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Rio Ferdinand thinks that Man Utd boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will choose to play Paul Pogba in a “holding role” this season to accomodate Bruno Fernandes and Donny van de Beek.
Van de Beek – who arrived from Ajax for around £40m – is the Red Devils only new signing this summer with their pursuit of top target Jadon Sancho reportedly reaching an impasse.
There is speculation as to what the Man Utd midfield will look like for their first Premier League match against Crystal Palace next Saturday, with the likes of Nemanja Matic, Scott McTominay and Fred still part of Solskjaer’s squad.
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On how he sees the Man Utd midfield lining up this season, Ferdinand told BBC Radio Five Live: “Well that is the big question, I think.
“Listen, if you say you’re going to play your best players in that midfield and you’re going to play three, then you’d say Paul Pogba playing in the holding role and Fernandes and Van de Beek being the guys that are playing around that, a bit more free and able to move around and create.
“Is that Paul Pogba’s best position? I would argue not. But you have to look at what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to do. Does he want his best players on the pitch or is he talking about players fitting in a system?
“I think that’s the intriguing part for me going into the season from Man United’s perspective in terms of the signing that they made, that player.
“Is he just going to be named as one of the best players in the team and he’s going to play, or are we going to say we want the system for the players to fit into.
“It’ a big call and that remains to be seen, but I still think Manchester United will have some sort of movement and there will be additions in this squad going into the season, if not the first week the second or third.”
On whether Van de Beek improves the squad, Ferdinand added: “I think that remains to be seen. I think we have to wait and see, give it a bit of time.
“I think all new signings need time normally, Bruno Fernandes last season was probably an exception. But I had a good look at Van de Beek when he was playing for Ajax in the Champions League – not last season, the season before especially, when Spurs got the final and Spurs beat them.
“But on that run I thought he was very, very good. He impressed me no end and I think he showed some qualities that will be a great addition to the Man United squad.
“Is he the position that I thought Man United needed desperately? I would say no. But we still have three weeks left in the window so we’ll see.”
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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has apologised to Sir Alex Ferguson for waking him in the early hours and admits contact between him and the former Manchester United boss is rare – especially now they are Premier League champions.
Ferguson sent a congratulatory message to the German when the Reds’ 30-year wait for the league title was ended in June following Manchester City’s defeat at Chelsea.
By the time the celebrations at the team hotel had subsided and Klopp had returned to his room it was only a couple of hours before dawn and the Liverpool boss did not anticipate the 78-year-old Scot would still have his phone by his bedside when he sent his response.
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“The problem was that I came back late in my room that night and I couldn’t sleep immediately so I went through the messages I got and one of them was from Alex Ferguson,” he said.
“I just replied in a very polite way I think. It was about 3.30am-4am and I didn’t expect him to have his phone next to his bed. I didn’t want to wake him up. If that happened then sorry Alex!
“But since then we have not been in contact. He is still the former Man United manager and I don’t think he wants to talk to me too much about the success of Liverpool.
“He respects it but it’s not his favourite thing to watch on television!”
Liverpool begin the defence of their title at home to newcomers Leeds, themselves back in the Premier League after a 16-year absence.
Despite having sated the desire for a long-awaited title Klopp has no intention of allowing his players to take their eye off the ball heading into the new campaign.
“I know Marcelo (Bielsa) said Anfield is not Anfield without supporters and he is right, in one way, but it is still Anfield, by the way. It is our home and we are Liverpool,” he added.
“That should not sound like a threat, but they did not play us very often before and it should feel different for them as well.
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“We are ready to work hard and make life more uncomfortable for them than any team last year could against them. If we do not we will suffer.
“It is the first game of the season and it sounds like it is a big advantage for Leeds because they waited so long for the Premier League
“Now everything is new and they are fighting for everything and we are champions, leaning back (motioning puffing on a cigar) and we all look at what Leeds are doing.
“We were not doing this and for as long as I breathe we will not be like this. It must be the most intense game Leeds ever had, otherwise we will have more problems than I want to have.”
Liverpool are reportedly monitoring Borussia Dortmund’s midfield wonderkid Giovanni Reyna, ahead of a future transfer.
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The 17-year-old is a promising young player who has already featured in the first team 18 times since his debut.
He’s tipped as a future star alongside fellow wonderkids Jadon Sancho and Erling Haaland.
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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who has strong ties with Dortmund after his spell managing there, is a big fan of Reyna according to the Mirror.
The reigning Premier League champions are thought to have scouted Reyna on multiple occasions to get a feel for his development.
Reyna is versatile and can play either as an attacking midfielder or as a left winger.
The American already has links with England. He was born there whilst his father, former Man City and Rangers forward Claudio Reyna, was playing for Sunderland.
A transfer could materialise in the future if Liverpool are impressed with the player’s development. He’s currently at one of the best clubs in the world for developing young players and is getting decent game time.
A transfer during this window is unlikely as Dortmund plan to use Reyna in the upcoming Bundesliga season. They will chase down champions Bayern Munich after finishing second place last campaign.
Reyna is part of an exciting wave of players to play for the United States national team.
Chelsea forward Christian Pulisic is currently spearheading the wave, having already become the most expensive American player ever. He moved to London after breaking into the first team with Dortmund, too.
Liverpool have so far been fairly quiet during this transfer window. Their only addition is Greek left back Kostas Tsimikas, who joined for a reported £11.75 million fee from Olympiacos.
Liverpool are also thought to be interested in Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria.
The editorial board for The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, a newspaper in Vermont, is urging Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersThe Hill’s 12:30 Report: Milley apologizes for church photo-op Harris grapples with defund the police movement amid veep talk Biden courts younger voters — who have been a weakness MORE (I-Vt.) not to run for president in 2020.
“Bernie Sanders should not run for president. In fact, we beg him not to,” the editorial board begins in a piece published on Saturday.
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The editorial board, which endorsed Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016, goes on to say that they have more reasons to be concerned than excited about another Sanders run for the White House. It writes about its fears that a Sanders run for president could divide “the well-fractured Democratic Party, and could lead to another split in the 2020 presidential vote.”
“There is too much at stake to take that gamble,” the board continues. “If we are going to maintain a two-party system, the mandate needs to be a clear one. There is strength in numbers, and if anything has been shown in recent years, it is that unless tallies are overwhelming, there can always be questions or challenges raised over what ‘vote totals’ really mean: popular vote vs. Electoral College results.
“For us, this comes down to principle over ego. It is one thing to start a revolution, but at a certain point you need to know when to step out of the way and let others carry the water for you.”
The board adds that Sanders has developed a loyal following because of certain progressive policies he’s championed. But it says that Sanders has become “exhausting” as a candidate and that his personality is “abrasive.”
“He can be dismissive and rude in his arrogance. You are either with Bernie Sanders or you are not,” the board writes, before charging that his “no-nonsense approach” is comparable to President TrumpDonald John TrumpSenate advances public lands bill in late-night vote Warren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases Esper orders ‘After Action Review’ of National Guard’s role in protests MORE’s.
The board notes that “all signs point to another run, even with accusations” that aides working on his last presidential campaign experienced sexism and harassment in 2016.
Sanders, who was a tough challenger to Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary, said last week that he was unaware of the accusations at the time.
Sanders is one of many high-profile politicians considering a run for president in 2020. Former Vice President Joe Biden, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have all floated the idea of running, while Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenWarren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op | GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op | Senate panel approves 0B defense policy bill Trump on collision course with Congress over bases with Confederate names MORE (D-Mass.) announced the formation of an exploratory committee last week.
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Sanders and Biden are considered the top Democratic choices to run for president, according to a poll of likely Iowa caucus goers released in December.
Updated at 8:53 p.m.
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Sen. Kamala HarrisKamala Devi HarrisRand Paul introduces bill to end no-knock warrants The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook McEnany says Juneteenth is a very ‘meaningful’ day to Trump MORE (D-Calif.) will formally announce her bid for the White House on or around Martin Luther King Jr. Day, sources told KCBS Radio, a station in her home state of California.
The sources said she would “probably” make the announcement at a rally in Oakland, the radio station added.
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A spokesperson for Harris told The Hill, however, that no announcement is imminent and Harris will not be in Oakland during the holiday weekend.
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Harris has long been considered a possible front-runner for the 2020 Democratic nomination, and speculation that she would enter the race continued to mount this week when she launched a book tour and media blitz to promote her memoir that was published Tuesday.
The KCBS Radio report comes after Harris told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Wednesday that she will soon make a decision on whether to run in 2020.
During the CNN appearance, Harris said she thinks the U.S. is ready for a woman of color to be president.
“We have to give the American people more credit, and we have to understand that the American public and the people of our country are smart people who will make decisions about who will be their leader based on who they believe is capable, who they believe has an honest desire to lead, to represent, to see them, to be a voice for them even if they have no power,” Harris said in the appearance.
Harris last month said that she planned to decide whether to run “over the holiday.”
“It will ultimately be a family decision,” she said at the time. “And over the holiday, I will make that decision with my family.”
If Harris is the next major candidate to announce a bid, she would join Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth WarrenWarren, Democrats urge Trump to back down from veto threat over changing Confederate-named bases OVERNIGHT DEFENSE: Joint Chiefs chairman says he regrets participating in Trump photo-op | GOP senators back Joint Chiefs chairman who voiced regret over Trump photo-op | Senate panel approves 0B defense policy bill Trump on collision course with Congress over bases with Confederate names MORE (D-Mass.) as the major Democratic names to have thrown their hats in the ring.
Warren last month announced an exploratory committee for a presidential bid.
Other possible high-profile Democratic candidates include Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), as well as former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenHillicon Valley: Biden calls on Facebook to change political speech rules | Dems demand hearings after Georgia election chaos | Microsoft stops selling facial recognition tech to police Trump finalizing executive order calling on police to use ‘force with compassion’ The Hill’s Campaign Report: Biden campaign goes on offensive against Facebook MORE and former Rep. Beto O’RourkeBeto O’RourkeBiden will help close out Texas Democrats’ virtual convention: report O’Rourke on Texas reopening: ‘Dangerous, dumb and weak’ Parties gear up for battle over Texas state House MORE (D-Texas).
Reid Wilson contributed to this report, which was updated at 9:03 a.m.
Facebook was hit with a $5 billion fine and oversight requirements Wednesday, a move that was seen as an insufficient punishment and a worrying indicator of the future of tech regulation by the social media giant’s critics.
The FTC’s ruling (pdf) was along party lines, with the commission’s three Republicans voting in favor and the two Democrats voting against.
“I fear it leaves the American public vulnerable,” said Democratic commissioner Rebecca Slaughter.
In his dissent, Slaughter’s fellow Democrat Rohit Chopra said he was concerned about the future enforcement efforts of the commission in light of the ruling.
“When companies can violate the law, pay big penalties, and still turn a profit while keeping their business model intact, enforcement agencies cannot claim victory,” wrote Chopra.
The company’s “past privacy scandals,” as described by The Washington Post, could have resulted in stricter oversight regulations and higher fines, but, the paper said, “the FTC stopped short of some even tougher punishments it initially had in mind.”
Those punishments, the Post reported, included:
The $5 billion fine, which was approved on July 12, represents roughly three months of the tech giant’s profit earnings. As Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pointed out, Facebook made that much on the stock market less than an hour after the fine was announced, rendering it almost meaningless.
“Let’s be honest: this settlement is a victory for Facebook,” Warren said in a July 12 tweet. “Just look to the markets. In the first 15 minutes after the settlement was reported, Facebook’s market value went up by more than $5 billion.”
“Far more serious consequences are needed to curb the tech industry’s behavior and its amoral pursuit of growth at our expense.”
—Gaurav Laroia, Free Press
The details of the settlement reportedly shield Facebook from admitting guilt for its behavior, ensuring the company is protected from future legal liability. The ruling led to a “denunciation” of the FTC from the Open Markets Institute, which, in a statement, called for congressional action against the commission.
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“Open Markets reiterates its call for Congress to investigate the FTC’s failure to police our markets and enforce the law,” the organization said. “Congress should no longer tolerate the FTC’s failures as an enforcer to protect our democracy, which have led to its crisis of legitimacy.”
Other critics also weighed in.
“Protecting Facebook users’ privacy requires structural change, substantive policies, and impositions of liability to end Facebook’s improper and unprecedented corporate surveillance system,” Public Citizen president Robert Weissman said in a statement.
“The FTC settlement fails to deliver on those measures,” Weissman continued. “It enables Facebook to escape genuine accountability for what it has done and leaves it likely that the company will betray its users yet again.”
Free Press policy counsel Gaurav Laroia dismissed the fine and oversight as immaterial to the company’s bottom line.
“The FTC’s $5 billion fine is unlikely to change the company’s behavior,” Laroia said in a statement. “It represents just one month’s worth of earnings for Facebook and is a tiny fraction of the company’s growth in revenue since it entered into a consent decree with the agency in 2012 for violating its users’ privacy.”
“Far more serious consequences are needed to curb the tech industry’s behavior and its amoral pursuit of growth at our expense,” Laroia added.
Curbing the tech industry’s possible wrongdoing is the ostensible goal of federal investigators at the Justice Department, which announced Tuesday that it was opening a probe into “how market-leading online platforms have achieved market power and are engaging in practices that have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers.”
The probe seeks “to assess the competitive conditions in the online marketplace in an objective and fair-minded manner and to ensure Americans have access to free markets in which companies compete on the merits to provide services that users want,” the department said.
Open Markets Institute fellow Matt Stoller, in a tweet, expressed skepticism about the announcement in light of the FTC decision.
“The DOJ announcement of an ‘investigation’ into big tech looks like cover for their poorly done FTC settlement and corrupt approval of the Sprint-T-Mobile merger,” said Stoller. “We’re in ‘show me’ not ‘tell me’ territory for these weaklings.”
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Iran increased pressure on European leaders to provide relief from crippling economic sanctions and salvage the 2015 nuclear deal with an announcement Sunday that the Middle Eastern country is set to exceed the pact’s uranium enrichment cap.
“This is not a sprint to a bomb… This is a message, not a threat.”
—Mary Kaszynski, Ploughshares Fund
The landmark nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was initially signed by Iran, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, and Russia. Since President Donald Trump violated the JCPOA and reimposed sanctions last year—eliciting global condemnation and warnings that his administration is paving a path to war—European and Iranian diplomats have been working to save the deal.
At a news conference on Sunday, Iranian officials announced the enrichment plans and said the country would continue to reduce its commitments under the JCPOA every 60 days unless the deal’s European signatories provide relief from Trump’s sanctions.
The Associated Press reported Sunday:
Abbas Araghchi, a deputy foreign minister for Iran, reportedly said that discussions are ongoing with European signatories—with ministerial-level talks planned for later this month—and that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sent a letter to E.U. foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini detailing the steps his country has taken.
Zarif—a strong proponent of deescalating U.S.-Iran tensions who played a key role in finalizing the 2015 pact—publicly addressed the enrichment decision in a pair of tweets. The foreign minister accused the Trump administration of “economic terrorism” and emphasized that the latest “remedial steps” are “reversible” if the European signatories uphold their commitments under the deal.
Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the American think tank the Quincy Institute, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that Europe has so far “shown too little creativity and too little backbone” in the joint effort so save the agreement.
“It has been far more focused on adhering to Trump’s sanctions—even though it opposes them—than on adhering to its obligations under the JCPOA. That’s not a formula that will ensure the survival of the JCPOA,” Parsi warned. “At this point, unless Europe returns to trading with Iran at pre-sanctions levels, it is difficult to see how the JCPOA can be kept alive.”
Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Reuters that with its announcement Sunday, “the Iranian government is trying to create a crisis that will force a multilateral negotiation without precipitating a war.”
Iran’s leaders have maintained for years that the country does not seek nuclear weapons. Detailing the nuclear material restrictions imposed on Iran by the JCPOA, Reuters explained:
NBC News noted that “the deal also restricted Iran from holding a stockpile of more than 300 kilograms of low enriched uranium. Iran announced on Monday, and the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed, that it has exceeded the limit on the stockpile.”
As Iran has taken recent steps to reduce its compliance with the deal to pressure European diplomats, some Western officials, political commentators, and corporate media outlets have framed the moves as Iran “dashing toward a bomb.”
In a piece published earlier this week by The Lobe Log, Win Without War communications director Ben Armbruster challenged that narrative, which he described as “reminiscent of how the mainstream U.S. media handled the Bush administration’s march to war in Iraq.”
Following Iran’s Sunday announcement, Mary Kaszynski—deputy director of policy at the Ploughshares Fund, a non-profit that supports the nuclear deal—told NBC News: “This is not a sprint to a bomb… This is a message, not a threat.”
Arms Control Association’s Daryl Kimball concurred in an interview with C-SPAN‘s “Washington Journal” program early Sunday. “They are trying to create political leverage to get the Europeans, the Chinese, the Russians—the other parties to the nuclear deal—to do more to help overcome the effects of the U.S. sanctions, which are preventing Iran from selling oil [and] engaging in financial transactions,” he said. “It’s our assessment that this is not an Iranian effort to race for the bomb. This is an effort to create political leverage.”
The U.K., German, and French governments responded Sunday by calling on Iran to reverse its recent moves. According to the AP:
Responding to the enrichment announcement on Twitter Sunday, Pompeo perpetuated the narrative that Iran seeks nuclear weaponry. “Iran’s latest expansion of its nuclear program will lead to further isolation and sanctions,” he wrote. “Nations should restore the longstanding standard of no enrichment for Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s regime, armed with nuclear weapons, would pose an even greater danger to the world.”
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As Amazon encourages consumers to buy discounted items during the tech giant’s 48-hour “Prime Day” sale, labor rights advocates are urging support instead for warehouse employees who plan to stage the company’s first major strike in the United States.
Employees at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Shakopee, Minnesota are planning a work stoppage beginning Monday afternoon. Day shift workers will walk off the job three hours early while night shift employees will come in three hours late, to protest what they say are long working hours, insufficient breaks, and unrealistic packing quotas.
Protests against the company’s business practices and support for the Trump administration’s anti-immigration agenda are scheduled to take place in at least seven cities as critics call on the public to show solidarity with the workers in Shakopee.
“Amazon—the world’s most valuable company—exploits workers, evades taxes, destroys the environment, undermines democracy, and creates tech that fuels police, the military, and ICE,” tweeted the New York chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, asking users to boycott Prime Day. “This is the function of capitalism laid bare—profit over people.”
As Common Dreams has reported, workers in Amazon’s fulfillment centers are forced to pack hundreds of items per hour, sometimes making bathroom breaks impossible and leading to injuries.
Workers in Shakopee, many of whom are from the area’s East African Muslim community, previously convinced Amazon spokespeople to sit down for negotiations over whether the employees could take prayer breaks, in accordance with state law, without being penalized. The meetings took place last year, but employees say Amazon didn’t sufficiently reduce workloads.
“We’re organizing to demand Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos create a safe and humane working environment, slow down the pace of work to reasonable speeds, and respect their fundamental right to organize.”
—Joseph Geervarghese, Our Revolution “The biggest ask we have is to have Amazon reduce the speeds that we have to work,” employee William Stolz told Engadget on Monday. “It is physically, mentally exhausting. That leads into other issues like injuries, since you have to do things very fast, and with repetitive motions, all day long.”
In an email to supporters, Joseph Geervarghese of Our Revolution wrote that the national grassroots organization is partnering with workers to demand that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos ensures a safe workplace for employees.
“Amazon’s record with workers is shameful,” Geervarghese wrote, citing a survey which found that “74 percent of Amazon workers skip going to the bathroom to avoid having their pay cut, and over 80 percent said they would never apply for another Amazon job again.”
“We’re organizing to demand Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos create a safe and humane working environment, slow down the pace of work to reasonable speeds, and respect their fundamental right to organize,” he added, asking supporters to sign a petition calling on Bezos to stop exploiting the employees who have helped make him one of the richest people on the planet.
A group of employees at the company’s Seattle headquarters, who have previously called on Amazon to adopt a bold climate action plan and set ambitious targets for emission reductions, are also joining the Shakopee strike in solidarity with the warehouse workers. Injustices in the workplace, they said in a statement posted on Medium, play a role in corporations’ long history of contributing to the climate crisis.
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“Lending our support to our coworkers in Minnesota is a natural part of our climate justice priorities,” wrote Amazon Employees for Climate Justice. “We cannot create a sustainable, long-term approach to addressing the climate crisis without addressing the structural racial and economic inequities that are part of our system of extraction—of energy, material, and human labor—that has caused the crisis.”
In Germany, more than 2,000 workers at Amazon fulfillment centers began a two-day strike Sunday night, calling for “no more discount on our incomes.”
German employees have gone on strike several times in recent years over low wages and poor working conditions similar to those in the United States.
“While Amazon fuels bargain-hunting on Prime Day with hefty discounts, employees are being deprived of a living wage,” a German employee, Orhan Akman, told Reuters.
On social media, labor rights advocates called on consumers to boycott Amazon during the Prime Day sales, along with Whole Foods, Kindle, Audible, Goodreads, and other subsidiaries of the $800 billion multinational corporation to show support for employees all over the world.
“Amazon has its tentacles into so many businesses it’s jaw dropping,” tweeted writer Justine Larbalestier.
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Protests against the company were planned outside its offices in Seattle and San Francisco, while demonstrators in New York gathered at Bezos’s luxury apartment building to deliver 270,000 signatures in support of workers’ rights and demanding that Amazon cut ties with ICE and the Department of Homeland Security.
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Pledging to hold corporate polluters accountable for using poor communities as “dumping grounds” while wealthier Americans are able to breathe clean air, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee traveled on Monday to a Michigan community plagued by fossil fuel emissions to unveil his plan for environmental justice, should he made it to the Oval Office.
The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, who is running on a climate action platform, stood in front of the Marathon Oil Refinery in Michigan’s most polluted ZIP code—48217 in Detroit—to announce his Community Climate Justice Plan.
“For too long we have allowed the forces of economic injustice and environmental racism to perpetuate inequality and lack of opportunity,” Inlsee said. “Now it is time to build environmental justice into everything we do. It’s time for the communities to have a partner in the White House.”
“Americans see climate change in the floodwater in their homes, the choking smoke from wildfires that envelop their skies and the devastating storms that hit their communities each year. They want us to act.”
—Washington Gov. Jay InsleeThe ZIP code has recently been the subject of a social media campaign called #Visit48217, which was launched by local organizers including Eastern Michigan Environmental Action Coalition and Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition.
“Democratic candidates should visit 48217 and talk [about the] Green New Deal while they’re in Detroit for next week’s debate,” wrote Antonio Rafael of the national grassroots group’s local chapter last week.
Under his proposal, Inslee would establish an Office of Environmental Justice within the U.S. Department of Justice. The office would oversee a nationwide “equity impact mapping” project to pinpoint the communities most affected by “pollution hotspots, economic inequality, and climate change impacts.”
The mapping program would offer a visual of the vast disparities between wealthy towns and communities like Detroit and so-called “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana, where the EPA has linked the cancer diagnosis risk—nearly 50 times the national average—to the proximity of a DuPont chemical plant which releases chloroprene.
On social media, Inslee shared a video accompanying his plan, featuring the stories he’s heard about environmental injustice around the country during his campaign.
“We have a high rate of asthma, a high rate of cancer,” one woman told Inslee in Detroit. “This just didn’t happen…This has been going on for decades.”
The new Justice Department office, which would replace the White House Council on Environmental Quality and would have a renewed focus on justice, would work with the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division to hold corporate polluters accountable for polluting surrounding communities and would support local governments and groups’ lawsuits against fossil fuel companies, Inslee said in his plan.
“For decades, corporate polluters have used lower-income communities as dumping grounds, and these communities now face an enormous and unequal burden from the costs of pollution and climate change,” Inslee’s proposal reads.
The Community Climate Justice Plan would also mandate that at least 40 percent of federal investments in Inslee’s Evergreen Economy Plan—more than $1 trillion—be directed to communities facing high level of air pollution from the oil, gas, and coal industries, which are often the same towns that have been subjected to decades of racial and economic inequality.
Inslee would also impose a nationwide ban on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), chemicals which are commonly used in food packaging and non-stick pans and which stay in the environment long after their use—currently polluting the drinking water of nearly 20 million Americans.
On Sunday, in a New York Times op-ed slamming Republicans and Democrats for persistently claiming that voters aren’t interested in hearing from candidates about the climate crisis, the Washington governor shared the stories of Americans he’s met during his campaign and “Climate Mission Tour.”
“I met Marsha Maus, who showed me the pile of melted aluminum that once was her mobile home in Agoura Hills, Calif.—before a wildfire tore through town,” wrote Inslee. “I heard from Shamar Pitts, who shared his worries about raising his newborn daughter near the pollution of an oil refinery in Philadelphia.”
“Americans see climate change in the floodwater in their homes, the choking smoke from wildfires that envelop their skies, and the devastating storms that hit their communities each year,” he added. “They want us to act.”
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Princeton University professor Eddie Glaude received praise overnight for comments made on MSNBC Monday as he called on the American people to acknowledge that while blaming President Donald Trump might be easy to do—especially given the available evidence—for the racist-inspired massacre at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas over the weekend it cannot be ignored that hatred and violence behind the attack is something deeply woven into the fabric of the country’s politics and culture.
“America’s not unique in its sins as a country,” Glaude said. “We’re not unique in our evils, to be honest with you. I think where we may be singular is our refusal to acknowledge them—and the legends and myths we tell about our inherent goodness to hide and cover and conceal so we can maintain a kind of willful ignorance that protects our innocence.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was among those applauding the “must-watch” remarks, calling Glaude’s statement “incredibly powerful.”
Watch:
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Reminding viewers of the rise of the racist right-wing Tea Party during the Obama administration—and highlighting how social scientists even at the time were warning that the phenomenon was fueled not just by “economic populism” but the “ugly underbelly of the country”—Glaude explained that the massacre in El Paso, in which parents “broke the bones” of their own baby “trying to shield him from being killed” by a racist gunman, is just the latest example of in which Americans are strangely forced to asked the question, “Oh my God, is this who we are?”
“What we know,” Glaude continued, “is that this country has been playing politics for a long time on this hatred—we know this. So it’s easy for us to place it all on Donald Trump’s shoulders. It’s easy to place Pittsburgh on his shoulders. It’s easy for me to place Charlottesville on his shoulders. It’s easy to place El Paso on his shoulders.” But he then sharply added, clapping his hands: “This is us!”
“And if we’re gonna get past this,” he continued with emotion in his voice, “we can’t blame it on [Trump]. He’s a manifestation of the ugliness that’s in us.”
Author and activist Trita Parsi urged people to watch the segment until the very end. “Then watch it again,” he said. “Then again. And again. Until it clicks.”
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