4-26-21 Newsletter

 

INCO hosted the Global Climate Strike rally in Seaside, September 20, 2019.

SUPPORT SJM 5 FOR CLIMATE Once again, please urge State Representative Suzanne Weber to support and co-sponsor SJM 5, Oregon's resolution to endorse a proposed climate change bill in Congress, the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act (EICDA).  The majority of Americans support Congress taking action on climate change. Republicans and Democrats together are working on both EICDA and Oregon's SJM 5.   Representative Weber wants the vote to be bipartisan and to have the EICDA exempt diesel fuel used in agriculture. So far, so good! Oregon's GOP House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, along with Republican Representatives David Smith and Ron Noble are co-sponsors of this bill. It passed the Senate 23-5 with 6 GOP senators. (State Senator Betsy Johnson was excused from voting.)     Please urge Representative Weber to support and co-sponsor SJM. She's at Rep.SuzanneWeber@oregonlegislature. More contact info is here.   Here are suggested talking points: -The EICDA will put a fee on carbon pollution at its source (the coal mine, oil well, natural gas well, and fuels imported across the US border) and then take that money to give back to American households in monthly dividend checks. -The EICDA exempts diesel fuel used in agriculture.  -This policy is revenue neutral.  The fees collected on carbon emissions will be allocated to all Americans to spend any way they choose.  The government will not keep any of the fees collected. -This is a market based solution that doesn't grow the government or increase regulations.   With your help, this important climate measure in Oregon can pass the House.

FUND THE FUTURE Thanks to the generosity of INCO fans, INCO met its fundraising goal of $500!  We will be getting $500 in matching funds from Indivisible national to use in defending democracy and promoting our progressive ideas and ideals. THANK YOU, DONORS!

MEET THE CANDIDATES FOR MAY 18 ELECTION Voters will help decide policy, plans, and budgets for schools, the college, the Port of Astoria, and other districts when we elect board members in the county's May 18 Regular District election. Learn more about the candidates at this terrific web site that includes:   15 video interviews with candidates across the county The newly-released Voter Pamphlet  Links to the candidate's filing paperwork  The timeline of crucial dates in the election cycle.   Thanks to the Clatsop County Democrats and its Campaigns and Elections Committee for compiling this crucial information.

Image from the New York Times

WHY YOUR INDIVISIBLE ACTIVISM MATTERS "That is the message coming from a Pew Research Center poll released today, which finds that Republicans increasingly oppose measures that would expand access to the ballot — particularly those that former President Donald Trump frequently complained about during the 2020 campaign." -- Giovanni Russonello, NY Times, April 22, 2021 "Many Republicans are acting like the Capitol insurrection never happened, and much of Washington is fine with it." -- Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, April 22, 2021. Read her article here. "Trump’s centrality guarantees that large numbers of resentful, truth-denying, conspiracy-minded, anti-democratic, overwhelmingly white voters will continue to find aid and comfort in the Republican Party .... A key pillar of Trump’s strength is his success in turning the Republican Party into the explicit defender of white hegemony." -- Thomas B. Edsall, NY Times, April 21, 2021 "After police shootings of unarmed Black men and women roiled America, Republicans decided that the problem is the protests that follow those shootings, not the killing of unarmed civilians by police. No GOP-controlled legislatures have passed police reform laws, but several have passed laws designed to discourage peaceful protests." -- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition, April 22, 2021

HAPPENINGS VIRTUAL  Tuesday, May 18 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, May 17 for your Zoom link. Saturday,  May 22 - INCO North County Community Group Zoom meeting, 11 a.m - noon. Contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link. EVERY FRIDAY: The INCO Write to Voters group invites you to a Zoom open house for informal chat and writing to voters in special elections and for ballot issues every Friday from 3-4 pm. Pets and children are welcome. Contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom invitation from Bebe.  WRITE TO VOTERS: Special elections and issue campaigns need you year-round. You can sign up to write to voters at www.postcardstovoters.org or for general Get Out the Vote campaigns, sign up at Vote Forward.

INSIGHTS "Once Democracy ceases to exist for a large enough segment of the population, it no longer exists at all.” - - Thomas Merton, American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion

Comments, news, and photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com.  Resources and other information at www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org. Encourage others to sign up for the INCO newsletter at our website or here. INCO Weekly Newsletter  April 26, 2021