06.26.13 06.26.13 >> from pacifica, this is democracy now! be very clear. we will not hesitate to take swift enforcement action using every legal tool that remains to us against any jurisdiction that seeks to take advantage of the supreme court's ruling by hindering eligible citizens full and free exercise of franchise. >> the white house and civil rights groups denounce the supreme court after it denies

the 1965 civil rights voting act. we will speak to jesse jackson, thomas saenz, and ari berman. and it was high drama at the texas state house last night where a bill that would close most abortion clinics in the state was defeated after activists packed the capital to support a texas state senator for more than 10-hour filibuster. >> sb 5 is dead. [applause] then president obama is up a new climate action plan. doesn't go far enough? we will have a debate. all that and more coming up. ? democracy now!

ruling, the justices ruled congress used obsolete information in continuing to require nine states with a history of racial discrimination to obtain federal approval for changes to voting rules. the voting rights act was challenged by shelby county, alabama which argued the preclearance requirement has outlived its usefulness just two hours after the ruling texas began advancing a voter id law and redistricting maps that were blocked last year for restricting african-american and latino residents. we will have more on the decision with reverend jesse jackson. if president obama has unveiled a new climate plan featuring a series of executive actions to tackle global warming. he said addressing climate change is a fight for the survival of future generations. >> the question now is whether we will have the courage to act

before it is too late. and how we answer will have a profound impact on the world that we leave behind not just to you, but your children and grandchildren. a president, as a father, and as an american, i am here to say we need to act. >> wiping his brow in the intense summer heat, president obama confirmed he will impose the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing power plants. the move will not require congressional approval, meaning obama can bypass expected republican-led opposition. he also outlined a broad range of measures to protect coastlines and cities from rising sea levels. interpreted as a rejection of the keystone xl pipeline,

president obama said that it will be looked at with its effects on global warming. >> doing so would be in our nation's interest. our national interest will be served, only if this project does not significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon pollution. and that affects of the on oure's impact climate will be absolutely critical to determining whether this project is allowed to go forward. >> we will have a debate on his climate address later in the broadcast. russian president vladimir putin has ruled out handing over edward snowden to the united states. on tuesday he confirmed snowden remains a transit area of a moscow airport but says he is free to leave, not having gone through russian customs. he says the sooner he chooses

his final destination, the better it will be for us and himself. john kerry urged russia to send snowden to u.s. custody despite the absence of a formal extradition treaty. >> we would call on our friends in russia to respect the fact that a partner nation, a co member of the permanent five of the united nations, has made a normal request under legal systems for law to be upheld. we would hope that, as a sovereign nation, russia would not cede its interests in siding with a person accused of breaking the lock in another nation and who is a fugitive shown justice according to international standards of law. >> his final destination remains unknown though he has formally applied for asylum in ecuador. the rift over edward snowden

comes as the u.s. and russia continue to split over the crisis in syria. a round of talks in geneva ended with no agreement. the two sides have clashed over whether to include iran in the talks and with partners would represent the syrian opposition. envoy to syria said that any deal with the rebels would delay a resolution until at least july. the opposition are admitting -- i think there next meeting is on the fourth or fifth of july. so i do not think they will be ready. >> according to the un, more than 90,000 people have died and over 1.7 million displaced since the seoul conflict erupted. the family of nelson mandela appears to be making plans for his death.

he remains in critical condition. he was hospitalized more than two weeks ago suffered from a recurrent lung infection. on tuesday, his family held a meeting at his ancestral home to discuss what they called sensitive family manners -- matters. president obama is due to visit south africa this week as part of a three-country trip. democratic lawmakers and pro- choice demonstrators have blocked a bill that would have shattered virtually all texas abortion clinics. on tuesday morning, state senator windy davis rose to her feet to launch a filibuster that lasted nearly 11 hours before republican senators managed to cut her off. as the deadline for the assessment to near, hundreds of protesters in the gallery erupted into cheers that drowned

out the proceedings of republican lawmakers attempted to claim and pass the bill anyway. hours later, the lieutenant governor conceded the vote had not following legislative procedures, blaming what he called unruly mob using occupy wall street tactics. despite the overnight victory, texas governor rick perry could still call a second session and tell lawmakers to reconsider senate bill 5. we will have more after the headlines with some of the people who were there in the early hours of this morning. at least 120 people have been arrested in the latest series of protests against the agenda of the north carolina legislature. the naacp has been holding what it calls moral mondays, a weekly demonstration opposing cuts to programs and rejecting medicaid expansion. the state is preparing to end until the benefits for around 70,000 people at the end of the

month. after eight weeks, monday's arrest count of 120 brought the total number of demonstrators facing charges to nearly 600. republican supporters are meanwhile stepping their targeting of the protests of. past week, a right-wing institute began publishing photographs and private information of the arrested demonstrators. democratic congressmember and ed markey has won a special election to fill the senate seat vacated by john kerry. he defeated his rival with 54% of the vote. his victory preserved the democrats' senate majority. aderal officials have denied compassionate release to the cancer stricken civil rights attorney lynne stewart. the 73-year-old imprisoned grandmother is fighting stage for cancer that is metastasized, spreading to her lymph nodes, shoulder, and bones. she is serving a 10-year

sentence near fort worth, texas. in 2005, she was found guilty of distributing press releases on behalf of her jailed client, omar abdel-rahman, also known as the blind sheik, who is serving a new life sentence for conspiring to blow up new york city landmarks. her prison warden had recommended that she be released to undergo a tramp -- cancer treatment but her family says that her release was denied on the grounds that her health is improving. in a statement, the international action center called the government's claims cynical and false, and will hold a series of protests to demand for release. those are some of the headlines. i am nurmi shake. shaikh. nermeen

was a crowning achievement of the civil-rights movement and helped transform the south. on tuesday in a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled congress had used obsolete information in continuing to require nine states mainly in the south to obtain federal approval for voting will changes affecting minority voters. the voting rights act was challenged by shelby county alabama which argued the clearance requirement had outlived its usefulness. congressman john lewis of georgia reacted to the ruling. he was nearly killed when he participated in the 1965 bloody sunday march to selma, alabama to demand the right to vote. i was disappointed because i think webcor did today -- i was disappointed because i think what the court did today was stabbed the voting rights act in

the heart. we may not have people beaten today. maybe they are now being denied the right to participate or to register to vote, they are not being chased by police dogs or trampled by horses, but in the 11 states in the old confederacy and even in some of the states outside of the south there has been a systematic, delivered attempt to take us back to another period. these men that voted to strip the voting rights act of its power never stood in unmovable lines, never had to pass a so- called literacy test. it took us almost 100 years to get to where we are today, so will it take another 100 to fix it and change it? >> that was congressman lewis reacting to tuesday's ruling on the landmark 1965 voting rights act. chief justice john roberts wrote for the majority --

meanwhile, justice ruth bader ginsburg wrote in her dissent -- president barack obama reacted to the ruling with disappointment and asked congress to pass legislation to ensure every american has equal access to the polls. in recent years, democrats have accused republicans at the state level of enacting measures to suppress the votes of minority votes. these measures include congressional redistricting and voter identification laws. just two hours after the ruling, texas began advancing a voter id law and other policies that were restricted last year. >> we are going to chicago where

we are joined by jesse jackson, civil rights leader, founder of the rainbow/pushed coalition, and by thomas saenz. his organization submitted a brief in the shelby case and brought the other voting rights cases the supreme court decided in which it ruled in arizona law was invalid because it violates the national voter registration act. here in new york, we are joined by ari berman. his recent article is "what the supreme court doesn't understand about the voting rights act." welcome to democracy now! jesse jackson, your reaction to the supreme court decision? >> good morning. a source of the pain. my father came from world war ii. i have grown up with this all my life.

i marched in selma, alabama for the rights to vote. we have been putting this struggle to democratize our nation for a long time. on the other hand, the ship from federal oversight to states' rights abuses is a radical shift. the impact will be devastating unless president obama move quickly and goes to congress and speaks to the nation about the significance of the integrity of democracy being stripped. >> can you explain the significance of what happened and the importance of section 5 and section 4 of the voting rights act? >> section 5 is the most important part of the voting rights act, what has given a lot it's teeth. it forces states with the worst history of discrimination to

reform their policies. what justice roberts said it is that the way that states are covered under section 5, section 4 is unconstitutional. so right now, section 5 is a ghost. there are no states covered under section five. congress would need to rewrite the law in a way that would give section 5 some teeth again because i know it does not exist. >> i want to turn to comments made by justice scalia. he suggested certain provisions were racial entitlement. >> it is very likely attributable to a phenomenon called perpetuation of racial entitlement. it has been written about whenever a society to adopt racial entitlements. it is very difficult to get out of them through the regular political processes. response saenz, your

to what happened yesterday and to what scalia said? and think the comments their decision demonstrates how out of touch they are with america today. the simple fact that this very powerful tool to enforce the voting rights against some very recalcitrant, egregious violators through history of the rights of minorities to vote is very important and vital today. we saw in 2012 through the season leading up to the election there were efforts in other jurisdictions and others to restrict the vote, to impose water id requirements that would deter participation of thousands of voters. this measure that was basically disabled by the court yesterday prevented many of those measures from taking effect.

and even in the jurisdiction not covered by section 5, they saw what happened in those directions, and it was a clear demonstration that those laws needed to be stopped because they were a violation of voting rights. this is a vital tool that has been disabled because the court majority is simply out of touch with what is going on in communities across the country. may i hasten to say, is 1965, latino, but in blacks could not vote, and women cannot serve on juries. 18-year-old serving in vietnam could not vote. students could not vote on campus. they had to do absentee or go home. we democratize democracy. this cuts to the heart of the idea of a broad american social fabric.

years they used gerrymandering in texas, or the case in louisiana, and they used the gerrymandering and all of these schemes have become fashionable again. will take very expensive lawsuits to defeat them. that is what i hope president obama will take the lead, as president johnson did, and make the case for the nation to protect our rights for all americans. >> i want to play a clip of lyndon johnson just before he is about to sign the voting rights act. his comments are followed by remarks from dr. martin luther king. >> today is a sign of freedom. as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any battlefield. this law covers many pages, but the heart of the act is clean. counties are using

regulations or laws or tests to deny the right to vote, then they will be struck down. if it is clear that state officials still intend to discriminate, then federal examiners will be set in to register all eligible voters. acted -- swiftly in passing the act, and i intend to act with dispatch in imposing this act. [applause] think the greatest victory of this period was not in times of an external factor or external development, but something internal. the real victory was what this period did to the psyche of the

black man. the greatness of this period, one that we armed ourselves with .ignity and self-respect great this of this period was as andstricken our backs up demand cannot rise unless he is bent. kingat was martin luther and lyndon johnson, handing him the pen that he used to sign the voting rights act of 1965. that is from the documentary "king: a filmed record... montgomery to memphis." were you on, where that day? >> i was in chicago at that time celebrating -- august 6 really, 1965. what a joyful moment it was.

it reminds me how under appreciate -- under appreciated lyndon johnson is. credit het get the deserves. >> this is the 50th anniversary of the march on washington coming up. significant, jesse jackson and thomas saenz. maldef, what of does this mean for the latino community? talk about the stage we are referring to here. >> for the latino community the two critical states are texas and arizona, which are covered by section 5. in this last round of redistricting, as you have heard, the texas legislature adopted maps for its congress and state house that basically prevented the team us from electing candidates of their choice.

it was through the intervention of section 5 that that map was prevented from taking effect. similarly, a voter id that texas sought to implement would have made it even more difficult for those in the state to vote without the limited documents required under the law, was barred from taking affect because of the lack of clearance under the provision that it was essentially disabled by the supreme court. in arizona 10 years ago in its redistricting process, section 5 certification to prevent the implementation of maps that would have prevented the latino community of of electing candidates they chose. this has been a critically important tool in insuring the rights to both of latinos across the country, but particularly in texas and arizona, have been protected and preserved. >> could you explain how it is that the voting rights act, which has been in place for five

decades, renewed for another 25, what accounts for this taking place now, and could you talk about the role of chief justice roberts? >> there has been a long war in the conservative movement against the voting rights act. john roberts, when he was a long -- young lawyer, led the fight against another part of the voting rights act. it is clear that when he got on the court, this was going to be an issue that he wanted to deal with. you wanted to undo what he could not in the 1980's. they are funded by the largest members in the conservative movement by a group called donors trust, who receives money from the " brothers and other large conservative funders. that allows other conservative groups to have their resources

to find these challenges, to bring them to the courts, to get them before a receptive audience. if it was not for this one group, this challenge may not have ever come to the courts, so this is not an accident. it is a determined movement by conservatives to get the most importance of our rights law in the last 50 years. >> the group you are talking about, the role of the edward blum. >> he runs the project on fair representation. he is a conservative that lost a seat in congress. he believes he was the victim of unfair racial gerrymandering that was mandated by the voting rights act, so that he devoted his life to lessening the use of race in public policy. he founded the project on fair representation with the help of the american enterprise institute in 2005 to challenge a 2006 reauthorization voting act. approvedoverwhelmingly

it. marden that we do not see on anything today. blum lost in congress, he decided to go to the courts. when roberts became chief justice, he knew that he had an ally in the court. >> let's go to the exchange with chief justice roberts. >> do you know which state has the worst ratio of white voter turnout to african-american turnout? massachusetts. do you know who has the best, were african-american turnout exceeds white turnout? mississippi. >> yes, but congress recognizes expressly in the findings would reauthorize the act in 2006, that the first generation problems had been largely dealt with, -- >> which state has the greatest disparity in registration between white and african- american? massachusetts.

third is mississippi, where the african-american registration rate is higher than the white registration rate. the chief justice is wrong in his use of statistics. the second thing is, it is misleading to look and registration. you look a mississippi versus massachusetts. massachusetts has an african- american governor. mississippi has never elected an african-american candidate to any statewide office despite having the largest african- american percentage of any state. with the voting rights act did is it allowed people to register to vote. then what happened, as the solicitor general said, the whole host of second and third generation barriers started coming out. we have seen through redistricting, and different laws, an attempt to stop that movement and electric. the biggest story in the south right now is the tension between demographic change and

voter suppression. a third of the country lives in the south now. one of the consequences of the voting rights act is that it turned the south democratic to republican. now it is turning back. republicans are aware of that, and that is why they have redistricted so aggressively since 2010, and that is my states are rushing to pass new voting restrictions now. without section 5, it will be open season in the south to pass through laws that can thwart the impact of demographic changes. askesse jackson, i want to you what you think the obama administration can do now? they have been extremely critical of the supreme court ruling. what steps can the administration now take? >> i did not hear you. >> what steps can the obama administration take in light of this ruling? they have been critical. >> this is the time to convene

with bipartisan leadership in the white house. it is time to make the case to congress and the nation. there seems to be a purity among people, republicans, who are caught off-guard by these actions. if there were ever a time to make a case to the american public about the advantages of a broadbased democracy, it is now. when mr. roberts says that we have done well over the years, just watch the spine tingling game between the spurs and the heat. the referees and oversight matter. --you remove oversight,

ideology, the tea party is 150 years old. the ideology of turning back the clock [unintelligible] downe supreme court struck an arizona law that require people to provide a proof of citizenship when complete their voter registration form. justice scalia wrote -- thomas saenz, you are the president of maldef, which brought the challenge to the court. can you talk about this case and how it relates to the taking down of the voting rights act? >> the case indicates that congress has the power and authority under the constitution to step in and prevent specific practices like requiring

documents and proof of citizenship before being allowed to register as a result attempted to do the motor voter law, also known as the national voter registration act establishes one form. that requires you to sign under penalty of perjury, stating you are a citizen. does not require you to come forward with any documents to prove your citizenship. arizona tried to add that additional requirement to register in its state pier the supreme court majority did noted that the nvra permit that. congress needs to act to prevent the most egregious attempts to limit voting rights. it can act more specifically in reaction to yesterday's decision to include that certain practices are covered by a pre- christmas mechanism, shortened jurisdictions -- certain

jurisdictions, but they could also say, we are going to establish a uniform voter registration procedure, as it did with the motor voter law, as the supreme court concluded a week ago. >> i want to move onto another subject. , thejesse jackson condition of nelson mandela. can you give us final words today about nelson mandela, a man that you know well deco >> i was with his grandson yesterday. he is gravely ill but that cannot take from us what he has already given to us, which will last beyond his death. tried to fighte out-suffer thehe system. not only as an historical figure it, but as a transformative

figure, he chose reconciliation and reconstruction. his stature in the world community will out last whatever lse has now. we pray for his continued recovery. he is not dead yet, and we pray for his family. saenz,e jackson, thomas ari berman, we thank you for being with us. when we come back, we go to the texas state house, where it was high drama into the early hours around abortion rights.

>> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. wherecould to texas democratic lawmakers and pro- troy's demonstrators successfully blocked a bill that would have shattered nearly all the state's abortion clinics. planned parenthood president cecile richards delivered the news about senate bill 52 protesters in the capitol rotunda charlie after 3:00 a.m. >> lieutenant governor has agreed that sb 5 is dead. [applause] havenate bill 5 would banned abortion after 20 weeks post fertilization and imposed harsh regulations forcing all but five texas clinics to close

down. on tuesday morning, texas state senator windy davis donned a pair of pink tennis shoes and launched to her feet to give it an 11-hour filibuster. her democratic colleagues continue to raise objections in a bid to prevent a vote. as the midnight deadline for the session drew near, hundreds of protesters erupted into cheers that drowned out the proceedings. [applause] >> while the tears overwhelmed any attempts to proceed, republican lawmakers later attempted to claim they had passed the senate bill 5 anyway. in fact, there was a report that they had passed the bill, but the lieutenant governor conceded the vote had not fallen legislative procedures, blaming what he termed an unruly mob using occupy wall street

tactics. pro-choice advocates are celebrating the victory but texas governor rick perry could still call a special second session and asked lawmakers to consider senate bill 5 again. for more we are joined by two people who were at the state capitol this morning. andrea grimes and -- than 100,000re people tuning into a livestreaming of the proceedings. welcome to democracy now!. brandi, described the scene. thele richards is not just head of planned parenthood, she is the daughter of ann richards, the governor of texas. >> last night scene was unlike anything i have seen in the capital.

i have been covering the legislature since 2005. protesters lined the walls of the capital from the rotunda on the bottom floor of all the way up to the third floor where the and the debate came to a crescendo at midnight, creating a deafening noise in the senate chamber, which is a place of such decorum typically, quiet and steady debate. it just completely erupted. you could hear nothing that was happening on the senate floor and the leaders in the senate were just at a complete loss for how to move forward. >> andrea, can you explain how this happened? this did not just happened last night. in the last few days, the momentum has been building, but what washis bill form, the activism that led to today?

a centreville 5 is kind of creation that is an amalgamation of a discussion that fail to pass in the regular session. last week on thursday, a house version of the bill came to a committee hearing. committee hearings tend to be small, no-frills affairs. they can go on a little bit, but they do not tend to be the focus of a lot of activism. on thursday, activists rallied and packed the capital, an extension of the capitol building, and created a citizens filibuster that went on until nearly 4:00 a.m. once people who were there began telling their stories and began sharing with others, i think that galvanized the pro-choice base, and radicalized some people that had not realize really what the situation was at capital and our rights were really under threat directly. i think that really brought

probably 1000 people out to the capital on sunday and the same or more late last night. could yougrimes, talk a lot who center windy davis is? a senator windy davis is representative from fort worth, texas. she is an up-and-coming in the democratic party but i do not think anyone really realized the power and professionalism that she had inside her until last night when we saw her stand and testify for over 11 hours. she has been a real advocate not only for women's rights, but education reform in texas, smart education reform. i think we could be looking at a gubernatorial candidate as well be done after this filibuster that lasted for nearly 11 hours, wendy davis cut her up and accused her of strain from the topic because she brought up an ultrasound bill that was brought

up in 2011. herself and said that her comments on the ultrasound bill were relevant to sb 5. >> what i'm talking about is this bill there upon a previous law that this legislature enacted and the further hardships that are created by women, and it is important, in order for me to describe the impact of this particular bill, and that is what i'm clearly talking about, the impact of this bill. i think it is perfectly reasonable to talk about it in the context of what women in texas today will face if this provision goes in place. was is why, of course, i referring to the existing visit requirement. was there fors close to 11 hours.

when they talked about the planned parenthood budget, they accused her of being out of line and could stop the filibuster. explain exactly what then happened at midnight, how ap have reported the bill had passed when it had not? >> i think there was a lot of confusion at midnight. there was anight, parliamentary inquiry and she asked what she had to do to be heard over her male colleagues. at that point, the senate gallery -- i think it holds about 500 people -- erupted in yelling and screaming. for about 10 minutes nobody could hear anything. centers on the floor could not hear anything. the lieutenant governor and president of the senate said it could not hear anything. the protesters really would not stop clapping, they were

chanting, let her speak, let her speak. as the clock ran down into midnight, it became very hard to tell what precisely was happening. it looked as though been lieutenant governor had called the roll call to take a vote on 5, but in fact, the vote was after midnight, but it was so hard to hear over the din of the elkridge of protesters. at that point, many were ushered out of the change -- chamber to find that what happened. at that point, the ap had reported that it had passed, but that turned out to be untrue. >> brandi grissom, can you talk about the role of "the texas tribune" and social media in general? were one point, and there

upwards of 100,000 viewers watching a live stream of the video directly from the senate, streaming on our website. at one point in the evening, president obama tweeted a link to the livestreaming saying that something special was happening in texas. apparently he was even paying attention to this moment that turned out to be probably quite historic here in this texas state capital. long well all night into the morning. our reporters started tweeting from when they convene at 10:00 final morning until the decision at 3:00 this morning from the lieutenant governor, when he came off the digest and passedn fact, they had

the bill after midnight and they would not -- it would not become law. thewe also saw in this was role of social media in drawing people to the capital to become involved. many of these people who are reporters said they heard about was going on at the capital through twitter or the livestreaming. n amazing scene. we are going to end with cecile richards, who was delivering the news to the protesters that senate bill 5 was dead. in fact, she was delivering the news in the area where the portrait of her mother, governor ann richards, hung. we spoke to her just moments before our broadcast ashy was boarding a plane this morning and asked what comes next, as governor rick perry could call a special session to pass senate

bill 5:00 p.m. they control the calendar, they can certainly do that. it is certainly an expensive proposition for them to start the bill over again. i think they saw last night exactly what kind of response they would get if they do try to push this bill through. it hady reason it was -- the possibility of passing laws because they suspended the rules of the senate. they usually require a two- thirds of the senate to agree to bring a bill up. wereands of people mobilized this time around. it will be double that if the governor tries to push it through again in another special session. we will see. >> that was cecile richards. i want to thank brandi grissom and andrea grimes. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report.

when we come back, a debate on president obama's climate change address. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

to return to president obama's climate change address on tuesday. the move will not require congressional approval, meaning obama can bypass expected republican-led opposition. america's40% of carbon pollution comes from our clyburn plant -- power plants. right now, there are no federal limits to the amount of carbon pollution those plans can pump into our air, non. 0. toxicit the amount of chemicals like mercury and sulfur, and arsenic in our air or water, power plants can

still dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into the air for free. that is not right, that is not safe, and it needs to stop. [applause] for the sake of our children and health and safety of all americans, i am directing the environmental protection agency to put an end to the limit less dumping of carbon pollution from our power plants, and complete new pollution standards for new and existing power plants. [applause] i'm also directing the epa to develop the standards in an open and transparent way to provide flexibility to different states with different needs and build on the leadership that many states and cities and companies have already shown. >> in his address, obama also outlined a broad range of measures to protect coastlines and cities from rising sea

levels and to encourage efforts to reach a global climate deal. he also said he would promote the development of renewable energy. >> the plan i'm announcing will help us to double again our energy from wind and sun. today i am directing the interior department to green light enough private renewable energy capacity on public lands to power more than 6 million homes by 2020. [applause] the department of defense, the biggest energy consumer in america, will install three gigawatts of grenoble power on its bases, generating about the same amount of electricity each year as you would get from burning 3 million tons of coal. [applause] because billions of your tax dollars continue to still subsidize some of the most

profitable corporations in the history of the world, my budget once again calls for congress to end the tax breaks for big oil companies and invest in the clean energy companies that will fuel our future. >> on tuesday, president obama also addressed the keystone xl pipeline. he said along the pipeline to be built depends on whether it increases net carbon pollution. just how successful he will be on climate change is a matter of debate. for more, we are joined by two guests. he attended president obama's climate speech yesterday. in washington, we are joined by tyson slocum, welcome to the program. dan lashof, it was a hot afternoon when president obama spoke. what was your reaction? >> the president laid out a very

articulate and compelling case of the threat that climate change poses to our family, communities, and planet. compelling vision of how to solve that problem by reducing pollution by preparing for the effects that are already too late to avoid and by providing international leadership. the heart of this plan, as you showed, is directed to the epa to set the first federal limits on carbon pollution from power plants. they are responsible for more carbon pollution than any other source in the u.s., and as he said, power plants can dump as much carbon as they want into the atmosphere for free. that is wrong, it needs to stop, and will as a result of this plan. >> tyson slocum, your response to the speech? >> it was a great, inspiring speech. the problem is, the details of it are a lot less inspiring. the centerpiece of obama's comments were on establishing

the rules to limit carbon pollution from new and existing power plants. that is actually not a new proposal. last year, obama's epa ruled out such plans for new power plants, and two months ago, they withdrew them under heavy criticism from the coal industry and utility industry. so you would have to imagine that the fact that they shelled these plans because utilities and coal company did not like them, then they will be reintroduced by september, most likely at a weaker level than ever proposed last year. so it is up to all the activists and organizations out there, to make sure that obama reduces the same rules that he did last year that essentially would not have allowed new coal-fired power plants to be built. obama reiterated his support for an all of the above energy strategy that continues to rely heavily on oil

and natural gas. and all of the above energy policy, as van jones has said, makes as much sense as an all you can be but a diet. i think we have to reassess the administration's continued effort to increasing fracking for natural gas, which this administration is committed to, and exporting that gas to other countries, and in addition, the plan does nothing to curtail coal exports. even if we develop great rules to limit u.s. power plant emissions of greenhouse gases, it will be overwhelmed by the emissions from u.s. coal that is burned in other countries like china. >> dan lashof? >> first of all, epa has not withdrawn its standard for new power plants. it looks that they will repose a standard, but in the meantime you cannot build a new power plant that immense as much as

conventional coal plants. that is still in effect. the important thing here is that the president sets a specific directive to epa to finish the standards by june 2015. we should have taken the steps decades ago but this is the first time we have a clear deadline from the president of the united states to epa to end the carbon pollution loophole. that is a huge step forward. we will be mobilized in the public to make sure that the standards are as strong as possible and to make sure the coal industry is unable to the real them through the courts or by trying to get congress to interfere, but the president provided crucial leadership yesterday. when it comes to reducing carbon pollution, methane, hydro fluorocarbons, expanding nuclear energy, efficiency, we need and all of the above approach to those things.

all the above is just rhetoric. what is important is that we have a concrete plan to reduce emissions. >> what about the question of the coal industry. could you comment on what tyson said? >> the coal industry hates the plan and will do everything they can to stop it. it will put millions into stopping it. coal stocks went down, which shows you the market is reacting. the president, in addition to the domestic actions, called for ending public finance of new conventional coal plants from the world. , the u.s. hasly to lead. to lead, we have to have a concrete program here to reduce our pollution. this allows the president to do that. >> president obama's defense of fracking? >> he did not get into that in the speech. he called for new measures to reduce methane emissions, an important aspect of this.

methane is a powerful climate changing agent and it leaks out of oil and gas systems. we need better regulation to control that. we should not be expanding fracking until we have strong regulations in place. >> tyler slocum, the issue of the keystone xl pipeline? >> it is great that obama mentioned the fact that tar sands feature significantly more greenhouse gas emissions risk than conventional oil and he said that he would not approve the keystone pipeline if it resulted in a net increase of the missions. the problem is that his own state department has already said that it will not result in a net increase in emissions, so at first glance his words sounded great, but the deeds of his agencies and administration says another thing. >> john boehner's people said, only if this does not increase net gas emissions, they said

since been no in doesn't, we know that they are born to move ahead. >> this means that the massive grass-roots mobilization that has made keystone, rightfully so, a key issue to oppose, needs to mobilize again. we need to have a redo of the environmental impact statement and the state department conducted. actually, it was a dues-paying membership of the american petroleum institute that controlled that analysis that false they concluded that keystone would not result in net commissions. activist outhe there to keep obama at his word. >> the state department assessment was wrong. epa said it was inadequate, which is an important indication that the revised plan would change. even wall street is clear that keystone is critical to expanding tarzan's. we think this will lead to a

rejection of keystone. >> we want to thank you both for being here, tyler slocum, and dan lashof. that doesn't for our broadcast.