Jan. 20, 2025

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Ratepayers beware. Team Trump’s eagerness to enrich his fossil fuel industry cronies with his “drill baby drill” (and export baby export) agenda is going to raise energy costs for American households.

Burning fossil fuels is deadly on many levels. The pollution in our air and water from burning coal, oil, and gas kills people. The pollution from extracting fossil fuels from the ground and transporting them kills people. And the climate crisis and its extreme weather events – extreme heat waves, supercharged wildfires and hurricanes – kill people.

Just as our continued reliance on fossil fuels kills people and entire ecosystems, slowing down our transition to clean energy kills jobs. Because of President Biden’s signature legislative achievements, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and the CHIPS and Science Act we have seen clean energy projects create more than 406,000 new jobs across this country. Hundreds of thousands additional jobs are being created as an indirect result of these new clean energy jobs. 

We are reshoring entire supply chains for the products and technologies that will be the foundation of the new global economy. American manufacturing is back. And after losing 65,000 American factories since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect 30 years ago, factories are now coming back – this time, building solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and batteries. 

But it is not enough for fossil fuel interests and their allies in the Trump administration to put our lives and livelihoods in jeopardy. They are sprinting to make those factories empty once again, sending American jobs anywhere but America as they kill our pocketbooks with higher energy costs.

Energy from solar and wind power is not only already less expensive and more resilient than energy from fossil fuels, it keeps getting cheaper. So efforts by the Trump administration and its allies in Congress to slow the transition to clean energy are not just anti-climate, they are anti-consumer. When they say they want to come after the IRA or undo “Green New Deal” policies, they are talking about jacking up the cost of lighting and heating your home.

It is all based on the big lie that increasing fossil fuel production and supply will lower energy costs. That is hardly the case. Especially when we are talking about exporting those fossil fuels. And that brings us to “liquified natural gas,” or LNG. 

The US is already the world’s leading exporter of LNG. Methane gas is a powerful greenhouse gas – more than 80 times more powerful at warming that carbon dioxide. And the lifecycle of LNG – from fracking and transport to liquefaction and refinement to shipping and burning – is fraught with methane leaks, making it nearly as harmful to the climate as coal. But the LNG market is also volatile, and the oil and gas companies that have such ambitious plans for expanding exports to countries and markets that will pay far more for it than the domestic market rate. That drives up the price of methane gas here at home.

The Department of Energy released a report confirming that unfettered LNG exports would drive up domestic energy prices – further supporting the Biden administration’s pause of LNG export projects as the right choice. 

But Big Oil and Gas can get rich from the higher prices other countries are willing to pay, so they don’t care about household energy burdens here at home. And they are even willing to undermine our national security by supplying LNG to our rivals, like the Chinese government, who can then resell it and leverage their role as an energy supplier elsewhere in the world. All the while, domestic consumers potentially face paying billions more in annual energy costs.

President Trump has made big promises to Big Oil and Gas in exchange for their support of his reelection. At one campaign fundraiser, Trump told oil and gas executives if they collectively contributed $1 billion to his reelection they would essentially get whatever they want and it would be a “deal” for them. They got the message. In addition to many other high-dollar contributions from the industry, the CEO of the country’s largest LNG exporter Cheniere Energy kicked in $250,000. Cheniere continues to rapidly develop more export capacity at new and existing LNG terminals on the Gulf coast.

LNG is not the only way Trump could increase energy costs for everyday Americans. If his threatened 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports happen, prices at the pump could end up rising between 35 and 75 cents a gallon. That is according to GasBuddy’s head of petroleum analysis Patrick De Haan, who says the increases might be steepest in the Midwest and Rocky Mountain regions but would likely happen across all regions. And Trump’s baffling war on energy efficient home appliances threatens utility bill savings that would benefit millions of households and are especially important to low-income families. Those families spend as much as four times more on energy bills as a portion of their household income.

Trump has talked a big game on bringing down energy prices. But most of his proposed policies – from more oil and gas drilling to his attacks on clean energy and energy efficiency standards – are far more likely to drive the cost for consumers up. Americans need relief from punishingly high energy prices, not to be sacrificed on the altar of fossil fuel industry profits.  

Ben Jealous is the Executive Director of the Sierra Club and a Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania.

To Be Equal 
January 10, 2025

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - "Every nation’s history includes unsettling truths that many would prefer to forget or deny. But true patriotism demands confronting the truths of our history—no matter how embarrassing or dishonorable—and undertaking the difficult work of learning from the lessons of our past in order to move forward. For the United States, that work requires reckoning with our shameful legacy of racial subjugation of Black people in this country—from slavery and Jim Crow to mass incarceration and police violence—as well as our long history of express discrimination against other people of color, women, and LGBTQ persons.
Without uninhibited discussion and examination of that legacy, we are ill-equipped as a nation to address its ongoing manifestations in present-day forms of discrimination and bias."  — National Urban League v. Trump 
 
At the current rate of progress, it will take between 100 and 300 years for Black Americans to achieve parity with white Americans.
 
First annually and now biannually, the National Urban League publishes the Equality Index, a calculation of the social and economic status of African Americans relative to whites.  Rooted in the Three-Fifths Compromise of 1787, which counted enslaved African Americans as “three-fifths” of a person, the Index would be 100% under full equality.  Currently 75.7%, the Index has moved less than 3% in 20 years, indicating a 180 year wait to achieve parity.
 
That squares with the findings of a McKinsey study showing it will take between 110 and 320 years at for "Black Americans to reach a level of economic prosperity and quality of life that’s on par with that of their White neighbors."
 
President-elect Donald Trump and his allies are determined to make sure that it takes even longer.
 
At the end of his first term, Trump issued an executive order banning policies that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion for federal agencies, contractors, and grant recipients.  The National Urban League immediately filed a lawsuit; Trump lost reelection and President Biden overturned it immediately upon taking office.

This time around, Trump isn't waiting to start stamping out racial justice initiatives. He's vowed to rescind President Biden's Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity, issued on his first day in office. 
 
Seizing on the widely-accepted myth that increasing diversity is synonymous with "anti-white discrimination," the Trump administration plans to use civil rights laws to reinforce white privilege in every facet of society, public and private. Pete Hegseth,  Trump's nominee for Defense Secretary has promoted the racist fallacy that the long-overdue elevation of Black officers to senior leadership positions compromises military readiness. 
 
In fact, Trump's proposed cabinet includes only one Black member, a former NFL player whose only qualification to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development is his history of opposing affordable housing, protection for poor tenants, and aid for the homeless.
 
Trump will eliminate federal funding for any school that promotes racial equity or confronts the reality of racism in the nation's history. He has even vowed to direct the Department of Justice to pursue federal "civil rights cases" against them.
 
He plans to resurrect the failed 1776 Commission, which historians reviled as a plot to “elevate ignorance about the past to a civic virtue. 
 
Hoping to avoid attacks from the incoming administration and its most fanatical defenders. many private corporations are retreating from their commitment to DEI.  The board of Costco, in contrast, recently rejected an anti-DEI shareholder proposal.
 
While post-election surveys show that Trumps' election was largely a misguided reaction to the cost of groceries, Trump and his allies have taken it as   an endorsement of their every vicious and bigoted policies.  Americans overwhelmingly support corporate diversity policies. President Biden's administration — like most diverse institutions, was more innovative, adaptable, resilient, and able to solve problems more quickly because of its diversity.
 
If the incoming administration doesn't realize the benefits of DEI early on, the National Urban League and our civil rights allies are on hand to hold it to account.

Oct. 29, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - I was on a Black Women’s organizing call the other week, when one of the leaders challenged each of us to reach out to ten people to encourage them to vote.  I don’t know a soul in my close circle who does not vote, and I don’t seek out folk who proudly say they are not voters.  I do collide with a few from time to time, like when I was walking up the street one day when a brother, recognizing me, wanted to argue that voting was a waste of time.  I gave him five minutes (set my watch) and then moved on.  Most people I know are politically aware, political activists, civic and social justice activists and more.  Maybe my circle is too narrow, and I’m all right with it.

This column is not for those who “do the right thing”, vote despite their skepticism about our extremly flawed country and our equally flawed political system.  This column is for those who wonder about their votes and whether they make a difference. What’s at stake?  Every single election since I can remember – 1972 – we say that this is the “most important” election in our lifetimes”.  Tricky Dick Nixon had 61 percent of the popular vote and swept the Electoral College, winning every state except the District of Columbia and Massachusetts.  Nixon steamrolled the liberal McGovern.  Was it our most important election ever?  One can both argue that and also wonder how our nation might have evolved under a McGovern presidency.

I recall hearing the “most important election ever” every four years and while it sometimes reads as an exaggeration, sometimes it is more real than we would like to admit.  When the Supreme Court stole the 2000 election from then-Vice President Al Gore, that was a consequential election.  Did Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton concede too soon in her race against Mr. Trump?  To be debated, but many think so.  2020 was such a consequential election that the dark forces of Mr. Trump tried to overturn the government to steal the election.  Now he says he will pardon them if elected in 2024.

So in many ways this is a most consequential election.  What’s at stake?  Some think describing the 45^th President as a “threat to democracy” is extreme and untrue.  But Project 2025 shift our system from one with checks and balances to one with imperial power.  We have a robust civil service, that a President that adher3s to Project 2025 would shatter, in a system that would allow Presidential appointments to replace civil servants.  Black folks, especially Black women would lose from this shift.

All women, but especially Black women, lose when reproductive rights are restricted.  We are also when draconian policies eviscerate public assistance in the name of “welfare reform” and make even basic health benefits contingent on work.  We don’t have the infrastructure to require work, but we do have the ability to punish those who do not have jobs.

The Department of Education is on the Project 2025 chopping block, and its elimination would have a widen the achievement gap. Project 2025 would eliminate Head Start, one of our most demonstratively successful government programs.  It would eliminate Pell grants, which help hundreds of thousands of student from low and moderate income families to attend college.  It would eliminate race-specific programs and affirmative action, by outlawing programs that consider DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) in selection and allocation.  Indeed, project 2025 digs into the details of curriculum, regulating the ways subject matter is taught, including history, enslavement and other subjects.  Project 2025 would punish universities based on the way some subjects taught.  While Project 2025 purports to streamline government, instead it expands government by creating ideological regulators who would eliminate “left liberals” and “Marxists” from classrooms in elementary and secondary schools, and also in colleges and universities.

Contrasting the Project 2025/Agenda 47/Republican platform is to understand the redundancies of these closely related documents. Mr. Trump says that Agenda 47 reflects his positions, and he tries to distance himself from Project 2025, although more than 100 of his allies, associates, and former government appointees worked on it.  If you read these documents carefully, you’ll understand what’s at stake.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist and author.

Oct. 28, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - As owner of the Washington Post, one has to wonder if Jeff Bezos reads his own newspaper with any sense of appreciation or concern.

For the first time in over 30 years the Washington Post announced its editorial board will not endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.  The Post has regularly endorsed presidential candidates since 1976 starting with Democrat Jimmy Carter.

As a nation we have a free press. As responsible journalists, newspapers have a professional obligation to state the facts and the truth to the public, but newspapers are also allowed to express their opinions. In addition, the owner of any newspaper has the right to weigh in on decisions made by its editorial board.

But this election cycle is different. This presidential election is unlike any from previous years. The surprising non-endorsement ignores the paper’s own factual reporting which, for years, outlined in specific details Donald Trump’s threat to the future of American democracy.

Politically, the Washington Post is a center left newspaper which is highly respected for its accuracy and direct presentation of events in this toxic environment of “fake news”. It has always fulfilled its role in sustaining democracy by being a reliable and consistent source of information.

The non-endorsement comes off as unfinished business. Similar to a court case, the newspaper endorsement would have served as the final argument presented to the jury of voters. By failing to provide a much needed summation, the silence resulting from a non-endorsement has become itself an endorsement.

The non-endorsement was a one man decision, according to a statement from the Washington Post Guild. It states, “According to our own reporters and Guild members, an endorsement for Harris was already drafted, and the decision not to publish was made by the Post’s owner, Jeff Bezos.” Columnist Karen Attiah wrote that “today has been an absolute stab in the back.”

Attiah is not alone in feeling betrayed. Readers of the paper also feel betrayed. The Post is already seeing subscription cancellations from loyal readers. Current and former staff members feel betrayed. Robert Kagan –a former advisor to Republican John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, who last year warned that a ”Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable” resigned from his position as the Post’s editor at large in response to the paper’s decision.

Apparently, Jeff Bezos didn’t heed the warning. Michele Norris followed Kagan by also resigning as opinion columnist, a position she held since 2019.

After multi-billionaire dollar Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2013, the Post’s news operation used its abundant resources to thoroughly investigate the danger of a second Trump presidency. “Democracy Dies in Darkness” became the newspaper’s official slogan in 2017.

It illustrates how good journalism is essential to democracy. When journalism is at its best, it helps citizens to hold those in power accountable, uncovers corruption and ensures transparency. If the press is silenced, democracy will suffer. Darkness represents ignorance, lack of knowledge and oppression. The phrase “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is a warning to us all. If people are kept in the dark, their ignorance could lead to oppression.

The press is the light that illuminates the darkness. It ensures that people are aware of what is going on around them and empowered to make necessary changes. The phrase acknowledges the fact that the free press is under threat from those in power who prefer to operate in the dark.

The Washington Post is making a powerful and defiant statement that they will not be intimidated or silenced while continuing to keep those with power accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, Jeff Bezos didn’t hold up to the test when submitting to the political and economic pressures. He may have turned a defiant statement of truth into harsh reality which is about to come true.

Amazon holds contracts with the government worth billions. Amazon and the space exploration company Blue Origin are among Bezos-owned businesses that still compete for lucrative federal government contracts. Executives from Bezos’ aerospace company met with Donald Trump on the same day the newspaper prevented its editorial team from publishing an endorsement for Kamala Harris.

A retired Washington Post metro reporter, Robert McCartney, wrote on social media that there is “speculation in the newsroom that owner Jeff Bezos may want to avoid risk of endangering Amazon’s government contracts if Trump wins.”

Regardless, of who wins or loses the election, the Washington Post, as a strong pillar in the free press, took a major credibility hit. The Washington Post reporters and editors who remain the light that illuminates the darkness may not be able to overcome its owner who places the business interest of Amazon and Blue Origin ahead of American democracy.

David W. Marshall, a columnist for the Trice Edney News Wire, is the founder of the faith-based organization, TRB: The Reconciled Body, and author of the book God Bless Our Divided America.

To Be Equal 
October 19, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - “The history of the United States is a story about the disenfranchisement of millions based on their Blackness. More than a hundred years of violent voter suppression, poll taxes, literacy tests, and gerrymandering have created a climate that is nothing shy of hostile towards Black men that choose to stand up and be a part of the electoral process.” – The Black Male Voter Project

In a presidential campaign that has been overwhelmingly centered on the issues of women’s reproductive rights, immigration, and taxation of the ultra-wealthy, it would be understandable if we – especially the younger ones among us -- didn’t feel the same sense of urgency about voting as other groups.

Former President Barack Obama last week drew criticism for pointing out, “we have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running.”  But a poll released this week backed him up: only 64% of Black voters and 49% of voters under 34 are enthusiastic about the election. Compare that with 93% of Black voters and 83% of young voters who said they were enthusiastic when Obama first ran for the office in 2008.

But apathy is not what I’m seeing among the young Black men I’ve met as I travel the nation as part of the National Urban League’s Reclaim Your Vote initiative.  I see thoughtfulness. I see concern. I see pride.  And I do see some skepticism.

It’s not only fair, but imperative to wonder whether the candidates will live up to their promises. It’s fair to weigh their past actions against their words. That’s what it means to be a responsible citizen.

What’s neither fair nor responsible is to fall for misinformation or divisive rhetoric and to a let your voice be silenced.

Vice President Kamala Harris this week unveiled an economic agenda aimed at creating opportunity for Black men. It includes forgivable small business loans to boost entrepreneurship, job training and mentorship, and the legalization of marijuana with a focus on opportunities to succeed in the recreational marijuana industry.

Donald Trump has not issued a policy proposal aimed specifically at Black men. He has claimed that immigrants are taking Black jobs, and that his criminal indictments have boosted his appeal to Black men victimized by an unjust legal system.

The Vice President told the National Association of Black Journalists in September, “It’s very important to not operate from the assumption that Black men are in anybody’s pocket. Black men are like any other voting group: You gotta earn their vote.”

Speaking to the same group in July, Trump touted his support for opportunity zones and funding for HBCUs while suggesting the Vice President is not authentically Black.

As my fellow New Orleanian Wendell Pierce said in his own message to Black men, “Vote for what you want. Declare what your values are then go out and make the choice on that.”