Fighting disinformation, seeking climate legislation, phone banking for Ohio, and more!
Contact all members of Congress:
- By phone: (202) 224-3121
- By email: democracy.io
- By US mail: Representatives / Senators
- By fax: Representatives / Senators
- By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
- FIGHTING DISINFORMATIONDisinformation has become a national crisis. There is a big difference between silencing conservative views and allowing disinformation. Now there has been a court ruling that will stymie the government’s ability to “address false and misleading claims about COVID, vaccines, voting, and other issues that could undermine public health and erode confidence in election results.” “In a new report on strategies by local journalists, community leaders and organizers to defend against the spread of disinformation to multiple groups . . . PEN America found that when cultural and community contexts are ignored, people inadvertently turn to less credible information, and that investing in trusted messengers can hold falsehoods at bay.” We can read an executive summary, and access the full report, here and we can learn from the Union of Concerned Scientists what we can do about disinformation.
- FARM BILL FOR CLIMATE LEGISLATIONThe 2023 Farm Bill is our last big opportunity for federal climate legislation in the foreseeable future. The U.S. will spend $648 billion on farm subsidies, loans, and more, compared with $369 billion on energy and climate change in the Inflation Reduction Act. What’s more, bipartisan passage of the Farm Bill is virtually guaranteed. But the specific provisions that may help or harm the planet are hotly contested. So the folks at Climate Action Now are holding an Action Party! Their panel of Farm Bill experts will comment on the actions they have queued up for participants. They’ll unpack why these are the actions that can have the greatest impact and why it is critical for all of us to advocate for them. Help turn the Farm Bill into a watershed legislative victory for farmers AND the climate. Date: Thursday, July 13, 2023, Time: 4:00 pm PT / 7:00 pm ET. Location: Zoom, registration required. (h/t Chop Wood Carry Water)
- UYGHUR GENOCIDE IS NO LAUGHING MATTER
While folks across the political spectrum gleefully mocked GOP presidential candidate and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’ gaffe admission that he did not know who the Uyghurs are, the continued genocide of this oppressed population is no laughing matter: recent testimony before the House documented the forced sterilizations, torture and brainwashing this ethnic Muslim group faces. Members of Congress have proposed concrete action to support them in the face of these abuses, such as the Uyghur Human Rights Protection Act to provide them priority refugee status and expedited asylum applications, and the Uyghur Genocide Accountability and Sanctions Act, which put travel restrictions on officials linked to genocide, authorize funding for organizations documenting human rights abuses, counteract pro-genocide propaganda and require businesses to disclose links to forced Uyghur labor to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Let’s let our members of Congress know we want to see real progress on these bills. We can also sign this petition from Freedom United urging Urban Outfitters to make a serious commitment to getting Uyghur forced labor out of its supply change.
- VOLUNTEER TO PHONEBANK FOR DEMOCRACY, REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS IN OHIO
Pro-choice activists needed to gather 413,487 valid signatures to get a reproductive rights measure on the ballot in November in Ohio. They just submitted more than 700,000! The stage is set for two huge votes over the next four months – first to protect the initiative process in August, and then to block all abortion bans in the fall. Let’s do our part to help turn out voters. We can sign up here to help Ohio defeat Issue 1 in August, and here to make calls with Protect Choice Ohio.
- APPOINT MORE LGBTQ+ JUDGESAccording to a report from Lambda Legal, LGBTQ+ people represent approximately 5% of the population, but only 1.6% of the judiciary. Furthermore, there are many states with no LGBTQ+ judges and there are no trans or non-binary judges or LGBTQ+ judges of color anywhere. Let’s tell the White House they must do better in nominating judges that truly mirror our population demographics throughout the country, especially as states continue to pass anti-trans and LGBTQ+ legislation and one-third of Trump’s judicial appointments having a proven anti-LGBTQ+ history.
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