Tell your legislators to take action on plastic pollution now. (3) actions.

  • Action #1: Tell your federal legislators to vote “YES” on the “Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act.”
  • Action #2: Tell your state legislators to vote “YES” on SB 54 – the Plastic Pollution Producer Responsibility Act and other anti-plastic pollution bills.
  • Action #3: Find at least one plastic or recycling habit you can change.

Action #1: Tell your federal legislators to vote “YES” on the “Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act.”

It’s a shell game. A 50-year-long grift. Corporations who make or use plastic have been gaslighting America since that duplicitous “Crying Indian” commercial. States Sen. Merkley: “Many of us were taught the three R’s—reduce, reuse, and recycle — and figured that as long as we got our plastic items into those blue bins, we could keep our plastic use in check and protect our planet.” But only a scant 9% is actually recycled. “… the reality has become much more like the three B’s—plastic is buried, burned, or borne out to sea.” Or heaped into dystopian landscapes in third world nations, out of our sight, sickening people we don’t know.

Continue reading “Tell your legislators to take action on plastic pollution now. (3) actions.” →

Our profit-centric healthcare system was broken before COVID-19. It’s just more obvious now.

  • Action #1: Update on last weekend’s CalCare Caravan & invitation to join the CalCare phone banks!
  • Action #2: Sign a petition to Newsom to make single payer health care a reality in CA!
  • Action #3: Tell your state legislators to vote “YES” on AB 1400 – CalCare

Despite the gains made under the Affordable Care Act, nearly 3 million Californians have no health insurance, and millions more have insurance that they can’t afford to use because their copays and deductibles are too high. Meanwhile, for-profit insurance companies are reporting record-breaking profits, even while the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage California and medical bankruptcies are at an all time high. In fact, these corporations benefitted from the pandemic, because we couldn’t access healthcare our premiums paid for safely. Despite this, premiums will be increasing in 2021, because that’s what profit-driven corporations do. It’s past time for a change to a patient-centric healthcare model. In the era of COVID-19, single-payer has taken on a new urgency. 

Continue reading “Our profit-centric healthcare system was broken before COVID-19. It’s just more obvious now.” →

5 Environmental Actions – from the president’s desk to our own backyards.

  • Action #1: SB-467 FAILED in committee! Seriously! With a Democratic majority! But we may still get the 2500′ setback if we call!
  • Action #2: Katie wants to see some concrete actions against our biggest polluters and welfare recipients. The “End Polluter Welfare Act” is a great start!
  • Action #3: Joe isn’t keeping his promise on the Dakota Access Pipeline. Write him a note.
  • Action #4: Say “NO” the Forest Service’s proposal for backcountry looting logging on Mt. Pinos.
  • Action #5: Witness climate change happen and imagine the future. Share!

Action #1: SB-467 FAILED in committee! Seriously! With a Democratic majority! But we may still get the 2500′ setback if we call!

3 Democratic state senators (Eggman, Hueso, and Hertzberg) killed SB 467 – the Dangerous Drilling Bill in the Natural Resources Committee. This critical legislation, authored by our own senator Monique Limón, would have protected the millions of Californians who live in close proximity to oil and gas operations, banned dangerous drilling practices, and begun a just transition for oil and gas workers as the state meets its climate goals and steadily moves away from fossil fuels. (Oil industry donor spreadsheet here.)

(From VISION) “THE FIGHT’S NOT OVER YET! SB 467, is not dead yet – we still have a chance to protect more than 2M Californians, mostly in low-income and Black, Latinx, and Indigenous communities, but only if we show our target Senators we won’t accept their silence and lack of support. We can no longer sacrifice our health and the health of our children, neighbors, and friends to the oil and gas industry, and our lawmakers have the chance to do something about it. (Plus our state’s economy loses about $28 billion annually due to premature deaths and illnesses linked to ozone and particulates.)

Continue reading “5 Environmental Actions – from the president’s desk to our own backyards.” →

Who really believes in “No taxation without representation?” We’ll find out soon! CALL on H.R.51/S.51! (Manchin update!)

The GOP’s racist and blatantly partisan refusal to vote for DC statehood last year put its residents in danger during the insurrection.

Activate your resistance PHONE TREE – contact every friend or relative you know in a RED state, and ask them to not just call their legislators, but to ask their local friends to do it too!

Action: Thank or Spank your legislators

Continue reading “Who really believes in “No taxation without representation?” We’ll find out soon! CALL on H.R.51/S.51! (Manchin update!)” →

Tues 4/13: “YES” on legislation to stop police from choking Black people to death.

Action #1: Representatives – “YES” on “H.R.1347– Eric Garner Excessive Use of Force Act and H.R. 1336 – National Statistics on Deadly Force Transparency Act”

Fellow police officers and medical experts were appalled by Derek Chauvin’s brutality in the murder of George Floyd. But if a bystander hadn’t recorded those horrific ±9 minutes, there probably wouldn’t have been a courtroom trial, so let’s not waste this “opportunity” that Floyd and others paid for with their lives.

Minimal script for Representatives: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep. [___] to cosponsor and support the passage of H.R.1347 – the Eric Garner Excessive Use of Force Act and H.R.1336– the National Statistics on Deadly Force Transparency Act. I’m following the Chauvin trial and I’m both outraged and heartsick. Please ask Rep. [___] to do whatever [he/she] can to make sure that Mr. Floyd is the last American to suffer this way.

Continue reading “Tues 4/13: “YES” on legislation to stop police from choking Black people to death.” →

Mon. 4/12 – Justice files for Monday. Let’s make some change.

  • Action #1: Economic justice file: “Bridging the digital divide” – Help the Westside Community Council get a grant for Chromebooks for Ventura Westside Library. Comments due today by 4pm.
  • Action #2: Environmental justice file: LAST DAY TO GET THIS BASIC SAFETY BILL FOR DRILLING through the CA Senate!
  • Action #3: Economic Reparations file: “YES” on SB 796 – Return Bruce’s Beach back to the Bruce Family.

Action #1: Economic justice file: “Bridging the digital divide” – Help the Westside Community Council get a grant for Chromebooks for Ventura Westside Library. Comments due today by 4pm.

Example script (personalize this with your own experiences/writing voice):

  • “Legislative/Hearing Body”: City Council
  • “Select a Topic”:  Agenda Item Number/Topic
  • “Agenda Item Number/Topic”:  Item 12A, a-e.
  • “Recommendation”:  Support Recommendation.
Continue reading “Mon. 4/12 – Justice files for Monday. Let’s make some change.” →

Joe’s actions are a great start. Now let’s pass some commonsense federal and state gun bills!

Action #1: First, take a moment to thank Joe!

UPDATE:#MoreThanThoughtsAndPrayers – Biden just issued an executive action against gun violence!The White House fact sheet details the administration’s six key actions:

  • The Justice Department, within 30 days, will issue a proposed rule to help stop the proliferation of “ghost guns”;
  • The Justice Department, within 60 days, will issue a proposed rule to make clear when a device marketed as a stabilizing brace effectively turns a pistol into a short-barreled rifle subject to the requirements of the National Firearms Act;
  • The Justice Department, within 60 days, will publish model “red flag” legislation for states;
  • The administration is investing in evidence-based community violence interventions;
  • The Justice Department will issue an annual report on firearms trafficking; and
  • The president will nominate David Chipman to serve as Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. 

Contact Joe here and tell him what this means to you, your friends and your family.

Continue reading “Joe’s actions are a great start. Now let’s pass some commonsense federal and state gun bills!” →

Ask our legislators to support the THRIVE Agenda!

The big question we had was how does the THRIVE (Transform, Heal, and Renew by Investing in a Vibrant Economy) Agenda, compare to President Biden’s American Jobs Plan?

The answer? It’s far bigger and better! Tell your legislators! Tell Joe!

Activists, and even Sen. Manchin (!!!) have stated that Biden’s plan falls short of the revolutionary change that needs to take place to “build back better.” While the Washington Post reported that Biden proposed spending $2.25 trillion on the first part of his jobs and infrastructure plan—with the two-part package possibly topping $4 trillion—the THRIVE Act announced Monday by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and other progressives would invest $10 trillion over a decade. Ben Beachy, director of the Sierra Club’s Living Economy Program stated “To match the scale of the crises we face, piecemeal solutions won’t suffice. By investing $1 trillion per year, we can end the unemployment crisis by putting over 15 million people to work in projects that deliver cleaner air, healthier homes, and a down payment on racial, economic, and climate justice.“

Continue reading “Ask our legislators to support the THRIVE Agenda!” →

SB-467 and SB-47 – It’s time to push these environmental justice bills through.

No more excuses. No more obstruction. No more insider corruption.

The video below is from 2015 when Jerry Brown was governor, and it’s infuriating, that even with a Democratic majority for decades and a supermajority in the CA state legislature since 2018, we’re still asking for the same things in 2021. Maybe we need to look more closely at our “Democrats.” (See article on AB-345)

Continue reading “SB-467 and SB-47 – It’s time to push these environmental justice bills through.” →

Wednesday 3/31: Cesar Chavez Day – Two actions!

  • Action #1: Volunteer in your community in honor of “Cesar Chavez Day.”
  • Action #2: Call your senators to vote “YES” on UFW-supported H.R. 1603 – the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, a long-delayed “thank you” for the essential workers who bring us our food.

Action #1: Volunteer in your community in honor of “Cesar Chavez Day.”

  • What is Cesar Chavez Day? Cesar Chavez was a prominent leader for civil rights, farmworkers, community organizing, and more. Born in 1927 as a first-generation American, Chavez began working in the fields full time to help support his family after completing the eighth grade. Being exposed to the injustices of farm worker life, he would later go on to found the National Farm Workers Movement Association in 1962. Today, this is known as the United Farm Workers of America, which has made long strides for farm workers.
  • How is his work still relevant? While Chavez brought great awareness and made progress for farmworkers, farmworkers continue to face hardships and injustices in their work and conditions. The California Streetsblog posted a great article this time last year as the pandemic was just beginning, highlighting the thankless work that farmworkers do every day – providing us with food to eat.
  • Finally, learn about Chavez’s connection to Ventura County from Dr. Frank Barajas at CSUCI. 
  • So, how can you honor Cesar Chavez this year? Get involved! Here are some great opportunities to engage with near you:
Continue reading “Wednesday 3/31: Cesar Chavez Day – Two actions!” →