Hi, all, and happy Tuesday!
It’s hot here in NY. Like, really hot.
It’s roasting pretty much everywhere. Please take care of yourself and, as cliche as it sounds, drink plenty of water.
The good news? Making phone calls requires very little energy—we don’t even have to break a sweat! So let’s get to work making sure that the climate disruptions we’re seeing today don’t become even worse disasters tomorrow.
Sending, as always, love and strength.
Let’s get to work.
(Oh, one more thing—if you’re a podcast subscriber I am taking a week or two off. It’s very difficult to broadcast in a house filled with children and grandparents. Quality problem, I know.)
Call Your Senators (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.
I’m glad that the Senate seems to be arriving at a bipartisan package on infrastructure that can actually get passed. But any package that leaves out strong provisions to address our awful climate crisis should be a non-starter. I also don’t want to see childcare stripped out, and we need more funding for rural broadband—it’s unacceptable that the Republicans insisted on taking out 35 billion of the 100 billion President Biden proposed. I want an infrastructure bill to be big and sweeping—nothing less will do.
[If Democrat add:] The provisions in Biden’s larger, more ambitious plan are overwhelmingly popular. Don’t give up on getting them passed through reconciliation. Even Republicans have seen the polling. It’s what Americans want.
[to all of them] Also we still want legislation to protect our right to vote and abolish partisan gerrymandering. I won’t stop calling until you get it done. Thanks.
Call Your House Rep (find yours here)
Hi, I'm a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.
I’m calling because I’m worried about plastic pollution, and I want to make sure Congress is addressing it in the right way. There is a bill, for example—the Realizing the Economic Opportunities and Value of Expanding Recycling Act—moving through Congress which would invest $500 million in waste infrastructure over the next five years.
In theory this sounds good. Unfortunately, as written the RECOVER Act includes dangerous and unproven technologies that would create new emissions from plastic waste, in turn encouraging more single-use plastic production and waste. That’s no good.
Please ask the Congressmember to oppose using plastic waste to create new emissions and instead support policies that reduce plastic production, like HR 2238, the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021. Thanks.
Extra Credit
First of all, please, please take 5 minutes to watch this.
Formosa Plastics, a company with a long, dirty record, wants to build a massive petrochemical facility along the Mississippi River in St. James Parish, Louisiana.
The proposed plant would not only pollute a predominantly Black community, but it would disturb the unmarked burial sites of formerly enslaved people (see above link). But there’s more: it would degrade wetlands and deepen the plastic pollution crisis. Expanding plastic production in Louisiana will harm communities in Cancer Alley where residents there already face significantly higher cancer risk than the average American.
What can you do? A few things.
1) Please, sign this petition to President Biden asking him to halt this project. Bonus points if you Resistbot him also.
2) Go to https://www.stopformosa.org/ and sign up to stay informed.
3) Consider making a donation to Rise St. James.
4) Post this on social (you only need the initial period if you’re putting it on twitter):
.@POTUS must protect Louisiana communities & not let #FormosaPlastics build a massive, polluting plastics plant. This plant will disturb the burial sites of formerly enslaved people. Sign 2 ask @POTUS to revoke Formosa’s permits --> bit.ly/BidenStopFormosaPlastics https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/06/27/us/louisiana-graves-enslaved-people.html
More social media options at the toolkit here.
Get on the Phones! ☎️
There is real reason to believe that the work we’re doing on Joe Manchin in West VA is making a difference. If you want to read the detailed email from my contacts at “All in For West Virginia” write me back and I’ll forward it. Suffice it to say that we CAN get a voting rights bill passed. And our continued calls into West Virginia to get constituents to call Joe Manchin is critical to this effort.
Here are some upcoming phonebanks you can join. Please do! They will train you first.
June 29 Tuesday 230-500 pm Pacific—sign up here.
July 1 Thursday 300-500 pm Pacific—sign up here.
July 3 Saturday 1000-1200 pm Pacific—sign up here.
July 3 Saturday 100-330 pm Pacific—sign up here.
Don’t want to call West VA? That’s OK!
There are phone banks with Common Cause daily at 6PM ET. They'll be calling voters in other states and connecting them to their Senators to support the For the People Act (S1) and eliminate the filibuster. Sign up here.
Finally, there are text banks with Common Cause Wednesdays and Saturdays at noon ET. Sign up here.
Get Educated!
This Wednesday evening Movement Voter Project—an AMAZING grassroots organization— is hosting what’s sure to be an incredible webinar. In it, we’ll hear from phenomenal local leaders and strategists in Arizona and West Virginia—states that will determine the future of our democracy and the balance of power in the US Senate.
They’ll talk about what’s needed to defend democracy and hold elected officials accountable, and how MVP's strategic capacity-building program is helping grassroots partners across the country protect our wins in 2021 and beyond.
Jun 30, 2021 08:00 PM EST Register here.
Resistbot Text (new to Resistbot? Go here!)
[to all 3 reps] [H/T]
I’m writing in support of passing legislation to provide paid family leave to all Americans.
This is about helping families, but it’s also a racial justice issue.
Women of color are disproportionately harmed by the lack of paid leave. Racial disparities are stark in meaningful access to leave: about 71 percent of Latinx workers, 67 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native workers, 61 percent of Black workers and 54 percent of Asian American and Pacific Islander workers are either not eligible for or cannot afford to take unpaid FMLA leave.
The good news? Eighty-four percent of voters support a national paid family and medical leave policy that covers ALL working people.
I know that House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Neal recently introduced draft legislation including universal paid family and medical leave, and that President Biden has included paid leave as a priority in his new spending and tax plan. I want you to support both of these plans. Thanks.
OK, you’ve done it again. How could I be more grateful to you? I couldn’t.
Talk tomorrow,
Jess