Protect Wilderness from fighter jet trainings PUBLIC COMMENTS JUNE 3

 

Air Force expansion proposal endangers communities and America’s first wilderness. Air Force wants to unleash sonic booms and hot flares over public lands in New Mexico and Arizona Speak up to defend public lands and Tribal communities from fighter jet trainings TAKE ACTION The U.S. Air Force wants to modify 10 Military Operations Areas (MOAs) that stretch across southern Arizona and southwest New Mexico. We can’t let this military expansion despoil some of America’s wildest country. The proposal would authorize low-level fighter jet maneuvers and supersonic flights that cause sonic booms above rural and Tribal communities, some of the Southwest’s most fragile sky-island ecosystems, and beloved wilderness areas and national monuments. The Air Force also wants to permit dropping of flares at lower altitudes, increasing the risk of human-caused wildfires across landscapes already experiencing severe drought. Additionally, the proposal would allow release of aluminum-coated silica “chaff” over public lands, polluting the environment. Guardians needs your help to stop these proposed actions before fighter jet condensation trails hit the skies. Public comments are being accepted through June 3. You can submit your comments here! Use these talking points below as a guide for writing your comments. But to make the biggest impact, please use your own voice to convey that the proposed action to optimize ten existing MOAs by the Air Force lacks sufficiently detailed information and as such the Air Force must explain how they will do the following: Evaluate the impacts of extreme noise from low-level and supersonic training on communities (including potential for damage to structures), outdoor recreation economies, livestock, and wildlife (including threatened and endangered species). Assess the wildfire risk from the use of flares at lower elevations and potential military aircraft crashes, develop mitigation measures to reduce the risks, develop realistic plans for fighting a flare-induced or crash-induced fire, and express how public safety will be ensured. Fully assess contamination of air, land, and water from aircraft emissions and release of chaff and flares. Evaluate the environmental justice impacts of this proposal on communities of color and low-income communities, including the San Carlos and White Mountain Apache Tribes, Tohono O’odham Nation, and Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Furthermore, consultation with these Tribes must occur. Provide an analysis of the cumulative impacts of these airspace modifications to communities and wildlife and a plan for how impacts will be mitigated. This proposal would impact dozens of rural communities, four Tribes, and millions of acres of public lands that sustain ecosystems, water quality, wildlife, and public recreation. So please click here to submit your comments and oppose the Air Force’s plans to despoil the quiet and wildness that you hold dear! For the Wild, Leia Barnett, Greater Gila New Mexico Advocate and Jack Meyer, Greater Gila Arizona Advocate Your generosity supports our work in the Greater Gila. Donate today! WildEarth Guardians protects and restores the wildlife, wild places, wild rivers, and health of the American West. © 2022 WildEarth Guardians | MAIN OFFICE: 301 N. Guadalupe, Suite 201, Santa Fe, NM 87501 p) 505.988.9126 photo credit: SSGT. Jonathan Snyder, USAF

Every single day in America

 

I continue to feel horrified, overwhelmed, and devastated by this weekend's racist mass shooting in Buffalo, New York. Hatred and white supremacy have once again manifested in our communities, taken lives, and reasserted just how far we have to go to eradicate evil and ignorance.

I am sending my love and prayers to everyone who is mourning the loss of a loved one — and if you'd like to join me in making a contribution to funds to support victims and their families, you can do so here.

As I said on MSNBC this weekend, we need a reckoning in this country. We need to look white nationalism directly in the face and finally do something about the implicit and explicit racism that's deeply rooted in this country we all call home.

As a Black man in America with Black children who also represents diverse communities in New York, I feel constantly under attack and threatened, as do many of the people I represent. I also feel as if an attack made against me will most likely come with no recourse because as history will tell it, there is no justice for people that look like me.

Every single day in America, Black people and people of color are victims of hate crimes and incidents. In some situations, it's a small microaggression that has the power to make a little Black girl quiet and timid in class — afraid to use her voice. In other situations, it results in burying a loved one or the entire destruction of Black establishments and communities — like we saw with Tulsa, Oklahoma. No matter the case, to be Black in America is to be constantly under attack for simply being Black.

Is being Black a crime? Is being a minority a crime? Why as people of color do our experiences invoke hostility and contempt? Why in the 21st century are we still facing brutality and lacking concrete policy and structural processes to prevent hate from materializing every single day?

I want to feel safe and I want every person in this country to feel safe. I want them to feel safe as a person of color, loving whomever they choose, wearing a hijab, burka or yamaka, or speaking in their native tongue.

Republicans have galvanized an entire movement around the Great Replacement Theory, a white supremacy conspiracy theory that fuels their dislike and fear of others. They have deeply ingrained the false idea that people of color are “taking over this country.” Every hate crime we see is an act of ignorance and meant to instill deep fear in us. Fear that throughout our history accompanied a setting sun, shouting in the distance and a burned cross.

We will not be shaken and we will not be moved. Congress must put an end to these hate crimes and we must take every opportunity to root out evil in our communities. History is trying to repeat itself and it’s on us to make sure it doesn't.

Thank you, for being in this fight with me. From the bottom of my heart, I am grateful.

Peace and love,

Jamaal Bowman

 

PAID FOR BY BOWMAN FOR CONGRESS

Our campaign is powered by grassroots supporters chipping in to emails just like this one. 

To contribute via check, please address to: Bowman for Congress, 81 Pondfield Rd, Suite D 351 Bronxville, NY, 10708

 

TOP NEWS: 'Dark Money Is Dark Money': Sanders Calls on DNC to Ban Super PAC Cash in Primaries

 

May 17, 2022 Top News Earth's Atmospheric CO2 Hasn't Been This High In Millions of Years "Either we drive the fossil fuel industry into extinction—or the human race." by Kenny Stancil With 5 States Holding Primaries Today, Here's a Rundown of Progressives on the Ballot Several races feature left-leaning candidates who could help shift the balance of power in the House and Senate. by Kenny Stancil 'Dark Money Is Dark Money': Sanders Calls on DNC to Ban Super PAC Cash in Primaries "A super PAC is a super PAC, whether it is funded by Republican billionaires or Democratic billionaires," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. by Jake Johnson More Top News • Kremlin Says Russia Now Considers US, European Allies 'Hostile States' • Study Finds Many Existing Oil and Gas Sites Must Be Shut Down to Avert Climate Disaster • 'Cancel It, Don't Means Test It!' Omar Says of Student Debt • 'A Shameful Distinction': US Ranked World's Biggest Perpetrator of Financial Secrecy • Decarbonizing US Energy System Would Save 50,000 Lives and $600 Billion a Year: Study • AIPAC's Super PAC Spends Millions to Defeat Summer Lee, Other Progressives • Progressives Vow to Fight as DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Protests at Florida Homes VIEW ALL NEWS Quality journalism. Progressive values. Our new media model is simple: we rely on our readers and thousands of small donations to keep us moving forward. No ads; no paywalls: our content is free, and our readers sustain us. DONATE TODAY Opinion From SCOTUS to Shireen: Same Extremism, Same Threat We're facing one thing: a struggle over power, and it's not over yet. by Laura Flanders This Is Not the Culmination of the Right-Wing Legal Movement—It's the Dawn of It. The unelected hard-right faction now in power on the Court is poised to allow the most restrictive laws possible to be applied to women's bodies while ruling hands-off of regulating corporations whose products are harming our planet. by Lisa Graves For Biden's Summit of the Americas, Obama's Handshake With Raúl Castro Shows the Way The U.S. president should invite all the nations of the region to the summit and shake the hands of every head of state to foster better dialogue and a brighter future for the hemisphere. by Medea Benjamin VIEW ALL OPINION Call 207.775.0488 to donate by phone or mail a check to: Common Dreams, PO Box 443, Portland, ME 04112, United States Common Dreams is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your contribution is tax-deductible. EIN: 20-3368194