Eric
Freight trains may someday soon stretch as long as three miles.
Writing for the Washington Post, David Moscrop makes the case that Canada is not your utopia. It’s good context for American readers who may be struggling to make sense of Justin Trudeau’s grotesque support for the Trans Mountain Pipeline (which isn’t mentioned in the article) or climate science-denying Doug Ford’s recent election to premier of Ontario.
Vox explains the summer solstice.
Better than an explanation, though, is a poem. With a nod to Sightline alum Keiko Budech, here’s the beginning of one by Joy Harjo:
It’s midsummer night. The light is skinny;
a thin skirt of desire skims the earth.
Dogs bark at the musk of other dogs
and the urge to go wild.
I am lingering at the edge
of a broken heart, striking relentlessly
against the flint of hard will.
It’s coming apart.
And everyone knows it.
The rest is here.
Aven
Despite so many Americans having spent most of the last week in crisis mode over the ghastly and alarming treatment of asylum seekers at the southern border, there were actually some positive things that happened in the US, too. Notably, a group of conservatives, including some former big name leaders in the Republican Party, have formed a group specifically to pass legislation to put a federal tax on carbon pollution. They’re calling themselves Americans for Carbon Dividends, and their plan actually seems pretty legit.
Over on the other side of the country, the governor of New Jersey has just signed into law six common sense gun control bills, many of which are very similar to the measures included in Washington State initiative 1639, which is currently collecting signatures to get on the November ballot. *cough*
The movement to rid us of our absurd single-use plastic addiction is in full swing, with both Seattle and Portland soon to become two more of the many jurisdictions to ban single-use plastic straws—which apparently don’t make up a huge portion of the plastic waste flowing into the oceans, but I think the speed with which this campaign has gained momentum is a testament to how successful this kind of campaign can be if you start small and work your way up. First, plastic bags, then straws, then plastic cutlery, and maybe someday soon all single-use plastics? A girl can dream.
And in clean energy, the Massachusetts state senate just unanimously passed legislation to get the state to 100% renewable energy by 2047, while nine states (including MA) have come together to make a plan to encourage adoption of zero-emission vehicles in defiance of Republicans’ rollbacks of fuel economy standards and other clean air protections. And Colorado has decided to adopt California’s more stringent car emissions standards, again flying in the face of the current administration’s attempts to loosen regulations regarding fuel economy and pollution controls. Happy solstice!
John
In the “Weekend Marching” category, readers may know of the June 30 rally in DC to protest the policy of separating immigrant children from their parents. There are also satellite marches across Cascadia.
In the “Need for press freedom,” category, Democracy Now! devoted most of its June 20 program to Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Seymour Hersh.
