Activism
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November 1, 2024
Award-winning filmmaker and director of Gasland Josh Fox on why he won’t ever vote for Jill Stein.
Milanville, Pennsylvania—Progressives can actually win on this election, although we now have a reasonable Democrat on the ticket. And it’s not by voting for Jill Stein. However first, just a little historical past…
Not way back your complete higher Delaware River basin in Pennsylvania—one of the crucial stunning areas within the nation, within the watershed for New York Metropolis, southern New Jersey and Philadelphia—was on the chopping block for fracking.
A 75 mile stretch of the Delaware River might have change into a poisonous oil subject. Fracking is an environmental apocalypse: tens of millions of gallons of poisonous fracking fluids, radioactive waste, underground water contamination, lots of of 1000’s of truck journeys, air air pollution, land scarring, huge public well being crises, and depleted water provide. Every little thing in regards to the apply is poisonous; it’s inherently contaminating within the lengthy and brief time period.
Our neighborhood was fast to know the menace and set up and mobilize towards it. Each little city alongside the Delaware throughout New York and Pennsylvania had a mom-and-pop anti-fracking group spring up. My movie Gasland, on HBO, was a part of this marketing campaign, and our Gasland excursions went from city to city, Johnny Appleseed–model, fostering our new motion.
Amazingly, we received. We banned fracking within the Delaware River basin and in New York State, saving the water provide for 16 million folks. One of many biggest achievements of the environmental motion on this century.
We did this by convincing the Democratic governors of New York and Delaware and the president on the time—Barack Obama—to ban fracking right here. These had been all reasonable Democrats. Not precisely Bernie Sanders, if you already know what I imply.
Present Problem
I think about myself far to the left of Andrew Cuomo and Barack Obama. However I do know that if these reasonable Democrats hadn’t been in workplace, there’s no method we might have received.
Republicans would have simply stated no. This complete place would have been fully fracked to hell. We might have misplaced. And the entire beautiful, life-giving nationwide treasure of the Delaware River would have been a poisonous fracking zone.
Our victory towards fracking saved extra carbon and methane within the floor than nearly every other single environmental win in historical past—making it an enormous win for the local weather as properly.
Right here is the important thing level: I’m not in love with Kamala Harris’s positions on fracking. I discover it totally infuriating when reasonable Democrats assume that they should pay lip service to a poisonous damaging local weather monster of an trade to win Pennsylvania. I don’t truly assume that’s true, as a result of research have proven that 70 % of Pennsylvania residents need fracking both banned or far more tightly regulated.
However I don’t should be in love. I would like to have the ability to vote strategically.
Lots of of 1000’s of individuals confirmed as much as defend this place and to carry reasonable Democrats accountable, and that was the important thing to victory right here.
You realize who didn’t present up for this place? Jill Stein. She doesn’t present up for these frontline battles. Ever.
Stein says she’s towards fracking, however Stein has lots of of 1000’s of {dollars} invested within the oil and fuel trade. Do you know that? Do you know that she truly earnings off of the oil and fuel trade, that she has had investments within the Keystone XL pipeline and a number of fracking firms?
Do you know that she has investments in Raytheon, that she’s had investments in ExxonMobil? Do you know that she has investments in Dwelling Depot—one of the crucial rapacious firms on the earth, responsible of horrific deforestation all through the world?
How is it that the Inexperienced Social gathering candidate hasn’t divested her personal private fortune from fossil fuels? It’s sheer hypocrisy. And so is the technique of working for president each 4 years however by no means exhibiting up for battles like this.
In 2016, Stein defended these investments by saying they’re mutual funds and listed retirement funds.
However that, plainly talking, is bunk.
Her claims are a slap within the face to your complete fossil gasoline divestment motion. It’s simpler now than ever to have investments which can be fossil free; doing so is a large plank of the environmental trigger. Lots of of actual activists had been arrested this summer time in New York Metropolis calling for Citibank to divest as a part of the Summer season of Warmth marketing campaign. For Stein to disregard all this and nonetheless try and name herself an activist is past hypocrisy, it’s political malpractice. Disgrace on you, Dr. Stein! Disgrace on you for taking advantage of fracking and oil drilling.
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I’m not in love with Kamala Harris’s positions—on fracking, and on another points. However I’ll let you know what I’m in love with. I’m in love with our actions.
I’m in love with what we will do. Your entire historical past of progressive progress on this nation is of actions pushing reasonable presidents. It occurred with FDR and the labor motion. It occurred with LBJ and the MLK and the civil rights motion. It occurred with Obama and Biden and the motion for homosexual marriage. We set up and push them—and that’s how we get what we would like. That’s our progressive historical past in America.
However to ensure that us progressives to do our jobs and combat successfully for a extra simply and equitable world as a motion, we have to have Harris in workplace. If we now have Donald Trump in workplace, there’s no likelihood in hell that we’re truly going to advance an environmental agenda.
So I urge you to please consider in us as a motion. Love us. Imagine in our energy. We have now carried out this earlier than—and we will do it once more with a reasonable Democrat in workplace. Which is the one alternative we’ve bought proper now.
If everybody in who voted for Stein in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan had voted for the Democrat as a substitute, Trump would by no means have been the president.
We have now the true energy. It comes from the underside up.
And I consider in us.
A vote for Harris is a vote for us, a vote for our actions to have a combating likelihood for change. Progressive politics and advancing our agenda on this nation just isn’t one thing that occurs each 4 years whenever you vote, or each 4 years when a poisonous egomaniac like Stein (or Trump, for that matter) runs for president. It’s a each day dedication. So vote for Kamala Harris. Be a part of the motion—and I’ll see you on the entrance strains.
Can we depend on you?
Within the coming election, the destiny of our democracy and elementary civil rights are on the poll. The conservative architects of Undertaking 2025 are scheming to institutionalize Donald Trump’s authoritarian imaginative and prescient throughout all ranges of presidency if he ought to win.
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