Extra! Extra! 9/24 🎈

Good news abounds!

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

There was a lot of good news this week! Let’s focus on it for a few minutes, so that we can strengthen ourselves for the week ahead. Heck, let’s bask in it!

(Start by watching the above terrific video, by the way. Pure genius!)

So much of what’s below happened either because of work you did (indicated by an 🪓), or through the good work of representatives you helped elect (indicated by a 🪣 ). Really take that in. The world is a better place because you exist—and because you volunteer and vote!

So enjoy this list. Then share it widely! It’s proof positive that when we organize we win.

Celebrate This! 🎉

U.S. Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock and Sen. Jon Ossoff announced they’d secured more than $60 million to fund a variety of improvement projects for airports across Georgia. The funding came from the Bipartisan infrastructure Act. 🪣

Two Wisconsin Tribes, the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, have received over $13 million to invest in renewable energy solutions. The grants were funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. 🪣

With more than 40 underpasses and three overpasses already built, Colorado is leading the way in wildlife crossing construction. Those crossings, paired with long stretches of wildlife fencing to funnel the animals to the safe passageway have reduced wildlife-involved crashes by around 90%.

​New data shows the ozone layer is still well on its way to making a full recovery. If current policies hold, it could recover by 2066 over the Antarctic, 2045 over the Arctic, and 2040 over the rest of the world.

​One of the world’s largest exporters of oil, Norway now has more electric than gas-fueled cars on its roads. It’s aiming to become the first nation to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2025 — currently, 9 out of 10 cars sold are electric.

More than 100 former national security officials from Republican administrations and former Republican members of Congress endorsed Vice President Harris after concluding that their party’s nominee is “unfit to serve again as president.”

Pennsylvania schools and libraries are set to receive thousands of free copies of "1/6," a (fantastic) graphic novel that imagines an America where the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection was successful.

President Biden sat down with The Washington Blade — marking the first time a sitting president has given an exclusive interview to an LGBTQ+ news outlet. 🪣

Singer Billie Eilish and her brother and songwriter Finneas O’Connell endorsed Kamala Harris for president, with Eilish saying “they are fighting to protect our reproductive freedom, our planet, and our democracy.” 🪓

A new Emerson College poll in Missouri finds 58% of voters plan to vote in favor of the ballot measure to amend the Missouri Constitution to provide the right to reproductive freedom, while 30% plan to vote against it. 🪓

Kamala Harris has opened up a 5-point lead nationally in The Economist‘s vote tracker.

Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order Wednesday that bans conversion therapy on minors in Kentucky.  🪣

A $36M heat pump rebate program is coming to Maine. The program will be funded through the Inflation Reduction Act and administered through Efficiency Maine, according to the governor's office. 🪣

Rochester, NY has been awarded $3 million through the USDA Urban and Community Forestry Inflation Reduction Act. This will go toward a Tree Expansion and Beautification Initiative. 🪣

In a win for voters, right-wing Georgia activists voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit that tried to examine the eligibility of every single voter in Fulton County and risked disenfranchisement for potentially thousands before the election.

The Hague has become the first city in the world to pass a law banning advertisements promoting fossil fuel products and climate-busting services.

The cast of “Veep” is reuniting for a table read of one of the show’s most popular episodes, in an event hosted by Stephen Colbert, to help “Dems win up and down the ballot in Wisconsin.”

More Americans watched the presidential debate last week than both the Democratic National Convention and State of the Union Address earlier this year. Of those who watched it, three in five had a positive reaction to Kamala Harris’ performance. Harris’s favorability is now net positive following the debate, while Trump’s is net-negative by double-digits. [Source: Navigator]

The DCCC says it raised $22.3 million in August — leaving House Democrats' campaign arm with more than $87 million on hand in the final stretch of the election. The DCCC now has raised more than $250 million this cycle. 🪓

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates, slashing them from 5.3 percent to about 4.8 percent. 

In a huge win for voters, a North Carolina judge rejected the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) request to prohibit University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill affiliates from using their state-approved digital university IDs to vote.

The Supreme Court turned down an appeal from the Nevada Green Party, keeping the progressive party off the state’s November presidential ballot,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Rhode Island and Massachusetts announced a coordinated selection of 2,878 megawatts of offshore wind, the largest procurement in the region’s history. Through it, offshore wind will power over 125,000 Rhode Island homes and 1.4 million Massachusetts homes.

Trump Media closed Wednesday at a new post-merger low, on the eve of the expiration of “lockup” restrictions that have barred the Truth Social owners’ insiders, like majority shareholder Donald Trump, from selling their stakes, CNBC reports.

Local Teamsters unions across the country, including in key battleground states of Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, endorsed Kamala Harris. 🪓

In Arizona, Maricopa County approved a record 236 voting centers for November, increasing the number of voting booths available by 35%. 🪣

For the first time in decades, public health data shows a sudden and hopeful drop in drug overdose deaths across the U.S. 🪣

The IRS just recovered $263 MILLION from a single tax cheat who was offshoring his money. This is why funding IRS tax enforcement is such smart business. 🪣

In a win for voters, a federal judge rejected a right-wing lawsuit seeking to block a Minnesota law that establishes criminal penalties for knowingly spreading election disinformation or engaging in voter intimidation. The law will remain in place.

TIME magazine has launched a "Democracy Defenders” initiative, shining a spotlight on leaders who are working to boost voter participation, reverse disenfranchisement, and combat misinformation. Good for them!

Kamala Harris’ campaign spent nearly three times as much as Donald Trump’s did in August — but raised so much that she still grew her cash advantage.

A new NBC News poll finds Kamala Harris’ favorability has jumped 16 points since July — the largest increase for any politician in NBC News polling since George W. Bush’s standing surged after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The U.S. Postal Service recently debuted their much-anticipated electric vehicles in Athens, Georgia. And workers LOVE THEM! (We advocated so hard for these, folks! Give yourselves a pat on the back!) 🪓 🪣

A bipartisan group of more than 700 national security leaders and former military officials endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States. 

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that roughly 98,000 Arizonans whose voter registration status was in limbo will be able to participate in the full ballot in November.

Voter registration is breaking records as Election Day approaches, particularly among young people, many of whom are first-time voters. 🪓

For the first time, Texas Democratic Senate candidate Colin Allred has polled ahead of Ted Cruz.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a series of artificial intelligence bills into law this week in an attempt to force social media companies to moderate the spread of election-related disinformation and deep fakes. 🪣

The SAVE Act is dead…at least for now. And it looks like the government will stay open. 🪓

On National Black Voter Day, more than 50 HBCU football legends joined the long list of athletes who have endorsed Vice President Harris and Governor Walz, highlighting their “integrity, values and demonstrated commitment to justice and equality of opportunity” for motivating their support.

The Biden-Harris Administration introduced new initiatives to enhance women's economic security, particularly as they age.  🪣

Nikki Haley’s Iowa campaign co-chair wrote in the Des Moines Register that she endorses Kamala Harris for president.

In a victory for animal advocates, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced it’s ending testing on cats, dogs, and non-human primates. 🪓

 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a proposed enforcement order against the student loan servicer Navient, formerly known as Sallie Mae, for years of failing borrowers and breaking consumer protection laws. The agency’s proposed order would permanently ban the company from servicing most federal student loans and largely remove Navient from the market. 🪣

A longtime agriculture industry watchdog has sued Tyson Foods, alleging the company misleads consumers by marketing “climate friendly” beef and by promising to slash its climate-warming emissions.

Focus For Democracy announced that it is raising money for Dan Osborn, the independent candidate for the Nebraska Senate. This is GREAT NEWS!

As of September 17, Montana’s largest youth organizing organizing group, Forward Montana, has registered over 6,700 (mostly youth) voters in 2024 — for a total of 8,800 this election cycle! 🪓

Culinary Union Local 226 members at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas just landed their first-ever union contract.  🪓

American astronauts aboard the International Space Station have the right to vote from space!!

A gigantic newly expanded battery recycling factory operated by Cirba Solutions has opened in Lancaster, Ohio (at the heart of the emerging Battery Belt!) thanks to strong support from the Biden-Harris Administration. 🪣

New research shows that voters have much more good will toward clean energy companies than fossil fuel companies.

​Online passport renewal has officially gone live for everyone. 🪣

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Shelter and Services Program announced an additional $17,955,991 to be used for border communities and entities providing humanitarian services to migrants.

The Unite For Springfield call this afternoon raised $87K for the Haitian Community Center in Springfield and also the City of Springfield School District. The link is still open and people are still giving! 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 🪓

Watch This! 👀

OMG HAMILTON FANS!!!!