Now is the Time to Investigate Climate Change Deniers Under RICO

Now is the Time to Investigate Climate Change Deniers Under RICO Posted: 21 Sep 2015 10:57 AM PDT By Doug Porter  A letter signed by twenty leading scientists sent to the Justice Department and White House asking for a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) investigation of corporations and other organizations that have knowingly deceived the American people about the risks of climate change is getting renewed attention in light of last week’s disclosures about a decades-long effort to suppress important research. Pulitzer Prize winning Inside Climate News published results of an investigation based on emails obtained by the Union of Concerned Scientists recently showing that Exxon’s own scientists warned company executives in 1977 about global warming caused by fossil fuels.     [Read more...] San Diego Free Press shared from

Answering Earth’s Call: An Interfaith Forum on Climate Justice Posted: 21 Sep 2015 04:49 AM PDT By Jim Miller Drawing inspiration from Pope Francis’s encyclical, the San Diego Coalition to Preserve our Common Home (SDCPCH) is holding an interfaith forum on climate justice this Thursday, September 24th at 7:00 PM at St. Paul’s Cathedral.   The SDCPCH is comprised of people from many faith traditions as well as activists from local environmental, labor, and social justice organizations including the Interfaith Center for Worker Justice, SanDiego350, St. James and St. Leo Parish, the California Nurses Association, the Environmental Health Coalition, Foothills Methodist Church, the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council Environmental Caucus, the Cleveland National Forest Foundation, the Climate Action Campaign, Palomar Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Peace and Justice Ministry, the Christian Fellowship Congregational Church, the Islamic Center of San Diego, the San Diego County Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, the American Federation of Teachers Local 1931, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 569, and more.   We’re presenting this forum in the face of increasing opposition to climate action on the part of those linked to fossil fuel interests.  As Joe Romm recently pointed out inClimate Progress, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and his allies now “apparently believe the role of the ‘exceptional’ and ‘indispensable’ nation is to actively work to undermine the world’s best chance to save billions of people — including generations of Americans — from needless misery.”   [Read more...]

No ‘Bird’s Eye View’ of Nordy’s-On-The-Lagoon Posted: 21 Sep 2015 04:48 AM PDT By Richard Riehl / The Riehl World While paid signature gatherers raced through neighborhoods representing themselves as concerned citizens on a mission to save the Strawberry Fields, a glossy mailer appeared in my mailbox titled, A Bird's Eye View of the Agua Hedionda 85/15 Plan, with a full color sketch of an aerial view of the site. Birds apparently can't see shopping centers. The verdant landscape is littered with thumbnail photos of a family at a picnic table, a man picking strawberries, a couple strolling down a path and a guy inexplicably carrying a surfboard, as he walks away from the waveless lagoon behind him. A small amphitheater is nestled amid the lush greenery. Read the fine print to discover what's missing from the sketch, the "outdoor retail, shopping, dining…promenade." After the Carlsbad city council unanimously approved the plan, despite the promise of its title in the document filed with the city clerk on May 12, "INITIATIVE MEASURE TO BE SUBMITTED DIRECTLY TO THE VOTERS" (my emphasis), it's become clear that birds were not the only ones who failed to see the entire developer's plan.   [Read more...]

Tapping Racism Posted: 21 Sep 2015 04:47 AM PDT

Another Chapter in Escondido’s History of Hatred Posted: 21 Sep 2015 04:46 AM PDT By Don Greene / Escondido Democrats The racial history of Escondido is long and filled with many stories of hatred. In 2004 the council followed the lead of Marie Waldron and called for a state-wide immigration police force. In 2006 the council approved an ordinance that required landlords to only rent to US citizens. Since then, we have had street parking restrictions, garage conversion crackdowns, police checkpoints, the only known hand-in-hand relationship between our police force and ICE, and, most recently, the denial of a company to open a housing complex for unaccompanied minors emigrating from Latin America. One would think, that after more than a decade of racially divisive policies and practices, people who work for Escondido would be more sensitive to the impression that their actions give to the population. Unfortunately there continue to be those who either don’t care what impression their actions make, or don’t think about their actions at all.   [Read more...] The TRUTH will set you FREE.