Between The Lines - Environmental Coalition Beats Back Oil Company Referendum to Overturn California's Global Warming Regulations (Week Ending 11/19/10)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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Environmental Coalition Beats Back Oil Company Referendum to Overturn California's Global Warming Regulations

Real Audio MP3

Interview with Larry Fahn, former president of the Sierra Club, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

prop23 One of the few bright spots for progressives in this year's election was the resounding defeat of Proposition 23 in California, which would have suspended the state's groundbreaking climate change law - AB-32 -- until unemployment dropped to 5.5 percent for four consecutive quarters -- an unlikely if not impossible scenario for the foreseeable future. A diverse coalition emerged to fight the proposition, which was largely funded by two Texas-based oil companies.

In the campaign to defeat Proposition 23, about $30 million was raised by the referendum's opponents, with big donations from environmental groups and wealthy individuals including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and film director James Cameron. An estimated $10 million was contributed to the campaign supporting Proposition 23, mostly from Texas-based oil companies, Valero Services and Tesero, along with funds from conservative organizations.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Larry Fahn, a former president of the Sierra Club, who continues to serve on the environmental group's board. Fahn, a leader in the fight to defeat Prop. 23, talks about how the victory was achieved and what success at the ballot box means for clean energy in California and the nation. He also looks at the passage of another California referendum question that has raised concerns about whether AB-32 can successfully be implemented.

LARRY FAHN: The environmental community was very united and got assistance not only from Gov. (Arnold) Schwarzenegger and people like George Schultz, as well as Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and people in the green technology field, and we ran a very tight campaign. We got a lot of public support from just the rank and file of the environmental groups; the Sierra Club was very prominent in its outreach, along with Credo Mobile -- part of Working Assets -- a lot of environmental justice organizations and groups that were really concerned about climate change and the need to continue to make progress in the transition to a clean economy and renewable energy. We also did outreach to newspapers. We ended up getting about 50 California newspapers all publishing editorials against Proposition 23; and we did that by having our activists in each community call the newspapers, get editorial board meetings, and explain what was really at stake. So a lot of really wonderful things came together, and we succeeded beyond our expectations by more than a 60-40 margin.

BETWEEN THE LINES: There were big spenders on both sides of the issue. You had the Texas-based oil companies pushing Prop. 23, and then big movie moguls like James Cameron and some high-tech gurus giving big bucks to oppose it. Did regular folks contribute much to the "No on 23" campaign?

LARRY FAHN: Absolutely, there was. Prop. 23's website had ways people could donate, and a lot of regular folks donated to a group called Communities Against Prop. 23, which was an effort to reach out to African Americans, Hispanics, labor and other parts of the progressive community that aren't particularly known to be strong environmentalists, and a lot of regular folks donated small amounts.

I should add, however, that we were really disappointed at the end of the day, because there was another proposition - Prop. 26 -- which would require a two-thirds vote before any new fees could be assessed in the state of California, and that would be fees like fees for oil spills, fees for recovering the costs from smoking and health care issues. And about a month out we started adding the No on 26 message to the No on 23 message, but we were unsuccessful, and a lot of the same interests that were behind the effort to undo the climate change legislation -- Prop 23 -- like the oil companies, were behind the effort to pass Prop 26, and they prevailed on that one.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Do you think that will make implementation of AB 32 more difficult or even impossible?

LARRY FAHN: Well, it's still uncertain. All the regulations implementing AB 32 are still being developed as we speak. There are a number of people who are concerned that this new Proposition 26 may somehow stymie efforts to implement AB 32, but that might have to be unraveled in the courts as well. I think it depends on how 26 is interpreted and how the various interest groups try to implement it.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Larry Fahn, what, if anything, has already been done to implement AB 32?

LARRY FAHN: Well, again, all of the implementation is being done by the California Air Resources Board, and I know they've drafted a very lengthy series of regulations that is the beginning steps of the implementation, but it's very preliminary. They're taking comments and it's still all in the works. A lot of agencies are working on it. I think there's been a lot done, but it's still in the early stages. It really doesn't start taking effect until 2012.

BETWEEN THE LINES: What do you think this win says, if anything...you know, when there was a concrete threat to an existing law, that people rallied to save it, as opposed to not being able to get any energy legislation through Congress. What do you think the lesson is for the rest of the country?

LARRY FAHN: Well, I think what we've learned is that citizens in California really understand that global warming is a real threat and we need to take action to deal with it, and further, that the action we take, rather than being harmful to the economy will be helpful to the economy, because it has the potential to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs in what we call the clean energy sector -- from building windmills and solar panels and rehabbing and retrofitting old buildings, to some of the new technologies for bio-fuels and algae-based energy. There's a tremendous amount of innovation going on here in California and the citizens realize that and want to see that continue, and they want to see a really productive transition to a clean energy future.

Larry Fahn currently heads the group, "As You Sow," which promotes corporate responsibility. Visit their website at asyousow.org or the Sierra Club's website at sierraclub.org