06/22/21 06/22/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> it is important to remember this has been a 60 year battle to make voting more available to americans across the country and our effort, the president's effort to continue that fight does not stop tomorrow at all. this will be a fight of his presidency. amy: senate republicans are expected to block a sweeping bill to protect voting rights

today, but democrats are vowing the fight to pass the for the people act is just beginning. we will speak to ari berman of mother jones. they would look at the climate crisis and the debate over infrastructure spending with professor leah stokes of the univerty of california. >> it is not hard to see the clate cris on our doorstep, whether it is the drought or heat waves or fires happening way outside of wildfire sson. its clear the climate crisis happening now and that is why we need congress to act this summer and past the american jobs plan so we can take on the climate crisis at thscale cessary. amy: siking coal miners from alabama have come here to new york to ptest on wall street. they had been on strike since april. >> i don't think the company ever thought we would go on strike. i think they thought we would roll over and take whatever they offered. are going to show them.

we will be here one day longer, one day stronger. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the world health organization said monday it is setting up a hub in south africa to help poor and middle-income countries produce their own covid-19 vaccines using the mrna technology behind the world's most effective shots. the who said its plan could see new vaccine production begin in south africa in asittle as 9 to 12 months. the u.n. agency called on moderna and pfizer/biontech to share their technogy to make the plan successful. this came as south african president cyril ramaphosa blasted wealthy nations and pharmaceutical companies that have refused to transfer life-saving technology to the global south. on monday, ramaphosa repeated his call for a three-year waiver

on intellectual property rights for covid-19 vaccines. >> we are facing an emergency that is affecting the entire world and it is wholly unfair and unjust that the pharmaceutical companies, as well as certain countries, are refusing to allow this provision to be waived so that there can be mass production of the vaccine so that we can save lives. amy: ramaphosa's remarks came as covid-19 cases and deaths across the african continent surged by more than 40% over the past week. meanwhile, cuba's health ministry says its threshot abdala vaccine showed over 92% efficacy against covid-19 in a late-stage clinical trial. the announcement came days after promising initial results from another cuban vaccine candidate, soberana 02.

health officials in indonesia are tightening public health measures as the world's fourth most-populous nation recorded a record number of new covid-19 cases monday. authorities are blaming the fast-spreading delta coronavirus variant, though the explosion of new cases follows a surge of travel at the end of the month of ramadan when many indonesians ignored travel restrictions to visit their hometowns. in colombia, covid-19 deaths have passed the 100,000 mark amid a devastating third wave of cases. this is colombian epidemiologist andrea ramirez. >> certainly this is the worst moment of the pandemic from the perspective of positive cases, 40% positivity,our out of 10 pele infected. also the collapse of the icu's. it is the first time bogotá has had such prolonged hospital collapse.

amy: the biden administration admitted monday it has fallen behind on its goal of sending 80 million doses of covid-19 vaccine abroad by the end of june. white house press secretary jen psaki said it was a matter of distribution, not supply. >> we have plenty of doses to share with the world, but this is a herculean logistical challenge and we have seen that as we have begun to implement. amy: a new report finds deaths among medicare patients in u.s. nursing homes surged by 32% last year. the inspector general of the department of health and human services found 4 in 10 medicare recipients in nursing homes tested positive for covid-19 in 2020 or had symptoms consistent with the disease. meanwhile, new cases continue to fall in most parts of the united states but are on the rise in some areas with low vaccination rates. in florida people contracted , six covid-19 in an outbreak at a government building in manatee county -- five of whom were hospitalized and two of whom

died. the only employee who was exposed who did not become infected had been vaccinated. senate republicans are expected use the filibuster today to block the for the people act, sweeping bill that would restore protections but the 1965 voting rights act which was gutted by the supreme court in 2013. senate majority leader chuck schumer has scheduled the first procedural vote on the legislation even though democrats do not have the votes to move it forward. that is because two democratic senators, joe manchin of west virginia and kyrsten sinema of arizona, oppose the filibuster. the united states european union , united kingdom, and canada have imposed new sanctions in belarus after its military diverted a ryanair passenger jet to minsk in may in order to arrest a journalist. the new sanctions came as u.n. human rights chief michelle

bachelet said the government of president aleksandr lukashenko was guilty of torture and other abuses. >> the situation in a belarus continues to deteriorate. freedom of expression, freedom of assembly. the persecution of human rights activists and journalists. we continue to receive numerous allegations of arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, and ill-treatment. amy: a group of indigenous leaders i members i mexico is movement have arrived in spain to mark 500 years of indigenous resistance after spanish colonizers settled in the aztec capital of tenochtitlán, which later became mexico city. the zapatistas sailed across the atlantic ocean for over a month, after departing mexico in early may.

their boat depicted a big white sign with the phrase "wake up!" written in red letters in spanish. during their trip, the indigenous leaders planned to tour europe and share their plans to fight the inequities triggered by capitalism. back in the united states, the u.s. conference of catholic bishops is seeking to prohibit president biden and other catholic politicians from receiving communion over their support for reproductive and abortion rights. the bishops move came despite advice from the vatican not to push for such measures. president biden is the second roman catholic president after john f. kennedy. in california, governor gavin newsom is that to announce his estate will pay off all the past due rent that acutely did during the pandemic. california will use its unexpected budget surplus in federal stimulus money to finance the $5.2 billion program . it is still unclear whether the california will ban evictions of people with unpaid rent past

june 30. across the u.s., over 11 million people are behind on their rent and could face eviction from their homes when the federal eviction moratorium expires at the end of the month. in texas, new report on the impacts of the pandemic inside prisons reveals at least 18 people who had been cleared for parole last year died of covid-19 and some two dozen others died of chronic health issues before they were released. that follows at least 26 prisoners who died in prison in after being approved for parole. 2019 the report, published by the university of texas at austin, highlights a pattern of delaying the release of incarcerated people who've been parole for is not as one year. the marshall project reports on 31 thousand federal prisoners have sought compassionate release since the start of the pandemic. the bureau of prisons approved just 36 of those appeals. a new lawsuit filed in a washington, d.c., court alleges

meat giant smithfield lied to the u.s. public throughout the pandemic in order to protect corporate profits. food & water watch, which brought the suit, says in a statement -- "smithfield utterly failed to protect its workers as the coronavirus spread like wildfire throughout its meat processing facilities, and its fearmongering about meat shortages was designed to exploit consumer panic and boost sales." more than 58,000 u.s. meatpacking and slaughterhouse workers have contracted covid-19 and 293 have died. in illinois, cleanup is continuing in the suburbs west of chicago sunday night, damaging homes and injuring several people, including a woman who was hospitalized in critical condition. the storm came as a record-breaking late-spring heat wave exacerbated a devastating drought in the western united states. the exeme weathefueled

wildres in azona, california, corado, an oron. in northern california, smoke from the willow fire in monterey county continues to bring zy skies and poor air quality to the san francisco bay area. 7 million people in six states were under red flag warnings, with meteorologists forecasting another heat wave next week. climate youth activists and members of the sunrise movement ended their 400 mile march from new orleans to texas monday outside the houston home of republican senator ted cruz, committed climate change denier. at least a protesters were arrested. 19-year-old climate activist ishan gupta said in a statement -- "biden, i voted for you because i thought i was securing my future, but every day since inauguration i've woken up with the same fears. deliver on your promises so i can have a future doing meaningful work like fixing our power grid." in february, millions of texas residents faced a massive blackout and freezing

temperatures after the state's power grid collapsed. at the time, senator cruz decided to travel to cancún, mexico, to escape the winter cold. it is primary day in new york state. new york city is the largest jurisdiction in the country to use rank choice button with the most watch mayoral primary in decades. the u.s. a cream court ruled unanimously monday that the natial colgiate atetic asciation,he ncaa, could n prohibit colges fromroviding edation-reted pay d other benefitso collegplayers. justes rejecd the nc' arment thapaymentsere a that to thamateur atus of student hletes, ling the asciation not exet from u.s.ntitrustaws. e landrk rulinpaves th wafor a brder challenge of thncaa'ban on oth forms of compensationsuch as dict payments for athletic accomplishments. college athletics is a multi-billn dollar iustry

and athletes argue they should be compensated for their labor. and las vegas raiders defensive lineman carl nassib has become the first active nfl player to come out as gay. nassib made the announcement monday in a social media post. >> i want to take a quick moment to say i am gay. i finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest. i really have the best life. i have the best family, friends, a job a guy could ask for. i am a pretty private persons or hope you know i am not doing this for attention. i think representation and visibility are so important. i believe one day videos like this and hope comingut process are not necessary. until then, i'm going to do my best to cultivate a culture that is accepting and compassionate and start by donating $100,000 to the trevor object. they are an incredible organization, the number one

suicide prevention for lgbtq youth in america. amy: openly gay athletes are largely absent from major u.s. professional sports, with only a handful of active players in the nba, nhl, major league baseball, or the nfl ever coming out during their careers. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: we begin today's show looking at the fight over voting rights. senate republicans are expected to use the filibuster today to block the for the people act, a sweeping bill that would restore protections of the 1965 voting rights act, which was gutted by the supreme court in 2013. senate majority leader chuck schumer has scheduled the first

procedural vote on the legislation today even though democrats do not have the votes to move it forward. that's because two democratic senators, joe manchin of west virginia and kyrsten sinema of arizona, oppose eliminating the filibuster. last week, manchin, who has not endorsed the for the people act, offered a watered-down voting bill but that also faced opposition from republicans. the senate vote comes as republican state lawmakers are passing sweeping measures to suppress the vote around the country. according to the voting rights lab, 18 states have enacted more than 30 laws to restrict voting since the november election. on monday, senate majority leader schumer accused republicans of backing voter suppression. >> let's dispense with this nonsense. there is no real principle behind these policies. they're not about election integrity. they are not about voter fraud. these policies have one purpose and one purpose only -- making it harder for younger, poorer,

nonwhite and typically democratic voters to access the ballot. amy: while today's senate vote on the for the people act is expected to fail, voting rights advocates say the fight has just begun. more than 70 groups have backed a national campaign called "deadline for democracy” to push senators to protect voting rights during the upcoming senate recess. we are joined by ari berman, reporter for mother jones. his new cover story for the magazine, headlined "jim crow killed voting rights for generations. now the gop is repeating history." he is author of "give us the ballot: the modern struggle for voting rights in america." welcome back to democracy now! >> good to see you again. amy: start off by explaining what the for the people act is an exactly what is happening toy. >> the for the people act is the

most important voting rights billsince the voting rights act of 1965. it would expand voting access for millions of americans through policies like automatic and election day registration, two weeks of early voting, no excuse absentee voting, restoring voting rights for people with past felony convictions, preventing discriminatory voter id laws and voter purging, public financing of elections, all of that for federal elections. it would set really expensive rules for federal elections in all 50 states. so you have the same rights in oregon compared to texas. what is happening is republicans are going to block a vote on whether to debate this bill. the vote today in the senate is not about on the for the people act, but a vote to even debate the for the people act. he goes to show you how afraid the republican party is of democracy that they will not even debate legislation to make

it easier to vote, let alone vote on the actual bill. juan: given the fact republicans have signaled they're going to do everything possible to kill the bill, why do you feel -- what is the sense of why the democrats have decided to press for a vote? >> they want to show how obstructionist republicans are being. senate majority leader chuck schumer is building a case here at replicans have now blocked the january six commission, which had strong bipartisan support. they have blocked votes on paycheck fairness. they are looking -- blocking books on gun control, climate change and a whole host of other popular issues. they are blocking a vote on the most fundamental right in a democracy. he wants to lay out a case of all of the obstruction to convince democrats they need to either abolish or pare down the

filibuster in order to pass these ctical bills. i don't know if they will succeed. joe manchin and kyrsten sinema and other democrats have been steadfast theyill not get rid of the filibuster, nonetheless, chuck schumer is hoping the republican obstruction will give them no other choice. an: you mentioned manchin. he was backing another voting rights act, the john lewis voting rights advancement act. could you talk about the differences between the two and what happened with even the one that manchin was backing? >> the john lewis act would restore a key part that was gutted by the supreme court in 2013 that requires states the long history of discrimination like georgia and texas to have to approve the voting changes with the federal government. with the advancement act as is it blocks new voter suppression efforts in states with a history discrimination, both in the past and present, but would not block voter suppression laws

that are already on the books, nor would it put in ace policies to make it easier to vote nationwide. that is what the for the people act does. these bills are meant to work together. the for the people act is meant to expand voting rights access all across the board and the john lewis voting rights act is supposed to stop voter suppression in places where it has historically been most prevalent. it is not an either/or thing. that is what manchin says come he wants one bill. but these bills were viewed by voting rights acts as tuples that were supposed to work together so there would be expensive federal legislation protecting the right to vote. amy: if you can explain what manchin has proposed, stacey abrams, the leading voting rights activists in the country, from georgia, has come out and endorsed saying this would be

acceptable -- mcconnell says he would not accept it -- and accepted his idea of voter id, though that voter id could be any number of kinds of id. is that right? can you explain that, the significance of abrams endorsing the revision of the bill? >> i think most democrats would rather see something past that nothing when it comes to protecting rights. it has a lot of policy that advocate support. manchin wants election day to be holiday come he wants tomatic voter registration, to accept early voting, or disclosuref dark money -- those are all things that voting rights advocate strongly support. there are some things they're not crazy about. manchin supports a less restrictive version of voter id. it is not the same like in texas, but says basically if you don't have photo id, you can use a utility bill.

he would still allow some voter purging. there are some things that are good in manchin's proposal and some things that are bad. now republicans have come out to support his proposal so the question is, why are democrats compromising over voting rights when republicans won't even support the compromise to begin with? why not introduce and pass legislation to solve the problem if republicans areot going to supported to begin with? use the power you have because the other side is not to accommodate you regardless. amy: you recently reported about how dark money groups are writing voter suppression bills across the country. your piece teacher leaked video of -- feature leaked video of jessica anderson, the executive director of heritage action for america and a former trump administration staffer, speaking at a gathering in tucson in april. >> i what is the first at we got to work in and we did it quickly and quietly.

hostly, nobody noticed. at the end of the day, the bill that cap signed and marshall drew was 18 provisions. we're working with state legislators to make sure the have all of the information they need to address the bill and is some cases we draed them for them or we have -- on her behalf, give them the model legislation so it has that grassroots from the bottom up type of vibe. amy: that is leaked video of jessica anderson, the executive director of heritage action for america, former trump administration staffer. explain the significance of what she is saying. >> this was an explosive video that mother jones published in conjunction with the watchdog group who obtained the vid showing heritage action, the sister group of the heritage foundation, the largest right-wing think tanks was actually writing model legislation for the states to make it harder to vote. they brag in the video they

wrote 19 provisions of a texas bill, eight of a georgia bill, 30 of an iweb bill. so you have a dark money group, we don't know donors come who are writing legislation making harder to vote all across the country and republicans have pretrade this as organ bottom up legislation responding to their constituents. yet dark money groups in washington exporting a voter suppression agenda to the state. that is the exacting the for the people act would stop. the connection between dark money and voter suppression is what the for the people act targets. what heritage is doing is spending $24 million to make it harder to in battleground states and they are trying to block hr one, which they say will destroy our democracy. they are specifically targeting people like joe manchin to get them -- to keep the filibuster

to prevent voting rights legislation from passing. juan: y mentioned in 24 million dollars being raised for suppression. there was a report in "the new york times" today that democratic leaning pack of priorities usa is putting up $20 million to -- for voter education and registration before the upcoming midterm elections. could you talk about this battle over voter supession in an historical context, its relationship to past efforts to suppress the vote in american history? >> there's a lot of echoes about the voter suppression happening right now in the voter suppression that happen in the past. that is what mother jones cover story about jim crow was about. the pattern that existed during the jim crow era and during reconstruction was that you had do voter turnout, black voters

-- that was followed by violence, fraud, intimidation to try to prevent black from voting. that was followed by attempt to change the laws to prevent blacks from voting altogether when states like mississippi rushed to change the constitution. the same pattern is playing out today. much higher turnout in 2020. new people turnout followed by the attempt to overturn the election followed by states rewriting their laws to achieve the same outcomes as the insurrection. one of the key parallels between the jim crow era and today was congress had an opportunity to protect voting rights. they passed a bill in 1892 protect voting rights. it passed the house. it was killed by a filibuster in the senate was not that is why disenfranchisement laws were allowed to go forward in places like this is to be an georgia and alabama and all across the jim crow south. the same kind of pattern is playing out today which is that republicans are rushing to

disenfranchise voters, the house has passed legislation to stop it but it will be killed by senate filibuster. if that happens, republicans can undermine voting rights in the states for decades. democrats will be virtually powerless to stop it. amy: i want to ask you about georgia. and arizona. arizona is finishing up they say this week what some call their fraud-it. the audit of so-called voter fraud. many are concerned that will be used as a model around the country, including georgia. the same time you have georgia's republican secretary of state, brad raffensperger saying he has removed over 100,000 names from state voter rolls. second most were linked to a change of address or from residences where election mail had been returned to sender. and yet the georgia governor

brian kemp saying there is nothing jim crow about the recent voter suppression law passed in georgia. put all of that together. >> what republicans are doing is there weaponizing the big lie on every front. they're keeping alive the line the election was stolen through these bogus audits, making it harder to vote in so many different ways. the georgia law that brian kemp says has nothing to do with jim crow, has 16 different provisions making it harder for democrats and communities of color to be able to vote, which is why stacey abrams calls it jim crow in a suit and tie. they're making it easier to overturn election results. they are purging local election officials. they're taking over county election boards, overstate election boards in 14 states, politicizing election restrictions in an unprecedented way. it is not one tactic, it is all

of these different tactics to make it harder to vote. that is why federal legislation is so important. if congress does not step in to block voter suppression efforts, overturn elections, republicans will be emboldened and go further and further and further. crazy things we see in arizona and georgia, these will become the new normal of congress does not act. amy: ari berman, thank you for being with us, reporter for mother jones, author of "give us the ballot: the modern struggle for voting rights in america." we will link to your piece "jim crow killed voting rights for generations. now the gop is repeating history." next up, the climate crisis and the debate over infrastructure spending. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "south gotta change" by adia victoria. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. president joe biden is planning to meet with lawmakers this week in a push to reach a bipartisan agreement on a new infrastructure plan.

a group of 10 republican and democratic senators recently proposed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure package, but many democrats have criticized the deal for not doing enough to address the climate crisis among other issues. meanwhile, senate democrats are considering a $6 trillion package that could be passed through the reconciliation process if all 50 democrats vote for it. the debate over infrastructure and combating the climate emergency comes as western states are facing daily reminders of the crisis, including drought, water shortages, and extreme hea ma cities ha already bken all-me heat cords ev thought still june. last week, penix recded five da in a roof temperares over 115 degre fahrenheir the rst time ever. saa fe, nemexico, tied its all-time high of 102 degrees. forecasters are predicting it could hit 110 degrees next week in portland, oregon.

about 26% of the west is experiencing exceptional drought. water levels at lake mead have dropped to their lowest levels ever recorded. we're joined now by leah stokes, an assistant professor of political science at the university of california, santa barbara, and a researcher on climate and energy policy. she is the author of "short circuiting policy: interest groups and the battle over clean energy and climate policy in the american states." welcome back to democracy now! it is great to have you with us, professor stokes. talk about the desperate situation, that drought in the west, and how that links very practically to this debate over infrastructure spending. >> i think you talked about it at the top of the segment here. the reality is it is not just the west in the debate, it is about half of the entire country that is facing really an historic drought. scientists are saying in some parts of the west, they are seeing a drought worse than we

have seen in something like four centuries. the fact is that the climate crisis is here now. the drought, the heat waves that you talked about setting record temperatures all across the western united states, and really even reaching into parts of the midwest -- these are the signatures of climate change. the fact is the climate crisis is on our doorstep. the question is, what are we going to do about it? are we going to continue talking about having infrastructure day work week for another drug years or are we going to see congress act and pass these bold climate packages this summer? juan: professor, you have said the biden administration and the senate and house democrats are committed to troop climate action, at how do you see this playing out given the clear republican ristance -- what do you think is doable and of the stuff not doable, what kind of

public pressure needs to come on washington to get it done? >> i think you're right we need to keep the public pressure up. i noticed at the top of the hour you talked about sunrise march is happening in both california and across the gulf coast. there have been lots of action, whether that is against line three or these kinds of infrastructure negotiations trying to raise awareness of lawmakers of just cap urgent the climate crisis is. you need to keep that up. the good news is that just a week or two ago, a group of senators -- we have over 12 senators at this point now have said in the line of senator markey, no climate, no deal. meaning if there is not climate change under the package that moves forward the summer, they're not going to move the package forward this summer. i think that has shaken pre-the negotiations in congress because what we are now seeing is

majority leader schumer is saying, ok, we can have a two track process. we can continue along with this bipartisan idea that has been going on for several months now and we can finally start the budget reconciliation process for the broader infrastructure package that senator sanders is helping to lead. i think you're started to see this to track process develop the fundamental thing, no climate, no deal. we have to have his bold climate packages happening to the budget reconciliation process pass this summer. one co. the president has sharply reduced his initial proposal on infrastructure. what is in the bipartisan policy package now and what has been excluded so far? >> we don't actually know a lot of what is in the bipartisan policy package. there was a two-pager they came out a couple of days ago in it

said there would be about $600 billion in new spending most of so things like overwhelmingly roads and bridges and that kind of infrastructure. there were more hopeful things because previous republican proposals have included, for example, zero dollars for the power grid while this proposal included about $73 billion for the power grid. there is to get investment in public transit. there are decent ideas in this bipartisan approach, but it is not a substitute for a climate at the scale necessary. there is also -- they're having been questions raised about some of the pay fors. they've been talking about putting taxes on electric vehicles. the exact opposite thing one should be doing right now. senator sanders has said he is not interested in a proposal that does that, nor is president biden who campaigned on saying he would not raise taxes for anybody making $400,000 or less.

the pay fors the bipartisan approach are lacking. they include things like repurchasing covid funds, which probably need to be spent on covid. so i think we need a little more detail. it is this bipartisan is trying to work to figure out what their plan is to pay for this new spending. amy: can you talk more about the climate crisis in the west? we lived in information silos determined in different ways, including geographically. for people to understand the significance of what is happening throughout arizona, california, and beyond? >> absolutely. i have only lived in california since 2015. the droughts and fires and heat waves i have experienced in that short time are unprecedented. i lived through the thomas fire, which was than the largest fire in modern california history.

there is been permission going around lately that is now the seventh largest fire and that only took place in 2017. so a lot of people in the western united states are experiencing year after year of extreme heat waves, extreme drought, extreme fires that we have never really seen before. this is why scientists are wanting to talk about things like mega-droughts and magnifiers and make heat waves. these huge skeletons that don't just stay in the western united states but go all the way to the midwest with record temperatures happening in june and then another record event likely to happen next week. it is only june. normally these kinds of extreme heat waves come in august. we know from climate scientist this is climate change. heat waves are more than twice as likely to be happening because of climate change and that is from signs that is a few

years old. i'm sure scientis are looking at now and are even more alarmed. the climate crisis is happening now and every single year we delay on passing a climate bill, the worse the crisis gets. folks may remember over a decade ago, we tried to pass climate bill and it failed in the senate. we have already had the president propose his american jobs plane at the end of march, and we've been waiting for almost three months to see congress act. while we wait, we see climate change happening all across the united states. juan: professor stokes, i want to ask you about the state roles in addressing the climate crisis. we are seeing reports all around the country now that state governments have more cash and more surplus than they've ever had in their history as a result of rebounding tax revenues and

also federal assistance. california, new york, new jersey --ll of these states have more money to spend this year than ever before. i am wondering what your sense is of what states could be doing to direct some of those funds sie this is basically a one-shot situation for this year, perhaps next year, in terms of being able to address climate change at the state level? >> that is a great question. the great thing about acting on climate change is it is an investment. when we are talking about infrastructure, one-time spending, it is actually spending that pays itself back both through the bills and job creations come on because of things throughout the economy. i think you are right that governors should be looking at spending money on climate change, buildings, clean energy, helping to build more public transit, support that infrastructure. if you put the money in come it can pay you back over many

years. i do think the states have an important role to play but the federal government really has the power of the purse. we're not talking about a one-time surplus. we're talking about spending trillions of dollars on the climate crisis. that is really just a down payment on the scale of the crisis. i think we cap look away from the federal government. we have to see them at alongside states. amy: can you talk about the report you just co-authored with the sierra club, professor stokes, called "the dirty truth about utility climate pledges" looking at greenwashing by utility companies? >> absolutely. several months ago, i worked with the sierra club to research what are utilities planning to do. they put out a lot of corporate pledges saying they wanted to decarbonize by let's say 2050. we compared those pledges to their actual investment behavior, to the proposals that

they make about what they would like to build. the fact is, across this country we have about 230 fossil gas plants currently propose. if they were built, would be devastating for the climate crisis. on the one hand utility state, yes, we want to clean up and address climate change. on the other hand, there proposing massive amounts of fossil infrastructure. how do we reconcile these two things? we have to recognize if we want to clean up infrtructure, we need to have federal legislation, specifically a federal clean electricity standard. president biden campaign and won on a plane for 100% clean power by 2035. theris a lotf supporfrom me utilitiess well as congss toass cln eltricit standd thatould target 80% cle per b030. i wrote anoer report th ergreenction and data r progss whichookeat h

exacy we c do thats pa of t budt ronciliion press. ife want tget onop of the climate cris, the power sector is the most important place to start. if we havelean electricity ke 80% can power by 20 becae of thitandd and we mbine th withlectric- things likelectric vicles, ectric svesnd hea pumps, we could actuay decarbize about 75% our enomy. we talk about president ben' goal ocutting essions b 50% by 203 if we he that can electricy standarand we passedhat throh congress from 8 clean by030, t fact is wwould beore than halay toeetinghe presint'goal ofutting ossions b 50%y 30. really, there is no substitute for laws, and personally, one thing for utilities to say they like to do things that we actually need legislation to make sure they do things.

and legislation of the federal level can be an investment into helping them do things and help them get on track with the pledges they claim they want to fulfill. amy: leah stokes, thank you so much for being with us, assistant professor of political science at the university of california, santa barbara, and a researcher on climate and energy policy. author of "short circuiting policy: interest groups and the battle over clean energy and climate policy in the american states." also a cohost of the podcast "a matter of degrees" and on the adviso board at evergreen action. next up, striking call matters from alabama are in new york to protest on wall street. they have been on strike since april. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "blue diamond mines" the johnson mountain boys. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the quarantine report. the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. more than 1000 coal miners are now in the third month of their

strike in the so-called right-to-work state of alabama, and the struggle is attracting national attention not long after workers in bessemer, alabama, tried to organize a union at their amazon warehouse. about 30 miles from bessemer, miners at warrior met coal in brookwood walked off theob on april 1 after their union, the united mine workers of america, called the first strike to hit the state's coalining industry in four decades. workers are fighting for improvements to wages and benefits after they agreed to drastic cutbacks in 2016 when warrior met coal took control of the mines after the previous company went bankrupt. this is part of a report by independent labor journalist kim kelly about the demands of the miners and their union for the real news network. >> one of the key to minsk concern health care plans. under prior contract when the mines were still controlled by

jim walter resources, the company covered 100% of the miners medical cost. after they went bankrupt in 2015 and warrior met. the mines, that change. >> they started taking whey pensions and retirement. they forced guys into taking a contract basically saying if you don't accept us, you will lose everything. so they took a huge cut in pay and cutter insurance and benefits. it is thousands of dollars to even be there deductible. amy: that last voice was haeden wright, president of the local chapter of the united mine workers of america. last month, nearly a dozen miners were arrested trying to shut down the mine and stop non- unionized workers from getting in and out. kim kelly docunted the standoff in this report for a more perfectnion.

>> miners at the warrior met coal have been on strike. the unit and the company still trying to agree on aontract. >> the units at the miners helped get them out of bankruptcyut have never received compensation for their efforts. >> cut in pay, cut in health and safety, cut in benefits now the company is getting back on their feet making all kinds of money and they don't want to assure that name profit with us. >> warrior met coal ain't got no soul! >> we want the world and know we want a just contract. we will do what we he to do to make that happen. we don't feel like we are breaking the law. this company is trying to starve the people and families. >> i will do whatever it takes for this union right here.

it is spiritual. amy: this comes as the unid mi workers of america has documented aleast three separate incidents of cars driving into the workers on the picket lines during their strike. today, a group of striking mine workers have traveled from alabama to new york to protest the hedge funds backing warrior met, including blackrock, fund advisors, ssga funds management, and renaissance technologies. for more, we're joined by kim kelly, independent labor journalist and organizer. her series for the real news is titled "battleground brookwood." welcome to democracy now! why don't you give us further background on this strike and exactly what the mine workers are doing in new york today. >> they have been on strike nce april 1. they have been out almost three months.

an april 8, the local union leadership andhe compa came together with a tentative agreement they presented to the membership and the membersp overwhelmingly voted it down. they havbeen on strike, on the picket lines every signal date ever since. they have not got much outde media attention. today a group of them, the miners and union officials as well as international labor leaders are out here protesting, picketing in front of the investor's offices. these are the companies that fund warrior met and allow warrior met to pay executives millie's of dollars of year -- a year while miners are struggling to get by on as little as $22 an hour, six days a week, 12 hours a day underground and one of the deepest mines in north america which also happens to be filled

with methane gas. juan: kim kelly, could you talk a little more about warrior met and what it has been able to take out any revenue and profits since it took over the mine? >> i don't have the exact numbers in front of me but they have done very well for themselves. her latest report, they did have a loss in the past quarter because of the pandemic but they have made their money back. they're very robust. they're doing i'm. one of the key issues with this strike is back in 2015 when the minor sign on the dotted line and agree to take the subpar contract, it was the understanding once the new company got on its feet and made its profits, when it came time for the new contract, the miners would setheir fair share of those profits. and now that has not haened. at is one of the primary

factorhere is at this company at has invtorsn wall street you' sding all of thiproduct overss and exploiti the lab of the fos froalabam they're not comi to the rgaini table th anythg meaningful. thre n bargaining in go fah. as y may jimarlier o there isctiveostilitynd vlence happening a rult of the company's hostile approach for these workers. juan: given the climate today in the united states with so much racial strife and division across the country, this strike is an example of interracial unity. could you talk about the workforce itself and its composition? >> so the nwa has established in the state of alabama since 1890 and throughout its tenure, it has been one of historically the most interracial -- racially

integrated locals in the country. the you nwa as a who going back to the founding has been much more integrated than some of the other major unions in the country. in brookwood, i think the workforce is about 20% black and there are women, multiple genders involved, not just a bunch of white guys in hardhats, which is sort of the general media image of coal miners. that is not who they are. that is not what they look like. these folks are working together. the fact is happening just a few miles outside of bessemer where we saw another incredible organizing campaign, i think is significant because that part of alabama, the labor movement has deep roots and intertwined with the struggle for black liberation. this is a much bigger story than a few people who are upset about a contract. there is a lot of history here, too. amy: i want to turn to clip shane mstead, strikingine

rker ialabama. amy: that was shad striking mine worker in alabama. , athis is james blankenship, a mine worker union representative explaining the lingering effects of black lung. >> he died from black lung. he could not shoot a bite of food without having to stop and take oxygen. that is how that his lungs were. amy: if you could, kim kelly, talk about these people you interviewed. this issue of black lung and then how can supporters of the coal workers supporting the fight for better wages, better working conditions -- also talk

about a transition to a greener and overall safer economy, more sustainable for the world? >> obviously, a lot has changed since back in the day. estero typical image of the coal miner with her pickax and headlight going down in these tiny tunnels. a lot of the same risks are still there. these folks are dealing with massive machinery underground. there are ventilation issues. there is the age-old terror of black lung that is on the rise again in the country. a lot of it has to do with the fact some of the mines i knew was virginia and kentucky are unions of the safety regulations -- there is no one keep an eye on that. what is in the rock makes it much more difficult to get out of there without getting black lung. i think at this point about 10% of veteran coal miners are dealing with this affliction. it has not disappeared.

there are some people struggling with this. when i was down there, i met this young man named dalton, 22 years old. a couple of weeks into -- just starting at warrior met he was crushed underground by two massive pieces of machinery and now he is paralyzed from the waist down. these are the stories i am hearing. these are the horrible dangers and risks people are dealing with just to go down there and make money and take care of their families. it is a job a lot of folks are very proud of and feel deeply about. i have met third and four generation miners. i have also found people are cognizant of the fact coal and fossil fuels in general are not exactly great for the environment. i don't think there is any illusion there. i think folksould like to see a greener, cleaner, healthier environment for everyone but what speaks to these folks come in these sll communities, the fear that they will be left

behind. i think that was a big feature new piece that recently came out from unwa president cecil roberts talking about how the union would be willing to support bidens initiative as long as there's actually finding and training set aside to create good paying union jobs for these lks so there is a natural transition in theinot just been left to bend for themselves. there is this kind of wrinkle in this particular story because even if we went to gen energy -- a fully green economy tomorrow, these folks would still be down there digging out this coal because what they dig out is used, coal and steel. some innocent over seas -- sub would be sent overseas. juan: really have about 30 seconds, i would ask you the role of the police and the state

troopers during the strike? i understand the mines are isolated, the entrances and not traditional picket lines occurring? >> yes. they are isolated. there are 12 smaller gups scattered around this massive area and tre is a police present. the company has hired private armed security. concern -- don't is concerned with these vehicular attacks are they need all of the help they can get outside of that situation which people c -- amy: 10 seconds. what they are demanding blackrock today? >> they want them to listen, to pay attention, and see them. they want them to see the people they are exploiting and come to the bargaining table with a decent contract, to do the right thing come and treat them with respect. amy: kim kelly, independent

labor journalist. we will link to her piece. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possibltñññvvvñ

♪? ♪ the head of the u.s. federal hello and welcome to nhk "newsline." i'm therine kobayashi in new york. the head of the u.s. federal reserve has tried to reassure americans with a message of optimism. they've been worried about inflation and interest rates. jerome powell said the central bank is committed to facilitating a recovery on main street as well as wall street. he