it was a busy week dominated in the mainstream news with Trump & impeachment, but here in NM, we had our own dramas. Today we also preview our Legislative Panel discussion, Greater Chaco Tour and more.
Please RSVP to the events below, by writing to RetakeResponse@gmail.com. It helps us prepare.
Fracking Tour of Greater Chaco Canyon
Fracking Tour of the Greater Chaco Canyon Area, Sunday October 27, 9:15am-4 pm., Counselor Chapter House. This is the tour that Roxanne and I went on last month. The tour is being conducted solely for Retake Our Democracy supporters. It will be hosted by Daniel Tso and Samuel Sage, elders, leaders and advocates of the Navajo Nation.
RSVP for details on Santa Fe departure time and location. There are no long hikes or treacherous paths. It is a car tour with 6-7 stops at various fracking sites.
This is an extraordinary tour that will give a very intimate and powerful understanding of what a sacrifice zone really is, not from dry statistics but from personal stories told at one fracking site after another. You will have a changed view of what we are doing to our land, our air, our water and our people, a view that could not possibly be achieved no matter how much you read. We have a very limited number of slots remaining.
The only way to attend is to RSVP by writing to us at RetakeResponse@gmail.com. When you RSVP please provide your name and the names and email addresses of anyone else in your party. We will be sending more information as we near the tour date. For more information on the tour, click here to read our blog on the experience.
2020 Legislative Session Preview
A panel discussion of what might be introduced in 2020 and how you can lobby effectively in support of those bills. Time to get ready!
Tuesday, Oct. 29, 6:30 pm- 8:30 pm, Center for Progress & Justice, 1420 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe. Retake Our Democracy will host a panel discussion with nonprofit advocacy experts to help prepare you for the 2020 Legislative Session. Panelists include:
- Bill Jordan, Government Relations Officer, NM Voices for Children
- Mary Feldblum, Executive Director, Health Security for New Mexicans Campaign
- Paul Haidle, JD, Senior Policy Strategist, A.C.L.U.
- Elaine Sullivan, Board President, Alliance for Local Economic Prosperity (public banking)
- Fred Nathan, Executive Director, Think New Mexico
Moderator, Paul Gibson, Co-Founder, Retake Our Democracy
Discussion will focus on policies related to child welfare, healthcare, civil rights, abortion decriminalization, public banking, tuition-free college, recreational marijuana legalization, early childhood funding, and how grassroots advocates can best support their legislative priorities. RSVPPanel will be live-streamed via the Retake Our Democracy Facebook page. For more details and to RSVP on Facebook, click here or by Oct 28 to retakeresponse@gmail.com.
CLIMATE – THE LIVING EARTH PARADIGM With Charles Eisenstein
Monday, October 21, 7pm Unitarian Universalist, 107 W Barcelona, Santa Fe “Even if we cut emissions to zero, if we continue to degrade the organs of Gaia – the forests, wetlands, soil, water, whales, fish – then the Earth will still die a death of a million cuts.” In this gathering, Charles Eisenstein draws out the profound implications of the Living Planet paradigm. He will discuss the limits of carbon accountancy, offering a holistic alternative that vastly broadens the scope of urgency, action, and hope. Shall we participate in a living Earth or a dying Earth? “When we participate in a living Earth, miracles of healing are possible. For we too are an organ of Gaia.”
A Look Back
Links to the posts from last week follow. I highly recommend the Extinction Rebellion report, Why We Rebel as it is concise, poetic and a clarion call to action. The guest blog from Lora Lucero is also worth your time as she puts to words what MLG might have said to NMOGA…except she didn’t.
Extinction Rebellion: Why We Rebel
Tuesday, October 15. In a poetic call to action, Jay Griffiths of the Extinction Rebellion Vision team lays out why we must rebel. The post also includes a list of their strategies.
Jay Griffiths begins with: “Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great, said Mandela. History is calling from the future, a hundred years from now. Half a hundred years. Ten. Today. Calling the conscience of humanity to act with the fierce urgency of now. This is the time. ”
A very important read, my friends. These folks are serious, with 700 arrested last week. Click here to read the full post.
Governor’s Panel Publishes Recreational Marijuana Recommendations & After an Hour of CNN, a Trump Prediction
Thursday, October 17. The Governors panel published their recommendations, claiming to have used equity as the lens through which they conducted their work. While there was criticism of some of the recommendations, the report outlines how legalizing recreational marijuana would create 13,000 jobs and generate $850 million in sales and $100 million in revenue for the state. Not bad.
The post also shared my reaction to an hour of non-stop CNN news on a really bad day for Trump. The post summarized just a portion of a stunning sequence of reports that left me concluding that there is simply no way Trump will make it to 2020 as president. And then Sunday online, I saw the Newsweek cover headline: “President Pence.” Oh my. Click here to review the full post.
Retake Our Democracy’s First Election Endorsement: Miguel Acosta for Santa Fe Community College Board, Position 5
Friday, October 18. This race is critical for the working families & the youth of our community: a chance to elect a visionary, compassionate, razor sharp advocate to the SFCC Board.
Elizabeth Warren isn’t the only one with plans. Miguel does too. He calls for bringing the college to the community with courses offered in elementary, middle and high schools throughout low-income communities and he calls for more transparency in board stewardship. We strongly endorse Miguel Acosta.
Click here to read our endorsement. To listen to the Retake KSFR interview with Miguel, click here.
A Guest Blog from Lora Lucero: The Speech the Governor Should Have Given to NMOGA
Saturday, October 19. We received lots of comments on Lora Lucero’s speech that MLG should have given at NMOGA. It was exactly the kind of speech that our leadership must begin to deliver, followed by actions that accelerate the move to a just transition.
Click here to read the full speech. The blog also included another edition of The Pen Is Mightier than the Sword offering two writing prompts.
If We Are Serious About Climate Change, What About Meat?
Sunday, October 20. Cowspiracy is a very entertaining and educational film that will really cause you to think twice about consuming meat or at least cause you to consider reducing your intake of it.
Cowspiracy lays out two things that make the film worth your viewing: First, it lays out the staggering number of consequences to our planet of industrial scale meat production: methane release, deforestation, water use, toxic runoff, and the desolation of vast swathes of land due to mono-cropping for cattle feed. Second, it questions why the major environmental advocacy groups are largely silent on meat production’s contribution to global warming and the degradation of our capacity to generate a sustainable food supply.
Click here to read more on the consequences of meat production and to view both the film and a counter-argument from those who advocate for regenerative ranching.
In solidarity, Paul & Roxanne……PLEASE RSVP for the tour and panel!
Categories: Uncategorized
Leave a Reply