Extra! Extra! 11/19 👏🏼👏🏼
Hi, all, and happy Sunday.
It’s been a long week—I flew from L.A. to Sacramento for the California Democratic Party’s endorsing convention yesterday. It was a bit…chaotic, (understatement) but I’m still glad I went, and I was able to clean out my email inbox AND finish this newsletter on my flights there and back, so that was good!
Things continue to be challenging, and that’s all the more reason we need breaks to celebrate our wins. So below I present you with everything good I could find that happened this past week. As is now my custom, I put a little 🪓 next to every win that came about either because of the advocacy of people like you, or because of lawmakers we helped to elect.
Enjoy all of it!
Read This 📖
This beautiful piece—and the beautiful young people it talks about—gave me SO MUCH HOPE.
Celebrate This! 🎉
Patagonia just designed their warmest coat ever, and it’s made from trash – collected by Bionics in Costa Rica.
MAGA-dominated state Republican parties are being plagued by infighting and money woes. Schadenfreude, anyone?
The Supreme Court on Monday issued a statement of ethics specific to the nine justices. While it’s wholly inadequate, it at least shows that they’re aware of our displeasure. 🪓
Kenya announced a surprise public holiday, making Nov. 13 a national tree planting day to help hit the country’s goal of planting 15 billion trees by 2032.
The IRS announced new tax brackets for 2024 with bigger standard deductions. It will allow most Americans to hold on to more of their income to keep up with inflation.
More than 100,000 demonstrators in Paris and cities across France took to the streets on Sunday to show their solidarity with the country’s Jews and to deplore antisemitic acts that have multiplied across the nation since Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
The President announced the first-ever initiative on Women’s Health Research, and it’s going to be led by Jill Biden! 🪓
The Michigan Legislature passed a bill to impose criminal penalties on individuals who intimidate election workers or obstruct election officials from doing their jobs. 🪓
I missed this last week! In Erie, Pennsylvania, Tyler Titus won a seat on the Erie City Council. In 2017, Tyler was the first out trans non binary candidate to win in Pennsylvania, winning a seat in the school board, and on Tuesday they ran and won a seat on the local city council. This is a huge, historic win for the LGBTQ+ community and for Pennsylvania. (And it’s another Run For Something victory!) 🪓
I also forgot to post this most amazing of all electoral wins from last week: In Sparta NJ - all the Board of Ed "Parents Choice" candidates were defeated! (I have family in Sparta—it’s RED!) 🪓
After a years-long wage theft investigation by the New York state attorney general, rideshare companies Uber and Lyft will soon be paying $328 million back to their drivers — a record-breaking back pay settlement for the state. 1 🪓
Indonesia plans to convert nearly half a million acres of oil palm plantations back into forests in an effort to mitigate climate change. 🪓
A biologist single-handedly revitalized a butterfly species in San Francisco. He established a butterfly garden, sourced caterpillars, nurtured their life cycle, and effectively reintroduced the species to the city. 🪓
Hyundai Motors said it will hike wages for nonunion production workers at its Alabama factory by 25% by 2028, weeks after the United Auto Workers won new contracts with the Detroit Three automakers. 🪓
President Biden announced more than $6 billion in investments to make communities across the country more resilient to the impacts of climate change. 🪓
In Guam, drones are re-seeding watersheds devastated by wildfires, saving time, money, and labor.
I missed this last week, too: Five of SURJ’s school board candidates won their races in Ohio! Their candidates defeated opponents backed by Moms for Liberty. They’re celebrating wins in North Canton, Olentangy, Dublin, and Westerville. WOOT! 🪓
Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform has lost $73 million since its launch last year.
Brazil raised $2 billion in its first-ever “green” bond, highlighting investors’ backing of the country’s ambitious environmental agenda.
President Joe Biden nominated the top lawyer at a major labor union and a Muslim American attorney to become federal appeals court judges as part of a continued effort by the White House to diversify the federal judiciary. HUGE. 🪓
After massive community blowback (and a lot of letters from us!) Sherman High School in Texas decided to proceed with its production of Oklahoma! as initially planned before their controversial decision to remove transgender student Max Hightower from his role and to adopt a more watered-down version. 🪓
After the release of a damning report from the House Ethics Committee George Santos announced he would not seek reelection next year. 🪓
Wind and solar energy are booming in coal country. 🪓
The U.S. Department of Energy announced up to $3.5 billion from the Infrastructure Law to boost domestic production of advanced batteries and battery materials nationwide. 🪓
Barbie is commemorating Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, with her own Barbie doll as part of the "Inspiring Women" series.
Portugal just ran on 100% renewables for six days in a row.
The U.S. Army overturned convictions of 110 Black soldiers who were wrongfully arrested in 1917, a move aimed at “acknowledging past mistakes and setting the record straight.”
The U.S. and China agreed to curb fentanyl and resume high-level military communications while starting new discussions on artificial intelligence risks. 🪓
Nevada’s attorney general is investigating the state’s fake electors who supported Donald Trump in the 2020 election. 🪓
Gun violence is down 12 percent in 168 cities across the US. 🪓
We got more really good inflation and CPI numbers! 🪓
Maxwell Vehicles and Rossmönster have created a solar-powered camper van with a 150-mile range, and it's packed with clean-energy goodies like a heat pump and an induction cooktop.
Michigan’s legislature just passed legislation requiring disclosures on political ads that use artificial intelligence (AI) and punishing campaigns for using intentionally deceptive AI materials known as “deepfakes.” 🪓
Voters support the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law by a nearly three-to-one margin (65% support / 22% oppose) after reading a brief description of it [Navigator]
European Union officials agreed this week on rules that will require fossil-fuel companies to track and fix methane leaks in their infrastructure, a pervasive problem that is probably one of the most impactful near-term measures the energy industry can take on climate change. 🪓
Toyota signed what is likely to become a multi-billion dollar deal to buy recycled EV battery components from the U.S.-based recycling firm Redwood Materials. Sourcing from the U.S. will help Toyota EVs remain eligible for IRA tax credits.
Gov. Maura Healey signed a bill making Massachusetts the fifth state to make prison phone calls free statewide, and the first state to include provisions for free calls from county jails. 🪓
The U.S. Department of Labor announced the availability of $98 million in grants to help provide educational guidance, occupational skills training and employment services to disadvantaged young people, ages 16 to 24, in communities where barriers to academic and career skills development persist. Awesome! 🪓
Vice President Kamala Harris announced an initiative to help women advance in important sectors such as clean energy, fisheries and environmental conservation in countries around the world. 🪓
The EPA launched a Youth Council of Gen Z and Millenial climate activists who will work directly with Director Michael Regan!!! 🪓
Ron DeSantis’s support from Independent voters in Florida has taken a nosedive, with almost 60 percent saying they disapprove of the job he is doing as governor — a nearly 14-point increase from July. His job approval rating in general is trending downwards across the board. Good.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request by Florida to partially halt a judge’s order blocking the state from enforcing a new law banning minors from attending drag shows.
A civil rights group called the Power of the Ballot is kicking off a campaign to get a million Black Floridians to vote in 2024. 🪓
David DePape, Paul Pelosi’s attacker, was found guilty of attempted kidnapping of a U.S. official and assault of a U.S. official’s immediate family member in a San Francisco federal court. He faces up to 50 years in prison for those two charges. Good.
Despite recent headlines declaring the industry stagnant or moribund, the U.S. electric-vehicle market is actually well past the tipping point for mass adoption — and its healthy sales growth underscores that.
Illinois approved a bill that will transition state government vehicles to electric models by 2030. 🪓
Members of the United Autoworkers Union approved contracts with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, securing big wage increases. 🪓
A federal court struck down North Dakota's legislative maps, finding that the districts violate Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Spirit Lake Tribe and voters alleged the maps harm Native voters.
New York state is suing PepsiCo for plastic pollution along the Buffalo River that is allegedly contaminating the water and harming wildlife. 🪓
A New York judge has denied former President Trump’s motion for a mistrial in his civil fraud case, rejecting the claim that the judge and his principal law clerk had “tainted” the trial with bias.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm joined with hundreds of members of Together Louisiana, the state’s largest grassroots organization, to celebrate the group’s newest solar+storage installation. It’s in St. John the Baptist Parish, the most vulnerable county to climate change in the U.S., according to the 2023 Climate Vulnerability Index. This is the seventh Community Lighthouse in Louisiana. 🪓
Univision is facing significant backlash—and a Congressional investigation— after their recent Trump interview. 🪓
The Biden administration announced $6 billion in federal investments into new and expanded programs to reduce flood risk, advance environmental justice and bolster the aging U.S. electric grid—money that Congress previously made available in the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure act and other legislation. 🪓
Workers in Chicago will now be guaranteed vacation time, thanks to a sweeping new law passed by the city council last week. 🪓
Illinois became the first state ever to end an existing private school voucher program, which diverted public funds to private, mostly religious schools. 🪓
The anti-abortion activists who were found guilty of violating the FACE Act were unsuccessful in their attempts to overturn their convictions.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced the Get the Lead Out (GLO) Initiative that will help ensure safer drinking water by partnering with 200 underserved communities nationwide to provide the technical assistance they need to identify and remove lead service lines. 🪓
Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss will seek millions of dollars in damages from Rudy Giuliani.
Congress passed—and President Biden signed—a bill to prevent a government shutdown. 🪓
The Biden-Harris Administration issued a landmark National Spectrum Strategy and a Presidential Memorandum on modernizing U.S. spectrum policy that, together, lay out a blueprint for American innovation, competition, and security in advanced wireless technologies. 🪓
Michigan lawmakers just passed a bill which, if signed by the governor, would be the first law in the nation to require a state to register people to vote when they’re released from prison. 🪓
A growing list of companies, including Apple, Lionsgate, IBM, Disney and more have suspended all advertising on X after Elon Musk’s horrific antisemitic retweet.
Lawmakers at the Texas State Capitol rejected a bill that included taxpayer subsidies for some students (aka vouchers) to attend private school. This is a huge defeat for Gregg Abbott, who was a lead proponent of the bill, and a huge victory for public school advocates. 🪓
An effort to enshrine abortion rights in the Nebraska Constitution is being launched. 🪓
More late-breaking election news: After days of counting provisional ballots Justin Douglas has flipped a PA county commission that has been controlled by the GOP for at least 100 years. With a margin of victory of just a few hundred votes, Justin will oversee the election administration in 2024 in a key PA county and bring transformative leadership to Dauphin County. Another Run For Something victory, by the way! 🪓
Watch This! 👀
In case you haven’t seen this. WOWOWOW.
My goodness. Thank you for all that news. It takes time to read it all and so worth it. Thank you for you Jessica.
WOW, the guy who spoke at the Virginia school board meeting (impeded video in Sundays letter) was AWESOME. The good guys verses bad guys is really quite simple. He said it perfectly. Kudos to him whoever he is. I hope there are many more like him out there.