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Tens of thousands of demonstrators took part in protests across Australia on Friday, demanding Prime Minister Scott Morrison stop funding fossil fuels and start treating the climate crisis as an emergency.
Actions were scheduled to take place at nearly 50 locations including in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, and Hobart.
\u201c\u201cAs a First Nations woman it\u2019s important that we\u2019re here leading the fight on the frontlines, because this always was and always will be Aboriginal land.\u201d Proud First Nations woman Tamika Sadler standing strong at the #Meanjin #ClimateStrike today\ud83d\udda4\ud83d\udc9b\u2764\ufe0f #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe\u201d— School Strike 4 Climate Australia (@School Strike 4 Climate Australia) 1621575632
School Strike 4 Climate Australia, which heralded the in-person actions as "the biggest climate strike since pre-pandemic," said that Morrisson "can't ignore the tens of thousands of students, First Nations people, union workers, and others who were marching through the streets today!"
\u201cThis is the BIGGEST #ClimateStrike since pre-pandemic. Gajillions marched the streets in 50+ locations today to demand that Morrison\u2019s Government #FundOurFutureNotGasFireFire \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25 We left school because the gov won\u2019t leave its plutocrat-supplicating gas investment behind \u274c\u270a\ud83c\udffd\u201d— School Strike 4 Climate Australia (@School Strike 4 Climate Australia) 1621580549
\u201cthe #ClimateStrike crowd in Melbourne is segsy\u201d— School Strike 4 Climate Australia (@School Strike 4 Climate Australia) 1621601700
\u201cSit down in Perth to help bring the climate emergency to the attention of our fossil fuel loving politicians and Woodside. School Strike for Climate. #FundOurFutureNotGas #ClimateStrike @AYCC @FFMurdochUni @StrikeClimate @XRebellionWA #auspol\u201d— 350 Boorloo Perth (@350 Boorloo Perth) 1621582553
\u201cTishiko King, a Torres Strait Islander woman & inspirational organiser with @SeedMob speaks passionately about the challenges communities in the Torres Strait & Pacific are already facing die to Climate change.\n\nShe got a huge cheer from the #ClimateStrike on Melbourne.\n#auspol\u201d— Dylan Quinnell (@Dylan Quinnell) 1621569359
Among the youth "striking" from school to take part in the Sydney rally was 17-year-old David Soriano.
"We're scared and concerned," Soriano told the BBC.
"We're doubtful that there might not be a future in store for the generations after us, and even our own generation," he said.
According to organizers' event description:
The Morrison government could be protecting our climate, land, and water, and creating thousands of new jobs by growing Australia's renewable energy sector and backing First Nations solutions to protect [our] country.
Instead, they are lining the pockets of multinational gas companies, which are fueling the climate crisis, devastating our land and water, wrecking our health, and creating very few jobs.
On May 21, we're striking to tell the Morrison government that if they care about our future, they must stop throwing money at gas.
Further catalyzing anger at Morrison's government was its recent announcement that it's committing $600 million of public funds to a new gas-fired power plant New South Wales--a plan that makes "zero sense," according to the Climate Council --and that, while aligning with his government's push for a "gas-led recovery," stood in stark contrast to the International Energy Agency's declaration the same day that there is "no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply in our net-zero pathway."
Erin Shutter, a high school student in Brisbane, welcomed demonstrators young and not-so-young who came out for the protests on Friday.
"Our future is incredibly important and currently our government isn't doing enough to protect and fight for it," she told The Age, "but clearly a lot of people will."
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Tens of thousands of demonstrators took part in protests across Australia on Friday, demanding Prime Minister Scott Morrison stop funding fossil fuels and start treating the climate crisis as an emergency.
Actions were scheduled to take place at nearly 50 locations including in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, and Hobart.
\u201c\u201cAs a First Nations woman it\u2019s important that we\u2019re here leading the fight on the frontlines, because this always was and always will be Aboriginal land.\u201d Proud First Nations woman Tamika Sadler standing strong at the #Meanjin #ClimateStrike today\ud83d\udda4\ud83d\udc9b\u2764\ufe0f #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe\u201d— School Strike 4 Climate Australia (@School Strike 4 Climate Australia) 1621575632
School Strike 4 Climate Australia, which heralded the in-person actions as "the biggest climate strike since pre-pandemic," said that Morrisson "can't ignore the tens of thousands of students, First Nations people, union workers, and others who were marching through the streets today!"
\u201cThis is the BIGGEST #ClimateStrike since pre-pandemic. Gajillions marched the streets in 50+ locations today to demand that Morrison\u2019s Government #FundOurFutureNotGasFireFire \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25 We left school because the gov won\u2019t leave its plutocrat-supplicating gas investment behind \u274c\u270a\ud83c\udffd\u201d— School Strike 4 Climate Australia (@School Strike 4 Climate Australia) 1621580549
\u201cthe #ClimateStrike crowd in Melbourne is segsy\u201d— School Strike 4 Climate Australia (@School Strike 4 Climate Australia) 1621601700
\u201cSit down in Perth to help bring the climate emergency to the attention of our fossil fuel loving politicians and Woodside. School Strike for Climate. #FundOurFutureNotGas #ClimateStrike @AYCC @FFMurdochUni @StrikeClimate @XRebellionWA #auspol\u201d— 350 Boorloo Perth (@350 Boorloo Perth) 1621582553
\u201cTishiko King, a Torres Strait Islander woman & inspirational organiser with @SeedMob speaks passionately about the challenges communities in the Torres Strait & Pacific are already facing die to Climate change.\n\nShe got a huge cheer from the #ClimateStrike on Melbourne.\n#auspol\u201d— Dylan Quinnell (@Dylan Quinnell) 1621569359
Among the youth "striking" from school to take part in the Sydney rally was 17-year-old David Soriano.
"We're scared and concerned," Soriano told the BBC.
"We're doubtful that there might not be a future in store for the generations after us, and even our own generation," he said.
According to organizers' event description:
The Morrison government could be protecting our climate, land, and water, and creating thousands of new jobs by growing Australia's renewable energy sector and backing First Nations solutions to protect [our] country.
Instead, they are lining the pockets of multinational gas companies, which are fueling the climate crisis, devastating our land and water, wrecking our health, and creating very few jobs.
On May 21, we're striking to tell the Morrison government that if they care about our future, they must stop throwing money at gas.
Further catalyzing anger at Morrison's government was its recent announcement that it's committing $600 million of public funds to a new gas-fired power plant New South Wales--a plan that makes "zero sense," according to the Climate Council --and that, while aligning with his government's push for a "gas-led recovery," stood in stark contrast to the International Energy Agency's declaration the same day that there is "no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply in our net-zero pathway."
Erin Shutter, a high school student in Brisbane, welcomed demonstrators young and not-so-young who came out for the protests on Friday.
"Our future is incredibly important and currently our government isn't doing enough to protect and fight for it," she told The Age, "but clearly a lot of people will."
Tens of thousands of demonstrators took part in protests across Australia on Friday, demanding Prime Minister Scott Morrison stop funding fossil fuels and start treating the climate crisis as an emergency.
Actions were scheduled to take place at nearly 50 locations including in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, and Hobart.
\u201c\u201cAs a First Nations woman it\u2019s important that we\u2019re here leading the fight on the frontlines, because this always was and always will be Aboriginal land.\u201d Proud First Nations woman Tamika Sadler standing strong at the #Meanjin #ClimateStrike today\ud83d\udda4\ud83d\udc9b\u2764\ufe0f #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe\u201d— School Strike 4 Climate Australia (@School Strike 4 Climate Australia) 1621575632
School Strike 4 Climate Australia, which heralded the in-person actions as "the biggest climate strike since pre-pandemic," said that Morrisson "can't ignore the tens of thousands of students, First Nations people, union workers, and others who were marching through the streets today!"
\u201cThis is the BIGGEST #ClimateStrike since pre-pandemic. Gajillions marched the streets in 50+ locations today to demand that Morrison\u2019s Government #FundOurFutureNotGasFireFire \ud83d\udd25\ud83d\udd25 We left school because the gov won\u2019t leave its plutocrat-supplicating gas investment behind \u274c\u270a\ud83c\udffd\u201d— School Strike 4 Climate Australia (@School Strike 4 Climate Australia) 1621580549
\u201cthe #ClimateStrike crowd in Melbourne is segsy\u201d— School Strike 4 Climate Australia (@School Strike 4 Climate Australia) 1621601700
\u201cSit down in Perth to help bring the climate emergency to the attention of our fossil fuel loving politicians and Woodside. School Strike for Climate. #FundOurFutureNotGas #ClimateStrike @AYCC @FFMurdochUni @StrikeClimate @XRebellionWA #auspol\u201d— 350 Boorloo Perth (@350 Boorloo Perth) 1621582553
\u201cTishiko King, a Torres Strait Islander woman & inspirational organiser with @SeedMob speaks passionately about the challenges communities in the Torres Strait & Pacific are already facing die to Climate change.\n\nShe got a huge cheer from the #ClimateStrike on Melbourne.\n#auspol\u201d— Dylan Quinnell (@Dylan Quinnell) 1621569359
Among the youth "striking" from school to take part in the Sydney rally was 17-year-old David Soriano.
"We're scared and concerned," Soriano told the BBC.
"We're doubtful that there might not be a future in store for the generations after us, and even our own generation," he said.
According to organizers' event description:
The Morrison government could be protecting our climate, land, and water, and creating thousands of new jobs by growing Australia's renewable energy sector and backing First Nations solutions to protect [our] country.
Instead, they are lining the pockets of multinational gas companies, which are fueling the climate crisis, devastating our land and water, wrecking our health, and creating very few jobs.
On May 21, we're striking to tell the Morrison government that if they care about our future, they must stop throwing money at gas.
Further catalyzing anger at Morrison's government was its recent announcement that it's committing $600 million of public funds to a new gas-fired power plant New South Wales--a plan that makes "zero sense," according to the Climate Council --and that, while aligning with his government's push for a "gas-led recovery," stood in stark contrast to the International Energy Agency's declaration the same day that there is "no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply in our net-zero pathway."
Erin Shutter, a high school student in Brisbane, welcomed demonstrators young and not-so-young who came out for the protests on Friday.
"Our future is incredibly important and currently our government isn't doing enough to protect and fight for it," she told The Age, "but clearly a lot of people will."
The U.N. ambassador nominee also shrugged off the Nazi salutes made by Elon Musk on Inauguration Day.
As U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik faced questioning by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday regarding her nomination for a top diplomatic position, the rights group Jewish Voice for Peace Action called on lawmakers to consider her "record of antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, anti-immigrant, and anti-democracy rhetoric and policy" and block her confirmation.
Stefanik's (R-N.Y.) record was reinforced at the hearing as she was asked about her views on Palestine, expressions of antisemitism in the United States, and far-right Israeli leaders' political agenda, with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) recalling a meeting he had with the congresswoman after President Donald Trump nominated her to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
At the meeting, Van Hollen said, Stefanik had expressed support for the idea that Israel has a Biblical right to control the entire West Bank—a position that is held by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, but runs counter to the two-state solution that the U.S. government has long supported.
"Is that your view today?" asked Van Hollen, to which Stefanik replied, "Yes."
Van Hollen noted that Stefanik's viewpoint also flies in the face of numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions and international consensus about the Middle East conflict.
"If the president is going to succeed at bringing peace and stability to the Middle East, we're going to have to look at the U.N. Security Council resolutions," said the senator. "And it's going to be very difficult to achieve that if you continue to hold the view that you just expressed, which is a view that was not held by the founders of the state of Israel."
Stefanik also refused to answer a direct question from Van Hollen regarding whether Palestinian people have the right to self-determination, saying only that she supports "human rights for all" and pivoting to a call for Israeli hostages to be released by Hamas.
Jenin Younes, litigation counsel with the New Civil Liberties Alliance, said Stefanik expressed "religious fanaticism, pure and simple" at the confirmation hearing—which was held as Israeli settlers and soldiers ramped up attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.
"That [Stefanik] will now play a major role with respect to our foreign policy in the region is terrifying," said Younes.
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action noted that in addition to supporting "the Israeli government's brutal genocide of Palestinians," Stefanik has also "amplified the antisemitic Great Replacement theory"—which claims the influence and power of white Christian Americans is being deliberately diminished by Jewish Americans and immigration policy.
Despite her support for the debunked conspiracy theory, Stefanik made headlines last year for her accusations against college students, faculty, and administrators over the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that exploded across campuses as Americans spoke out against Israel's U.S.-backed assault on Gaza. The congresswoman said the protests were expressions of antisemitism and pushed for the resignation of university leaders who declined to discipline students who spoke out against Israel.
The hearings where Stefanik lambasted college leaders "were part of a broader campaign to silence anti-war activism and dissent on college campuses while forwarding the MAGA culture war campaign against [diversity, equity, and inclusion], critical race theory, and LGBTQ+ rights," said JVP Action.
An exchange between Stefanik and Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Tuesday also raised questions over Stefanik's views on antisemitism. Murphy asked the nominee about the Nazi salute twice displayed by billionaire Trump backer Elon Musk—whom the president has named to lead his proposed Department of Government Efficiency—at an event Monday night.
" Elon Musk did not do those salutes," Stefanik asserted.
Murphy countered by reading several comments from right-wing commentators who applauded Musk's "Heil Hitler" salute.
"Over and over again last night, white supremacist groups and neo-Nazi groups in this country rallied around that visual," said Murphy.
JVP Action said Stefanik has "deeply embraced Trump's anti-democratic agenda."
"Her nomination must be blocked," said the group.
"As long as Citizens United remains the law of the land, our democracy will remain broken," said one campaigner.
As President Donald Trump triumphantly returned to the White House thanks in part to a tsunami of campaign cash from oligarchs and corporate interests, democracy defenders on Tuesday marked the 15th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that unleashed such spending by urging action to overturn the decision.
In a nation where corporations and moneyed interests already wielded disproportionate power and influence over elections, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission reversed campaign finance restrictions dating back to the era of Gilded Age robber barons. The ruling affirmed that political spending by corporations, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, and other groups is a form of free speech protected by the 1st Amendment that government cannot restrict. The decision ushered in the era of super PACs—which can raise unlimited amounts of money to spend on campaigns—and secret spending on elections with so-called "dark money."
In his Citizens United dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens asserted that "in a functioning democracy the public must have faith that its representatives owe their positions to the people, not to the corporations with the deepest pockets," and warned that the ruling "will undoubtedly cripple the ability of ordinary citizens, Congress, and the states to adopt even limited measures to protect against corporate domination of the electoral process."
"Over the last 15 years, the American people have watched with disgust as both parties welcomed the unfettered sale of our democracy and elections to the highest bidders."
Since then, nearly $20 billion has been spent on U.S. presidential elections and more than $53 billion on congressional races, according to data compiled by OpenSecrets. Spending on 2024 congressional races was double 2010 levels, while presidential campaign contributions were more than 50% higher in 2024 than in 2008, the last election before Citizens United.
Ultrawealthy megadonors played a critical role in Trump's 2024 victory. Some of them have been rewarded with Cabinet nominations and key appointments in "an administration dominated by billionaires and corporate interests," as Americans for Tax Fairness executive director David Kass described it.
"Fifteen years ago today, the Supreme Court gave billionaires and special interests unprecedented power to rig our democracy with its disastrous Citizens United decision. Yesterday, Donald Trump was sworn in, ushering in the wealthiest administration in American history," Tiffany Muller, president of the advocacy group End Citizens United, said on social media Tuesday. "Citizens United paved the way for Trump II."
Alexandra Rojas, executive director of the progressive political action committee Justice Democrats, said in a statement that "over the last 15 years, the American people have watched with disgust as both parties welcomed the unfettered sale of our democracy and elections to the highest bidders."
"Citizens United legalized economic inequality as a political tool for the wealthy to exploit," Rojas added. "A decade-and-a-half later, working-class people cannot afford to run for office and everyday voters' voices are drowned out by billionaire-funded super PACs. As long as Citizens United remains the law of the land, our democracy will remain broken."
Justice Democrats noted: "Yesterday, Donald Trump was inaugurated as president in what was maybe one of the most openly corporate-sponsored inaugurations in American history. In just one row seated in front of Trump's Cabinet members, four men had the combined wealth of just under $1 trillion."
"Billionaires and corporations are paying their way to gain influence in the Trump administration and they can expect a massive return on their investment, at the expense of everyday people," the group added.
It's no surprise, say critics, that corporate profits and plutocrat wealth have soared to new heights during the Citizens United era.
"Citizens United allowed corporations to buy candidates and elections. Citizens United legalized political bribery. Citizens United let wealth dominate our elections," the consumer watchdog Public Citizen said Tuesday. "Overturn Citizens United."
Positing that "Citizens United turned our democracy into an auction," Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) wrote on social media Tuesday that "our government is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people—not corporations and billionaire elites. We must #EndCitizensUnited and put the American people back in charge."
Democratic lawmakers have introduced numerous bills, including proposed constitutional amendments, to reverse Citizens United. While Congress has not been able or willing to address the issue, 22 states and the District of Columbia, as well as more than 800 local governments across the country, have passed measures calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling, according to Public Citizen.
"This is a moment to
usher in a new era in the Democratic Party that rejects the growing oligarchy in this country by rejecting the unprecedented level of billionaire and corporate spending that has a stranglehold over both parties," Justice Democrats said on Tuesday. "Now is the moment to tirelessly center working people and expose the big money corruption that Citizens United has brought onto both parties. By rejecting their influence, working-class people may finally have the promise of a party that actually serves them."
The Republican president "articulated his plan to drastically increase executions, and we all know this is one promise he can't wait to keep," said one death penalty abolitionist.
Delivering on a promise to "vigorously pursue the death penalty," U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday night signed an executive order that reverses his predecessor's moratorium on federal capital punishment and calls for expanding it.
The widely expected order—one of several issued on Inauguration Day—was swiftly criticized on factual and moral grounds.
Attorney and death penalty expert Robert Dunham pointed out that the order "starts with a demonstrable falsehood ('Capital punishment is an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes'), signaling that the administration intends not to allow the facts to affect its policy decisions."
"In fact, the death penalty does not contribute anything to public safety," said Dunham, citing a study by the Death Penalty Policy Project, which he directs. "As for 'deterring the most heinous crimes,' see my analysis of the worst of the worst mass shootings in the United States."
"It is essential, with the importance and deadly consequences of this policy, that media coverage report the truth and not just the rhetoric," he stressed. "The executive order is grounded in a false, dark fantasy about deterrence and has nothing to do with making the public safer."
Declaring that "the death penalty is unjust and cruel," the ACLU warned that Trump's order not only directs an expansion of its use at the federal level but also encourages states to do the same.
Specifically, the order says that "in addition to pursuing the death penalty where possible," the attorney general shall seek it "regardless of other factors" for federal cases involving the murder of a law enforcement officer or a capital crime committed by an undocumented immigrant—and shall "encourage state attorneys general and district attorneys to bring state capital charges for all capital crimes with special attention to" those circumstances, "regardless of whether the federal trial results in a capital sentence."
The order further directs the head of the U.S. Department of Justice to "seek the overruling of Supreme Court precedents that limit the authority of state and federal governments to impose" the death penalty and "ensure that each state that allows capital punishment has a sufficient supply of drugs needed to carry out lethal injection."
Last week, outgoing U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland "withdrew the Justice Department's protocol for federal executions that allowed for single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital, after a government review raised concerns about the potential for 'unnecessary pain and suffering,'" The Associated Press reported. "The protocol could be imposed by Trump's new acting Attorney General James McHenry III, or his pick to lead the Justice Department, Pam Bondi, once she's confirmed by the Senate."
Though Trump's order doesn't name Garland, it explicitly takes aim at former President Joe Biden for his moratorium as well as his attempt to prevent another GOP killing spree like the one that occurred at the end of the Republican's first term, accusing the Democrat of commuting the sentences of "37 of the 40 most vile and sadistic rapists, child molesters, and murderers on federal death row: remorseless criminals who brutalized young children, strangled and drowned their victims, and hunted strangers for sport."
Biden said last month that "in good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted." He left Charleston church gunman Dylann Roof, Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers, and Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on death row. The others now face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Trump cannot reverse Biden's commutations, but he directed the attorney general to "evaluate the places of imprisonment and conditions of confinement for each" of those 37 men and "take all lawful and appropriate action to ensure that these offenders are imprisoned in conditions consistent with the monstrosity of their crimes and the threats they pose."
The president also said that the attorney general "shall further evaluate whether these offenders can be charged with state capital crimes and shall recommend appropriate action to state and local authorities."
Death Penalty Action executive director Abraham Bonowitz said in a Monday statement:
President Trump's executive order demanding capital charges for the murder of law enforcement officers or capital crimes by illegal aliens is unnecessary bluster, because the death penalty already exists for such crimes. But Trump can't help himself. Donald Trump's Agenda2025 articulated his plan to drastically increase executions, and we all know this is one promise he can't wait to keep.
We are also dismayed at President Biden's cynical compromise that commuted 37 federal death sentences while leaving seven prisoners on federal and military death rows. While expressing both his personal opposition to the death penalty and his desire to maintain the moratorium on executions he imposed in 2021, Biden has nevertheless primed the pump for Donald Trump to resume his execution spree.
Social media users also slammed Trump's order, with one saying that "this is extremely disturbing" and another calling it "one of the most ghoulish things I've ever fucking read." Many critics highlighted that the president issued the measure while pardoning over 1,500 insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, which led to the deaths of multiple police officers.
James Goodwin, policy director at the Center for Progressive Reform, noted that it "is straight out of Project 2025," the sweeping Heritage Foundation-led playbook from which Trump unsuccessfully tried to distance himself during the campaign.
Trump has a long history of supporting capital punishment. As journalist Prem Thakker
put it, "On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the man who bought [a] full-page [newspaper] ad calling for the execution of the Central Park Five—five Black and Latino teens wrongfully convicted of rape—makes one of his first acts as president to restore and prioritize the death penalty."