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jim justice
After Years of Tanking Climate Action and Anti-Poverty Measures, Manchin Announces Exit From Senate
"During his time in office, Manchin served the fossil fuel industry and lined his pockets with the payoff," said one critic.
Nov 09, 2023
Progressives on Thursday were unsurprised to hear that right-wing Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin has decided not to seek reelection next year, following recent polling that showed him 13 points behind Republican Gov. Jim Justice—but expressed frustration over the conservative senator's legacy of tanking the Democratic Party's agenda as leaders insisted he was the only Democrat who could possibly win the approval of voters in his home state of West Virginia.
After Manchin released a video announcing he will retire from the Senate seat he's held since 2010, former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner (D) noted that economic justice and rights advocates have long been told they "had to sacrifice every progressive reform so we could hold on to a blue seat in West Virginia."
"Now, he's vacating the seat," said Turner.
The senator has outraged progressives in recent years by refusing to join his party in backing broadly popular reforms. He made numerous demands to reduce the anti-poverty and climate provisions in President Joe Biden's signature Build Back Better Act in 2021 before finally killing the bill over its inclusion of the expanded child tax credit—a program that more than 300,000 children in his own state benefited from before it expired but that Manchin falsely claimed would be used by parents to buy drugs.
He also joined Republicans in 2022 to block legislation codifying abortion rights months before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and helped the GOP push to include language in a debt limit deal this year that would expedite the construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) in his state. Local advocates have denounced the project, which could lead to fossil fuel emissions equivalent to dozens of coal-fired power plants.
The state, said Denali Nalamalapu, communications director of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition, is now witnessing "firsthand the repercussions of Sen. Joe Manchin's insatiable greed."
"During his time in office, Manchin served the fossil fuel industry and lined his pockets with the payoff," said Nalamalapu. "While he parades around his 'victory' in fast-tracking MVP construction, his real climate legacy is the mortal threat to Appalachians and the planet posed by the unnecessary, reckless, fracked gas project."
Nalamalapu expressed hope that West Virginians may ultimately be represented by "a climate champion who will serve their interests in the broader global shift towards a renewable future, not a robber baron who scurries away once he has maxed out his political fossil fuel profits."
Manchin suggested his political career may not be over as he said he will be "traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring Americans together"—which former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro translated as: "Stay tuned. I want to run for president."
Progressive strategist Sawyer Hackett noted that Manchin's objection to the expanded child tax credit was a significant factor when the child poverty rate shot up last year, following an historic reduction that was attributed to the initiative.
"Not a great legacy to kickstart a long-shot bid for president," said Hackett.
Daniel Nichanian, editor-in-chief of Bolts, said that without Manchin, Democrats must now ensure they hold onto Senate seats in a number of states in order to maintain their slim majority.
But with Manchin likely to lose to Justice if he had sought reelection, Nichanian added, "it's a stretch to describe Manchin's retirement as a huge change to the Senate math for 2024."
Author and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben said Manchin's exit marks the start of another race: "to see who will replace him as the biggest collector of campaign cash from the oil and gas industry."
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DOJ Sues West Virginia Governor's Coal Empire Over Millions in Unpaid Fines
"Over a five-year period, defendants engaged in over 130 violations of federal law, thereby posing health and safety risks to the public and the environment," said U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh.
May 31, 2023
The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday sued Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice's family coal empire in federal court for millions of dollars in unpaid penalties, fees, and interest for dozens of legal violations.
The two-term governor—who is seeking U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) seat in next year's election—is not named in the civil suit but his son, James "Jay" Justice III, is, as the owner or operator of the 13 defendant companies.
Politico noted that "although the suit doesn't name the elder Justice, he's faced scrutiny before for the unpaid fines as well as reports that he's still maintained a firm grip on the family business."
Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division said in a statement that "our environmental laws serve to protect communities against adverse effects of industrial activities including surface coal mining operations."
"Through this suit, the Justice Department seeks to deliver accountability for defendants' repeated violations of the law and to recover the penalties they owe as a result of those violations," Kim added.
"The filing of this complaint continues the process of holding defendants accountable for jeopardizing the health and safety of the public and our environment."
The department's complaint accuses the 13 coal companies of violating their legal obligations under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (�SMCRA�), or permits issued under the law, and failing "to pay uncontested penalties assessed for their uncontested violations."
"Defendants have been cited for over 130 violations and have failed to pay over $5 million in civil penalties assessed by the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (�OSMRE�)," the filing states. "In addition, certain defendants also collectively owe, and have not paid, over $190,000 in abandoned mine land (�AML�) reclamation fee debts."
When interest, late payment penalties, and administrative expenses are included, the defendants owe approximately $7.6 million, according to the Justice Department—which took legal action on behalf of the �OSMRE�, a branch of the Interior Department.
"Over a five-year period, defendants engaged in over 130 violations of federal law, thereby posing health and safety risks to the public and the environment," said U.S. Attorney Christopher R. Kavanaugh for the Western District of Virginia.
“After given notice, they then failed to remedy those violations and were ordered over 50 times to cease mining activities until their violations were abated," Kavanaugh explained. "Today, the filing of this complaint continues the process of holding defendants accountable for jeopardizing the health and safety of the public and our environment."
Justice took office as a Democrat in January 2017 and later that year, at a rally with Republican then-President Donald Trump, announced he was returning to the GOP. His online biography boasts about various business ventures, stating that after his father's death, "Jim launched a massive expansion of multiple businesses which included significant coal reserve expansion, Christmas tree farms, cotton gins, turfgrass operations, golf courses, timber enhancement, and land projects."
The 72-year-old "has dozens of business holdings listed on his annual state ethics disclosures," West Virginia's MetroNewsreported Wednesday. "The governor has not placed most of his family's holdings in a blind trust but has repeatedly said the responsibility of running the businesses has been passed on to Jay and adult daughter Jill Justice."
During a Wednesday briefing, the governor reportedly reiterated that he does not control the coal companies' day-to-day operations and said that "the Biden administration is aware of the fact that with a win for the U.S. Senate, and everything, we could very well flip the Senate. You know, government agencies can sometimes surely react, and this could be something in regard to that."
"But with all that being said—as I've said over and over, and you've seen it a thousand, million times—when something comes up and someone rears an ugly head, do we run and jump in a hole and die? We don’t do that," Justice added. "You know, my son and my daughter and our companies will always fulfill obligations, every single one, and absolutely at the end of the day have we not done it and done it and done it?"
MetroNews pointed out that in 2019, under Trump, federal prosecutors filed a similar $4.7 million lawsuit against several Justice coal companies stemming from nearly 2,300 citations—which resulted in a 2020 settlement. Earlier this month, prosecutors filed a motion over those companies' failure to make four consecutive payments since February.
The new suit comes after the East Carolina University Center for Survey Research on Tuesday released polling results which show that in a hypothetical 2024 U.S. Senate race between Justice and Manchin, the governor has a 22-point lead, securing support from 54% of registered West Virginia voters compared with the 32% who said they would support the incumbent.
The 75-year-old Democratic senator—who has come under fire nationally for serving fossil fuel interests and thwarting his own party's agenda—has not yet said whether he plans to seek reelection. However, there has been speculation that he may instead run for president next year. Manchin
said in a statement last month, "Make no mistake, I will win any race I enter."
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West Virginia, Kentucky Republicans Latest to Ban Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth
"While we lost the battle in the legislature, our defeat is temporary. We will not lose in court," said one Kentucky activist. "And we are winning in so many other ways."
Mar 30, 2023
West Virginia and Kentucky on Wednesday joined the growing list of U.S. states where Republicans have banned gender-affirming healthcare for minors, denying them access to evidence-based treatments that advocates say have saved the lives of countless transgender youth.
Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed legislation outlawing the prescription of hormone therapy and fully reversible puberty blockers to anyone under age 18. Minors are also now prohibited from undergoing gender-affirming surgeries, even though doctors say no such operations are performed in the state. The law contains an exception for minors who are deemed at risk of suicide or other self-harm, diagnosed with severe gender dysphoria by two doctors, and have parental consent.
According to UCLA's Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy, West Virginia is the state with the highest per capita number of transgender youth in the country, by far.
"We are denying families, their physicians, and their therapists the right to make medically informed decisions for their families."
Following the lead of Tennessee—which recently banned public drag shows—Republican state lawmakers in West Virginia have also recently introduced a pair of bills ostensibly aimed at "protecting minors from exposure to indecent displays," in part by defining "obscene matter" as "included but not limited to transvestite and/or transgender exposure in performances or displays to minors."
One of the bills punishes violators with a year in prison; the other imposes a six-month sentence.
\u201cToday, Gov. Justice signed HB 2007, a bill that bans gender-affirming care in West Virginia, including medications, to anyone <18 in most circumstances.\n\nWe want all transgender and queer youth in WV to know that we see you & you are deserving of respect and autonomy. (1/2)\u201d— PP South Atlantic WV (@PP South Atlantic WV) 1680129542
Meanwhile, Republican state lawmakers used their supermajority in both chambers of the Legislature to override Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of legislation described by Louisville Courier Journal reporter Olivia Krauth as "one of the nation's most extreme anti-trans bills."
Hundreds of LGBTQ+ youths and their allies rallied outside the Kentucky state Capitol, and 19 activists were arrested inside the building and charged with criminal trespassing after refusing orders to leave, the Courier Journal reported.
\u201cThey\u2019re locking arms and forcing state police to separate them and take them out of the gallery.\u201d— Joe Gerth (@Joe Gerth) 1680115934
Hazel Hardesty, a transgender teen who spoke at the rally, said that without gender-affirming care, "my male puberty would continue" and "cause a lot of mental distress."
"People don't even understand how it feels," the 16-year-old said. "Going through the wrong puberty, every day your body is a little bit farther from what feels like you. And eventually, you don't even recognize yourself in the mirror."
Another trans teen, June Wagner, told the crowd that "my own government is working against me."
\u201cA crowd of protestors gathering in Frankfort opposed to SB 150 and other bills they say are anti-LGBTQ.\u201d— Mark Vanderhoff (@Mark Vanderhoff) 1680096558
As Krauth noted, the Kentucky bill:
- Bans all gender-affirming medical care for trans youths;
- Requires doctors to de-transition minors in their care if they're using any of the restricted treatment options;
- Prohibits conversations around sexual orientation or gender identity in school for students of all grades;
- Requires school districts to forbid trans students from using the bathroom tied to their gender identities;
- Allows teachers to refuse to use the pronouns a student identifies with.
"We are denying families, their physicians, and their therapists the right to make medically informed decisions for their families," Kentucky state Sen. Karen Berg (D-26) said on the chamber's floor prior to the vote.
"To say this is a bill protecting children is completely disingenuous, and to call this a 'parents' rights' bill is an absolutely despicable affront to me, personally," Berg added, recounting how her transgender son killed himself in December. She also linked anti-trans legislation to violent attacks on transgender people.
\u201cSpeaking to supporters of Senate Bill 150, which was enacted over @GovAndyBeshear's veto, state Rep. @lgwillner said, "I hope, if you're pleading for the lives of your children, that you won't find yourselves up against a 'we know better legislature.'"\u201d— KY House Democrats (@KY House Democrats) 1680125858
The ACLU of Kentucky's new executive director, Amber Duke, called the veto override "another shameful attack on LGBTQ youth."
"Trans Kentuckians, medical and mental health professionals, and accredited professional associations pleaded with lawmakers to listen to the experts, not harmful rhetoric based in fear and hate," Duke continued. "Their pleas fell on deaf ears."
"To all the trans youth who may be affected by this legislation: We stand by you, and we will not stop fighting. You are cherished. You are loved. You belong," she added. "To the commonwealth: We will see you in court."
\u201cAs Sen. Karen Berg shared in floor testimony, SB150 is \u201cabsolute willful, intentional hate for a small group of people" - @karenforky\u201d— Human Rights Campaign (@Human Rights Campaign) 1680120621
Trans youth can still obtain gender-affirming care in Kentucky, as the law won't take effect for 90 days.
The American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics are among the many medical groups supporting gender-affirming care for minors. A study published last year by the University of Washington found that youth who received such healthcare were 73% less likely to experience suicidality and 60% less likely to suffer from depression than minors who did not get care.
Yet GOP-led state legislatures in 2023 have already introduced more than 100 bills aimed at banning or severely limiting gender-affirming healthcare for minors, according to the ACLU.
As The Associated Press notes:
At least 11 states have now enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota, and West Virginia. Federal judges have blocked enforcement of laws in Alabama and Arkansas, and nearly two dozen states are considering bills this year to restrict or ban care.
Earlier this month, the Idaho House of Representatives passed a bill that would make providing gender-affirming care to transgender youths a felony, punishable by life imprisonment. The legislation also contains a provision making it a crime for parents or guardians to allow their children to travel out of the state for treatment.
\u201cCurrent state of bills and policies banning gender affirming care. 34 states have introduced over 124 bills banning gender affirming care. \n\n11 states have enacted outright bans\n3 states have injunctions on bans/policies\n2 states have enacted restrictions\u201d— Alejandra Caraballo (@Alejandra Caraballo) 1679609374
According to the Williams Institute, more than 144,000 U.S. transgender youth lost or remain at risk of losing access to gender-affirming care due to bans.
Belying Republican claims that healthcare bans are for the protection of children, GOP-led states have also moved to ban or limit gender-affirming care for adults.
Speaking after the Kentucky veto override, Chris Hartman from the advocacy group Fairness Campaign said in a statement that "while we lost the battle in the legislature, our defeat is temporary."
"We will not lose in court," Hartman added. "And we are winning in so many other ways."
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