Reform

What Makes Illinois’ Marijuana Legalization Bill So Progressive

June 4, 2019 By Ramenda Cyrus, Inthesetimes.com Educate! Illinois, Legalization, Marijuana, Reform

On May 31, the Illinois House of Representatives passed what is perhaps the most progressive recreational marijuana usage bill in the United States, by a margin of 66-47. The bill passed in the Senate on Wednesday by a margin of 38-17. Governor J.B. Pritzker is expected to sign the bill immediately, which would make the recreational use of marijuana legal in Illinois as soon as January 2020, and would also make Illinois the first state to pass recreational marijuana legalization through a proposed bill rather than a ballot initiative.

A ‘Green New Deal’ Needs To Be Global, Not Local

June 3, 2019 Andrew Taylora and Harpreet Kaur Paul, Opendemocracy.net Create! Climate Change, Green New Deal, Reform

In the US and the UK, the Green New Deal movement has galvanised hope for transitioning to the more equitable zero carbon world we so desperately need to address poverty and keep global average temperatures to below 1.5°C. But there has also been criticism of an apparent initial focus on jobs in “every town and city across the UK”, rather than on transformational justice globally. The challenge for Green New Deal advocates is to recognise the historical roots of the climate crisis, and avoid being the PR face of ongoing climate colonialism.

6(1)a All The Way! Equality For Indigenous Women

May 28, 2019 Judy Rebick, Rabble.ca Organize! Equality, Indigenous Women, Reform, Sexism

If you thought that Indigenous women won equal rights to Indigenous men under the Indian Act in 1985 when Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into force, you'd be wrong. You might be aware of the Mohawk activist Mary Two-Axe Early who, in 1967, founded Indian Rights for Indian Women and worked with the National Action Committee on the Status of Women in support of ending discrimination under the Indian Act. Or perhaps you remember Jeannette Corbiere Lavell and Yvonne Bedard, two Indigenous women whose Bill of Rights discrimination claim over the Indian Act was rejected by the Supreme Court of Canada in a split vote in 1979.

One Million Protest In Brazil Against Education Budget Cuts And Pension Reform

May 25, 2019 Emilly Dulce, Igor Carvalho and Luciana Console, Brasildefato.com.br Resist! Brazil, Budgets, Education, Protests, Reform

Hundreds of thousands of school and university students, teachers, professors, and staff took to the streets on Wednesday, May 15, all over Brazil to protest against the education budget cuts announced by the government. According to Brazil’s National Confederation of Workers in Education (CNTE), more than one million people took part in the demonstrations. Based on reports from all over the country, Brasil de Fato estimates that there were protests in more than 180 cities. On Apr. 30, Brazil’s Education minister, Abraham Weintraub, announced budget cuts for all levels of public education.

Nationwide Protests And State Boycotts Planned Amid Wave Of GOP Attacks On Abortion Rights

May 22, 2019 By Jessica Corbett, Commondreams.org Resist! Abortion, Protests, Reform, Reproductive Rights

"They're coming for women. They're coming for doctors. They're coming for Roe. But we're the majority—and we're NOT going back." Supporters of reproductive rights are fighting back against Republican politicians' latest wave of attacks on abortion rights by organizing nationwide protests and boycotts of states that have passed restrictive laws to challenge the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling. "[Republican legislators] all know that these laws will never go into effect as they are written; their express goal is for them to be challenged in the courts, land in the conservative-held Supreme Court, and serve as the catalyst for a complete ban on abortions in America."

U.S. Thousands Of Rights Advocates Against Alabama Abortion Law

May 20, 2019 Staff, Telesurenglish.net Resist! Abortion, Alabama, Reform

Abortion rights activists in Mobile, Alabama carried posters and chanted slogans on Sunday against the state's new law that bans nearly all abortions in the state, even in cases of rape and incest. Chanting "we've only just begun" demonstrators said the law put the lives of women in danger and refused them the right to control their own bodies. Women's reproductive rights defenders gathered in the capital, Montgomery, and in Birmingham, Anniston and Huntsville, to denounce the "Alabama Human Life Protection Act," or HB314, which virtually outlaws terminations.

Texas State Bill Would Make Protesting Pipelines A Felony On Par With Attempted Murder

May 20, 2019 By Eoin Higgins, Commondreams.org Educate! Pipelines, Reform, Repression, Texas

A bill making its way through the Texas legislature would make protesting pipelines a third-degree felony, the same as attempted murder. "It's an anti-protest bill, favoring the fossil fuel industry, favoring corporations over people." — Frankie Orona, executive director of the Society of Native Nations H.B. 3557, which is under consideration in the state Senate after passing the state House earlier this month, ups penalties for interfering in energy infrastructure construction by making the protests a felony. Sentences would range from two to 10 years.

Climate Policy Foes Seize On New White House Rule To Challenge Endangerment Finding

May 15, 2019 Marianne Lavelle, Insideclimatenews.org Resist! Climate Change, Reform

Seizing a new opportunity they believe has been opened up by the White House, hard-line foes of climate action on Monday once again asked the Trump Administration to reverse the landmark Obama-era finding that greenhouse gases are a danger to human health and the environment. The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), a conservative Washington, D.C., think tank and steadfast ally of the fossil fuel industry, filed a petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), seeking to block the agency from continuing to use the so-called "endangerment finding" adopted by the agency in 2009 as a basis for policymaking.

Washington Commits To 100% Clean Energy And Other States May Follow Suit

May 9, 2019 Phil McKenna, Insideclimatenews.org Create! Clean Energy, Climate Change, greenhouse gases, Reform

In the absence of federal action on climate change, more states are setting ambitious targets to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Washington became the latest on Tuesday when Gov. Jay Inslee signed a law requiring that 100 percent of the state's electricity come from clean energy sources by 2045. Washington is now the fifth state or territory—following Hawaii, California, New Mexico and Puerto Rico—to commit to 100 percent clean electricity, and at least six other states are considering similar legislation.

How Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly Helped Climate Action

May 7, 2019 By Frances Foley, Resilience.org Organize! Climate Change, Extinction Rebellion, Ireland, Reform, United Kingdom (UK)

In July 2016, the new government – led by Fine Gael, backed by independents – put forward a bill to establish a national-level Citizens’ Assembly to look at the biggest issues of the day. These included the challenges of an ageing population; the role fixed-term parliaments; referendums; the 8th Amendment on abortion; and climate change. Citizens from every region, every socio-economic background, each ethnicity and age group and from right across the spectrum of political opinion convened over the course of two weekends between September and November 2017.

Why Now Is The Time To Connect The Pipeline Fights

May 7, 2019 George Lakey and Judy Wicks, Wagingnonviolence.org Strategize! Climate Change, Green New Deal, Pipelines, Reform

A remarkable chance exists right now to accelerate the climate justice movement. President Trump is moving to speed up pipeline construction just as the public is waking up to the need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. This is exactly the moment to move pipeline fights to a new level, by meeting the need for networking. One of the authors of this article, George Lakey, encountered this need while touring the country for his new book “How We Win.” He found people active in their local fight to stop an oil or gas pipeline and asked how they connect with other campaigns.

Single-Payer Advocate Ady Barkan Shines At Historic ‘Medicare For All’ Hearing

May 2, 2019 Matt Fuller and Jeffrey Young, Huffpost.com Create! Health Care, Medicare for all, Reform, Single-Payer

Above Photo: GABRIEL OLSEN VIA GETTY IMAGES. Ady Barkan (center) attends the Los Angeles Supports a Dream Act Now! protest with actress

Movement To Build National Support For Green New Deal Starts In Boston, ‘City Of Revolutions’

April 27, 2019 By Zach Roberts, Desmogblog.com Create! Boston, Green New Deal, Reform

The past two years, 2017 and 2018, brought the U.S. two major youth-led movements. The first was borne out of the March for Our Lives, which saw hundreds of thousands rallying for gun violence prevention in D.C. and across the country. The second was the Sunrise Movement. While founded in 2017, the Sunrise Movement came to prominence in late 2018 with its news-grabbing protests demanding climate action on Capitol Hill. But rather than railing against Congress’s many climate science deniers, this environmental group gained attention with a sit-in of the office of Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, where dozens of youth, joined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called for a Green New Deal to rise to the challenge of climate change.

Macron Offers Tax Cut To French Workers To Quell Anger

April 26, 2019 Sylvie Corbet and Lori Hinnant, Truthdig.com Resist! Class Struggle, France, Reform, Workers

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron announced tax cuts for middle-class workers and plans for a more representative parliament Thursday as part of a promised response to the weekly yellow vest protests that damaged his presidency. In a nationally televised speech followed up by a news conference, the French leader also said France and Europe must do more to fight illegal migration. Macron spoke to the nation from the presidential Elysée Palace after he convened nationwide meetings where communities could debate how to address economic concerns raised by the yellow vest movement...

“Our Voices Won’t Be Silenced”: Fighting The SD ‘Riot-Boosting’ Act And The Keystone XL Pipeline

April 22, 2019 Nick Tilsen, Ndncollective.org Resist! Pipelines, Reform, Repression

We believe in and act upon the notion that people, nature, society and all living things are interconnected, in relation to one another, and operate as a system. Our Indigenous cultures have taught us through our languages, stories and life ways that our identity and very existence is directly connected to the land. First proposed in 2008, the 1,200-mile Keystone XL Pipeline would carry as much as 830,000 barrels of heavy crude oil per day from the Alberta, Canada, oil sands through South Dakota to Steele City, Neb., en route to Gulf Coast refineries. Though the proposed pipeline route does not go through federally recognized reservations in South Dakota, should there be an oil spill, it has the potential to seriously affect our land, our water, our environment and future generations.

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