November, 01 2020, 11:00pm EDT
More Than 50 Editorial Board Endorsements Confirm Climate Is Top Electoral Issue in Presidential Race
A new analysis of national and state endorsements from major editorial boards shows climate change has emerged this year as an often cited reason media outlets opted to endorse in the 2020 presidential election. The politics of climate change are driving voting behavior and influencing the political debate.
Across the country and in key battleground states, 51 editorial boards and outlets put climate change alongside COVID-19, the economy, and health care, as the most important issues facing the country.
WASHINGTON
A new analysis of national and state endorsements from major editorial boards shows climate change has emerged this year as an often cited reason media outlets opted to endorse in the 2020 presidential election. The politics of climate change are driving voting behavior and influencing the political debate.
Across the country and in key battleground states, 51 editorial boards and outlets put climate change alongside COVID-19, the economy, and health care, as the most important issues facing the country.
This increased focus on the climate crisis follows voters' changing attitude toward the issue -- as now a majority of voters, including Republican-leaning women, voters of color, and younger voters view climate change as a priority for both the next administration and Congress. An Economist/YouGov poll, also released last week, found that climate is the number three issue among all voters and is the number two issue for Democrats and young voters age 18-29.
This attention to the climate crisis comes as the country has been gripped with extreme weather that has cost our economy millions and put the lives and health of Americans at risk. This year alone, more than 8.5 million acres have burned on the West Coast and the Gulf Coast have been hit with back-to-back supercharged hurricanes -- including the recent Hurricane Zeta, which has left millions without power and three dead.
A clear underlying theme in these endorsements is the threat to our climate and how Trump and his anti-climate agenda can cause irreparable damage to our air, water, and public lands. The Trump administration has already rolled back more than 125 critical environmental protections -- all of which disproportionately affect Black and Latino communities.
Since mid-October, when Climate Power 2020 released its initial analysis, close to 30 media outlets, both nationally and in key battleground states, have cited clean energy, environmental racism, climate, and conservation issues as a major factor in their endorsement decision. In total, Climate Power 2020 identified 51 outlets that referenced climate change as a reason for their endorsements during the general election. The most recent endorsements are below:
National Endorsements
The Atlantic: "Trump has brought our country low; he has divided our people; he has pitted race against race; he has corrupted our democracy; he has shown contempt for American ideals; he has made cruelty a sacrament; he has provided comfort to propagators of hate; he has abandoned America's allies; he has aligned himself with dictators; he has encouraged terrorism and mob violence; he has undermined the agencies and departments of government; he has despoiled the environment; he has opposed free speech; he has lied frenetically and evangelized for conspiracism; he has stolen children from their parents."
The Guardian: "It's not just Americans for whom Mr. Biden is a better bet. The world could breathe easier with Mr. Trump gone...On climate change, Mr. Biden would return the United States to the Paris agreement and give the world a fighting chance to keep global temperatures in check. With a President Biden there would be a glimmer of hope that the US would return as a guarantor of a rules-based international order."
La Opinion: "A vote for Biden and against Trump is a vote to fight the coronavirus with the guidance of scientists and it is their most urgent task. It is a vote to respond urgently and without delay to the imminent disaster of climate change based on international cooperation. It is a vote to save health coverage from the damage caused by Trump by making a public insurance plan like Medicare, with subsidies for low- and moderate-income people, available to the uninsured."
Rolling Stone: "Biden, by contrast, believes in science, and names the "existential threat" we are facing in global warming. He has embraced the spirit of the Green New Deal, outlining a path to limit the catastrophic heating of the planet by achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. This would be realized through a $2 trillion investment in America -- including clean-energy plants, solarized and weatherized homes, and carbon-free transportation networks -- that would create millions of sustainable jobs. "When Donald Trump thinks about climate change, the only word he can muster is 'hoax,' " Biden has said. "When I think about climate change, the word I think of is 'jobs.'"
USA Today: "Beset by disease, economic suffering, a racial reckoning and natural disasters fueled by a changing climate, the nation is dangerously off course. We spoke to dozens of people in Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, battleground states that helped propel Trump into the White House in 2016. Many declined to comment, citing a general disgust with the election or fear of speaking out publicly."
Washington Jewish Week: "As a senator, Biden led from the center, across party lines, and was universally liked and respected. As vice president to the first African American president, he demonstrated an ability to lead effectively in an increasingly multicultural America. And as president, we believe he will bring integrity, civility and compassion to the White House. He will listen to scientists and other experts when it comes to fighting the coronavirus and climate change. He will use taxation and government spending to address serious domestic policy issues. And we hope that he will use his bully pulpit in today's times of uncertainty as a platform to unite our fractured country and reform and reconstruct our civic institutions."
NY Daily News: "Still, Biden has outlined bold plans to confront major American challenges. He would strengthen, not undermine, the health-care foundation that is the Affordable Care Act. He respects what immigrants contribute to the national fabric and wants to improve gun-safety laws. He would combat climate change and ramp up renewable energy production. He has urgent, coherent plans to beat back the coronavirus."
Endorsements in States
California
- The Times-Herald: "It's time to heal and work to unite the country. To stem the spread of the coronavirus, rebuild the economy, honestly confront racial and economic inequality, aggressively address climate change and reestablish the nation as a respected world leader."
Indiana
- Tribune-Star: "Biden has focused on issues most important to Americans, issues such as health care, economic justice and climate change. His values of decency, civility, inclusion, fairness and equality for all closely reflect what America can be and should be."
- The Herald Bulletin: "But Biden also has strong convictions. His proposal to wean America off polluting fossil fuels would mitigate climate change and create millions of jobs. His promise to confront, not ignore, systemic racism would dig at the deep roots of a pervasive problem that has plagued the country for hundreds of years."
Iowa
- The Daily Iowan: "Keeping with science, Biden knows climate change is not a hoax. While he wasn't the first choice of environmental activists or ourselves, his plan to cut net carbon emissions down to zero puts us on the right track instead of running backward. While Biden must become more aggressive, the planet cannot wait another four years of Trump's do-nothing policy on the climate crisis."
- The Daily Nonpareil: "Biden will, again, listen to scientists when it comes to climate change and environmental policy.---- Rolling back environmental protections -- a USA Today report noted nearly 100 environmental rollbacks the Trump administration has pursued over the past four years to loosen regulations on everything from air and water quality to wildlife."
Maine
- The Times Record: "Biden's 36 years as senator and nine years as vice president have produced a track record showing him capable of handling a vast array of foreign and domestic issues. Today, what makes Biden most appealing to us is his willingness to listen to scientists and experts, such Dr. Anthony Fauci, in addressing our current medical and environmental crises. That's in stark contrast to the current administration, which forms policies at the whim of the president's fragile ego."
Massachusetts
- Eagle-Tribune: "We also expect Biden to refocus the United States on addressing climate change and its contributors. Apart from public health policy, no issue controlled by the White House has a more significant bearing on our coastal region north of Boston. Having quit the global effort to combat and deal with climate change, the U.S. desperately needs to return to the table."
- Gloucester Times: "We also expect Biden to refocus the United States on addressing climate change and its contributors. Apart from public health policy, no issue controlled by the White House has a more significant bearing on our coastal region north of Boston. Having quit the global effort to combat and deal with climate change, the U.S. desperately needs to return to the table."
- The Salem News: "We also expect Biden to refocus the United States on addressing climate change and its contributors. Apart from public health policy, no issue controlled by the White House has a more significant bearing on our coastal region north of Boston. Having quit the global effort to combat and deal with climate change, the U.S. desperately needs to return to the table."
- The Recorder: "Biden has plans based on science in place to help the nation heal itself from COVID-19 and to bring stronger attention to our environment."
Nebraska
- Omaha World-Herald: "The list of issues Biden has seen debated, and helped address, in the Senate is impressively long and notable. Here is a small sampling: Renewals of the federal Voting Rights Act. The extent of presidential war powers. Strategies for strengthening U.S. military effectiveness. Details of environmental regulation. Restructuring the nation's intelligence community. Support for disabled Americans."
New Hampshire
- Valley News: "Biden will need all of his empathy and grace, and all of his knowledge and experience, to build America back better, especially its pandemic-shattered economy, and also to unite and mobilize the majority of Americans who recognize the urgent need to address climate change, establish social, economic and racial justice, fix our warped and cruel immigration policies, provide all Americans with access to affordable health care, and enact common-sense measures to reduce gun violence."
New Jersey
- The Record: "We believe all Americans deserve a healthy natural environment. We believe we must acknowledge and work to slow the devastating impacts of climate change."
New Mexico
- Albuquerque Journal: "Regarding climate change, Biden has a plan similar to New Mexico's Energy Transition Act. Trump has rolled back some Obama-era climate initiatives and has in the past called climate change a "hoax." He recently acknowledged a human role."
New York
- New York Carib News: "His climate change denial is more of a threat to the people on the planet than earth itself; the earth will survive, the inhabitants will not. His blatant interference in the politics of the Region, increasing the unnecessary embargo on Cuba, trying to install his hand-picked president in Venezuela and tipping the scale in Guyana."
- The Post Standard: "Biden, who will be 78 in a few weeks, has a long list of tasks ahead should he prevail. He must get the coronavirus pandemic under control, kick-start the economy, fix or replace Obamacare, tackle the climate crisis, restore key environmental protections, address systemic racism, repair international alliances and be prepared to meet the next crisis."
- Staten Island Advance: "They'll argue he was right to play tough guy with world leaders by pulling out of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, which ironically takes effect the day after the election. Never mind that scientists across the globe say warming is a threat. The president labels it a hoax."
Pennsylvania
- The Patriot Press: "Not only does Biden plan to adhere to the guidance of expert scientists in regards to the coronavirus, but he also believes in the severity of climate change. The environment is in extreme danger: ice sheets are shrinking, the global temperature is rising, and hurricanes are becoming stronger and more frequent. With an increasing amount of damage from natural disasters, climate change also hurts the economy. If the president elected this November does not recognize climate change as a serious threat, the future of our country will be at stake."
- The Tribune-Democrat: "Leadership also means building for the future, ensuring a strong America for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Biden's understanding of that responsibility is embedded in his climate policies. They include installing electric vehicle refueling stations along highways, reducing carbon emissions from fossil fuel plants, developing affordable alternative energies such as solar and wind power, protecting our eroding coastal shores. We ignore the need to address these economic and environmental realities at our peril."
West Virginia
- The Charleston Gazette-Mail: "The federal level, Trump's moves to roll back environmental regulations haven't done anything to improve the coal industry. One after another, many of the nation's largest coal companies have filed for bankruptcy."
Climate Power 2020 is putting the Trump administration on defense every single day for ignoring experts, refusing to believe in science, surrendering our government to big oil executives, and gutting public health protections, all at the expense of future generations. The 2020 presidential election is the defining moment for how our nation addresses the climate crisis--our leaders must be emboldened to take immediate action on climate change and to build a just and equitable economy. The time to act is now. Learn more: climatepower2020.org
LATEST NEWS
Supreme Court Urged to 'Rule Quickly' After Trump Immunity Arguments
"It'd be a travesty for justices to delay matters further," said one legal expert.
Apr 25, 2024
After about three hours of oral arguments Thursday on former President Donald Trump's immunity claims, legal experts and democracy defenders urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule swiftly, with just over six months until the November election.
Trump—the presumptive Republican candidate to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden, despite his 88 felony charges in four ongoing criminal cases—is arguing that presidential immunity should protect him from federal charges for trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, which culminated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Justices across the ideological spectrum didn't seem inclined to support Trump's broad immunity claims—which critics have said "reflect a misreading of constitutional text and history as well as this court's precedent." However, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) shared examples of what it would mean if they did.
"Trump could sell pardons, ambassadorships, and other official benefits to his wealthy donors, members of his clubs, or cronies who helped him commit other crimes," CREW warned. "Trump could sell nuclear codes and government secrets to help pay back crippling debts."
"But this isn't just about what Donald Trump could do. It's really about how total immunity for the president would threaten our democratic system of checks and balances," the group continued. "The president could order the military to assassinate activists, political opponents, members of Congress, or even Supreme Court justices, so long as he claimed it related to some official act."
After warning that a president could also order the occupation or closure of the Capitol or high court to prevent actions against him, CREW concluded that "the Supreme Court never should have taken this appeal up in the first place. They should rule quickly and shut these ludicrous claims down for good."
The organization was far from alone in demanding a quick decision from the nation's highest court.
"In the name of accountability, the court must not delay its decision," the Brennan Center for Justice said Thursday evening. "The Supreme Court's time is up. It needs to let the prosecution move forward. The court decided Bush v. Gore in three days—it should act with similar alacrity in deciding Trump v. U.S."
In Bush v. Gore, the case that decided the 2000 election, the high court issued a related stay on December 9, heard oral arguments on December 11, and issued a final decision on December 12.
On Thursday, the arguments "got away from the central question: Is a former president immune from criminal prosecution if he tried to overthrow a presidential election, using private means and the power of his office to do so?" the Brennan Center noted. "The answer is simple: No."
"It is not an 'official act' to try to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power or the Constitution, even if you conspire with other government officials to do it or use the Oval Office phone," the center said. "Trump's attorney was pushing the court to come up with a sea change in the law. That's unnecessary and a delay tactic that will hurt the pursuit of justice in this case."
In a departure from previous claims, Trump's attorney, D. John Sauer, "appeared to agree with Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, that there are some allegations in the indictment that do not involve 'official acts' of the president," NBC Newsreported, noting questions from liberal Justice Elena Kagan and conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee.
Barrett summarized various allegations from the indictment and in three cases—involving dishonest election claims, false allegations of fraud, and fake electors—Sauer conceded that Trump's alleged conduct sounded private, suggesting that a more narrow case against the ex-president that excluded any potential official acts could proceed.
Due to Trump attorney's concessions in Supreme Court oral argument, there's now a very clear path for DOJ's case to go forward.\n\nIt'd be a travesty for Justices to delay matters further.\n\nJustice Amy Coney Barrett got Trump attorney to concede core allegations are private acts.\u2b07\ufe0f— (@)
According to NBC:
Matthew Seligman, a lawyer and a fellow at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School who filed a brief backing prosecutors, said Sauer's concessions highlight that Trump is "not immune for the vast majority of the conduct alleged in the indictment."
Ultimately, he said, the case will go to trial "absent some external intervention—like Trump ordering [the Justice Department] to drop the charges" after having won the election.
At the same time, Sauer's backtracking might have little consequence from an electoral perspective. Further delay in a trial, which Sauer is close to achieving, is a form of victory in itself.
Slate's Mark Joseph Stern pointed out that when Barrett similarly questioned Michael Dreeben, the U.S. Department of Justice lawyer arguing the case for Smith, it seemed like they "were trying to work out some compromise wherein the trial court could distinguish between official and unofficial acts, then instruct the jury not to impose criminal liability on the former."
"It was fascinating to watch Barrett nodding along as Dreeben pitched a compromise that would largely preserve Smith's January 6 prosecution but limit what the jury could hear, or at least consider," Stern added. "That, though, would take months to suss out in the trial court. More delays!"
Stern and other experts signaled that the decision likely comes down to Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, with the three liberals seemingly supporting the prosecution of Trump and the other four conservatives suggesting it is unconstitutional.
People for the American Way president Svante Myrick said in a statement that "today's argument brought both good and bad news. It was chilling to hear Donald Trump's lawyer say that staging a military coup could be considered part of a president's official duties."
"Thankfully, the majority of the court, including conservative justices, did not seem to buy that very broad Trump argument that a former president is absolutely immune from prosecution under any circumstances," Myrick added. "On the other hand, it's not clear that there is a majority on this court that will quickly reject the immunity arguments and let the case go forward in time for a trial before the election. That's a huge concern."
Trump was not at the Supreme Court on Thursday; he was at his trial in New York, where he faces 34 counts for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 election cycle. The are two other cases: a federal one for mishandling classified material and another in Georgia for interfering with the last presidential contest.
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"Through people-powered resistance, we can give money a conscience and stop Citi's destruction of our planet," said one Indigenous campaigner.
Apr 25, 2024
Twenty more demonstrators were arrested Thursday, the second day of Earth Week protests targeting Citigroup's Manhattan headquarters in what organizers called "the beginning of a wave of direct actions to take place over the summer targeting big banks for creating climate chaos that is killing our communities and our planet."
Protest organizers—who include Climate Defenders, New York Communities for Change, Planet over Profit, and Stop the Money Pipeline—said 53 activists were arrested over two days of demonstrations, which included blocking the entrance to Citigroup's headquarters, to "demand that the bank stop funding fossil fuels."
Organizers said this week's demonstrations "were just the beginning" of what they're calling a "Summer of Heat" targeting big banks for their role in the climate emergency and for "polluting our land, air, and water, and threatening the health of children, families, and our planet." Citigroup is the world's second-largest fossil fuel financier.
"We're holding Citi accountable for financing dirty fossil fuels from Canada to Latin America and beyond," said Chief Na'moks of the Wet'suwet'en Nation, one of several Indigenous leaders who took part in the action. "Through people-powered resistance, we can give money a conscience and stop Citi's destruction of our planet."
Jonathan Westin, executive director of Climate Defenders, asserted that "Citigroup's racist funding of oil, coal, and gas is creating climate chaos that's devastating communities of color across the country."
"We're taking action to tell Citi that we won't put up with their environmental racism for one more day," Westin continued. "Our communities have reached the boiling point. Our children have asthma, our city's sky was orange, and our air polluted because of the climate crisis caused by Citi and Wall Street."
"We're going to keep organizing and taking direct action until Citi listens to us," he vowed.
Stop the Money Pipeline co-director Alec Connon said: "To have any chance of reigning in the climate crisis, we must stop investing in fossil fuel expansion. Yet, Citibank is pumping billions of dollars into new coal, oil, and gas projects."
"We're here to make it clear: If they're going to fund the companies disrupting our climate and our lives, we're going to disrupt their business," Connon added.
Activists have repeatedly targeted Citigroup in recent years as the megabank has pumped more than $300 billion into fossil fuel investments around the world since the Paris climate agreement.
According to the protest organizers:
Citi has provided $668 million in funding to Formosa Plastics between 2001-2021, which is trying to build a $9.4 billion plastics facility in a majority Black community in the heart of Cancer Alley in Louisiana.
Citigroup is also one of the biggest funders of state-run oil and gas companies in the Amazon basin, pumping in over $40 billion between 2016-2020, and a major backer of Petroperú, which has been involved in oil spills and Indigenous rights violations.
"From wildfires, heatwaves, and floods to deadly air pollution and mass drought, Citi's fossil fuel financing is killing us," said Alice Hu of New York Communities for Change. "We've sent polite petitions and had pleading meetings with bank representatives, but Citi refuses to stop pouring billions each year into coal, oil, and gas."
"That's why we're fighting for our lives now with the best tool we have left: mass, nonviolent disruptive civil disobedience," Hu added.
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"How does it ever make sense that the United States asks the accused party to examine itself?" asked one incredulous reporter.
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A Biden administration spokesperson once again brushed off calls for an independent investigation into how hundreds of Palestinians found in mass graves near Gaza hospitals died when asked Thursday about new reports that many of the victims were tortured, summarily executed—and in some cases, buried alive by Israeli invaders.
During a Thursday U.S. State Department press conference in Washington, D.C., a reporter noted Gaza officials' claim that mass grave victims "including children were tortured before being killed" and that "some even showed signs of being buried alive, along with other crimes against humanity."
"What's wrong with an independent, scientific, forensic investigation?"
Noting calls by Palestinian officials and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk for an independent probe into mass graves, the reporter said that "this administration repeatedly said that it asks... the Israeli government to investigate itself."
"How does it ever make sense that the United States asks the accused party to examine itself and provide reports that you have previously said that you actually trust?" the reporter asked State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel. "What's wrong with an independent, scientific, forensic investigation?"
Patel replied: "We continue to find these reports incredibly troubling. And that's why yesterday you saw the national security adviser for this to be thoroughly investigated."
While National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Wednesday called reports of mass grave atrocities "deeply disturbing" and said that "we want answers" from Israel, he did not call for an independent investigation.
When the reporter pressed Patel on the legitimacy of asking Israel to investigate itself, Patel said, "we believe that through a thorough investigation we can get some additional answers."
Thursday's exchange followed a similar back-and-forth on Tuesday between Patel and Said Arikat, a journalist for the Jerusalem-based
Palestinian news outlet al-Quds who asked about the mass graves.
At least 392 bodies—including numerous women and children—have been found in mass graves outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, where Palestinian Civil Defense and other workers have been exhuming victims for nearly a week. Officials believe there are as many as 700 bodies in three separate mass graves.
Based on more recent exhumations, local Civil Defense chief Yamen Abu Sulaiman said during a Wednesday press conference that "we believe that the occupation buried alive at least 20 people at the Nasser Medical Complex."
"There are cases of field execution of some patients while undergoing surgeries and wearing surgical gowns," he stated, adding that some victims showed signs of torture and 10 bodies had medical tubes attached to them.
Gaza Civil Defense official Mohammed Mughier told reporters that "we need forensic examination" to definitively determine the causes of death for the 20 people believed to have been buried alive.
Previous reporting on the mass graves quoted rescue workers who said they found people who were apparently executed while their hands were bound, with some victims missing heads, skin, and internal organs.
Other mass graves have been found in Gaza, most notably on the grounds of al-Shifa Hospital, where Israeli forces last month committed what the Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called "one of the largest massacres in Palestinian history."
It's also not the first time there have been reports of Israeli troops burying victims alive during the current war, in which Palestinian and international officials say Israeli forces have killed or wounded more than 122,000 Gazans, including at least 11,000 people who are missing and feared dead. Israeli forces attacking Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia last December reportedly bulldozed and buried alive dozens of injured patients and displaced people.
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