One Way Pennsylvania's GOP Subverts Democracy, Bucks County's Anti-Nuke History ... and Future?, Action Alert! Tell PA Lawmakers Not to Exploit Ukraine War for Big Oil, And More!
Republicans are willing to burn down our democracy as long as it means they seize power.
My latest column for the Bucks County Beacon is out: PA GOP Has Weaponized Constitutional Amendments to Subvert Democracy. The GOP’s war on democracy has many battle fronts. In Pennsylvania, that actually includes the state constitution.
Pennsylvania Republicans, who hold majorities in the State House and Senate, apparently despise the practice of checks and balances the judicial, legislative and executive branches of state government provide each other — a bedrock of U.S. constitutional democracy. I talked to Nick Pressley, director of campaigns for the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, about this anti-democratic practice and what can be done about it.
Read the full article here: https://tinyurl.com/2n6s5tn3
And if you don’t already, please follow the Beacon on Twitter! https://twitter.com/BucksCoBeacon
Bucks County must band together to ‘Ban the Bomb’: In September 1982, Bucks County screenwriter Paul Zimmerman was a guest on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross and talked about his group Bucks Alliance for Nuclear Disarmament. He wrote the 1982 film "The King of Comedy," directed by Martin Scorsese, which starred Robert DeNiro and Jerry Lewis. Zimmerman actually organized a sold-out premier of the movie at Newtown Theatre, adorned with klieg lights and a red carpet, and used the proceeds as seed money to start BAND and open a Peace Center locally.
He credited his wife Barbara with helping him see how “absolutely insane and dangerous” the country’s nuclear policy was. I spoke with Barbara about this history of this group and wrote about why with Russia’s war on Ukraine now is the moment for the anti-nuke movement’s revival locally, not to mention across the country and world.
Read the full article here: https://tinyurl.com/4xyrhu7e
Action Alert! From Conservation Voters of PA
The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is devastating to watch, and we stand with the Ukrainian people.
That's why it is so egregious that some Pennsylvania state legislators are using this crisis to spread disinformation about our energy solutions and push their pro-polluter agenda. We're tracking at least seven legislative proposals at the state Capitol calling for unfettered fracking, pipeline expansion, and looser oversight of drilling activities — all under the guise of “energy independence.”
We can't drill our way out of high gas prices, and these lawmakers know that. But they, along with oil and gas company CEOs, are preying on people's fears to fast track their pro-polluter political agenda.
The best way to stop this agenda and to achieve TRUE energy independence is by stopping these legislative proposals in their tracks, while transitioning to a clean energy future. Tell state Senate and House leaders to NOT support any attempt to manipulate the crisis in Ukraine for the oil and gas industry's benefit.
SIGN THERE PETITION HERE: https://action.conservationpa.org/a/ukraine-crisis
PA State Senator Doug Mastriano is truly unfit for any political office. Not surprisingly, he is the PA GOP’s frontrunner for governor.
He is a Big Lie J6 Insurrectionist.
A Christian Nationalist.
A Commander in the Handmaid’s Tale?
And a transphobic bigot with the intellect of a high school bully.
We can’t let him become PA’s next governor.
