The science used to attribute extreme weather events to climate change has advanced remarkably in recent years, allowing policy makers, judges, and the public to see clear links between disasters and the fossil fuel emissions driving climate crisis. Now, as the links become clearer, oil and gas lobbyists are scrambling to shield the industry from a wave of lawsuits and state laws seeking to hold…
Source
Republican members of Congress are introducing legislation to impose sanctions on Canada over the fact that the smoke from wildfires has spread to the U.S. — an absurd effort to blame Canadian officials for the spread of the smoke without acknowledging the role of the climate crisis in supercharging the fires. In a statement, Sen. Bernie Moreno’s (R-Ohio) office says he blames Canada and…
Source
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) has been absent from his congressional duties for nearly a month, in what he finally explained on Sunday has been an extended period of sick leave. But McConnell, the high-powered former majority leader in the Senate, has previously worked to bar U.S. workers from being able to have similar benefits at work, such as guaranteed sick leave — including during…
Source
Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy of Alaska has ordered state lawmakers to attend special legislative sessions over the summer and pass lucrative tax breaks for Alaska LNG, a proposed massive fossil gas export terminal on the Cook Inlet with an 800-mile pipeline across pristine wildlife preserves and much of the state. With plans to export liquified “natural gas,” or LNG, to Asia…
Source
We are in a health care crisis. Our system of care is beyond dysfunctional, driven by profit, and unable to serve the Americans who are the most vulnerable. In my congressional district, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), the state’s largest safety net hospital, narrowly avoided closure last month after the Minnesota legislature reached a one-time funding deal to bring it back from the…
Source
Two Senate Republicans who supported a previous resolution calling for an end to the US war on Iran changed their votes late Wednesday after President Donald Trump publicly and privately berated GOP lawmakers, calling them “losers” who provided “aid and comfort to the enemy.” In Wednesday’s procedural vote, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) — who reportedly got into a shouting match with Trump over…
Source