Tell Ohio senators: It’s time to end the coal bailouts!

Coal plant

When Ohio legislators passed the historically corrupt House Bill 6 (HB6) in 2019, they forced all Ohioans to pay more on their electric bills to bail out the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation’s (OVEC) two dirty, inefficient, and outdated coal plants in Ohio and Indiana for the next decade. These plants are major contributors to air pollution in and around Ohio, and are major emitters of greenhouse gases that exacerbate the climate crisis. Ohioans shouldn’t be forced to pay extra to make their own air quality worse, especially during a global respiratory pandemic!

Now Ohio legislators have the opportunity to do the right thing and pass Senate Bill 117 (SB117), a piece of legislation that would repeal the financially burdensome and environmentally foolish bailout of the OVEC plants in its entirety. This bipartisan legislation would protect Ohioans and hold the OVEC owners responsible for their own bad financial decisions.

Columbus Stand Up! And Other Grassroots Organizations Sign Open Letter Around Yenkin-Majestic Explosion

Logo

Columbus Stand UP! alongside a coalition of central Ohio organizations, have delivered a letter to elected officials demanding answers about the April 7th explosion at the Yenkin-Majestic Paint Corporation. The blast killed one person, injured eight, and spewed ash and other debris over area homes. 

“Homes and businesses shook, and residents were breathing in toxic air for days,” the letter reads.“The long-term effects on the water and soil in this predominantly Black neighborhood are still unknown.  It has been one week since this fatal incident, and all residents have received from their elected officials are ‘concerns,’ ‘prayers,’ and promises of ‘conversation.’ We are ready to begin the conversation.” See attached for full letter.

The letter has been signed by Columbus Stand Up!, Simply Living, Columbus Socialist Alternative, Freedom BLOC, Ready for 100 Columbus, Students for a Democratic Society, Ohio State University chapter, Ohio Sustainable Business Council, and Our Revolution Central Ohio.

Oral Arguments in Civil Rights Appeal Advancing Rights of Nature and Local Democracy in Ohio

Mountains

Cincinnati, OH:Plaintiffs from seven Ohio counties, representing Rights of Nature laws and other measures protecting local democracy from corporate special interests, filed an appeal to the Sixth Circuit in a federal civil rights case against the State of Ohio. Oral arguments will be presented tomorrow, April 20.

This follows the filing of briefsagainst the plaintiffs by American Petroleum Institute, Ohio Chamber of Commerce and Ohio Oil and Gas Association.

Oral arguments are scheduled for Tuesday April 20, 1:30 pm EST and can be listened to here: https://www.ca6.uscourts.gov/live-arguments

Mary Jane’s Guide: CannaNews You Can Use – 420 Edition

Happy 4/20

April 20, 2021

Happy 420! Lamenting last year’s largely cancelled “4:20 on 4/20/2020.“ Here are selected bites of fresh cannabis news sliced from the headlines, with a sweet Ohio twist. Sources are linked.  

Your 420 History Lesson

Tackling the A-Z Impacts of Plastic: Labor Solidarity

Details about event

Monday, April 19, 2021, 7:00 PM
Join the A-Z team as we explore the intersections of labor and our plastics crisis. Learn how workers involved in plastics production AND environmental nonprofit workers fighting plastic industry pollution can stand in solidarity for workers’ rights and healthy communities. Register here. 

 

Columbus Police continuously terrorize the Black community: Video

Cops holding a black man down

Days after Miles Jackson and Daunte Wright were murdered by police, this incident was recorded in a grocery store.

Video

First-hand accounts revealed that this cop was kneeling on this man's back because he stole a bottle of alcohol. The cop was kneeling on it in such a way that the man was not able to put his hands behind his back, and he punched him prior to recording. Also, an employee related that people get caught for stealing all the time and never treated like this. So, the police can call things procedure, but predictably pick and choose to whom what procedures are used.

At least four Black people watched this in horror (one is off camera) wondering if they are witnessing the next murder. The Black community literally feels safe *nowhere*: not in their homes, cars, certainly not walking their dogs, not in daylight or at night. There are at least four white people doing nothing and one employee who laughed about it.

 

Simply Living Annual Meeting

Details about event

Sunday, April 18, 2021, 5:00 - &:00 PM
This year the Simply Living Annual Meeting will be a virtual dinner. Meet our new executive director, Cathy Cowan Becker, along with new board members and staff, and hear about the new initiatives we have planned for the coming year. We will also be honoring Claus Eckert of Green Columbus who will receive the Carol Fisher Award for Community Service, as well as recognizing Rita Haider as Outstanding Volunteer, Lisa Kreischer as Outstanding Staff Member, and Savannah Smith as social media amplifier. We have also added the Momentum Award for organizations, and will recognize Sunrise Movement Columbus Hub for their momentum in the sustainability movement. We encourage you to order takeout from one of our restaurant affiliates - stay tuned for details! Register for this online event here.

Recognition of Palestine is ‘Symbolic’ but also Critical: The Australian Case

Australia’s Labor Party’s recognition of Palestine as a State on March 30 is a welcomed position, though it comes with many caveats.

 

Pro-Palestinian activists are justified to question the sincerity of the ALP’s stance and whether Australia’s Labor is genuinely prepared to fully adopt this position should they form a government following the 2022 elections.

 

Fighting Corruption in Ohio: Curbing the Influence of the Wealthy and Corporations in State Government

Sign saying We The People

Saturday, April 17, 10-11:15am

This on-line event requires advance registration

The 2020 First Energy scandal was unprecedented in scale, yet the big money involved symbolizes the consistency in which the wealthy corporate entities shape public policies, preempt local control, and prevent Ohioans from having our voices heard and our needs met.

It doesn’t have to be this way, and it shouldn’t be this way. Hear from strong pro-democracy state legislators and friends and supporters of Move to Amend about efforts to fight corruption in Ohio.

Speakers

• Ohio Senator Nickie Antonio

• Ohio Representative Mike Skindell

RSVP for this event by using this link.

Hosted by Move to Amend Ohio.

Facebook Event

Contrary to What Biden Said, U.S. Warfare in Afghanistan Is Set to Continue

When I met a seven-year-old girl named Guljumma at a refugee camp in Kabul a dozen years ago, she told me that bombs fell early one morning while she slept at home in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand Valley. With a soft, matter-of-fact voice, Guljumma described what happened. Some people in her family died. She lost an arm.

 

Troops on the ground didn’t kill Guljumma’s relatives and leave her to live with only one arm. The U.S. air war did.

 

There’s no good reason to assume the air war in Afghanistan will be over when -- according to President Biden’s announcement on Wednesday -- all U.S. forces will be withdrawn from that country.

 

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