Credit: iStock/kamilpetran

by Jasmin Enciu

The Supreme Court is set to decide one of the most consequential environmental cases it has heard in decades.  West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency will address whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shall continue to have the authority to regulate the levels of greenhouse gas emissions. This case puts the EPA in an extremely vulnerable position. VOX News reporter Ian Millhiser even stated, “West Virginia could wind up permanently hobbling the government’s ability to fight climate change.”

West Virginia threatens all government regulations that protect the public, not just the EPA. It is also concerning since the Supreme Court has recently taken an anti-agency regulation stance on many cases. The court has used the “major questions doctrine” in these instances to prevent agency actions from addressing important issues. For example, they recently struck down the CDC’s coronavirus eviction mortarium, which paused evictions for Americans who were suffering and not able to make rent due to the rise in COVID-19 cases. The Majority opinion stated: “It is indisputable that the public has a strong interest in combating the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant…but our system does not permit agencies to act unlawfully even in pursuit of desirable ends…it is up to Congress, not the CDC, to decide whether the public interest merits further action here,”

Happy Juneteenth!

The Poor Peoples and Low-wage Worker's Assembly and Moral March on Washington happened yesterday. Watch the recording HERE.

Click the video to hear George Friday, Move to Amend Founder and Board member describe the connection between corporate power, the need for the We the People Amendment, and her work with the Poor People's Campaign.

Did you miss the Restoring the Money Power to the People? Watch the recording here!

I have transitioned out of the National Director position at Move to Amend and my long-serving colleagues have stepped forward as co-leaders. It has been an honor and privilege to have co-founded Move to Amend and worked with the organization since its inception in 2009. We have come a long way! There is still much to do – including, and beyond, passing the We the People Amendment. It is crucial that we continue to work in coalition to create an authentically inclusive democracy movement equivalent in scale to the forces that have caused and continue to fuel the enormous crises we face.

We are thrilled to let you know that Move to Amend is offering another chance to view The New Corporation! We are accepting donations to watch the film (suggested amount $15), but no one will be turned away for lack of funds!

Every day is the right day for honoring and celebrating mothers, as well as the rest of the supportive women in our lives.

That said, Mother’s Day is yet another example of a social movement being co-opted and corporatized in the US.

In fact, Americans will spend upwards of $31.7 billion on Mother’s Day this year, an amount which has gone up nearly every year since 2012.

The recent Florida bill signed by Governor Ron DeSantis to revoke the special tax status of Disney Corporation for its leaders speaking out against the new “Don’t Say Gay” law is less about DeSantis or Disney than it is about the decline of our “representative democracy.”

Here are 10 takeaways:

Any day is a good day to work to end corporate constitutional rights (“corporate personhood” for short). 

But May Day - May 1, this Sunday -  is an especially good day!

marked the anniversary of the worst man-made catastrophe in U.S. history. 12-years ago the Deep Water Horizon Platform explosion spewed 234 million gallons of oil throughout the Gulf of Mexico over a period of 87 days, killing at least 11 people. Almost 40,000 additional medical claims were filed by coastal residents, first responders, and cleanup workers seeking compensation from BP for health-related problems as a result of the oil spill and chemical cleanup efforts.

More than a half-century after the first Earth Day, the environment is near a tipping point of collapse. All of us must be a part of the solution, which includes, in part, abolishing corporate constitutional rights and big money in elections, but must include much more. 

Today is Earth Day -- the 52nd Anniversary of what is considered the birth of the modern environmental movement.