After Years of Abuse, the Earth Has Sent Its Bill Collectors

Tuesday, May 28, 2019 [| 2 days left: We need your help! |]( [After Years of Abuse, the Earth Has Sent Its Bill Collectors]( JP Sottile, Truthout We've voraciously taken -- and taken for granted -- resources from the Earth and processed them to our own ends. Thanks to a toxic combination of convenient ignorance and willful, short-sighted indifference, we've simply loaded the true costs of those processes right back onto our de facto credit card, a.k.a. into the land, the air and the water. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Connecticut Workers Fought for a $15 Minimum Wage -- and Won]( Bryce Covert, Truthout Today, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation that will raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour, making it the fourth state this year to take this action. Organizations like Fight for 15 and the SEIU made the wage raise a central issue in the last elections and won. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Export of Banned U.S. Pesticides Creates a Deadly Circle of Poison]( Elisabeth McLaughlin, Truthout Pro-industry loopholes are allowing U.S. agrochemical companies to manufacture and export pesticides that have been banned or not approved for use domestically. These pesticides are exported to countries in the global South where they are routinely used in growing food that is imported by the U.S., creating a deadly circle of poison that harms both agricultural workers and U.S. consumers. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Friends of Truthout, we're in urgent need of your help: We only have two days left to raise the $29,325 needed to keep our independent journalism going. If you haven't yet given and are able to contribute, please donate what you can today! [Donate Now →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Record Support for Green Party in E.U. Elections as Youth-Led Climate Strikes Grow]( Amy Goodman and Juan González, Democracy Now! The Green Party soared in popularity in many nations in the European parliamentary elections, placing second in Germany and making gains in Finland, France and Ireland. Luisa Neubauer, a youth climate activist and member of the German Green Party, discusses the party's next steps. [Watch the Video and Read the Transcript →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [After Attempted Voter Purge, Texas Secretary of State Resigns]( Sophia Tesfaye, Salon The ill-fated and short-lived tenure of Texas Secretary of State David Whitley officially came to end on Monday after months of controversy. His unsuccessful voter suppression effort pulled Texas into three federal lawsuits, prompted a congressional investigation over concerns of voting rights violations, and frayed the relationship between the state's election office and local election officials. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [As U.S. Rattles Its Sabers at Tehran, Where's the Protest?]( James Carroll, TomDispatch The latest Middle East deployment included a task force of B-52s, the massive strategic bombers dating from the 1950s that wreaked such havoc in Vietnam. This should ring some alarm bells. However, in the Trump era, U.S. saber-rattling feels unnervingly routine, and is met with little protest. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Scientific Panel Votes to Recognize the Destructive Impact of the "Anthropocene"]( Jake Johnson, Common Dreams In a step toward formally recognizing that humankind -- with its incessant burning of fossil fuels, use of nuclear weapons and other ecologically destructive actions -- has dramatically altered the state of the Earth, a panel of prominent scientists voted last week to designate a new geological epoch they are calling the "Anthropocene." [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [In Palestine and Beyond, Tear Gas Takes Environmental Toll]( Lewis Raven Wallace, Environmental Health News There is still little science on the long-term effects of tear gas exposure. This lack of research has provided justification for using it as a "non-lethal alternative" to live ammunition on crowds. However, it clearly has severe impacts on both humans and the environment. Palestinians are building gardens, health centers and schools with protection from tear gas in mind. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [Heat and Violence Pose Twin Threats for Asylum-Seekers Waiting at Border]( Anna Maria Barry-Jester, Kaiser Health News In Mexicali, Mexico, the fragile ecosystem of shelters is strained. Some operators have begun to charge asylum-seekers for lodging and other services. And with social services stretched thin, a new threat looms: the heat of summer in one of the most torrid regions on Earth. For vulnerable groups, including infants and children, heat can be deadly even when there are no underlying health concerns. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [The Kochs Are Rebranding Themselves as Do-Gooders. Don't Be Fooled.]( Leo Gerard, OurFuture There's a new Koch organization in town. Instead of trying to buy politicians to do the bidding of billionaires, as Charles and David Koch have historically done, their rebranded network now says they will support community groups trying to cure the miseries of eons -- everything from poverty to mass incarceration. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- In Case You Missed It --------------------------------------------------------------- [What Would It Mean to Deeply Accept That We're in Planetary Crisis?]( Dahr Jamail and Barbara Cecil, Truthout For decades the corporate-capitalist settler-colonial industrial growth project has dragged all of Earth's species toward the gaping and bottomless abyss of extinction. A new cosmology is needed in order to accept the likelihood of our own demise, along with the looming death of vast swaths of the biosphere upon which we depend and are a part of. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- [New York City Moves Forward With Paid Vacation Measure]( Dean Baker, Truthout This week New York's city council will begin to consider a measure put forward by Mayor Bill de Blasio that would guarantee workers in the city at least 10 days of paid time off per year. This proposal is an important step toward bringing the United States in line with the other rich countries in guaranteeing its workers some amount of paid vacation. [Read the Article →]( --------------------------------------------------------------- We still need 34 people to start a sustaining, monthly donation to Truthout. Will you be one? Just choose "monthly" on our 30-second form. [Donate Now →]( Connect With Us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Donate]( Truthout is a reader-supported, nonprofit organization; donations are tax-deductible. Truthout is a proud member of the Newspaper Guild/CWA, Local 36047. 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