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Bernie Sanders Unveils Massive Puerto Rico Reconstruction Bill

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced a bill Tuesday to rebuild and modernize the infrastructure of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands with a massive federal investment of $146 billion.

The ambitious legislation, titled “The Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Equitable Rebuild Act of 2017,” would transform the U.S. territories’ energy, housing, education, agriculture, transportation and health care systems, addressing problems that have bedeviled the islands since long before two massive hurricanes plunged them into a state of full-on humanitarian crisis in September.

In total, the bill would grant $62 billion to the governments of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to address their fiscal challenges, $27 billion for infrastructure projects and $51 billion for economic development.

“The bill that Senator Sanders has introduced in the United States Congress is a comprehensive plan that provides the blueprint for the transformation of Puerto Rico,” Carmen Yulín Cruz, mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, said in a statement. “While dealing with all major areas of immediate concern: energy, health and education it also sets the foundation to make Puerto Rico a more equitable, just and fair society for all.”

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Democratic Reps. Nydia Velazquez (N.Y.) and Darren Soto (Fla.) are due to introduce a companion bill in the House of Representatives. Democratic Rep. Stacey Plaskett, the delegate representing the Virgin Islands, also is co-sponsoring the House version of bill.

The bills also have the backing of scores of progressive organizations and labor unions active in Puerto Rico, such as the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of Teachers.

Fla. company failed to deliver on Puerto Rico relief contracts: report

An unproven Florida company failed to deliver emergency supplies to Puerto Rico to help rebuild homes following the devastation of Hurricane Maria, The Associated Press reports.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) had awarded $30 million in federal contracts to Bronze Star LLC to provide tarps and other materials to residents needing to temporarily patch their homes.

FEMA has canceled the contracts without paying any money, but it took nearly four weeks for the agency to cancel the contract, keeping the valuable disaster relief funds from being used elsewhere.

While an agency spokesman told The AP that FEMA has properly vetted companies helping in the recovery effort, Bronze Star, a small family company started in August, has never before been awarded a government contract or supplied plastic tarps.

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Brothers Kayon and Richard Jones, the two military veterans who started the company, eventually told FEMA they could not hold up their end of the contract due to supply issues.

FEMA then told the brothers it would hold them responsible for $9.3 million in damages unless they signed a waiver freeing the U.S. of any responsibility for the issue, which they agreed to.

The setback comes as thousands of Puerto Ricans are still struggling to regain key resources months after the hurricane landed, with many still without electricity.

A massive exodus of Puerto Ricans is on its way to Orlando – which could change the island, and Florida, forever

Almost 70 days after the destructive storm tore through the island’s weak infrastructure, the situation remains intolerable – a significant portion of the 3.4 million U.S. citizens who live in Puerto Rico remain completely in the dark, without electricity or access to potable water. In two months, tens of thousands of people have fled to the mainland, with the majority headed to established Puerto Rican strongholds in Florida, especially Orlando. Franceschini, who now heads Hispanic Federation’s Florida office, and other community members have been working for weeks to provide the island’s hurricane victims with food donations, housing, access to jobs, health care and even English classes.

“We have a record number of people coming from the island – we’ve had more Puerto Ricans leave the island and come to the U.S. in the last several years than in the 1950s when a major exodus came to New York,” she says. “Our community needs to come together and stay present and do what needs to be done.”

The Puerto Rican exodus to Florida is so massive it could surpass the number of Cuban refugees who escaped to Miami during the Mariel boatlift in 1980 or the number of New Orleans evacuees who fled to Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, says Jorge Duany, director of the Cuban Research Institute and professor of anthropology at Florida International University.

Duany says a conservative estimate from a report by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College projects that between 114,000 and 213,000 people will leave the island annually after Maria, a jump from the 89,000 who left in 2016.

In two years, the report estimates, Puerto Rico will lose 14 percent of its population, or 470,335 residents. In a 10-year span after the end of World War II in 1945, nearly 700,000 people arrived in New York City during the Great Puerto Rican Migration, according to research from the Library of Congress

Senators debate likely effects of GOP tax plan

While Congress continues to push for tax reform, senators from across the aisle debated Tuesday evening over the likely ramifications of the GOP tax bill.

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Tim Scott faced off against Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders on CNN, with CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating.

Cruz argued that, “if you’re a taxpayer, this bill benefits you.”

He and Scott defended the bill’s doubling of the child tax credit, but Sanders argued that the legislation would primarily benefit individuals in the highest income-level bracket.

“The tax bills in both the House and the Senate give the lion’s share of tax breaks to the top 1%,” Sanders said.

The 90-minute event came the same day Republicans voted to move their tax legislation to the full Senate for a vote, which GOP leaders hope will take place later this week.

Cantwell joins Sanders in sparring with GOP over tax plan

With the Senate expected to vote in the next week or so on a major overhaul of the tax system, Maria Cantwell tag teamed with Bernie Sanders in a verbal wrestling match Tuesday against two Republicans defending the GOP plan.

Answering questions from a studio audience and reporters from CNN, which broadcast the debate live, Cantwell was sharply critical of a provision in the Senate GOP plan that would eliminate the deduction for state and local taxes for taxpayers who itemize.

Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, told an audience member who opposes that change it is his single biggest concern, and one he’s “working hard to improve.”

“He’s not working hard enough,” countered Cantwell, who fought for years to make sales tax deductable for taxpayers in states like Washington that don’t have a state income tax. People have a right to that deduction and anything less is “double taxation,” she added.

Bernie Sanders returning to Reading

On the same day he received his first Grammy nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont announced that he will return to Reading.

The second-place finisher in the 2016 race for the Democratic presidential nomination will hold a rally Sunday at the Santander Performing Arts Center in protest of the Republican-backed tax plan making its way through Congress, according to a press release Tuesday. Sanders will be joined by representatives of political action groups MoveOn.org and Not One Penny for a “Protecting Working Families Rally.”

“This legislation goes well beyond taxes,” Sanders said in the release. “If passed, the Republicans will then rediscover the ‘deficit crisis,’ and push aggressively for massive cuts in Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education, nutrition, affordable housing and more.”

The recently announced tour kicks off on Friday in Louisville, Ky., before heading to Dayton and Akron, Ohio on Saturday and finally coming to Reading on Sunday.

Jealous names Susan Turnbull, a former vice chair of the DNC, as his running mate

Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous has chosen Susan W. Turnbull, a Democratic stalwart who has held local, state and national positions in the party, as his running mate in the crowded June 26 primary.

The former NAACP president is the first of the eight Democratic candidates to announce his pick for lieutenant governor. He said he selected Turnbull, a former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee and former chair of the state Democratic Party, because the two share a commitment to bringing people from diverse backgrounds together to address the major problems facing the state

Our Wisconsin Revolution endorses Tim Burns for Wisconsin Supreme Court

Our Wisconsin Revolution, the state chapter of the national organization formed to continue the energy from Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, announced 6,000 members voted overwhelmingly in favor of endorsing Tim Burns for Wisconsin Supreme Court.

“We are excited to make our first state-wide endorsement. Our Wisconsin Revolution is a people-powered, member-driven organization. We believe it is time to make sure that the Wisconsin Supreme Court is truly acting in the interest of the people. This is why we support Tim Burns for supreme court justice,” stated Sarah Lloyd, OWR co-chair. “Tim Burns is running for this important position to make sure that the judicial system and especially the highest court in the state is acting to ensure a level playing field for everyone and not corporate interests.

She continued, “This focus aligns with the values OWR is fighting for in Wisconsin. Our members know Tim will bring an experienced, authentic voice of reason to the Supreme Court, a voice that sides with the people of this state. We are eager to mobilize 6,000 members across the state in support of Tim through the primary and general election in April.”

In ‘Blow to American Consumers,’ Trump-Appointed Judge Sides With Trump on CFPB

A Trump-appointed federal judge delivered a “blow to American consumers” on Tuesday by denying Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) deputy director Leandra English’s request for a temporary restraining order, which would have prevented Trump budget chief Mick Mulvaney from becoming the CFPB’s acting director.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly’s ruling effectively gives Mulvaney the authority to lead the CFPB, despite arguments from the agency’s architects insisting that the law is “clearly” not on his side. English is reportedly weighing several options in response to Kelly’s ruling, including an immediate appeal.

As Common Dreams reported, English filed suit on Sunday claiming that President Donald Trump’s appointment of Mulvaney was “unlawful” and arguing that she is the “rightful acting director.”

“Dodd-Frank is quite specific: It provides its own succession planning,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) argued shortly following Mulvaney’s appointment. “There is no vacancy for President Trump to fill.”

Study Shows Corporate Cable Networks Largely Ignoring FCC Plan to Kill Net Neutrality

With just over two weeks left until the FCC is set to vote on chairman Ajit Pai’s plan to decimate net neutrality, a new study published on Tuesday by Media Matters for America found that corporate cable and broadcast news coverage of Pai’s proposed net neutrality repeal has been sorely lacking—and, in some cases, nonexistent.

Based on an examination of television segments aired on major news networks since November 20—the day Politico reported that Pai was planning a “total repeal of net neutrality rules”—the study found that NBC, ABC, and CBS have devoted just over two minutes combined to net neutrality.

Of all the major corporate networks Media Matters examined, MSNBC devoted far and away the most coverage to the FCC’s “scorched-earth” attack on the open internet.

“In the wake of the breaking news, MSNBC represented 90 percent of all cable coverage” of net neutrality, the study found.

Media Matters goes on to observe that both NBC—which “has not covered net neutrality at all”—and MSNBC are both “owned by internet service provider Comcast, which stands to benefit from the repeal.”

‘Sham’: EPA Ripped for Holding Lone Public Hearing on Clean Power Plan Repeal in Coal Country

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday is holding its only public hearing on the Trump administration’s push to axe the Clean Power Plan in Charleston, West Virginia, smack dab in the middle of coal country—a location that green groups said gives the event “all the markings of a sham” designed to silence agency critics and elevate proponents of dirty energy.

“I know it’s no accident that they’re holding the hearing in a place where the coal industry still wields significant political power,” Mary Anne Hitt, director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, wrote in an op-ed on Monday.

Nonetheless, environmentalists were determined to make their voices heard amid the crowd of fully-dressed coal miners in attendance at the start of the meeting on Tuesday.

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On Tuesday, environmentalists took their fight straight to the EPA, arguing that contrary to Big Oil talking points, the CPP is vital for safeguarding public health and spurring job growth and innovation.

“We can have both” good jobs and a clean environment, David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council argued in his testimony. “We can—and we must—protect Americans’ health and preserve the stability of our climate.”

“It is not the job of the EPA to protect the coal industry,” adds Dr. Jeremy Richardson, a senior energy analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “In fact, the EPA is bound by law to address air and water pollutants from producing and using coal. Many of these pollutants are hurting the health of communities right here in Appalachia, where acid mine drainage and coal ash contaminate our waterways, and are also causing harm around the country where people live downwind from coal-fired power plants.”

US government uses Project Veritas video in trial of anti-Trump protesters

Federal prosecutors targeting anti-Trump protesters are relying on video evidence from Project Veritas, a far-right group under fire this week for allegedly trying to dupe the Washington Post with a false story of sexual misconduct.

The US attorney’s office submitted the footage in court on Tuesday as part of an ongoing trial against activists who protested Donald Trump’s inauguration and now face conspiracy and rioting charges that could lead to decades in prison.

Prosecutors played the video – which reportedly showed undercover footage from a meeting of activists – one day after the Washington Post reported that Project Veritas had sent a woman undercover pretending to be a victim of Roy Moore, the US Senate candidate accused of sexual misconduct.

The decision to use video from a discredited ultra-conservative group known for ethically questionable tactics has drawn criticisms from civil liberties groups, who have argued that the federal government under Trump is aggressively prosecuting activists who oppose the president.

“It’s absolutely shocking that the prosecutors went on record today saying they are relying on a Project Veritas video,” said Jude Ortiz, a member of the organizing crew of Defend J20 Resistance, a group supporting the nearly 200 people facing charges related to the Washington DC protests of Trump on 20 January.

“It’s a dubious piece of evidence at best, and it’s appalling that it’s coming from the far right,” said Ortiz, who attended the hearing.

Rex Tillerson: state department can be cut as we will soon solve global conflicts

Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday that the Trump administration’s proposal to slash the state department and foreign aid budget is in part based on an expectation it will be able to resolve some of the global conflicts that have been absorbing costly diplomatic and humanitarian support.

But in a vivid display of the most urgent diplomatic challenge facing the US, Tillerson was speaking as North Korea carried out a new ballistic missile test – the first since it fired a missile over Japan in mid-September.

The secretary of state presented this rationale for the budget cut at a time when he is under fire from former US diplomats for gutting his state department amid multiple crises around the world – an allegation Tillerson denied.

Tillerson, a former ExxonMobil oil executive, has faced a rising chorus of criticism for his management of US diplomacy.

On Tuesday, the former director of the state department policy planning office, David McKean, complained that Tillerson had become fixated on restructuring the department, at the expense of substantive diplomatic work. McKean’s commentary in Politico was titled: Rex Tillerson is Fiddling with PowerPoint while the World Burns.

Justin Trudeau apologizes for Canada’s program targeting LGBTQ civil servants

Justin Trudeau has apologized for a decades-long campaign by previous governments to rid the military and public service of LGBTQ people, calling the cold war crackdown a “collective shame.”

From the 1950s to the early 1990s, the Canadian government monitored and interrogated civil servants who were believed to be gay or transgender. Thousands in the public service, military and Royal Canadian Mounted Police were fired or intimidated into leaving their jobs.

This is the devastating story of people who were branded criminals by the government – people who lost their livelihoods, and in some cases, their lives,” Trudeau said.

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Trudeau said the public service, the military and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police spied on their own people, inside and outside of the workplaces. He said Canadians were monitored for anything that could be construed as gay behavior, with community groups, bars, parks and even people’s homes under watch. He said when the government felt that enough evidence had accumulated, some suspects were taken to secret locations in the dark of night to be interrogated.

He said those who admitted they were gay were fired, discharged, or intimidated into resignation.

“It is with shame and sorrow and deep regret for the things we have done that I stand here today and say: We were wrong. We apologize. I am sorry. We are sorry,” Trudeau said to a standing ovation.

Atlanta Police Suddenly Enforce Old Law and Hand Out Tickets to People Feeding the Homeless

Every Sunday, like clockwork, activists Adele Maclean and Marlon Kautz distribute food to the homeless at a public park in Atlanta. But when they went out to deliver food the Sunday before Thanksgiving, taking part in a longtime American holiday season tradition, local police ticketed them for violating a county ordinance that requires a food distribution permit.

Atlanta is in Georgia’s Fulton County, which has long had a policy on the books that requires organizations that distribute food to obtain a permit before doing so. Local authorities have in the past turned a blind eye, according to groups that feed the homeless in different parts of the city. Last week, however, that changed.

Atlanta police officers told charitable individuals that they can no longer feed the homeless without applying for and receiving a permit. Georgia State Police also distributed a flyer, produced by Atlanta’s Department of Public Safety, about the enforcement of a county ordinance that requires permits for the “operation of a food service establishment.” According to the flyer, enforcement is necessary for sanitary reasons and because “many people become dependent on these activities, leading them to stay on the streets instead of seeking the help and support they truly need.”

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Maclean described the situation to Atlanta’s Channel 2, which was filming when police issued the citations. “I mean, outrageous, right? Of all the things to be punished for, giving free food to people who are hungry?” she said.

Ahh yes, the old argument that homeless people want to stay homeless so they can get the occasional free meal. Makes complete sense…..

The Politics of Boycotting Israel Are Creeping into the Race for Georgia Governor

Deep down south in the state of Georgia, the Democratic gubernatorial candidates’ positions on a foreign conflict occurring 6,000 miles away became an issue in late November.

It started when Steve Berman, a prominent Atlanta-area real estate developer and Democratic donor penned an op-ed in the Atlanta Jewish Times implying that Stacey Abrams — one of two candidates vying for the gubernatorial nomination in 2018 — would be a “pro-BDS” governor.

BDS stands for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, the economic pressure campaign being waged against Israel in response to its treatment of the Palestinians.

Berman complained that Abrams opposed the passage of a Georgia law that bars state funds to contractors who refuse to pledge that they do not boycott Israel or its settlements.

“Stacey Abrams’s tacit support for the BDS movement ignores years of solid Jewish support for the Democratic Party and brings into question whether this singular event disqualifies her as the standard bearer of the Democratic Party in Georgia,” he concluded, pointing out that her opponent Stacey Evans supported passage of that law.

Sports Tax Scams Laid the Groundwork for Amazon Bidding Madness

The terrific podcast Citations Needed, hosted by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson, call it “lotteryism”—the grotesque process where local and state governments bid for Fortune 500 companies by offering billions of dollars in tax breaks in the hopes that they will relocate to their cities. The most high-profile example of this right now is, of course, Amazon. Politicians across the country are offering absurd packages to attract the new “Amazon HQ2” headquarters. These enticements will gut services for those who depend on public schools, hospitals, public transportation, and basic infrastructure. This is not to say that Amazon won’t bring jobs to these cities. It is making promises of thousands of permanent hires. But the pound of flesh being offered for these jobs is frightening.

Chicago has said Amazon could keep employees’ income tax, a total estimated at $1.32 billion, according to the Seattle publication The Stranger. New Jersey has offered a staggering $7 billion dollars in tax breaks. Boston has offered to have city employees be privatized workers when doing work under the auspices of Jeff Bezos’s empire: his own army of the underclass. Southern California is offering $100 million in free land. Fresno is offering to “place 85 percent of every tax dollar generated by Amazon into a so-called ‘Amazon Community Fund.’” This would give Amazon control over where our taxes flow, which undoubtedly would be in the direction of its own well-compensated employees—think parks, bike lanes, condo development—creating a new model of gentrification, directly subsidized by the traffic tickets and meters and regressive taxation of the poor.

This is little more than corporate theft, in collusion with often Democratic Party–led governments. And publicly funded sports stadium scams and Olympic bidding wars laid the groundwork for it. They have normalized the idea that our tax dollars exist to fund the projects of the wealthy, with benefits trickling down in ways that only produce more thirst.

Corporations Make a lots of Promises on Climate. This Study Tracked Down What Happens Next.

Billionaires, bankers and corporate executives have trumpeted a new era of sustainable capitalism for years, promising that advances in renewable energy and a rising generation of socially conscious tycoons would radically change an economic system addicted to fossil fuels.

But a study published this month in the peer-reviewed Academy of Management Journal found that several big companies that had announced ambitious sustainability goals retreated when profits decreased or top executives changed.

The research tracked five major Australian firms in different sectors over 10 years, examining company reports, media releases and policy statements and conducting more than 70 interviews with senior managers. Between 2005 and 2015, the unnamed companies—in energy, manufacturing, finance, insurance and media, with workforces ranging from 1,500 to 36,000 employees—adopted progressive climate policies with much fanfare, only to quietly scale back the efforts in the years that followed.

After Insulting Native Americans, Trump Goes After Their Sacred Land

Trump’s disparagement of Native Americans doesn’t end with his rhetoric. A day after Trump called Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) “Pocahontas” at an event honoring Navajo code talkers during World War II, the Salt Lake Tribune reports that the president will visit Salt Lake City, Utah, next Monday to announce that he’s shrinking national monuments of huge importance to Native Americans.

Without visiting the monuments he’s targeted, Trump is expected to announce his decision on a review conducted by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. He reportedly told Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) that he will shrink the 1.35 million acres Bears Ears and 1.9 million acres Grand Staircase-Escalante monuments to a fraction of their original sizes.

Bears Ears alone contains thousands of Native American archaeological, sacred and cultural sites. Last December, Obama signed the monument proclamation that noted the “Abundant rock art, ancient cliff dwellings, ceremonial sites, and countless other artifacts” contained within the rock formation.

At One End of the Keystone XL Oil Pipeline, There Is a Scene You Must See to Believe

To get a look at the oil sand mines, we rented this Cessna 172, which the pilot was allowed to bring down to 1,000 feet. Through the open window we could see what really goes on in one of the most controversial places on the planet.

Report: Keystone Pipeline Leak Likely Caused by 2008 Damage

A federal agency says a leak in TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone oil pipeline in South Dakota likely was caused by damage during construction in 2008.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a corrective action report Tuesday on the estimated 210,000-gallon oil spill. The report says a weight installed on the pipeline nearly a decade ago may have damaged the pipeline and coating.

According to the report, weights are placed on the pipeline in areas “where water could potentially result in buoyancy concerns.”

TransCanada spokesman Mark Cooper said the company has been working cooperatively with the federal agency and has begun “a safe, controlled and gradual startup” of the pipeline. Cooper says that process will continue over the next couple of days.

So we shouldn’t be worried because there was no water to contaminate, though the pipeline was damaged by something to help prevent problems created by water. Makes complete sense!

China’s Solar Surge Hits New Heights

It’s no secret China has been installing solar panels at a record-breaking rate—it’s been happening for years now.

But in 2017 China took its solar drive even further, deploying more PV capacity in one year than any other country has—or at least had at end of 2016.

Last week, Bloomberg New Energy Finance revised upwards its projection for new solar capacity in China, taking it from the pretty impressive 30GW it forecast in July to a gargantuan 54GW.

A Tiny Island Used as a Nuclear Dumpsite Is About to Be Submerged by Water

The Enewetak Atoll is all but invisible on Google Maps. Halfway between Australia and Hawaii, the ribbon of land is home to a small indigenous population that has seen their way of life eroded by decisions far outside of their control.

For more than half a century, the atoll, which is part of the Marshall Islands, has been contaminated by nuclear explosions and waste, according to ABC Australia. The decades ahead could leave it submerged by rising sea levels.

In this way, Enewetak “is at the intersection of two of the biggest problems of the last century and this century, nuclear weapons and sea level rise,” Michael Gerrard, the chair of Columbia University’s Earth Institute in New York who has studied the atoll, told Global Citizen.

Both of these problems are at risk of converging, ABC Australia reported, because the main holding container for the atoll’s nuclear waste is being compromised by rising waters.

Keith Ellison Calls Out Proposed Minnesota Pipeline After Keystone XL Wins Approval

Eight days after Nebraska regulators greenlighted the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) cautioned regulators in his neighboring state against giving swift approval to another proposed oil pipeline.

In a Tuesday letter shared with HuffPost, the progressive congressman urged the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MNPUC) to consider climate change, downstream pollution and Native Americans’ fierce opposition before voting on the final certificates needed to begin construction of Enbridge Energy’s Line 3 pipeline. The state regulators are scheduled to hold a Dec. 7 hearing on the project’s potential environmental impact. A final vote is slated for April.

Enbridge’s $2 billion pipeline would carry 760,000 barrels of tar sands oil some 1,031 miles from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Minnesota every day. That amount of crude is equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of about 16 to 18 million cars on the road, Ellison noted.

“Many of my constituents noted that the Line 3 replacement pipeline would be transporting tar sands crude, which is among the dirtiest fossil fuels,” Ellison wrote. “When reviewing this project, the MNPUC should ensure that the pipeline would not further exacerbate the warming of our planet or undermine Minnesota’s ability to achieve statutory greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.”

Virginia’s most powerful company runs “campaign to elect a pipeline”

Dominion Energy was taking no chances with the fate of its proposed natural gas pipeline during this year’s election season, even though both major candidates for governor supported the $5 billion project.

The state’s most powerful corporation, along with partner companies and the American Gas Association, poured resources into online groups called EnergySure and Your Energy Virginia to whip up what it called a grassroots “campaign to elect a pipeline.”

Numbers from an industry presentation suggest the scope of the effort: As of early October, Dominion had compiled a “supporter database” of more than 23,000 names, generated 150 letters to the editor, sent more than 9,000 cards and letters to federal regulators and local elected officials, and directed more than 11,000 calls to outgoing Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Virginia’s U.S. senators.

Critics say those efforts – outlined in a presentation that was not intended for the public but was briefly visible on the gas association’s web site – amounted to overkill. But the company says the onslaught is the only way to do business at a time when everything is politicized and opponents can use social media to magnify their influence.

TransCanada engages Nebraska landowners on new Keystone XL route

– TransCanada Corp has started engaging landowners on a new route for its Keystone XL pipeline approved by the state of Nebraska, the company said on Tuesday, exploring the costlier path as it mulls a final decision on the expansion project mooted nearly a decade ago.

Nebraska last week approved the $8 billion pipeline from Alberta to the state, but denied TransCanada its preferred route in favor of a slightly longer one. The decision opened the door to potential delays and emboldened activists who said they would try to kill the project through protests.

Washington State Panel Calls for Oil Terminal Denial

A Washington state energy panel voted unanimously Tuesday to recommend that Gov. Jay Inslee reject a massive oil-by-rail terminal proposed along the Columbia River.

The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, which has been evaluating the project since 2013, said developers had not met their burden to show that the proposed port of Vancouver site was acceptable.

The panel will forward its recommendation to Inslee by Dec. 29. The Democratic governor will have 60 days to make a final decision.

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Roselyn Marcus, interim chair of the council, presided over the meeting in Olympia that lasted about 10 minutes.

She noted that the council weighed more than 250,000 public comments in “probably the longest process in this council’s history with issues of great significance that have never been faced by this council before.”

How abortion could tip the scales in Alabama

Abortion has emerged as a firewall issue for Roy Moore in Alabama, where the embattled GOP Senate candidate is framing support for Democrat Doug Jones as a blow to the anti-abortion rights movement.

Abortion is a sensitive issue in Alabama, and one that favors Republicans. A 2014 poll by the Pew Research Center found 58 percent of those polled in Alabama say abortion should be illegal in most or all cases — higher than in all but three states in the country.

Sentiments are strong enough that Moore’s campaign believes voters will choose the anti-abortion rights Republican over Jones, who supports abortion rights, despite allegations that the Republican molested or sexually assaulted teenage girls decades ago.

Moore has seized on those sentiments as he seeks to save his campaign, moving to make abortion a central issue in the campaign.

“Nothing is more precious in the sight of most people than the life of the child, so I can see why people in Alabama would be enraged knowing that Doug Jones is willing to take the life of a child,” Moore campaign chairman Bill Armistead told The Hill in an interview.

Pelosi amps up pressure on Conyers to resign

House Democrats, behind Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), are upping the pressure on Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) to resign from Congress amid a growing list of sexual harassment allegations.

Pelosi has been working with leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) — a group Conyers helped to create decades ago — to convince the veteran Detroit lawmaker to step away from Capitol Hill rather than await the verdict of an Ethics Committee investigation into his alleged transgressions.

“Pelosi continues to work with CBC to apply pressure to get Conyers to step down,” a senior aide said Tuesday.

As a type of backstop, Pelosi also sent a letter to the Ethics Committee on Tuesday urging the panel to move quickly as it considers the Conyers allegations. If the committee needs additional resources to make that happen, Pelosi added, “please make that need known.”

Lead poisoning is one of the greatest issues for MI kids. When I was health commissioner in Detroit, we created ‘Lead Safe Detroit’ – an effort to test every child and provide them with care. As Governor, I will make lead poisoning treatment a priority. https://t.co/GC1izWLVyM

— Abdul El-Sayed (@AbdulElSayed) November 28, 2017

FBI feared ‘black supremacist extremists’ would ‘violently co-opt’ Democratic and Republican conventions

The FBI was deeply concerned “black supremacist extremists” would violently shut down the Republican and Democratic national conventions last year, according to a cache of bureau records.

The records, first obtained by Al Jazeera on Tuesday, include extensive communications about Black Lives Matter and how the government closely monitored the civil rights network during the campaign season over concerns of violence.

After Micah Xavier Johnson fatally shot five police officers in Dallas in July last year, agents feared more attacks could be imminent.

“Due to the sensitives surrounding recent police shootings, the threat of copycat attacks against law enforcement exists,” one email read. “There is a threat of black supremacist extremists attempting to violently co-opt the upcoming DNC/RNC.”

Randall Woodfin sworn in as Birmingham’s 30th mayor

On a bright sunny day on a stage with a gigantic American flag as a backdrop, Randall Woodfin took the oath of office to become the 30th mayor of the city of Birmingham and one of the youngest in its history.

Woodfin, 36, was sworn in by Jefferson County Circuit Judge Nakita Blocton before thousands of supporters in a standing room only crowd stretching back into downtown Birmingham’s Linn Park, and with two former mayors, Richard Arrington and Bernard Kincaid, as well as the nine members of the Birmingham City Council seated behind him.

Outgoing mayor William Bell was not present.

Flanked by banners listing the names of all 99 neighborhoods in the city, Woodfin’s first words to his constituents after taking the oath reflected the down-to-earth man of the people demeanor he demonstrated throughout the campaign. He said simply, “Hey, everybody.”

Woodfin, who defeated Bell in a fractious, bitter campaign that ended Oct. 3, was greeted with thunderous applause and repeated shouts of his name from the audience.

“I am so honored for this moment it is hard to put this moment into words as relates to this opportunity to serve my hometown,” said Woodfin, who outlined what has now become his signature push to work for improving the city through service, jobs, education, quality roads and fighting crime. “I am so proud and so eager to get to work,” he said.

A profile & interview of Candidate for IL-5, Sameena Mustafa:

Satyagrah Souls: Indian Americans Making A Difference

Remember the Afghan Girl's robotics team that was initially denied entry to the US? They just won the biggest robotics festival in Europe pic.twitter.com/fKbLRaFHH0

— Muhammad Lila (@MuhammadLila) November 27, 2017

A Bernie Sanders Ally From Chicago Is Now Eyeing Washington

Democrat Jesus “Chuy” Garcia — a Bernie Sanders ally and icon among Hispanic progressives who came close to politically toppling Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel two years ago — is now looking to shake up Capitol Hill.

The immigrant-rights advocate and former alderman will run for the heavily Hispanic Chicago-based U.S. House seat being vacated by retiring Representative Luis Gutierrez, who endorsed Garcia as he announced his retirement.

Garcia, who came to the U.S. from Mexico in 1965 at age 10, would bring a personal perspective to Democrats’ opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, including removing deportation deferrals and plans to build a physical wall on the U.S. southern border.

“I think having an immigrant voice in Congress from the Midwest is very important at this time in history,” Garcia said in an interview shortly after announcing his congressional run.

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Garcia in Washington could also increase pressure on Democratic leaders, who he has said haven’t adequately embraced the “Bernie Sanders wing” of the party. Doing so would energize voters, he said.