Standing with immigrants, victory on methane gas exports, voter registration drives, and more!
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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:
- CLARIFICATION ON FRIDAY’S POST ON IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION
While we agree on the need for immigration reform and calling out Republicans for being hypocritical on refusing to address the issue in order to have more to campaign on, we need to be mindful that many reputable national immigration justice and refugee rights organizations such as Welcome With Dignity, HIAS, the ACLU, the American Immigration Council, and the Church World Service oppose many of the provisions in the deal currently being negotiated in the Senate. While more funding for fentanyl detection and resolving asylum cases more quickly are reasonable ways to manage the border, other elements of the bill are likely to include raising the standards for asylum eligibility, disallowing applications from anyone who passes through a so-called “safe” third country, and nationwide fast-track expedited removal, which can also separate families who have lived in the U.S., paid taxes, and contributed to their communities for years. Let’s make sure to educate ourselves about this bill by reading the concerns raised by these groups, and then make it clear when speaking to our MoCs that we are against any deal that would make it harder for vulnerable families to get asylum or stay together in this country. - KUDOS FOR PAUSING LIQUEFIED METHANE GAS PRODUCTSThe US is the largest exporter of liquefied methane gas, also referred to as liquefied “natural” gas, and has a ready market abroad. Due to pressure from conservation supporters, Biden paused approvals for pending and future applications to export liquefied methane gas from new projects. During this pause, a review process that can take several months will be undertaken and then changes will be open for public comment. Let’s thank President Biden for this move that takes climate change seriously, especially the need to phase out fossil fuels such as oil and gas.
- SUPPORT RAPE VICTIMS IN STATES WITH ABORTION BANS
New research from the American Medical Association reveals that since Roe v. Wade was overturned, there were more than 500,000 rapes and 65,000 rape-related pregnancies in 14 states that have banned abortions. Many of these bans did not include exceptions for rape, or only included rape exceptions if the rape was reported to authorities, something many women choose not to do in order to not go through an additional dehumanizing ordeal – as Jessica Valentiexplains, “abortion exceptions don’t exist.” Let’s familiarize ourselves with this article in Ms. Magazine, which lists options for these and other pregnant women facing abortion bans. And let’s use the facts in this study along with stories of women whose lives have been upended and whose health has been threatened because of this issue to influence our friends and family when discussing who to vote for in the 2024 election.
- HELP REGISTER TEEN VOTERS – EVENT SUNDAYThe national youth voter turnout in the 2022 election was 23%. That’s lower than in the historic 2018 midterms (28%), which broke records for turnout, but much higher than in 2014 when only 13% of youth voted. It is important to help get young people registered to vote. High school students are a good target for registering new voters. Red Wine and Blue is co-sponsoring “High School Voter Registration Training – For Teens and Those Who Know Them Best”. Let’s sign up for this virtual event to be held Sunday, February 4, 2024 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET and learn how we can help get these young people registered to vote.
- GIVE RIDES TO THE POLLSRideShare2Vote is an organization that enlists volunteers to give rides to the polls. Their 2024 target states are AL, AZ, CO, FL, GA, KY, NH, NM, NV, NC, OH, PA, TN, TX, VA, and WI. Let’s get involved by registering for an event on their action page, and/or consider applying to volunteer. If we need a ride to the polls, we can schedule one here.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
- MA – ADVOCATE FOR STATE ENVIRONMENTAL & CLIMATE BILLSThe environmental groups 350 Mass, ZeroCarbonMA, and Lexington Climate Action Network have compiled a list of top priority environmental and climate bills pending in the state legislature. Let’s tell our state legislators to co-sponsor these bills and see them through to passage:
- Environmental Justice
- H.2131 and S.1382 , Improve outdoor and indoor air quality for communities burdened by pollution—mandates reducing pollution especially in environmental justice communities
- H.3187and S.2113, Energy facilities siting improvement to address environmental justice, climate, and public health—gives communities greater say over energy facility siting with a focus on environmental justice and public health
- Buildings
- H.3232 and S.2365, Establishing a zero carbon renovation fund—allocate $250 million or more of ARPA funds or other funds to create a Zero Carbon Renovation Fund
- Section 84 of Chapter 179 of the Acts of 2022, Expanding access to fossil fuel-free demonstration project—Lexington is already included in this project. This bill would allow any community to opt-in to this municipal building electrification demonstration project.
- H.2894 and S.1799, Providing for climate change adaptation infrastructure and affordable housing investments—raises revenue through the Deeds Excise Tax for affordable housing, housing vouchers and rental assistance for extremely low-income families and for climate resiliency and mitigation
- H.3203 and S.2105, Future of clean heat in the Commonwealth—transition off of gas and onto sources of non-combusting renewable thermal energy
- S.2082, Establish a clean heating initiative in the Commonwealth and reorganize the energy efficiency programs known as MassSave
- Transportation
- Forests
- Plastics/Waste Reduction
- S.2104 and H.3690, Expand the bottle bill–increase deposit to 10 cents and include a wider array of beverages in the program; incentivize beverage distributors to shift from single-use containers to washable, refillable ones
- S.477 and H.784, Plastic bag reduction
- H.3701, Chemical recycling—prohibit using plastics as fuel
- Environmental Justice
AND FINALLY, SOME GOOD NEWS
- LAST WEEK’S WINSIt may not always feel like it, but our work is making a difference every day. Our friend Jessica Craven at Chop Wood, Carry Wateroutlines a few ways how in her run-down of last week’s victories, including a tentative deal to raise wages for striking faculty at Cal State, Dayton using infrastructure bill dollars to get forever chemicals out of our drinking water, and all sorts of positive developments for EVs.