ANONYMOUS - OUR VOICE

Time is running out. Here’s how the climate movement can level up.

On an unusually warm, clear day in late September, a dozen progressive activists paddled their kayaks and boats up to to a houseboat Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) keeps parked on the Potomac in Washington, DC. For four days, they had been floating around the West Virginia-themed boat named “Almost Heaven” with colorful signs, calling on him to support Build Back Better, the most critical piece of climate legislation considered by Congress in over a decade. Apparently unmoved by their “We want to live” chant, Manchin finally leaned over the railing to acknowledge their presence and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/10/01/joe-manchin-kayak-protest-orig-vf.cnn">talk for a moment</a>.
The bird-dogging campaign to try to change Manchin’s position on Build Back Better was one of the most visible moments of climate protest in 2021, another pandemic year that forced activists to get even more creative. So far, those who targeted Manchin have managed only to get under his skin; he <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/schumer-plans-build-back-better-vote-next-year-11640020897?reflink=desktopwebshare_twitter">claimed</a> the White House was using them to bully him into voting yes on the bill when he announced he couldn’t support it on December 19. (The activists were representing the <a href="https://twitter.com/CPDAction/status/1443732470294360068?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Center for Popular Democracy and other advocacy groups</a>.) Since then, Manchin has <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/588479-climate-advocates-hopeful-after-manchin-spending-comments">softened</a> his criticism of Build Back Better’s climate provisions — including his objections to a methane emissions fee and tax credits for union-made electric vehicles — though it’s not clear yet if Democrats will reach a deal on the larger, roughly $1.75 trillion bill.
But the houseboat confrontation was only the tip of the iceberg of a movement that in 2021 became more decentralized and far-reaching, fighting on dozens of fronts. With the goal of slashing fossil fuel reliance and creating a cleaner, fairer future, high schoolers’ student strikes expanded, the college divestment movement grew, and racial justice organizers sank major gas terminals and pipeline projects through lawsuits and public opposition.
Climate organizers are “trying every possible permutation of what we can do,” observed longtime climate activist and journalist Bill McKibben.
But even as the climate movement finds new recruits and builds political momentum, the one thing it seriously lacks is time. If Democrats can’t find the votes for the climate provisions in Build Back Better, then the country misses its best opportunity to marshal the federal government’s power to meaningfully rein in carbon emissions. Even if the federal government steps up, states, cities, and corporations will be just as essential to contributing larger pollution cuts to move the world toward its incredibly ambitious deadline to slash global pollution <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/">in half by 2030</a>. The US might not have another opportunity to make a difference before the world warms to a calamitous level.
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<figcaption>Environmentalist groups rally outside the Capitol on the fifth day of “People vs. Fossil Fuels” protests in Washington, DC, on October 15, 2021.</figcaption>
<cite>Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</cite></figure>
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To beat the clock on climate change, some activists believe they’ll win by refining what the movement is already doing. By finding new levers to push, and new age groups to attract, the movement would build on the momentum of what’s already working to change entrenched institutions.
But others think it’s time for a new movement entirely. That includes <a href="https://www.climateemergencyfund.org/margaret-klein-salamon">Margaret Klein Salamon</a>, executive director of the Climate Emergency Fund, a group that’s funding a more aggressive strain of organizing that conveys climate change as a house-on-fire-style emergency requiring more direct action now.
“What we need to do if we have a shot in hell on climate is fight for our lives, and make it clear we’re fighting for our lives,” Salamon said. “That’s a different movement” from what she sees today.
Some of these strategies will clash, and some could even threaten the movement’s unity. But the risks could also be worth it: The stakes are higher than ever to snap the US out of apathy and inertia while the whole world barrels toward worsening climate change.
There’s much more happening in climate organizing than trailing Manchin around Washington. Racial justice advocates have used key laws to stop new permits for fossil fuel infrastructure. Activists have worked to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/climate-activists-urge-blackrock-vanguard-vote-against-exxon-directors-2021-05-04/">cut investor</a> ties to fossil fuels, have <a href="https://www.vox.com/22455347/exxon-board-shell-oil-news-chevron-engine-no-one">infiltrated the boardroom</a>, and have won a handful of global <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-26/shell-loses-climate-case-that-may-set-precedent-for-oil-industry">courtroom victories</a>. These wins have had one big thing in common: The campaigns have found leverage in otherwise intractable, slow-moving institutions.
Many of these campaigns have relied on a mix of pressing for change from the outside and reforming financial and government bodies from within. After the 2018 midterm elections, the Sunrise Movement proved how effective raising hell can be in pushing for change. The then-new group helped to tap into a national network of young organizers to stage sit-ins and protests in the US Capitol staged weeks after the 2018 midterm election.
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<figcaption>Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) rallies young climate activists, organized by the Sunrise Movement, in front of the White House in June to demand that President Joe Biden work to make the Green New Deal into law.</figcaption>
<cite>Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images</cite></figure>
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<a href="https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/12/climate-change-is-finally-having-a-political-moment-thats-no-accident/">Relying on a mostly digital strategy</a> to train their recruits for in-person action, Sunrise helped sustain pressure on Democratic leaders and presidential candidates. The avalanche of pressure led to Biden releasing the most comprehensive plan any incoming president had ever had for the climate crisis — a plan that still hinges on Manchin’s vote to enact legislation for clean electricity and electric vehicles.
But raising hell often takes other, quieter forms. In the first year of the Biden administration, another long-simmering campaign to change the financial sector’s relationship with fossil fuels showed it could gain some serious ground. In the 2010s, college students provided the original model for divestment campaigns, urging their institutions to stop investing endowments in fossil fuel companies. Once seen as a long-shot campaign, the divestment movement reached a new milestone in October, after <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/10/1035901596/harvard-university-end-investment-fossil-fuel-industry-climate-change-activism">Harvard University</a> and one of the world’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/26/abp-pension-fund-to-stop-investing-in-fossil-fuels-amid-climate-fears">largest pension funds</a> and others pledged to divest <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/26/opinion/climate-change-divestment-fossil-fuels.html">$40 trillion</a> in global assets.
Other smaller campaigns have grown into a strong political force that in 2021 flexed to stop new investments in fossil fuel exploration and projects. Climate activists have applied the same balance of pressure from the outside, for example, by demanding Treasury Department regulations forcing bank disclosures on Big Oil loans. And they have balanced this pressure with takeovers from the inside, succeeding with a coup last spring when a climate-focused hedge fund, Engine No. 1, gained three seats on ExxonMobil’s board.
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<figcaption>Bill McKibben speaks on the opening evening of COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on October 31, 2021, for Pathway to Paris, a US-based organization working to realize the Paris climate agreement.</figcaption>
<cite>Roberto Ricciuti/Redferns</cite></figure>
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The next stage for activists is finding new pressure points that build on this momentum. Longtime climate activist Bill McKibben, a cofounder of the grassroots group <a href="http://350.org/">350.org</a>, predicts one of those pressure points will be involving more older Americans to lobby financial institutions to cut ties from fossil fuel investments.
In November, McKibben <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/leading-climate-change-activist-looks-to-mobilize-older-americans-204334958.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=tw&tsrc=twtr">launched a new group called</a> <a href="https://thirdact.org/">Third Act</a> to attract older Americans to climate activism, making the case that they owe it to the young to take action and should use their financial influence to pressure companies. Baby boomers wield a lot of power politically and financially, controlling more than half of the country’s household wealth to millennials’ 6 percent, according to <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/table/#quarter:119;series:Net%20worth;demog%5B%E2%80%A6%5Dneration;population:all;units:shares">federal data</a>. They’re hard hit by climate change, too: Heat waves are the deadliest natural disaster and are especially deadly for older adults.
Some fights are more local. “There’s really a fossil fuel fight in almost every community, certainly in every region,” said Janet Redman, Greenpeace’s US climate campaign director.
Climate activists have slowed down construction by raising hell over specific projects: After years of delays, PennEast, the developers of the 116-mile pipeline project to carry natural gas from Pennsylvania into New Jersey, <a href="https://www.politico.com/states/new-jersey/story/2021/09/27/penneast-calls-it-quits-after-a-years-long-fight-to-build-a-gas-pipeline-1391442">abandoned</a> the project in September. Groups like Sierra Club and Greenpeace have promised to continue their fight into 2022 against 20 proposed gas export facilities <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-be-worlds-biggest-lng-exporter-2022-2021-12-21/">poised</a> to make the US the biggest gas exporter in the world.
A key obstacle to reaching critical mass has long been environmentalism’s reputation as a “Birkenstock movement,” observes Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., president of the advocacy group Hip Hop Caucus. Yearwood criticizes the overly white makeup of staff and volunteers who’ve historically dominated national green groups and have been less focused on battling racism and pollution, while Black, Brown, and Indigenous people have long linked racial justice to battling back fossil fuel infrastructure.
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<figcaption>Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., president of the Hip Hop Caucus, speaks about funding climate change legislation outside the US Capitol on October 7, 2021.</figcaption>
<cite>Win McNamee/Getty Images</cite></figure>
A focus on racial justice in halting fossil fuels can be a “galvanizing tool,” according to Yearwood. “It helps to get the movement focused on why they need to push back against this pipeline or project.”
This year, the Louisiana St. James Parish community, through local groups like Rise St. James, successfully <a href="https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-environment-and-nature-environment-army-fe541fd9f9f0239c6fc728cc2751eb88">delayed a permit</a> for a $9.4 billion Formosa chemical plant planned by the Mississippi River, pending a full environmental review. Local groups argued in a brief that the pollution would harm the residents nearby and the plant would be built on Black burial grounds. “A lot of these petrochemical companies are looking to build on former plantations, almost like a digging in the eye. It’s a disregard for Indigenous, Black, or Brown communities,” Yearwood, a Louisiana native, said.
Yearwood saw a parallel to how Indigenous rights activists <a href="https://www.minnpost.com/environment/2021/11/the-line-3-replacement-has-been-completed-and-operating-for-months-so-why-are-activists-still-camped-out-by-the-construction-sites/">fought back</a> against Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline carrying oil from North Dakota to Minnesota, which completed its construction this year. A resistance camp has been operating there for months despite construction being over, monitoring for leaks and staying ready to assist the nearby protest of another nearby pipeline replacement, <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/11/08/white-house-confirms-reviewing-impact-line-5-shutdown/6342914001/">Line 5</a>.
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<figcaption>Police in riot gear arrest environmental activists at the Line 3 pipeline pumping station near Itasca State Park in Minnesota on June 7, 2021.</figcaption>
<cite>Kerem Yucel/AFP via Getty Images</cite></figure>
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Tara Houska, attorney and Indigenous activist, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/06/17/1007805657/indigenous-activist-on-why-groups-are-protesting-the-line-3-pipeline-in-minnesot">told</a> NPR in June that these fights represented “an incredible groundswell of young people in particular and Indigenous, Black, BIPOC folks who are out risking personal freedom and their bodies on the line to stop this horrible project from exacerbating climate crisis and disrespecting tribal sovereignty yet again in the history of this country.”
Working through the legal, financial, and political system is slow, frustrating work. There are usually more losses than victories. Activists have found success through these traditional lanes, but this kind of change doesn’t necessarily move fast enough.
Swedish teen Greta Thunberg has become the most famous voice of a growing climate emergency movement. Her goal is to draw attention to the irrationality of acting as if everything is fine when there is assured destruction ahead from climate change. “In an emergency, someone needs to say that we’re heading towards the cliff,” she said in a December 2021 <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2021/12/27/greta-thunberg-state-climate-movement-roots-her-power-an-activist/">interview</a> with the Washington Post Magazine. “And everyone is just following, saying like, ‘Well, no one else is turning around, so I won’t either.’”
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<figcaption>Climate activist Greta Thunberg delivers a speech during a Fridays for Future demonstration in Milan, Italy, on October 1, 2021.</figcaption>
<cite>Matteo Rossetti/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images</cite></figure>
Margaret Klein Salamon and the Climate Emergency Fund she leads are supporting organizers who match this rhetoric. She sees the strategies of groups like Extinction Rebellion, Friday for Future school strikers, and the Sunrise Movement as distinct “from the gradualist, institutionalized environmental and climate movement that has been dominant for decades. The climate emergency movement says what do we need to achieve to avoid an apocalypse.”
The kind of activism that fits this vision, Salamon argues, is more aggressive direct action that could run the gamut from hunger strikes to blockades of streets and pipelines to workplace strikes. Though not common in the US, Extinction Rebellion has staged blockades of pipelines and Amazon warehouses in the UK.
Salamon wonders what that looks like if more US activists adopted similar strategies. That would mean more worker strikes, like what Amazon’s tech workforce <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-walk-out-to-protest-climate-change-2019-9#:~:text=and%20Privacy%20Policy.-,More%20than%201%2C500%20Amazon%20employees%20are%20expected%20to%20walk%20out,action%20to%20combat%20climate%20change.">did in 2019</a> for a climate protest.
In November, several Sunrise Movement members participated in the first US climate hunger strike: Kidus Girma was one of the four who gave up food for two weeks and sat outside the White House to draw attention to Biden’s continued fossil fuel leasing, posing the question whether Democrats like Biden and Manchin really do care about his life. His goal wasn’t to win over Manchin: “I’m speaking to Americans and people around the world about what kind of world do we want to create,” Girma said in an interview with Vox.
Just as divestment campaigns and battles against pipelines had many detractors before they gained momentum, observers now question whether tactics like hunger strikes are too polarizing to be useful in the United States. “You want a range of tactics all working toward the same goal, but it also can end up splintering and causing fissures within the movement,” said University of Maryland sociologist Dana Fisher, who studies environmental protest movements. “You end up with these camps within the climate movement: the sellouts who are willing to put on a suit and go inside, versus those outside, yelling about a capitalist system.”
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<figcaption>Climate activists set off smoke after scaling the US Chamber of Commerce building in Washington, DC, on October 14, 2021. Extinction Rebellion led the rally, claiming the business lobbying group denies climate change and puts corporate profit ahead of the health and well-being of the planet.</figcaption>
<cite>Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images</cite></figure>
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“In the end, it’s not going to stop an oil and gas lease or to shift this huge oil tanker that is the United States away from all of its reliance on fossil fuels in the kind of time that’s needed,” said Fisher.
Fisher’s skepticism stems from concern that a blockade or hunger strike won’t win the next election, while targeted voter outreach might. She fears that the more radical the tactic, the more divided the public becomes on addressing climate change. Instead of seeing Democratic politicians trying to appeal to climate voters, they could consider it a liability should it become too polarizing.
The lightning rod that sociologists like Fisher worry most about is the use of property destruction and perhaps even violence.
The climate movement has closely followed the tenets of nonviolent protest. Leaders regularly cite inspiration from the civil rights-era nonviolence, and the sit-ins and mass protests mirror similar strategies. But it isn’t a given any movement will remain that way.
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<figcaption>Students take part in a Fridays for Future climate strike demonstration in Glasgow, Scotland, on September 24, 2021.</figcaption>
<cite>Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images</cite></figure>
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Already a few prominent scholars have argued that protesters should target property and fossil fuel infrastructure to deliver a global wake-up call. Swedish ecologist Andreas Malm <a href="https://www.vox.com/vox-conversations-podcast/22691428/vox-conversations-climate-change-andreas-malm">makes</a> this provocative argument in his 2021 book How to Blow Up a Pipeline.
He argues that the nonviolent tenets of the climate movement have failed to produce the results needed. He makes the case for an escalation, by destroying physical fossil fuel infrastructure to reinforce that humans can control their own fate. “[P]eople tend to perceive fossil fuel infrastructure as a fact of nature, something beyond our control, something that we cannot put a stop to,” he said in an interview with <a href="https://www.vox.com/vox-conversations-podcast/22691428/vox-conversations-climate-change-andreas-malm">Vox Conversations</a>. “Therefore, those disasters that are destroying our lives are something that we can just try to live with, to adapt to as best as we can.”
There’s plenty of apprehension among climate activists in opening this can of worms. Property destruction is hugely controversial, and violence is the most polarizing tactic that could truly splinter the climate movement’s delicate balance of insider and outsider tactics.
While Malm narrows his argument to targeting property and pipelines — he does not support harming people — science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson took the thought experiment even further in his 2020 novel, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ministry-Future-Kim-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0316300136/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?ots=1&slotNum=2&imprToken=00bf1a6c-c999-51b0-322&_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=&ascsubtag=%5B%5Dvx%5Bp%5D21490604%5Bt%5Dw%5Bd%5DD" has-subtag="true" data-cdata='{"rewritten_url":"https://www.amazon.com/Ministry-Future-Kim-Stanley-Robinson/dp/0316300136/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?ots=1\u0026slotNum=2\u0026imprToken=00bf1a6c-c999-51b0-322\u0026_encoding=UTF8\u0026qid=\u0026sr=\u0026ascsubtag=[]vx[p]22610738[m]m-placeholder[s]s-placeholder[t]w[c]c-placeholder[r]r-placeholder[d]D","subtag_max_length":99,"subtag_delim_length":2,"subtag_key":"ascsubtag","subtag_data":{"ots":"1","slotNum":"2","imprToken":"00bf1a6c-c999-51b0-322","_encoding":"UTF8","qid":"","sr":"","ascsubtag":"[]vx[p]22610738[m]m-placeholder[s]s-placeholder[t]w[c]c-placeholder[r]r-placeholder[d]D"},"encode_subtag":false}'>The Ministry for the Future</a>.
In this imagined near future of climate catastrophe, ecoterrorists bomb power plants, down jets, and target executives to bring about political and economic change. Robinson isn’t advocating for this world in his book, but rather making the case we can still avoid it. In <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/11/30/21726563/kim-stanley-robinson-the-ezra-klein-show-climate-change">an interview</a> in November 2020 with then-Vox editor and podcast host Ezra Klein, Robinson explained why he considered that the status quo on climate may spur violent advocacy as “in that matrix of decisions we need to make. What methods are going to work to get us to a better place 30 years out?”
The questions Robinson considers in his novel are similar to what the climate movement has to contend with: What happens if the political system fails? What happens if there is never a critical mass for true change? What if entrenched special interests delay meaningful action until it is too late? His novel looks at what happens then as the powerless take drastic action to force a revolution.
“Revolution has often been physical and violent, and then sometimes revolutions have been invisible and peaceful,” the author told Klein. “So one would hope for the peaceful revolutions. ... You have to think about revolutions of the past and what they could be now.”
There’s another fundamental split in philosophies over what it will take to ensure a lasting revolution on climate change.
“When you have lots of different tactics going at once, you have lots of entry points for people becoming engaged in the issue,” said David Meyer, a social scientist at the University of California Irvine who studies climate protest movements. This kind of decentralization helps with one of the biggest challenges facing any social movement: the need to innovate or risk failure. “Movements that don’t diversify their tactics evaporate or get crushed,” Meyer added. “If you don’t innovate tactics, it gets boring and authorities find ways of dealing with you.”
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<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1641828022_8690_14772" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23151374,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/BpclYWwkFe8lJKi-gf7WouN26cI=/0x0:4500x3000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/b4LNP-W40cRYJFmHUF_4dDPRveA=/0x0:4500x3000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-HssnijQlECOKiAx0fpKJl8p0SI=/0x0:4500x3000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3Du8Bu8mxYz2AcWl48BIGwwbJG0=/0x0:4500x3000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/-_9GWpppVbN6PqWyWQ2DJrCMgzs=/0x0:4500x3000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/NoNB-FKtosuwhO33dxsvV6q33Ws=/0x0:4500x3000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rAyh7XXJ-61F61wOOhlBMJHs4gM=/0x0:4500x3000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FpMIRHXpQFexRkmF4AIvlfpLl0I=/0x0:4500x3000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Q776IK8nEsc5tXKycieWBnnqdCM=/0x0:4500x3000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 1920w" sizes="90vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="4500" sizes="90vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/EME9rqXSN9lX2Tqe8hYtSR7gKz8=/0x0:4500x3000/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/R6g4f480fT0OKjFMfJHFPpdyNrQ=/0x0:4500x3000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6oNhdP8v45SLEta3vHjaATvwnIY=/0x0:4500x3000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/80dnRObwRUoJ_qMuEBEkMm_zEmo=/0x0:4500x3000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/y5MnlgzLxNQyJN3ykzemLXsz4eE=/0x0:4500x3000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XroxTC-oGhBJLl3wWg-hxR7RS1g=/0x0:4500x3000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/fMHa_e-eO16aXu5c3lOut9BkHfU=/0x0:4500x3000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/q4O8cDWe8wvS-pZnZP9e1uig_bI=/0x0:4500x3000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ew14uUYvlH2R6LbAGVLsMQBVqxU=/0x0:4500x3000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Px1hqOMVYMVkJiZD8_eIe3tcejU=/0x0:4500x3000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:4500x3000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23151374/AP19346438171065.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>A man looks up as police and fire personnel move in to remove Greenpeace activists after they scaled European Union headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, and unfurled a large banner during a demonstration outside an EU summit meeting on global warming on December 12, 2019.</figcaption>
<cite>Francisco Seco/AP</cite></figure>
</div>
The US is still tinkering around the edges of how to transition away from fossil fuels, instead of moving at the much faster pace necessary to meet global climate goals. Changing this course requires new strategies. Some believe the key is in growing the climate movement to a critical mass of the population, which will usher in political change through advocacy and turnout in elections. Others think more targeted youth strikes and pipeline protests are the key to jolting the US from its inertia.
But growth of a movement for growth’s sake does not necessarily win political victory in a system that is <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/12/20/22846504/senate-joe-manchin-build-back-better-democrats-republicans-43-million">structurally biased against change</a>. Polling from the Yale program on Climate Change Communication shows consistently that a supermajority of adult Americans, <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/climate-change-american-mind-september-2021.pdf">70 percent</a>, are at least somewhat concerned about climate change. The most engaged group are those who describe themselves as “very worried” is smaller than that, though this subset has grown in the past five years from <a href="https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/climate-change-american-mind-september-2021.pdf">22 to 35 percent</a> of the population.
What’s less clear is how even a large subset of “alarmed” voters translates into political power. At the national level, politicians don’t reflect these popular beliefs. Congress disproportionately represents climate change deniers and fossil fuel interests — a major reason Congress has yet to pass a single bill that would target carbon pollution across the economy. Now, even as a minority in Congress, Republicans have continued to threaten climate legislation through the Senate filibuster, forcing Democrats to rely on the budget reconciliation process that still hinges on Manchin’s vote.
<figure class="e-image"><picture class="c-picture" data-cid="site/picture_element-1641828022_7048_14773" data-cdata='{"asset_id":23152995,"ratio":"*"}'><source srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/S1rb1pzRiZr1etuvsyMh9QBmKHM=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/JtkMXcjz5JprIP3ZKFFYvTmX9-s=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qrPU4MNBdA9GLfrZCsVbGlnk1IU=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/SZgcM_M7sOSljs9PJbhpQGpvGq8=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3fyXH99tFMi3cduQL9YqcAJ9BDw=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9XGDSNq35AKif4vg_Z-4Rz710lg=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/3dYUJV4I03FDHqXCIsaBuSW8gmg=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/IpKrGaBCXydC3dNnTZfUiXtr-ek=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tShbZh7bPptxT_xs0Cgu6EGqnek=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 1920w" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" type="image/webp" /> <img alt="" data-upload-width="3000" sizes="(min-width: 1221px) 846px, (min-width: 880px) calc(100vw - 334px), 100vw" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Co9CkuIc6kr1e4lH3v3KtjhpvVc=/0x0:3000x2000/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg" srcset="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UbT6bqVpV8wvDKdz51Ons4GUldI=/0x0:3000x2000/320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/sOkKl0V0CAq-xoXbbQx97rB4neM=/0x0:3000x2000/520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/MHahzoRr0CM4krDiI7cNJwi8R-g=/0x0:3000x2000/720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/4YdT7ctz43vKRPCJ8Yw3G9bD1lw=/0x0:3000x2000/920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 920w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/j8BLo_GHsaU1xNHT9L_KrXpO6uA=/0x0:3000x2000/1120x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 1120w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/q5stIwm2WgFFY0qpoeCCmHu4ReM=/0x0:3000x2000/1320x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 1320w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CRLcHDY38gcY7n5ub5kLwgAqAwc=/0x0:3000x2000/1520x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 1520w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/By6HSAfvVJM9m9PbN2zNcX_ey3g=/0x0:3000x2000/1720x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 1720w, https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ZIKz165Eo5uIYjvTOpNDbsuHzqs=/0x0:3000x2000/1920x0/filters:focal(0x0:3000x2000):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23152995/GettyImages_1235240445.jpg 1920w" /></picture>
<figcaption>From left, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) at a rally held by the League of Conservation Voters and Climate Action Campaign to urge the passage of Build Back Better legislation on September 13, 2021.</figcaption>
<cite>Drew Angerer/Getty Images</cite></figure>
Putting a single number on how big a movement has to grow to deliver systemic change is hard, to say the least, but Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth has gotten a <a href="https://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/publications/35-rule-how-small-minority-can-change-world">l</a><a href="https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-research/policy-topics/advocacy-social-movements/paths-resistance-erica-chenoweths-research">ot of attention</a> for research that settled on a number after examining 323 violent and nonviolent protests globally between 1900 and 2006. Chenoweth’s research concluded that a movement is effective enough to change the system if it hits a critical mass of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world">3.5 percent</a> of the population.
It sounds so simple, and newer groups like the UK’s Extinction Rebellion have rallied around <a href="https://extinctionrebellion.uk/act-now/">that figure</a>. But other researchers question how much of Chenoweth’s work really applies to climate change, since she was studying sometimes-violent regime change in other countries. And there’s another catch: That 3.5 percent has to be incredibly devoted to the cause, willing to march in streets, even at one’s own risk of arrest. These distinctions matter for how to decide when a movement has truly hit critical mass, explained Fisher, the University of Maryland sociologist.
“Who cares about climate change at this point? Well, just about everybody, except for people who consider themselves strong Republicans,” Fisher said. “We do not have 3.5 percent of the population that’s willing to engage in risky confrontational activism, for sure. I’m not sure that we have 3.5 percent of population that’s willing to do more than vote.”
There isn’t much time for the climate movement to figure out what formula of activism will succeed. The next few years will have the highest stakes yet.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/22846697/climate-change-activism-joe-manchin-protest-build-back-better-biden">https://www.vox.com/22846697/climate-change-activism-joe-manchin-protest-build-back-better-biden</a>

vox Time is running out. Here’s how the climate movement can level up.

On an unusually warm, clear day in late September, a dozen progressive activists paddled their kayaks and boats up to to a houseboat Sen. Jo...

AOC Tests Positive For COVID

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has tested positive for Covid-19, less than one week after she was spotted <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10363679/AOC-spotted-partying-maskless-crowded-drag-bar-Miami-vacation.html">partying maskless</a> at a crowded bar in Miami.
“Representative Ocasio-Cortez has received a positive test result for COVID-19. She is experiencing symptoms and recovering at home. The Congresswoman received her booster shot this Fall, and encourages everyone to get their booster and follow all CDC guidance,” reads a statement from her office.
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"></figure>
The far-left member of ‘the squad’ was seen last week at several Miami hotspots, as New York was hit with a record-high number of Covid-19 cases due to the far less mild Omicron variant. New York has also instituted a strict mask and vaccine policy. 
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/2022-01-09_15-48-18.jpg?itok=n87GRWFX" /></figure>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true" readability="4.5942857142857">
AOC was spotted partying in a bar maskless in the great free state of Florida. Absolute hypocrite <a href="https://t.co/5lPEtPTnib">pic.twitter.com/5lPEtPTnib</a>
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1477788957865742337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
How will AOC spin this? Blame Florida?
<figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src="https://assets.zerohedge.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_image_mobile/public/inline-images/111.PNG?itok=zri1hHDt" /></figure>
Nailed it:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true" readability="4.3697478991597">
Haven’t heard much from AOC in awhile. I assume she got covid in Miami.
— Boomieleaks (@Boomieleaks) <a href="https://twitter.com/Boomieleaks/status/1479853558438797317?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2022</a></blockquote>
https://twitter.com/k_ovfefe2/status/1480334806273646597
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/aoc-tests-positive-for-covid">https://www.infowars.com/posts/aoc-tests-positive-for-covid</a>

news AOC Tests Positive For COVID

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has tested positive for Covid-19, less than one week after she was spotted partying maskless at a cro...

Kazakhstan Denies US-Funded ‘Military Biological Lab’ Seized By Rioters After Russia Claims Potential Pathogen Leak

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://api-assets.infowars.com/2022/01/GettyImages-530817998.jpg" /></div>
Kazakh officials have denied that a US-funded ‘military biological laboratory’ was seized by rioters in the recent unrest, which has seen at least 160 dead since the violence broke out just one week ago.
It is unclear whether the deaths, reported by the health ministry to state news channel Khabar-24, are primarily civilians or law enforcement according to the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10384151/Kazakhstan-denies-funded-bio-lab-seized-protesters-deaths-rise-164-bloody-riots.html">Daily Mail</a> – however officials said on Sunday that at least 16 police or national guard members had been killed. Pictures of Kazakh secret service operatives killed during the unrest have also been released.
According to Russian media, the biolab near Almaty – built in 2017 and used to study outbreaks of particularly dangerous infections – was ‘compromised,’ resulting in a potential leak of dangerous pathogens. Kazakh officials have denied the claim.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote" readability="24">
The secret bio-laboratory funded by the US defence department – which has links to Russian and Chinese scientists – was also compromised in the disturbances, according to social media claims that it was seized.
‘This is not true. The facility is being guarded,‘ said the health ministry which is responsible for the Central Reference Laboratory, in Almaty.
Official Russian news agency TASS had highlighted alleged social media reports that it was taken over by ‘unidentified people’ and ‘specialists in chemical protection suits were working near the lab so a leak of dangerous pathogens could have occurred‘.
The laboratory’s existence has been controversial and in 2020 the country formally denied that it was being used to make biological weapons.
At the time, the Kazakh government stated: ‘No biological weapons development is underway in Kazakhstan – and no research is conducted against any other states.’ -Daily Mail 
</blockquote>
Of course, since the source of the claim is Russian state media, one should take it with the same grain of salt as any state-sponsored outlet (or their legacy media mouthpieces).
As the Mail notes, “The airport, mayor’s office and secret services buildings fell briefly into the hands of rioters during a wave of protests backed by shadowy armed cells.”
In 2018 there were reports that a new strain of meningitis which had leaked from the lab – which was similarly denied. According to officials, no US personnel remain involved in the lab’s work, which included studying Covid.
The most recent controversy over the lab comes amid ‘growing intrigue’ over how the recent protests came to be organized, and which have been tamped down since a large Russian force was sent to the country. According to reports, ‘well-coordinated’ armed groups were operating alongside protesters over a hike in gas prices.
Nearly 6,000 people have been detained following the riots, with a “sizeable number of foreign nationals among them,” the Mail reports. It’s unclear where these alleged foreign provocateurs originated from.
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote" readability="22">
Russia and allies Belarus have continued to pour troops and equipment into Kazakhstan.     
Kazakh authorities said earlier on Sunday that 16 police or national guard members had been killed in the protests that started on January 2.
A total of 103 deaths were in Almaty, the country’s largest city, where demonstrators seized government buildings and set some on fire, according to the ministry. The country’s ombudswoman for children’s rights said that three of those killed were minors, including a four-year-old girl.
The ministry earlier reported more than 2,200 people sought treatment for injuries from the protests, and the Interior Ministry said about 1,300 security officers were injured. -Daily Mail
</blockquote>
As we <a href="https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/palace-coup-kazakh-security-chief-arrested-treason-was-close-friends-hunter-biden">noted on Sunday</a>, Among the boldest and eye-brow raising political moves by embattled Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev within the past days that grabbed international headlines was his ordering the arrest of Kazakhstan’s powerful former intelligence chief, Karim Massimov, on the charge of high treason.
Massimov had served as the prior longtime strongman ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev’s prime minister and has long been considered his “right hand man”. Shortly after, a photo has resurfaced, currently subject of widespread speculation which shows Joe Biden and Hunter Biden posing with the now detained Kazakh security chief Karim Massimov, along with well-connected oligarch Kenes Rakishev.
<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true" readability="8.4108527131783">
UPDATE: It wasn't just one meeting
Hunter Biden said Massimov was his "close friend."
That close friend has now been arrested for attempting to overthrow the government of Kazakhstan. <a href="https://t.co/Wrodpmpzzo">pic.twitter.com/Wrodpmpzzo</a>
— Clint Ehrlich (@ClintEhrlich) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClintEhrlich/status/1480155880578453505?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
</div>
</figure>
Where does this rabbit hole lead?
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/kazakhstan-denies-us-funded-military-biological-lab-seized-by-rioters-after-russia-claims-potential-pathogen-leak">https://www.infowars.com/posts/kazakhstan-denies-us-funded-military-biological-lab-seized-by-rioters-after-russia-claims-potential-pathogen-leak</a>

news Kazakhstan Denies US-Funded ‘Military Biological Lab’ Seized By Rioters After Russia Claims Potential Pathogen Leak

Kazakh officials have denied that a US-funded ‘military biological laboratory’ was seized by rioters in the recent unrest, which has seen a...

Florida’s DeSantis Says WH, Mainstream Media ‘Hostile’ to Him Over Therapies to Treat COVID-19

Florida’s conservative governor has long had strained relations with the federal authorities and mainstream media over his stance on the southern border crisis and COVID-19 countermeasures, as Florida has remained open most of the time.
Despite some of the relative successes of Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden administration and much of the media remain hostile to Florida’s way of coping with the virus, the governor believes.
In an interview with Fox News’ <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/desantis-biden-fauci-hostile-to-those-focusing-on-treatments-in-addition-to-vaccines" target="_blank">“Life, Liberty & Levin”</a> on Sunday, DeSantis said that the constant assault of negative publicity and criticism from Washington is “all political.” 
He claimed that he wears such a critique like a badge of honor, telling presenter Mark Levin that it is all “positive feedback.”
“If the corporate press nationally <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://sputniknews.com/20211226/journo-mocked-online-for-saying-selfish-people-like-desantis-are-the-reason-for-omicron-outbreak-1091822251.html" target="_blank">isn’t attacking</a> me, then I’m probably not doing my job,” he said. “So the fact that they are attacking me is a good indication that, you know what, I’m tackling the big issues.”
DeSantis explained that the state authorities reject critical race theory, promoted by the left, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://sputniknews.com/20211105/florida-gov-desantis-vows-legal-action-against-biden-administration-over-illegal-vax-mandates-1090494220.html" target="_blank">challenge</a> the vaccine mandates imposed by the federal government, and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://sputniknews.com/20211111/1090640640.html" target="_blank">fight against</a> the flow of illegal immigration that has affected the state, “all those things that a vast majority of Floridians and Americans <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://sputniknews.com/20211102/1090411011.html" target="_blank">want to see</a> done but that does threaten the ruling class and the regime.”
He then emphasized that he is genuinely working to provide Floridians with therapeutic choices such as monoclonal antibodies to complement White House-backed vaccines, while also allowing citizens to choose whether or not they want to be injected with the vaccines in the first place.
<div class="q8qRybnN"><a href="https://www.infowarsstore.com/specials-clearance/new-years-super-special?ims=cuzeh&utm_campaign=heronewyear&utm_source=Infowars+Hero&utm_medium=banner&utm_content=heronewyear" target="_blank"><img src="https://api.directus.libertycdn.com/uploads/_/originals/InfowarsNewyearsSpecial-hero-385.jpg" /></a></div>
“We set up these centers this summer when we started to see the delta variant rear its head, and it worked. We were keeping tens of thousands of people out of the hospital, saved thousands of lives. No one disputes that,” DeSantis said of the monoclonal antibody treatment sites. “Well, as that was happening in September, the federal government decided to seize control of the monoclonal antibodies and cut supplies to Florida and Texas, mainly.”
According to the governor, when that happened, he contacted GlaxoSmithKline in Brentford, UK, to get sotrovimab medicines, in order to continue providing Floridians with the help against the novel coronavirus.
When omicron strain emerged, DeSantis sought antibody treatment once more, and Biden’s Health and Human Services department reportedly refused, figuratively saying: “‘Oh, Florida, you use too much of it’,”according to the governor.
“Well, part of the reason we use more than other states is because we’ve actually embraced treatment. Most of these other governors and the people like Fauci and the federal leadership, they basically say get a shot, wear a mask, and they never talk about treatment,” he said.
Biden continues to reiterate pro-vaccine platitudes and carry on the same way the feds have for months, the governor added, by neglecting the significance of examining, approving, and assisting states in obtaining treatment choices like the ones he supported.
“I wish the vaccines were sterilizing, but they’re not providing that type of an immunity,” DeSantis explained. “So to just not deal with treatment and be hostile to people like me who are, it shows so much of this is about a political agenda.”
According to the Florida governor, this agenda is “about partisanship, and it’s not about the best interests of the American people, when you talk about how these folks <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://sputniknews.com/20211109/florida-gov-desantis-announces-start-of-2022-reelection-campaign-based-on-states-freedom-1090579303.html" target="_blank">are acting.</a>“
According to the latest Johns Hopkins University <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/region/us/florida" target="_blank">data,</a> as of Sunday, January 9, the Sunshine State recorded a total of 4.6 million cases of COVID-19 with 62,688 deaths. Since the start of the vaccination campaign, more than 13.7 million residents have been fully vaccinated, which is about 65% of the total population. 
The state <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/florida-covid-cases.html" target="_blank">had more</a> than 120,000 new cases of the virus as of Saturday, with a seven-day average increase of more than 58,000 infections.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.infowars.com/posts/floridas-desantis-says-wh-mainstream-media-hostile-to-him-over-therapies-to-treat-covid-19">https://www.infowars.com/posts/floridas-desantis-says-wh-mainstream-media-hostile-to-him-over-therapies-to-treat-covid-19</a>

news Florida’s DeSantis Says WH, Mainstream Media ‘Hostile’ to Him Over Therapies to Treat COVID-19

Florida’s conservative governor has long had strained relations with the federal authorities and mainstream media over his stance on the sou...

The West has a few bargaining chips to stop Russia from invading Ukraine

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/d0WFQ3wVM69NpY2V-s9wETLnOe4=/0x304:5271x3064/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23156368/1237586570.jpg" /></div>
Ahead of two crucial meetings this week, the United States and NATO allies are discussing a number of ways to deal with the deteriorating relationship between Russia and the West, and the looming prospect of <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/12/8/22824015/russia-ukraine-troops-tensons-putin-biden-nato">another Russian invasion of Ukraine</a>.
Although US and NATO leadership have both expressed a strong desire for a diplomatic path forward, more aggressive options to support Ukrainian sovereignty against Russian aggression, including major trade restrictions, are <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/politics/biden-russia-ukraine-potential-economic-sanctions/index.html">reportedly</a> on the table.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has adopted an increasingly bellicose posture toward Europe and the West, particularly over the past several months. Among other actions, an increasing number of Russian troops — about 100,000 at present, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/01/07/world/europe/ukraine-maps.html">according to the New York Times</a> — have been stationed along Russia’s border with Ukraine, possibly in preparation for a <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/12/8/22824015/russia-ukraine-troops-tensons-putin-biden-nato">major offensive</a>.
The Biden administration and the Kremlin are <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/nato-united-against-any-russian-aggression-us-says-after-meeting-2022-01-07/">scheduled to discuss</a> the US response to Russian military action in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday, and a larger conversation between NATO member countries and Russia is set for Wednesday in Brussels, Belgium. Further talks about Russia’s actions and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/world/europe/russia-nato-security-deal.html">proposed security demands</a> are also set to take place in Vienna, Austria, with member nations of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
After a virtual meeting Friday of foreign ministers from its member states, NATO promised a coherent response to protect Ukrainian sovereignty, and Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg <a href="https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_190516.htm">insisted in a statement Friday</a> that the alliance is committed to a diplomatic approach with Russia.
“Russia’s aggressive actions seriously undermine the security order in Europe,” he said. “NATO remains committed to our dual-track approach to Russia: strong deterrence and defense, combined with meaningful dialogue.”
But should NATO’s present tack — and next week’s talks — fail to deter Russia from action against Ukraine, Stoltenberg has signaled that NATO is prepared to pursue more aggressive options. Although Ukraine is not a member of NATO and thus the alliance is under no obligation to step in should Russia attack, Stoltenberg’s statements to the press show that he views Russia’s aggression in Ukraine as destabilizing to European security; and that should that security be threatened, there will be consequences for Russia.
“We have troops, we have forces,” <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/stoltenberg-nato-ready-russia-talks-fail/">Stoltenberg told reporters Friday</a>, although he declined to discuss details. “We have the readiness. We have the plans to be able to defend, protect all allies, and we are constantly adapting, and also actually investing more now than we had done for many years in modernizing our military capabilities to make sure that we preserve peace in Europe.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href="https://apnews.com/article/europe-russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-emmanuel-macron-4b0815a24bb98ca7e3b81aa0dc6b1838">also warned that the US was</a> “prepared to respond forcefully to further Russian aggression,” although it’s unclear exactly what form that response might take.
<a href="https://www.vox.com/22385716/russia-sanctions-biden-cyber-ukraine">Sanctions</a> are a well-trod path in the US-Russia foreign policy space, and other nations, including the United Kingdom, have indicated their willingness to increase economic pressure on Russia should upcoming talks fail to reach a diplomatic outcome.
Senior US officials <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/politics/biden-russia-ukraine-potential-economic-sanctions/index.html">told CNN’s Natasha Bertrand</a> that the US is preparing economic blocks on Russia that would severely curtail the country’s ability to import goods like smartphones, aircraft, and car parts — damaging the Russian economy and putting it in the company of pariah nations like North Korea and Syria, which have similar severe trade restrictions.
As Alex Ward explained for Vox last year, <a href="https://www.vox.com/22385716/russia-sanctions-biden-cyber-ukraine">previous sanctions</a> have targeted mostly businesses, institutions, and individuals. But large-scale trade sanctions, which are <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/08/politics/biden-russia-ukraine-potential-economic-sanctions/index.html">reportedly now under consideration</a>, would impact Russia on an entirely different level, preventing the import of common goods and technology from the US and partner nations.
The UK is also preparing to impose “high impact measures targeting the Russian financial sector and individuals” should Russia invade Ukraine, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/britain-warns-russia-over-ukraine-were-working-high-impact-sanctions-2022-01-06/">Reuters reported</a> Thursday, and the European Union <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/eu-leaders-consider-new-sanctions-against-russian-surprises-2021-12-16/">agreed in December</a> to work in tandem with the US and UK to impose sanctions of its own.
Still, Russia has thus far <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/russia-says-its-disappointed-by-us-signals-before-geneva-talks-2022-01-09/">presented an unmoving stance</a>, with Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov telling Russian state media agency RIA that the Kremlin “will not make any concessions under pressure and in the course of threats that are constantly being formed by the Western participants of the upcoming talks.”
Russia continues to deny that it’s planning to invade Ukraine and insists that Ukraine, NATO, and the West are the aggressors in the present conflict, a stance that’s reflected in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/17/world/europe/russia-nato-security-deal.html">security demands</a> Russia sent out last month to NATO and US leadership. Among other things, Russia seeks to prevent Ukraine specifically, as well as other former Soviet republics like Georgia, from entering NATO — a stipulation that NATO leadership says absolutely won’t fly.
<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/blinken-rules-out-russia-demands-ahead-key-talks-over-ukraine-n1287221?icid=recommended">Blinken also said Sunday</a> that key Russian demands from its draft documents last month are off the table, though <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-admin-weighs-proposing-cuts-us-russian-forces-eastern-europe-rcna11080">reporting from NBC</a> on Friday suggests that the US is considering a reduction of forces in Eastern Europe.
The Biden administration has <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/01/08/background-press-call-by-a-senior-administration-official-on-russia/">denied</a> that any cuts to troop deployments are being considered, but Blinken <a href="https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/sotu/date/2022-01-09/segment/01">didn’t reject host Jake Tapper’s suggestion</a> that repositioning heavy weaponry in Poland, moving missiles, or making changes to military exercises could be bargaining chips when he appeared on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday.
In Monday’s talks, the Biden administration <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/08/us-discuss-missiles-military-exercises-ukraine-526800">will likely reassure Russia</a> that it doesn’t plan to build missile systems in Ukraine, though it has defended US missile systems’ positioning in Romania and Poland. The administration has also promised NATO officials it won’t make unilateral decisions for the alliance, a diplomat from a NATO member state <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/08/us-discuss-missiles-military-exercises-ukraine-526800">told Politico.</a>
However, there could be <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/08/us-discuss-missiles-military-exercises-ukraine-526800">room to negotiate</a> over military drills on both sides, the escalation of which has contributed to increased tensions. NATO regularly conducts training exercises in the Baltic region and includes non-NATO states like Sweden and Finland in those exercises, which Russia sees as a threat; Russia, meanwhile, has been conducting larger and more frequent drills closer to NATO countries, and both nations have increased the frequency of nuclear-capable bomber sorties near Ukraine.
The relationship between Russia and the West has been particularly contentious over the past few months, as the Ukraine crisis reaches a tipping point. Furthermore, Moscow’s support of Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko in his quest to anger the EU by <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/11/14/22781335/belarus-hybrid-attack-immigrants-border-eu-poland-crisis">shuttling Middle Eastern migrants</a> to his country’s border with Poland, and the recent deployment of Russian troops in <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/1/8/22872642/kazakhstan-protests-russia-troops-putin">Kazakhstan</a>, have only inflamed tensions as Russia seems intent on cementing its sphere of influence in former Soviet states.
The public consensus among Western officials, including Blinken, is that while next week’s talks offer possibilities, the seriousness with which Russia is approaching them is unclear at best, as is the Kremlin’s commitment to any reciprocity.
After Russia <a href="https://www.vox.com/2014/9/3/18088560/ukraine-everything-you-need-to-know">annexed Crimea in 2014</a>, Ukraine and Russia agreed to — but never fully implemented — a peace agreement called the <a href="https://www.vox.com/2015/2/13/8033779/minsk-russia-ukraine">Minsk Agreement</a>. Since then, continued conflict in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 14,000 people, as <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/12/8/22824015/russia-ukraine-troops-tensons-putin-biden-nato">Vox’s Jen Kirby wrote in December</a>, and helped push Ukraine, particularly under the leadership of President Volodymyr Zelensky, toward the West and NATO. Putin sees in that shift the potential for Ukraine to join the alliance — and therefore, a threat to Moscow.
Short of a full invasion of Ukraine, however, Putin’s desire to wield his power and remind the West that he still has leverage in the region could be another reason behind the troop buildup, and a tactic to get the US and NATO to negotiate with him.
But the path forward is murky for Western powers and alliances. For example, it’s still unclear how tighter sanctions against Russia might play out, given that previous measures in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine have done little to deter Putin.
Additionally, while the new sanctions proposals would represent a major escalation in Western efforts to deter Putin, it’s quite a gamble to imagine that those measures alone would be enough to deflect what appears to be significant, entrenched military buildup under the direction of an authoritarian leader whose motivations are arguably <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-is-russia-threatening-to-invade-ukraine">much more existential</a> than merely the acquisition of territory.
As Alexander Motyl, an expert in Soviet and post-Soviet politics at Rutgers University Newark, told <a href="https://www.vox.com/2021/12/8/22824015/russia-ukraine-troops-tensons-putin-biden-nato">Kirby</a>, “The problem is we don’t know what Putin wants, and this is really the bottom line.”
Any consequences for Russia’s actions are difficult to determine and implement, since Putin remains inscrutable, Motyl argued. “Is he testing? Is he invading? Is he teaching the Ukrainians a lesson? We don’t know. And so it’s hard to do anything, because we don’t know what [Putin] wants, and we don’t know how far he’s willing to go.”
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/1/9/22874719/nato-us-russia-ukraine-invasion-sanctions-meeting">https://www.vox.com/2022/1/9/22874719/nato-us-russia-ukraine-invasion-sanctions-meeting</a>

vox The West has a few bargaining chips to stop Russia from invading Ukraine

Ahead of two crucial meetings this week, the United States and NATO allies are discussing a number of ways to deal with the deteriorating r...

We need to wear better masks

<div><img class="ff-og-image-inserted" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/5gg2bwdvcIKjm_tWjf8pSThPTW8=/0x392:5477x3260/fit-in/1200x630/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23155153/1333261302.jpg" /></div>
The rapid spread of the omicron variant means that <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/12/23/1066871176/mask-n95-omicron-contagious">many medical and public health experts</a> are urging Americans to adopt better masking protocols to protect themselves and others from the spread of Covid-19.
Masking best practices have changed since the beginning of the pandemic, and confusion still abounds about which mask to wear and in what circumstances. However, medical experts are in agreement: Masks are a crucial component in stopping the spread of all variants of Covid-19, and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)-approved <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-12-30/n95-masks-a-must-have-with-omicron-but-fakes-abound">N95 respirator is still the most effective mask on the market</a>.
Although a simple <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/cloth-face-mask-omicron-11640984082">cloth mask</a> is better than no face covering at all, <a href="https://nymag.com/strategist/article/best-disposable-face-masks.html">superior options</a> are now widely available — much more so than in March 2020, when Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance about <a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/5/29/21273625/coronavirus-masks-required-virginia-china-hong-kong">whether masking was even necessary for Covid-19 prevention</a> vacillated.
And since the <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/covid-omicron-variant-what-you-need-to-know">omicron variant</a> appears to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/omicron-coronavirus-variant.html">be far more transmissible than previous variants</a>, masking is a critical tool in helping prevent the spread, particularly in areas where Covid-19 cases are high.
Here’s what to know about masking and omicron.
Mask-wearing guidance has changed a lot over the course of the pandemic, and omicron presents more changes — as well as more opportunity for confusion. With the high transmissibility of the omicron variant, experts say, masking is particularly important. Omicron is estimated to be about <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/omicron-evades-immunity-better-than-delta-danish-study-finds-2022-01-03/">2.7 to 3.7 times more infectious</a> among inoculated people than the <a href="https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/5-things-to-know-delta-variant-covid">delta variant</a>, which rapidly became the world’s dominant strain last summer. While many people are experiencing milder cases with omicron, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html">cases are increasing precipitously</a>, even in highly vaccinated areas. Its ability to dodge antibodies created by the available Covid-19 vaccines means that additional prevention measures — like masks — are now back in the spotlight.
As Abraar Karan, an infectious diseases doctor at Stanford University, explained to <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/12/why-you-should-upgrade-your-face-mask-to-an-n95.html">New York magazine</a> in December, cloth masks and face coverings don’t filter aerosols — the particles through which the coronavirus spreads — particularly well; they can escape from an infected person and easily be inhaled if both parties are wearing cloth face coverings.
That means surgical masks and N95 masks are the way to go in 2022, as a <a href="https://twitter.com/seungminkim/status/1478867026542219264?s=20">recent Wall Street Journal graphic</a> illustrates.
N95 respirators in particular are much better at blocking these particles, <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/12/why-you-should-upgrade-your-face-mask-to-an-n95.html">according to Karan</a>, due to the filter’s structure and the electrostatic charge that attracts and traps the tiny aerosol particles. Just as critically, the filter’s fit over the wearer’s mouth and nose is far better than a cloth mask or face covering, which can leave large gaps on the sides — giving infectious particles ample opportunity to escape.
The N95 has been the gold standard for masks since the start of the pandemic, and they provide the most protection against Covid-19, including the omicron variant. Now that they’re no longer in <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/7/10/21319960/n95-masks-shortage-trump-supply-chain">critically short supply</a>, they’re also the best option for day-to-day use.
<a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/12/why-you-should-upgrade-your-face-mask-to-an-n95.html">As Karan explained</a>, the N95’s complex, irregular webbing allows for superior filtration which traps 95 percent of aerosol particles — hence the “95” in N95. KN95s similarly filter out 95 percent of particles; the K denotes that they are <a href="https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a35383193/n95-vs-kn95-mask-differences/">manufactured to meet China’s mask standards</a>.
When used in a medical setting, N95s are generally single-use, but for average people in lower-risk settings, they can be <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/reviewed/2022/01/04/n-95-kn-95-masks-should-you-wear-one-heres-where-you-can-get-them/8971474002/">reused</a> a limited number of times.
N95 availability was scattershot at best in the beginning of the pandemic, even for health care workers. Now, nearly two years later, <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/best-disposable-face-masks-n95-kn95-kf94-surgical/#doesomicronchangemask">high-quality options</a> are much more readily available.
Cost is still a potential barrier, however, as N95s generally cost a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/where-to-buy-n95-kn95-masks-online/">dollar or two per disposable mask</a>, and counterfeit respirators pose an additional problem, as Anne Miller, executive director of the nonprofit N95 Project, explained to <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-12-30/n95-masks-a-must-have-with-omicron-but-fakes-abound">US News and World Report</a> in December. Nonetheless, Miller said, there are some failsafe ways to ensure that the model you are purchasing was manufactured by a reputable company and has passed NIOSH filtration tests.
Specifically, N95 masks should have a TC number; TC, followed by a series of five total numbers, then a lot number. KN95 respirators operate under a similar protocol; all models should have GB 2626-2019, followed by a space, then KN95, printed on them if they are produced by a reputable company. According to Miller, lack of a brand name on a mask or a claim on the mask’s packaging that it’s FDA-approved or registered with the FDA are major warning signs; those claims are essentially meaningless.
However, high-quality respirators that have been tested for fit and efficacy <a href="https://nymag.com/strategist/article/best-disposable-face-masks.html">are available</a>, and doing a few basic tests on masks yourself can help you weed out ineffective models. For one, <a href="https://nymag.com/strategist/article/best-disposable-face-masks.html">as the Strategist reported last month</a>, you shouldn’t be able to see light through the mask when you hold it up to a light source, nor should you be able to blow out a flame when wearing the mask. And in terms of fit, the sides should collapse when you breathe in, showing that your mask has an effective seal. If air escapes around the sides of the mask, you need a tighter fit, since aerosols can still flow in or out of the barrier.
If you can’t find an N95 or KN95, a surgical mask is quite effective as well, given its multiple layers and irregular weave, which is better at intercepting particles than the regular, uniform weave of cloth masks. Surgical masks aren’t quite as effective as N95 respirators, but they use the same filtration mechanism. Fit is also crucial, since surgical masks don’t have the same structure as N95 masks and don’t mold as well to the nose and mouth area. However, fit can be improved by <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/mask-fit-and-filtration.html#improve-fit">knotting</a> or twisting the side loops before placing them over your ears for a closer fit.
Despite still-existing barriers like cost and confusing messaging, it’s easier now in 2022 to buy an effective N95 or KN95 respirator that’s comfortable and fits your face. And in combination with Covid-19 vaccines and boosters, which provide <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/12/28/omicron-how-severe-us/">strong protection against severe Covid-19</a>, a good quality, well-fitting mask is one of the best steps you can take to protect yourself as case numbers <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html">continue to surge in the US</a>.
 
 
source <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/1/8/22873390/covid-19-better-masks-n95-respirator-surgical-omicron">https://www.vox.com/2022/1/8/22873390/covid-19-better-masks-n95-respirator-surgical-omicron</a>

vox We need to wear better masks

The rapid spread of the omicron variant means that many medical and public health experts are urging Americans to adopt better masking pro...