Jan. 12, 2025

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - It is official: 2024 was the hottest year on record. Temperatures not only surpassed 2023 as the previous hottest year, they leapt – for the first time – past the goal set in the Paris Climate Agreement of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Whether you turn on the TV to news of the most recent super storm or raging wildfire, or can see these disasters firsthand just by looking outside, the climate crisis is all around us.

If there was ever a single worst time in history to undermine climate science and America’s climate leadership, it is right now. So it is an outrage that incoming President Donald Trump’s picks for key administration posts signal his intent to do just that. And the clear pro-fossil fuel, anti-science agenda extends beyond Trump’s picks for the positions most obviously related to climate policy. We know that nominations like fossil fuel industry shill Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and oil executive Christ Wright as head of the Department of Energy spell disaster for the lives and livelihoods, and health and wealth, of countless communities and working families. But those are not the only foxes in the henhouse.

Case in point: Russel Vought, Trump’s choice to lead the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Vought is an architect of the notorious Project 2025 – the authoritarian playbook for decimating democratic institutions and checks and balances to serve up an extreme far-right agenda. Vought authored a chapter on the Executive Office, outlining ways Trump could increase his power. As head of OMB, Vought would oversee the office tasked with overseeing “the implementation of the president’s vision across the Executive Branch.” It is an immensely powerful office with influence over a vast amount of the federal government. And Vought has climate policy squarely in his sights.

Vought has laid out his desire to attack civil servants who work to protect public health and address the climate crisis, saying, “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains. We want their funding to be shut down so that the EPA can't do all of the rules against our energy industry because they have no bandwidth financially to do so. We want to put them in trauma.”

In his Project 2025 chapter, Vought suggests efforts to address climate change are merely “social engineering” and promotes reshaping the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). Now, the sharp edge of this particular attack has become clear with reporting that Vought seeks to undermine the National Climate Assessment, which is produced by the USGCRP. The Assessment is the foundational report used by the federal government for policies addressing or related to climate change, the product of research by hundreds of scientists and a key to US climate leadership worldwide. Vought is calling for more White House control of the Assessment, and giving OMB a role in selecting the scientists who produce the report.  

Climate scientist and director of the Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania Michael Mann told E&E News the goal of the incoming administration “is to undermine any policies aimed at accelerating the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy.” Attacking the National Climate Assessment is a means to that end.

Americans’ health and economic wellbeing depend on not just continuing but speeding up our full transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy sources, as well as addressing the climate crisis in other ways. Undermining the science that serves as the underpinning for all our efforts to tackle the climate crisis is nothing short of a crisis in its own right.

This is Project 2025 in action. 

On the campaign trail, Trump did all he could to distance himself from the people behind the abysmally unpopular Project 2025, saying he had “nothing to do with them” and had “no idea” who they were. Now, in addition to Vought, Trump plans to nominate Project 2025 contributors to powerful posts throughout his administration. 

Project 2025 also suggests dissolving the critically important National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), describing it as “one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry,” and “fully commercializing” the National Weather Service, which NOAA houses. These science agencies enable us to find effective approaches to curbing the climate disaster and warn people of dangerous weather events to come. 

One week before Election Day, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs of California published a piece in Newsweek under the headline, “Project 2025 Is January 6's Attempted Coup Dressed in a Nice Suit.” Project 2025 represents not only a coup against democracy and checks and balances, but against our government’s role in solving our nation’s problems and America’s leadership in solving the world’s – chief among them, the climate crisis. For the sake of a livable planet and all the communities that continue to be devastated by extreme climate-fueled weather events, the Senate should vote to reject the nominations of Russel Vought and any other contributor to Project 2025. 

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

Jan. 8, 2025

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - To those of us with a conscience, not ALL money is GOOD money. For example, the money made from selling dope would be considered BAD money for many of us. Obviously, there are those who see drugs money as GOOD money.

One’s conscience determines how one looks at the money.

Many of us have thought about how much money Primarily White Institutions, PWI, have made on the backs of Black athletes. Furthermore, we’ve seen time and time again how coaches would recruit our children and then abandon them for a better coaching job.

Fed up with the totality of colleges, on July 1, 2021, the NCAA introduced the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) policy. Oh, this wasn’t done in the name of fairness, lawsuits helped bring about this change.

In addition to NIL, players had the Transfer Portal which started on October 15, 2018. These two policy changes gave a sense of value to the Black athletes, which unapologetically is my focus here.

In 2024, Shedeur Sanders’ NIL deal was valued at $5.1 million. Heisman winner and teammate, Travis Hunter’s NIL deal was valued at $3.1 million.

Just when it looked like things were coming into balance between the NCAA, PWIs and Black athletes, the aforementioned decided they needed MORE money.

The multibillion dollar TV deals, game tickets, parking, concessions, paraphernalia, etc. ain’t enough! The conscienceless NCAA and PWIs are positioning themselves for MORE.

How?

They are now upping their Pimp-game by courting private equity and venture capital investors. Simply put, these investors are gonna OWN a piece of these PWIs and make even MORE money!

Pick a school…University of Georgia, Alabama, UCLA, USC, name one, and private equity firms wanna own a piece of them. Yes, college football is following in the footsteps of the NFL, Major League Baseball & Major League Soccer by allowing private equity firms to OWN a limited stake in their teams.

In case you ain’t considered this: Travis Hunter was the #1 high school football player in America, and on December 15, 2021, he signed with a HBCU, Jackson State University. Hunter became the first five star recruit evah to sign with a HBCU. I promise y’all this: private equity, NCAA and PWIs are gonna make sure that don’t happen again. Furthermore, look for them to ramp up their presence in our communities as they seek to recruit our children at the jr. high and high school levels.

I doubt very seriously these PWIs are teaching our athletes financial management, i.e., taxes owed on these NIL deals, let along Black History.

I for one shall nevah be convinced these entities care about the education of our Black athletes. Because they don’t have a conscience in regards to our children, ALL this money is Good money and our children will become nothing more than commodities…again!

Dr. Mack is former president of the Seattle King County NAACP and former executive director of the National Society of Black Engineers.

Vice President Kamala Harris gives her campaign's closing arguments on the Ellipse at the White House.

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - During a Donald Trump presidential campaign rally at Madison Square Garden Tuesday evening, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe made a remark that deeply offended millions, calling the island of Puerto Rico, a U. S. territory, "a floating island of garbage." Trump made no apology for the remark, following up with a tirade of his own after months of repeatedly describing America as a "garbage can for the world."

In what has been widely described as a major gaffe, President Joe Biden responded to Hinchcliffe's Puerto Rico remark saying, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporter's. His demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done.” While Biden has explained that he was referred to the "garbage" that spewed from Hinchcliffe's mouth, and not Trump's general supporters, Trump and others have taken to the airwaves accusing Biden of calling Trump voters garbage.

Meanwhile Vice president Kamala Harris also took to the stage Tuesday evening in front of at least 75,000 people at the Ellipse in front of the White House promising to be president for everyone. If she wins on Nov. 5, she would become the first woman President of the United States.  

Here are her historic remarks as prepared for delivery:

Good evening. One week from today, you will have the chance to make a decision that directly impact your life, the life of your family, and the future of this country we love.

It will probably be the most important vote you ever cast. And this election is more than a choice between two parties and two different candidates.

It is a choice about whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American. Or one ruled by chaos and division. Many of you watching have probably already cast your ballots. But I know many others are still considering who to vote for – or whether you’ll vote at all.

So tonight, I will speak to everyone about the choice and stakes in this election. Look, we all know who Donald Trump is. He is the person who stood at this very spot nearly four years ago and sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election that he knew he lost.

Americans died as a result of that attack. 140 law enforcement officers were injured. And while Donald Trump sat in the White House watching, as the violence unfolded on television, he was told by staff that the mob wanted to kill his own vice president. Donald Trump responded with two words: “So what?”

That’s who Donald Trump is. And that is who is asking you to give him another four years in the Oval Office. Not to focus on your problems. But to focus on his. And Donald Trump has told us his priorities for a second term.
He has an Enemies List of people he intends to prosecute. He says one of his highest priorities is to set free the violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers on January 6th.

Donald Trump intends to use the United States military against American citizens who simply disagree with him. People he calls—quote—“the enemy from within.” This is not a candidate for President who is thinking about how to make your life better. This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and out for unchecked power.
Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other. That’s who he is. But America, I am here tonight to say: that’s not who we are. You see, what Donald Trump has never understood is that E Pluribus Unum—out of many, one—isn’t just a phrase on a dollar bill. It is a living truth at the heart of our nation.

Our democracy doesn’t require us to agree on everything. That’s not the American way. Just the opposite. We don’t shy away from robust debate. We like a good debate. And the fact that someone disagrees with us, does not make them “the enemy from within.”
They are family. Neighbors. Classmates. Coworkers. They are fellow Americans. And as Americans, we rise and fall together. America, for too long, we have been consumed with too much division, chaos, and mutual distrust. And it can be easy to forget a simple truth: it doesn’t have to be this way.

It is time to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms. It is time to turn the page on the drama and conflict, the fear and division. It is time for a new generation of leadership in America. And I am ready to offer that leadership as the next President of the United States.

Look, I recognize this has not been a typical campaign. And even though I’ve had the honor of serving as your Vice President for the last four years, I know many of you are still getting to know who I am. 

Well–I am someone who has spent most of my career outside of Washington. So I know that not all good ideas come from here. I am not afraid of tough fights against bad actors and powerful interests. Because for decades, as a prosecutor and as the top law enforcement officer of our biggest state, I won fights: against big banks that ripped off homeowners, against for-profit colleges that scammed veterans and students, against predators who abused women and children, and cartels that trafficked in guns, drugs, and human beings.

I did this work because, for as long as I can remember, I have always had an instinct to protect. There’s something about people being treated unfairly, or overlooked, that just gets to me. It is what my mother instilled in me—a drive to hold accountable those who use their wealth or power to take advantage of other people. The drive to protect hard-working Americans who aren’t always seen or heard, and deserve a voice. That is the kind of president I will be.

And look, I’ll be honest with you: I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. But here’s what I promise you: I will always listen to you, even if you don’t vote for me. I will always tell you the truth, even if it’s hard to hear. I will work every day to build consensus and reach compromise to get things done. And if you give me the chance to fight on your behalf, there is nothing in the world that will stand in my way.

In less than 90 days, either Donald Trump or I will be in the Oval Office. On Day One, if elected, Donald Trump would walk into that office with an Enemies List.

When elected, I will walk in, with a To-Do list. Full of priorities on what I will get done for the American people. And I will work with everyone —Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—to help Americans who are working hard and still struggling to get ahead. I have been honored to serve as Joe Biden’s Vice President. But I will bring my own experiences and ideas to the Oval Office.

My presidency will be different because the challenges we face are different. Our top priority as a nation four years ago was to end the pandemic and rescue the economy. Now our biggest challenge is to lower costs, costs that were rising even before the pandemic, and that are still too high. I get it.

I still remember my mother sitting at that yellow Formica table late at night, cup of tea in hand, a pile of bills in front of her, trying to make it all work. And I’ve heard from so many of you who are facing even greater financial pressures.  

Donald Trump’s answer to you is the same as before: another trillion dollars in tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations. And this time, he will pay for it with a 20% national sales tax on everything you buy that is imported – clothes, food, toys, cell phones. A Trump Sales Tax that would cost the average family nearly four thousand a year. 

And on top of that, you will pay even more if Donald Trump finally gets his way and repeals the Affordable Care Act, which will throw tens of millions of Americans off their health insurance, and take us back to when insurance companies had the power to deny people with pre-existing conditions. Well, we are not going back.

Donald Trump will deliver tax cuts to his billionaire donors. I will deliver tax cuts to working people and the middle class. I will make sure you have a chance to not just get by, but get ahead.  Because I believe in honoring the dignity of work. 
I will enact the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on groceries, cap the price of insulin, and limit out-of-pocket prescription costs for all Americans. I will fight to make sure that hard working Americans can actually afford a place to live.

I will never forget how my mother saved up—and how excited she was—when she could finally afford to buy our first home. And I know that owning a home is not only a measure of financial security. It’s about the pride of hard work. And as President, I will fight to help first-time home buyers with your down payment, take on companies that are jacking up rents, and build millions of new homes.
For years, we have heard excuses about why America can’t build enough housing. Enough with the excuses. I’m going to cut red tape and work with the private sector and local governments to speed up building and get it done.

And the cost of housing isn’t the only financial pressure on middle class families. I have met so many young people who have a natural desire to parent well, but not always the resources to do it. So I’ll fight for a child tax credit to save them some money, which will also lift American children out of poverty.

I’ll work to lower the cost of child care, which is out of reach for too many working families today. And for too many people, including those in the sandwich generation, who are raising young children and taking care of a parent, juggling it all is difficult.
I took care of my mother when she got sick, cooking foods she had a taste for, finding clothes that wouldn’t irritate her skin. I understand that caregiving is about dignity. Currently, if you need home care, and you don’t have the money to hire someone, you and your family need to deplete your savings to qualify for help.

So, we’re going to change the approach. And allow Medicare to cover the cost of home care. So seniors can get the help and care they need in their own homes. Donald Trump has a different approach. He tried to cut Medicare and Social Security every year he was president. I believe when people have worked hard their entire life, they deserve to retire with the benefits they have earned. 

And I believe in the fundamental freedom of Americans to make decisions about their own bodies. And not have their government tell them what to do. I will fight to restore what Donald Trump and his hand-picked Supreme Court Justices took away from the women of America. 

That today, 1 in 3 women in America lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban, many with no exceptions even for rape and incest. The idea that a woman who survives a crime of a violation to her body would be told she does not have the authority to decide what happens to her body next is immoral.

And Trump isn’t done. He would ban abortion nationwide, restrict access to birth control and put IVF at risk, and force states to monitor women’s pregnancies. Just Google Project 2025. Read the plans for yourself.

And one does not have to abandon their faith or deeply held beliefs to agree that the government and Donald Trump should not be telling a woman what to do with her body. And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom nationwide, as President of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.

And politicians must stop treating immigration as an issue to scare up votes in an election. And instead, treat it as a serious challenge that we must finally come together and solve. 

I will work with Democrats and Republicans to sign into law the border security bill that Donald Trump killed. When I was Attorney General of a border state, I saw the chaos and violence, caused by the transnational criminal organizations that I took on. And when I am President, we will quickly remove those who arrive here unlawfully, prosecute the cartels, and give border patrol the support they so desperately need.

At the same time, we must acknowledge, we are a nation of immigrants. And I will work with Congress to pass immigration reform, including an earned path to citizenship for hardworking immigrants like farmworkers and Dreamers.
As Commander in Chief, I will make sure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world. Donald Trump, on the other hand, has shown his contempt for our nation’s heroes. Calls them “suckers” and “losers.” Called a 4 star Marine General, a—quote—“lowlife.” I, will always honor—never denigrate—the service and sacrifice of our troops and their families. And fulfill our sacred obligation to care for them.

I will strengthen. Not surrender. America’s global leadership. And I will stand with our friends. Because I know that our alliances keep the American people safe, and make America stronger and more secure. World leaders think that Donald Trump is an easy mark. Easy to manipulate with flattery and favor. And you can believe that autocrats like Putin and Kim Jong Un are rooting for him in this election. 

I will always uphold our security, advance our interests, and ensure that the United States of America remains, as we must forever be—a champion of liberty around the world. 

America, we know what Donald Trump has in mind. More chaos. More division. And policies that help those at the very top and hurt everyone else. I offer a different path. And I ask for your vote. And here is my pledge to you: I pledge to seek common ground and common sense solutions to make your lives better. I am not looking to score political points. I am looking to make progress.

I pledge to listen: To experts, to those who will be impacted by the decisions I make, and to people who disagree with me. Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t believe people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail. I’ll give them a seat at the table.

I pledge to approach my work with the joy and optimism that comes from making a difference in people’s lives. And I pledge to be a President for all Americans. To always put country above party and above self.

I love our country with all my heart. And, I believe in its promise. Because I’ve lived it. I grew up as a child of the Civil Rights Movement. My parents would take me to marches in a stroller, where crowds of people, of all races, faiths, and walks of life, came together to fight for the ideals of freedom and opportunity.

I’ve lived the Promise of America. I saw how hard my mother worked to give her daughters the same chances this country gave her. Growing up, I was blessed to have family by blood and family by love who instilled in me the values of community, compassion, and faith that have always defined our nation at its best.

I’ve lived the Promise of America. I’ve spent my life fighting for the people who have been hurt and counted out, but never stopped believing that, in our country, anything is possible.

I’ve lived the Promise of America. And I see the Promise of America in all of you. In the young people voting for the first time. Who are determined to live free from gun violence, protect our planet, and shape the world they inherit.
In the women who refuse to accept a future without reproductive freedom. And the men who support them. In Republicans, who never voted for a Democrat before, but put the  Constitution of the United States over party. In Americans, different in many respects, but united in: Our pursuit of freedom. Our belief in fairness and decency. And our faith in a better future. 

America: I know that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. That’s why I’m in this race. To fight for The People. Just like I always have. Nearly 250 years ago, America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant.
Across the generations, Americans have: Preserved that freedom. Expanded it. And in so doing, proved to the world that a government of, by, and for the people is strong and can endure. And those who came before us - the patriots at Normandy and Selma. Seneca Falls and Stonewall. On farmlands and factory floors.

They did not struggle, sacrifice, and lay down their lives, only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms, only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant. The United States of America is not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators. The United States of America is the greatest idea humanity ever devised. A nation big enough to encompass all our dreams. Strong enough to withstand any fracture or fissure between us. And fearless enough to imagine a future of possibilities. 

So, America, let us reach for that future. Let us fight for this beautiful country we love. And in 7 days, we have the power to turn the page, and start writing the next chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.
Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless America.

Oct. 27, 2024

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The state of Alabama destroyed their homes. Your federal tax dollars helped pay for it. 

We are checking back in on the historic Black Shiloh community in Elba, Alabama.

Ever since 2018, when the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) expanded a highway running through the town, stormwater runoff floods the homes in this community whenever it rains. It is an ongoing crisis. 

Members of this community have lost everything. Some of the families here have owned these homes for generations. Their generational wealth has been wiped out. They deserve justice. They deserve to be made whole. Now, the federal government could be running out of time to help.

Pastor Timothy Williams is a Shiloh community member who has been a leader in the fight to get justice for his neighbors and his own family. Back in March, when I spoke with Pastor Williams, he told me, “My house has already sunk two feet into the mud. I see my inheritance and my children’s American Dream being washed away and stolen.” 

Since then, Pastor Williams says things have only gotten worse. He now says the frustration and hopelessness taking root in the community has led to people using alcohol and drugs as an escape, whereas several years ago that would be unheard of in this community.

It speaks to the toll on this community being more than just economic. Watching your home and community be destroyed, and your generational wealth evaporate, has physical, mental, and emotional impacts just like any trauma does. People are watching their homes sink, and living with the danger all this physical upheaval of their land has caused with power lines and gas and sewage pipes. Pastor Williams himself has been warned his sinking house could eventually hit a natural gas pipeline causing a rupture or even an explosion. Think about the impact this must have not only on the entire community’s mental health, but what it must do to the kids in the community and their ability to succeed in school. 

Beyond that, there is the clear racial factor here. This is Alabama after all. The reckless disregard for this rural Black community in the state’s highway project was not something unfamiliar to people who have lived there for decades. Nor were years of inaction and being left behind by the state (and now the federal government) since then. And there have been acts of intimidation by outsiders aimed at community members like Pastor Williams who have spoken up – in March, Pastor Williams told me the restaurant he owns had been the target of a boycott by some local whites. And white people make up most of his clientele. 

In a place where the shadow of Jim Crow still looms large, that justice for this Black community seems so elusive seems like no mere coincidence. It is understandable that some in the community believe the storm drainage pipes were aimed at their community intentionally.

In the months since I first spoke with Pastor Williams, I have visited Shiloh. And I have been working closely with Dr. Robert Bullard, known as Father of Environmental Justice and this country’s preeminent voice exposing environmental racism, to build pressure on both the state and federal governments to act. Elba, Alabama is Dr. Bullard’s hometown. It is an example of the pervasiveness of environmental racism, that such injustice could continue in the hometown of a prominent expert who sits on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.  

Someone else who visited Shiloh the past few months is Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. And on October 4, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced a Voluntary Resolution Agreement (VRA) with ALDOT to address the ongoing flooding in Shiloh every time it storms. The VRA is one product of an investigation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Title VI prohibits racial discrimination – among other kinds of discrimination – in projects that receive federal financial assistance, like the Alabama highway project that destroyed the Shiloh community.

But the VRA is not a solution for the harm that has already been done to the people of this community. It is an insult to them. The agreement requires infrastructure improvements to mitigate flooding. But these people’s homes are already ruined, their families are traumatized, and their property values are decimated. 

Perhaps Army veteran Willie Horstead Jr., who has watched his home sink into the flood-soaked ground similarly to Pastor Williams, put it best when he told the visiting US Secretary of Transportation, “I’ll tell you – I just want to be made whole.”  

In his 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King wrote, "justice too long delayed is justice denied,” paraphrasing an old legal maxim.

Justice has been delayed for far too long for the residents of the Shiloh community. And the clock is ticking.

We don’t know what will happen with the presidential election. But It is possible it could result in some of the same people returning to the US Department of Transportation who originally approved the use of federal funds for the disastrous Alabama highway project back in 2018. Or people willing to have the federal government turn a blind eye to racial discrimination by a state with a deep history of it. Any more delay could mean justice being permanently denied to members of the Shiloh community.

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