to social media showed.
Those involved are against plans to build the Line 3 pipeline, which would export hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil from Alberta in Canada through Minnesota to Wisconsin, while crossing Indigenous land, as well as the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a natural gas pipeline from southern Virginia to northwestern West Virginia.
Protesters are also demanding climate infrastructure deals.
StopDC, one of the groups involved in the protest, tweeted: "Big picture: 5 separate groups totaling ~150 people are at the White House this morning telling @POTUS he needs to stand with people, not polluters and that we need a climate justice infrastructure deal. We won't accept anything else.
"This message is brought to @potus by indigenous people who traveled from Minnesota, Alaska, etc. as well as by us here in DC. With deadly heat waves and floods all over the country & world, the time for talk and compromise is over."
Biden’s new EPA head Michael Regan did his best to spin Biden’s retreat as “a historic investment”.
Environmental Protection Agency head Michael Regan on Wednesday defended the climate and environmental provisions of the bipartisan infrastructure in response to activists who have accused the Biden administration of cowardice on the issue.
“This is a historic investment, this is the largest investment in American history, both on water infrastructure but we also see some strong” Regan said at a White House press briefing. “It’s a first critical step, but the president is holding tight to his vision and the president is looking closely at all the suite of options he has.”
Protesters affiliated with the progressive environmental group Sunrise Movement gathered outside the White House on Monday bearing signs reading “Biden you coward fight for us” and “no climate no deal.” Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) both spoke at the demonstration.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reiterated the importance of establishing a Civilian Climate Corps, which Biden has dropped from his “bipartisan” Infrastructure Package.
However, the bipartisan agreement reduces the original American Jobs Plan’s investment in resilience by about $3 billion and cuts about $27 billion less for transmission lines and grid centralization.
At a rally at the White House on Monday, hundreds of young activists demanded that President Biden take a bold stance on climate change.
By Aída Chávez
”We don’t know what the House and the presidency and the Senate is going to look like in 2022 or 2024,” New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said to hundreds of young Sunrise Movement activists gathered in front of the White House on Monday. “What we know is that we’ve got an opening to tackle climate.”
The crowd had convened to demand that President Joe Biden pursue a bolder infrastructure package to address the climate crisis. Progressive House Democrats Jamaal Bowman and Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Cori Bush of Missouri spoke at the protest, calling for more climate policies, including a fully funded Civilian Climate Corps, to be included in the infrastructure proposal.
President Biden shouldn’t throw progressives and greens under the bus to please Republicans. Especially at a time when the gravity of our planetary predicament is just coming into a frightening focus.
Biden Admn. stiffs Tribes, backs up Trump approval of Line Three Pipeline for importing Tar Sands
President Biden should consider declaring a Climate Emergency
Cal Rep asks Sec Haaland to take message to Biden: "the Necessity of Declaring a Climate Emergency"
How can Democrats in congress support a $706 billion on Pentagon spending bill, while slashing green infrastructure?
We can’t put off taking this existential threat seriously any longer. In between comments I’ve been up a tall ladder with a chainsaw, creating more defensible space around my home, because of the radically increased threat of wildfires. I have to take climate change seriously. Now if our Federal Government would just take it as seriously as I do.
UPDATE:
Governor Kate Brown Declares State of Emergency Due to Imminent Threat of Wildfire
The local wealthier map shows a whole line of new lighting set wildfires across eastern British Columbia. So we can expect a drastic decline in my region's air quality soon. Smokey Summers are our new normal as the forests of the West burn.