Category: Democracy

In Her Words: Summer Lee, Climate Champion For U.S. Congress

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DemocracyNews & Opinion

by Miho Suzuki-Robinson

Food & Water Action is proud to stand with Pennsylvania State Rep. Summer Lee heading into the November midterm election. She’s an anti-fracking activist and climate champion who will fight for real climate solutions. Pennsylvania, among other states, is central to the fossil fuel industry’s plans to deepen its hold on America’s energy production. That’s why electing climate superstars like Summer is critical to safeguard our future. 

We recently asked Summer to share her thoughts on our work together and her journey toward the U.S. Congress. 

Summer Lee: ‘Food & Water Action Shares My Vision’

“I have worked with Food & Water Action ever since 2018, when I was running for State Representative and helping my community stop a fracking well proposed in a densely-populated neighborhood.

Food & Water Action helped me win that election, and kept fighting for the community to eventually stop that fracking well. We won because we continued organizing during election time and year-round. In partnership with Food & Water Action, we worked together to elect climate champions to county and municipal government, and they helped me get reelected in 2020 despite aggressive industry spending.

Photo credit: CC-BY-2.0 / Mark Dixon, Flickr.com

My successful run for Congress in 2022 was a whole new challenge, with millions of dollars of corporate cash being spent to knock our movement down. Food & Water Action was there fighting alongside us for working people and a livable climate, and we won our biggest victory yet. Their volunteers sent thousands of handwritten letters in a narrow election that required every part of our movement pushing as hard as we could. I look forward to working with them as a member of Congress to push for real climate solutions that create millions of green jobs, and to continue to clean up the air and water here in southwest Pennsylvania where there is so much work left to be done.

They fight for what is right, what is just, which is why I am proud and grateful for their endorsement. Food & Water Action shares my vision for a climate-stable future for all of us, where people determine how we govern the care of our planet – not CEOs who get wealthy, at the expense of our health.”

We Need Supporters Like You To Help Make Winning On Climate Possible

Summer Lee has proven to be a captivating and inspirational candidate. Her candidacy increased voter turnout in her district’s primary by an impressive margin. We expect her presence on the ballot to boost turnout again, benefiting the Democratic candidates for governor and U.S. Senate. 

Electing more champions like Lee will protect the progress we’ve made for a livable climate for us and future generations. We have many ways you can join us in supporting Summer and other allies running in the midterm elections. You can RSVP for events in your area, volunteer to be a part of our texting team, or donate. Or we’d love to have you host a Get Out The Vote letter-writing party!

Fight for food we can trust, water we can drink, and air we can breathe. Not to mention, a democracy we can believe in!

Every dollar donated helps to preserve our future.

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Food & Water Action Endorses Kristen Gonzalez for New York State Senate District 59

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DemocracyPress

For Immediate Release

Food & Water Action, the political and lobbying arm of the national advocacy organization Food & Water Watch, is endorsing community organizer Kristen Gonzalez for New York State Senate District 59.

Running in a newly drawn district inclusive of some of the city’s most polluted neighborhoods including Astoria, Queens, Gonzalez is a committed climate champion. She brings a decade-long track record of organizing in the communities she hopes to represent coupled with a detailed climate platform to move New York off fossil fuels.

Food & Water Action Senior New York Organizer Laura Shindell issued the following statement:

“When we won the fight to stop the dirty Astoria NRG fracked gas plant last year, Kristen Gonzalez was at our side. And as we demand action of Albany leadership to pass the Build Public Renewables Act, Kristen Gonzalez is at the helm. Gonzalez is a strong leader with bold vision and the fight to bring about needed change in Albany. We are proud to endorse climate champion Kristen Gonzalez for State Senate District 59.”

Contact: Sam Bernhardt, [email protected]

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Fighting For Communities & Climate in PA’s Battleground Midterms

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ClimateDemocracyNews & Opinion

by Sam Bernhardt and Mia DiFelice

Nestled between three rivers lies Pittsburgh, the steel capital at the heart of Southwest Pennsylvania. Once, the mills belched pollution into the air, blackening the shirts of steelworkers and steel magnates alike. Though the air has begun to clear, the region faces the legacy of that pollution and the growing threat of fracking development. Now, in this year’s midterm elections, it will be a battleground in our fight for a greener future. 

From Company Towns To A Green New Deal For Southwest PA

Southwest PA has a long history of extractive, polluting industry and environmental racism. The region is dotted with old steel towns that were once standard-bearers for U.S. production. When the steel industry left in the 1980s, it bled jobs and abandoned polluting infrastructure. The region still suffers from abysmal air quality and an outsized asthma problem.

In more recent years, the fracking industry has set its crosshairs on Southwest PA. Across the state, the industry has targeted Black and brown communities for siting their dangerous operations. In 2017, it was announced that Beaver County would become the home of a massive ethane cracker plant that will turn fracked gas into plastics, spewing more pollutants into the air and water.

These threats, old and new, make Southwest PA one of the most important places in the country for building a movement behind the Green New Deal. The Deal will bring clean energy jobs for the folks steel left behind. It will hold industry accountable for the public health crises it’s caused. And it will bring long-overdue environmental justice to all who call Southwest PA home.

Over the years, Food & Water Action has worked with local communities to stop fracking, town by town. In 2022, we’re taking that people power to the ballot box for the midterm elections. We won’t stop until we have the Green New Deal that Southwest PA demands.

Southwest PA Could Change The Climate Game On Multiple Fronts

There’s a lot at stake in the midterms. Time is running out to act on climate change, while Republicans and conservative Democrats have stalled the legislation we need. After a Supreme Court session that, among other blows, kneecapped the EPA’s powers to regulate power plant emissions, we can’t afford to lose in the midterms. Every single vote counts, and Southwestern PA is home to millions of those votes. 

In a single election, voters will see critical races for governor, state House and U.S. Senate on their ballots. These races could open new doors for climate legislation. We have the opportunity to elect a 51st Democratic Senator to make Joe Manchin irrelevant. We can also elect a majority-Democrat state House that could block attempts to hand over electoral college votes to the Republican candidate in 2024’s presidential election. 

Finally, we can elect a new governor who will actually hold the fracking industry accountable. The Democratic nominee for governor, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, has brought several lawsuits against the industry. Meanwhile, his opponent, Republican State Senator Doug Mastriano, personally attended the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. Mastriano also promises to ban abortion in Pennsylvania and encourages more fracking in our state and throughout the country.

In a battleground state like Pennsylvania, this race could be decided by just a handful of votes. That’s why we’re going all in on Southwest PA.

We’ve already had one major victory. In May, Summer Lee won the Democratic primary for the U.S. House seat in our 12th District. A community organizer and state representative, Lee faced millions of dollars in attack ads from corporate SuperPACs. But Food & Water Action mobilized volunteers to send thousands of letters and phone calls to drum up support. She won her primary by 978 votes — every vote mattered.

Working Toward a Greener Future For Southwest PA

Our work doesn’t end in 2022. After we win in November, we’ll pass ambitious climate legislation in Allegheny County. If county officials can’t step up, we’ll empower voters through a ballot measure. And we’ll continue to support communities to win local fights against fracking wells and pipelines. 

Southwest Pennsylvania has been a casualty for polluting industries for too long, and we’re fighting back. Food & Water Action is leveraging our long history of grassroots organizing and our relationships with communities on the ground. We will continue empowering communities here until we have a Green New Deal and a green new future for Southwest PA.

We’ll win this fight with your help.

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Food & Water Action Endorses Donna Edwards for Congress in Maryland

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DemocracyPress

The national environmental advocacy group Food & Water Action is endorsing Donna Edwards for Congress in Maryland’s 4th Congressional District.

Food & Water Action Political Director Sam Bernhardt issued the following statement:

“Donna Edwards has a proven track record of Congressional climate leadership. As a member of Congress, Edwards fought to prevent fracking on federal lands and get lead out of drinking water. As the conservative majority Supreme Court systematically dismantles federal protections, Congressional leadership is becoming more essential by the day. Edwards is the progressive leader we need to drive bold climate policies through Congress.”

Food & Water Action, the political and lobbying arm of the national advocacy group Food & Water Watch, mobilizes people to build political power to move bold and uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people’s health, communities and democracy from the destructive power of powerful economic interests.

Contact: Seth Gladstone – [email protected]

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The Climate Champions We Need in Washington

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ClimateDemocracyNews & Opinion

As Election Day moves closer, Food & Water Action is fighting to elect climate champions. We understand the anxiety surrounding the midterms and the importance of protecting the Democratic majorities in Congress. So we’re mobilizing support for candidates who share our vision and will fight for safe food, clean water and a liveable climate for all of us. 

Here are the candidates Food & Water Action endorses in 2022.

Summer Lee 

(Pennsylvania’s 12th District – Primary winner)

“The people in our community have been fighting back against fossil fuel corporations’ fracking proposals for decades, and I am proud to continue to stand with them.”

Food & Water Action volunteers sent thousands of handwritten letters and made thousands of phone calls to drive voter turnout for Summer Lee. She faced millions of dollars in attack ads from corporate SuperPACs. Ultimately, she won her primary by a margin of 978 votes – every letter and call mattered.

With a history in community organizing, Lee knows how to mobilize supporters and push for real change on the ground. She led the charge against a fracking well in her community and has made her stance clear — fossil fuel drilling has no place in PA. Lee’s election will be a huge victory in a state that has seen uncontrolled fracking and drilling for a decade. 

Jamie McLeod-Skinner 

(Oregon’s 5th District – Primary winner)

“I am running because we are in a time of crisis for our environment, our families, and our democracy.”

Food & Water Action had another major primary victory in Oregon’s 5th District. Jamie McLeod-Skinner, an outspoken advocate on climate and racial justice, defeated an entrenched incumbent who valued Big Pharma donors more than the needs of people and the planet. She won without taking a single cent in corporate money.

A former union member with working-class roots, McLeod-Skinner will be a progressive voice championing policies that put climate, justice and families first. Her race in November will be a nail-biter. Food & Water Action supports her unwaveringly as she runs against a Republican peddling Trump’s anti-democracy conspiracies.

Maxwell Alejandro Frost 

(Florida’s 10th District – Primary on August 28)

“If there is a future, it is a green future. We cannot hesitate and we cannot let big oil, big business, and the 1% decide our fates for us.”

Sending Maxwell Alejandro Frost to Congress won’t just win another vote for climate action; it will send a movement-builder to Washington. A staunch supporter of the Green New Deal, he’ll crack down on corporate polluters so that everyone has access to clean water and air and healthy food.

Along with Food & Water Action, Frost is supported by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, six members of Congress and several progressive advocacy groups.

Representative Andy Levin 

(Michigan’s 11th District – Primary on 8/2)

“Saving our one, precious Earth is a moral imperative, but it’s also an economic opportunity.  I’m an original cosponsor of the Green New Deal, which would create millions of good jobs while solving the climate crisis…”

Andy Levin is a proven champion for the environment. He has fought his entire career against corporations that have endangered our communities and our planet. This year, he’s running in a newly-drawn district against a more conservative colleague in a rare incumbent-on-incumbent race. 

Levin, an original co-sponsor of the WATER Act and the Green New Deal, has led on key legislation including the BUILD Green Act, Buy Green Act and the EV Freedom Act. He wrote and passed the PFAS Safe Disposal Act to keep toxic forever chemicals out of the air. He’s also fighting to shut down Line 5, a dangerous pipeline that cuts across 645 miles of Michigan.

Representative Jamaal Bowman 

(New York’s 16th District – Primary on August 23)

“The scale, scope and urgency of [climate change] surpasses anything we have faced in generations, and the Green New Deal is the only solution that matches our current crisis.”

Rep. Jamaal Bowman is running to keep his seat in New York’s 16th District. In 2020, he won a longshot victory against a 16-term, old-guard Democrat in one of the biggest political upsets in favor of the progressive movement.

He became a proud member of the “Squad” as he advanced the progressive agenda, championing education equity, voting rights, environmental justice and the Green New Deal. While in office, he introduced the Ending Corporate Greed Act, led by Senators Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey, calling out corporations for price gouging while the American people are getting squeezed. He’s fighting to transition this country to 100% clean and renewable energy by 2030.

David Segal 

(Rhode Island’s 2nd District – Primary on September 13)

“Protecting and improving the environment has long been a priority of mine … I called for a Green New Deal in 2010, and I’m calling for the same thing today.”

Throughout his career, David Segal has fought corporate greed. In 2003, he was the first Green Party candidate to win office in Rhode Island as Providence City Council member. Since then, he’s pushed for expansive investments in renewable energy to transition off fossil fuels. 

In 2022, Segal is the only candidate running in Rhode Island who has taken the No Fossil Fuel Money pledge and he’s the only Green New Deal champion running in his district. Together with Food & Water Action, he’s backed by Senator Bernie Sanders’ political group, Our Revolution, and Senator Elizabeth Warren. 

Your Help Can Change The Outcomes Of These Races

As the climate crisis grows more dire, we need bold policies now. These candidates fight with hope and passion for the future we all want to see, not only for us, but for future generations.

Give today to help these climate champions fight for a seat in Washington!

Every dollar donated helps to preserve our future.

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How We’re Changing The Game On Climate From Inside NY’s Assembly

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ClimateDemocracyNews & Opinion

by Santosh Nandabalan

Eight years ago, New York banned fracking — yet the state is still stalling measures to end its addiction to fracked gas. Despite the Democratic supermajority in our State Senate and Assembly, New York has repeatedly ignored the bills needed to meet state renewable energy goals. It is not mandating all-electric buildings, building public renewable energy or funding a just transition to a clean energy economy. Instead, year after year, our state government sides with real estate developers, private utilities and the fossil fuel industry. 

NY State Assembly Blocks Climate Action

This year, the real obstacle to climate action was the New York State Assembly. For example, the All-Electric Building Act would have moved new buildings off dirty fossil fuels. Additionally, the Build Public Renewables Act would ramp up our renewable energy capacity. These bills are crucial to enforce our state’s climate law and make a dent in the oncoming climate crisis. The bills gained momentum and support in the State legislature, but failed to pass in the Assembly. Despite plenty of support from the public and from elected officials, neither bill reached Governor Hochul’s desk for signature.

As a result of this continued inaction, New Yorkers will suffer more pollution and face greater climate change risks. And it’s all because Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie refused to bring these bills to the floor for a vote. If our assembly members couldn’t get these bills passed this year, it’s not because they aren’t hearing from us — it’s because they’re not listening.

Climate Can’t Wait And Neither Can Our Legislators

This past year, Food & Water Watch built support for climate bills by lobbying elected officials to co-sponsor them. We targeted key leaders, like Governor Hochul, through mass constituent calls and repeated rallies outside offices and at public events. When New York prepared to finalize its annual budget, we had Senate and Governor support for the All-Electric Building Act’s goals. However, the Assembly stood in the way of passing it. The same goes for the Build Public Renewables Act — though it passed the Senate, the Assembly refused to touch it.

It became clear that so long as the same business-as-usual politicians had power in the Assembly, we could not win the bills we needed. Entrenched assembly members like Kevin Cahill in the Hudson Valley dodged meetings with us. He refused to stand up for these bills while delivering empty rhetoric on climate change. But his constituents weren’t having any of it.

When this year’s legislative session ended, we were ready to pivot. For months, we prepared to replace the dead weight in Albany with real climate activists. If we could get another one of us into office, they could organize from within the Assembly to ensure that climate bills pass.

When Our Politicians Can’t Get The Job Done, We Elect New Ones 

This is where Food & Water Action’s electoral work comes into play. By endorsing and joining statewide campaigns to elect climate champions, we can uplift new candidates. We get out the vote, canvas door-to-door, phone bank and more.

In the Hudson Valley, climate activists Sarahana Shrestha and Vanessa Agudelo led the successful fight against the Danskammer fracked gas plant. Both advocated for Public Power and a Gas-Free New York on the campaign trail. In New York City, Illapa Sairitupac, a longtime activist fighting fossil fuel infrastructure, ran to do the same. The cards were stacked against all three candidates. They challenged both well-funded, Democratic establishment picks and right-wing interests that spent enormous sums of money on false smear campaigns.

In the waning months of the legislative session, current assembly members dithered and delayed climate action bills. Meanwhile, Food & Water Action joined these candidates’ campaigns to get them into office — one door, one phone call and one conversation at a time.

A Big Win For Climate In The Hudson Valley

Once the dust had settled on election night, a lot of status quo Democrats trotted easily into office again. The climate movement, however, was hyper-focused on the New York Assembly. We knew we had to show Speaker Carl Heastie there were consequences for climate inaction and get another fighter on our side in Albany. Of our three endorsed candidates, Shrestha emerged victorious. She toppled sitting assembly member Kevin Cahill, a 26-year incumbent backed by corporate interests and the Democratic Party machine. And perhaps more importantly, she won a district with significant rural areas that hadn’t seen strong climate leadership until now.

With Shrestha’s victory in the Hudson Valley, we can win tangible, concrete climate measures this upcoming session. That includes the vital Build Public Renewables and All-Electric Building Acts. But these bills are just the beginning. We must keep electing the right people who will get the job done for New Yorkers and all of us nationwide.

Many large environmental groups don’t do this kind of electoral work, especially during the primaries. But to win a clean energy future, we need to reach out to more voters, primary more status-quo candidates and demand real climate action, now. Food & Water Action will continue the fight to move off fossil fuels. We will always work to elect politicians who will meet this moment and organize for the future we deserve.

Next up: the general election.

To build this momentum in the midterms, we need your support.

donate now!
Time to face it~it’s people or plastics.~We can’t have both.

Become a plastic pollution fighter this Earth~Day and have your gift MATCHED $3-to-$1!