So many hot scoops
Green New Dealers, conspiracies of racism, greenwashing, Dino Falaschetti
PRESENTED BY CUBIST PLUMBING
With President’s Day next Monday, it’s a school vacation week and Congress is out, so the Hill Heat publishing schedule will be lighter than usual.
I got to hang out with many of the great Green New Dealers of DC last night, collecting scoops like a real journalist. Here are my big scoops:
Sunrise is going full out for Jessica Cisneros in Texas’s 28th against the oil-soaked incumbent Henry Cuellar and Greg Casar in Texas’s 35th (open seat) in the Texas primaries, where early voting began this week
Natalie Mebane and I both could not remember how we know each other
The Dog Menu is not hot dogs, it is for dogs, the Puppuchino is a cup of whipped cream
See, I’m a very good journalist. Send me more scoops! DMs are open.
The Biden administration has rolled out its climate and economic justice screening tool, which oops does not consider race. This is a bit of a problem, because it has been repeatedly confirmed that pollution is functionally racist. Dr. Robert Bullard has questions:
“When you look at the most powerful predictor of where the most industrial pollution is, race is the most potent predictor. Not income, not property values, but race. If you’re leaving race out, how are you going to fix this?”
On the flip side: At this week’s Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Environmental Justice for All Act, which would strengthen the federal commitment to environmental justice, Republicans were very upset by even the idea that racism exists in this fine country. Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.) claimed there is a “conspiracy of racism,” because the oil and gas industry is destroying the lives of Cajuns in coastal Louisiana as well.
Activists keep accusing oil companies like Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, and Shell of greenwashing when they do things like sponsor Beltway climate newsletters and talk about caring about climate when they don’t really. But is that fair? Some researchers checked the data, and have concluded that “accusations of greenwashing appear well-founded.”
The Office of Financial Research, established by Dodd-Frank as an independent agency to warn financial regulators of systemic risks, should be churning out comprehensive work to prepare our economy for the climate crisis. Unfortunately, it’s run by a Donald Trump holdover, Dino Falaschetti, who has been doing to OFR what Louis DeJoy has been doing to the U.S. Postal Service. Toni Aguilar Rosenthal gives the full run-down on this obscure but important agency and what Joe Biden needs to do right now.
Flip flop, flip flop, flip
Flop, closer, closer comes the
flop, flip
of the beaver
and carrots
gliding away
JERBS: The Green New Deal Network is seeking a senior policy manager ($85K-$105K) and a national field manager ($70K-$84K). Evergreen is hiring a power sector senior policy lead ($105.6K-$125K).
I’m off for a spa day, I need it. Pamper yourself, you deserve it too.—@climatebrad