July PDA Progressive Roundtable on Capitol Hill
One Small Step Nearby Giving Us a Glimpse of a Green Future
Example of solar charger in Sofia, Bulgaria
Mall at Robinson to debut solar car-charging stations
- Tim Schooley
- Beaver County Blue via Pittsburgh Business Times
The Mall at Robinson on July 24 will unveil new electric car-charging stations powered by solar panels located above the entrance of the mall’s food court.
With the chargers donated by Wesco and Eaton, the new stations are a partnership between the mall’s owner — Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises — Green Roads Energy LLC and Day & Night Solar.
The charging stations are free to use for mall guests.
A kiosk will be installed in the food court within the next week so shoppers can monitor the energy created by the solar panels, according to a release issued by Forest City Enterprises.
The mall also expects to offer loyalty promotions to shoppers who use the chargers, including the chance to earn a $25 gift card for using the station ten times.
The unveiling of the station is scheduled for Thursday, July 24, at 11:30 a.m.
Sen. Sanders to Speak in Philadelphia
Join U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders in Philadelphia!
Please join us in welcoming U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders to Philadelphia, PA!
Thursday, July 24, 2014
7:00 PM
1199C/AFSCME Union Hall
1319 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA
Click here for a map.
$25 Suggested Donation
Click here to donate and RSVP
Or, if you prefer to donate at the event, please RSVP by emailing Tina Scanlon at tina@bernie.org
Please join us in thanking Bernie for his outstanding national
leadership standing up to corporate power and right-wing extremism.
Drinks and appetizers will be served, and Bernie will be speaking
about what’s going on in Washington and how we can best
move forward in this challenging political period.
HOW CAN WE CONTINUE THE FIGHT:
for an economy that creates decent paying jobs
for health care for all
to protect and expand Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
to boldly address the crisis of climate change
to end the obscene level of income inequality
We hope to see you in Philadelphia on Thursday, July 24!
The Emerging Democratic Debate
The Emerging Democratic Debate
July 9, 2014 – Over at the Washington Post, the usually sensible Greg Sargent endorses the notion that divisions among Democrats are “mostly trumped up.” The tension between the Wall Street wing of the party and the Warren (as in Elizabeth) wing is an overblown fiction of a press corps desperate for some action.
It’s true that the prior divisions on social issues have dissipated, as liberals have swept the field. Obama’s halting attempts to wean the U.S. from its foreign wars have garnered widespread support. And on economics, Sargent argues that Democrats “largely agree on the menu of policy responses to the economic problems faced by poor, working and middle class Americans – a higher minimum wage, universal pre-K, higher taxes on the wealthy to fund a stronger safety net, job creation and job training – whatever the broader rhetorical umbrella is being used.” Even Hillary says she agrees with Thomas Piketty that extreme inequality is a “threat” to our democracy.
There are differences on how aggressively to go after the big banks or whether to expand Social Security, Sargent admits, and a debate underway about “whether to push the Democratic Party in a more populist direction,” which he declines to define. But generally, he argues, there’s broad agreement that Hillary or any Democratic candidate will run on.
All of this is true except the conclusion. There is a broad agreement on what might be called a “populist lite” agenda – one that has been put forth repeatedly by Obama and frustrated by Republican obstruction. And the reforms – from the minimum wage to universal pre-K – are important and will make a difference.
Continue reading The Emerging Democratic Debate
Connecticut Machinists Endorse Sept. 21 People’s Climate March
Connecticut Machinists
The Connecticut State Council of Machinists delegates who voted to support the March represent more than 10,000 active and retired Machinists Union members in Connecticut from industrial sites including Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton Sundstrand, Electric Boat, Stanley Works and other IAM-represented workplaces around the state.
CT State Council President John Harrity said: “Let’s be clear. Climate change is the most important issue facing all of us for the rest of our lives. And as the resolution points out, working families and the poor will bear the brunt the catastrophic consequences we are already beginning to experience.”
Harrity continued, “I am proud of the CSCM delegates, and their clear understanding of how crucial this issue is. I am hoping that hundreds of Connecticut Machinists can make the short trip to New York for this historic event. When our kids, and grandkids, ask ‘What did you do to help stop this disaster?’ which they will surely ask if we do not take drastic steps immediately – Machinists Union activists can say, ‘We helped save the world. We were there on September 21.’”
Here is the text of the Connecticut Machinists’ resolution:
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE’S CLIMATE MARCH
WHEREAS, world leaders are coming to New York City on September 23 for a historic United Nations summit on climate change and Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon will call for governments to agree on an ambitious agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions before the end of 2015; and
WHEREAS, an unprecedented array of groups representing climate, economic justice, environmental justice, human rights, labor, faith, and the arts are uniting for the People’s Climate March on Sunday, September 21; and
WHEREAS, the rapidly changing climate is impacting union members and working communities in New York as we experienced firsthand with the devastating impacts of Sandy; and
WHEREAS, we recognize that working people will suffer disproportionately from the current patterns of investment and neglect that do not prioritize good jobs, clean air, and healthy communities;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, to endorse the People’s Climate March and support the demand for an ambitious, binding, and fair agreement for emission reductions to foster a sustainable adaptation to the effects of climate change; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, to encourage union members, and also their families and friends, to participate in the march as proud union members and also encourage participation in the other events around the UN Climate Summit on September 23rd movement to address the challenge of climate change.
PASSED UNANIMOUSLY BY CT STATE COUNCIL OF MACHINISTS DELEGATES ON JUNE 21, 2014.
Five Ways Wall Street Continues to Screw Up the Economy for the Rest of Us and How to Fix It
Beaver County Blue via Huffington Post
July 2, 2014 – The shocking thing about the financial collapse of 2008 is not that Wall Street excesses pushed us into the worst economy crisis since the Depression. It’s that the same financial system has been propped back up and that elites are getting richer than ever, while the effects of that collapse are continuing to sandbag the rest of the economy. Oh, and most of this aftermath happened while a Democrat was in the White House.
Consider:
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The biggest banks are bigger and more concentrated than ever.
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Subprime (subprime!) is making a comeback [2] with interest rates of 8 to 13 percent.
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Despite Michael Lewis’s devastating expose of how high speed trading is nothing but a technological scam that allows insiders to profit at the expense of small investors, regulators are not moving to abolish it [3].
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The usual suspects are declaring the housing crisis over, even though default and foreclosure rates in the hardest hit cities and states are upwards of 25 percent.
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The deficit is falling, now just 2.8 percent of GDP [4], thanks to massive cuts in social spending. Isn’t that reassuring?
Meanwhile, back in the real economy, good jobs are far too scarce, incomes are stagnant, while 95 percent of the gains go to the top one percent.
Western PA: Fracking Study Finds New Gas Wells Leak More Than Old Ones
By SETH BORENSTEIN
Beaver County Blue via Associated Press
WASHINGTON DC, July 3, 2014 — In Pennsylvania’s gas drilling boom, newer and unconventional wells leak far more often than older and traditional ones, according to a study of state inspection reports for 41,000 wells.
The results suggest that leaks of methane could be a problem for drilling across the nation, said study lead author Cornell University engineering professor Anthony Ingraffea, who heads an environmental activist group that helped pay for the study.
The research was criticized by the energy industry. Marcellus Shale Coalition spokesman Travis Windle said it reflects Ingraffea’s "clear pattern of playing fast and loose with the facts."
The Marcellus shale formation of plentiful but previously hard-to-extract trapped natural gas stretches over Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New York.
The study was published Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
A team of four scientists analyzed more than 75,000 state inspections of gas wells done in Pennsylvania since 2000.
Continue reading Western PA: Fracking Study Finds New Gas Wells Leak More Than Old Ones
PA Republicans Pass Cruel Budget
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Dear constituents,
The natural gas industry and corporations in Pennsylvania continue to make unprecedented profits while our schools close and veterans are without health care. Pennsylvania has the lowest tax rate of any oil and gas producing state in our nation, and we refuse to ask them to pay their fare share!Union Victory! Point Park Adjunct Faculty Votes to Join AFA-USW Union
University’s Part-Timers Seek to Improve Education, Working Conditions
CONTACT: Randa Ruge: (412) 562-6967, rruge@usw.org
PITTSBURGH (June 25, 2014) – Part-time faculty members at downtown Pittsburgh’s Point Park University have voted to join the Adjunct Faculty Association of the United Steelworkers (AFA-USW).
The group filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in April to hold a mail ballot election. A total of 314 part-time Point Park instructors were eligible to vote, and the ballots were counted this morning at the NLRB’s downtown offices.
“The adjunct instructors have spoken very clearly with this vote,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “Now it’s time for the Point Park administration to work with them to craft a fair collective bargaining agreement that provides the faculty with the benefits and basic protections that all workers deserve.”
Among the issues the instructors hope to address are: a decade of wage stagnation as well as their lack of benefits, job security, office space and other tools needed to provide the quality education that Point Park students deserve.
Point Park instructor Sharon Brady said the vote was a victory for the university’s teachers and their students.
“I am looking forward to working with the administration, with the support of the USW, to enhance both the adjuncts’ experience and their effectiveness for the students they serve,” said Brady, who has taught theater arts at the college for 13 years.
The Point Park instructors are the second group of adjuncts to join the AFA-USW. Instructors at Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University voted overwhelmingly in the spring of 2012 to join the AFA-USW, and the university at first agreed to abide by the election results before quickly reversing that decision, claiming a religious exemption.
The USW is the largest industrial union in North America, representing workers in a range of industries including metals, mining, rubber, paper and forestry, oil refining, health care, security, hotels, and municipal governments and agencies.
New Castle Firm Takes the Green High Road
Battery technology grows to meet demands of renewable energy
By Michael Sanserino
Beaver County Blue via Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
June 24, 2014 – Those skeptical of renewable energy as a viable power source often note that the wind doesn’t always blow nor does the sun always shine.
But advancements in battery technology are helping keep energy flowing on those dark, windless days.
“It’s happening at a record pace,” said Lisa Salley, vice president and general manager of energy and power technologies at Underwriter Laboratories, a Northbrook, Ill.-based independent safety consulting and certification organization.
The goal is to increase the usability of renewable energy, which currently accounts for 21 percent of all electricity generated worldwide but just 11 percent of consumption, according to the Energy Information Administration.
“One of the areas that’s been neglected in the past has been the storage component of renewable energy sources, and that includes wind and solar, of course,” said Tom Granville, CEO of Axion Power International.
That, however, is changing. Power, chemical and material science companies, locally and elsewhere, are investing heavily in battery technology. Some are improving existing technology while others are developing new chemistry to create entirely new battery structures.
Beaver County Blue: Voice of the 17th CD of Progressive Democrats of America 