We Were Sad, G*ddammit - Here's Some Good News
Look. It was a rough week. We’re all sad. We needed some good news. We will be back to our regularly scheduled sad-fest in a couple weeks. But for now: Gong Noise Part 5. The Gong Legacy. (I’m running out of sequel jokes).
Round 1: Coal Burning
In a close call, Olivia and I both brought coal-related stories to the table. In Olivia’s, a Scientific American article reported that 13 coal-burning power plants will be closed in the United States. Those 13 plants will be closed in light of magnitudes cheaper renewable energy and natural gas (two other plants will be converted to natural gas plants), and it seems that the list of defunct coal-burning plants will continue to grow. Just one of these plants can pump out almost 10 million tons of CO2 per year, so these continues closures are a huge step in reducing our corporate carbon footprint.
My story, an article from Climate Change News, reports that Portugal joined two other countries in fully ending coal burning ahead of schedule - 2 years ahead of schedule, to be exact. It joins Austria and Sweden, who also closed their plants earlier this year, and Belgium, who closed their last plant in 2016. Other countries set to end coal-burning by 2025 are France, Slovakia, the UK, Ireland, and Italy.
Round 2: Digital Equity and Renewable Energy
Next up, Olivia brought in an article from The Philadelphia Enquirer which reports that 35,000 families in Philadelphia will soon have free internet. In the midst of the ongoing global pandemic, low-income families have been inordinately burdened by the sudden need to have fast and reliable internet service. The city of Philadelphia, local schools, and Comcast have committed to bringing free internet to 35,000 of those families in need to ensure their children accessible and fair education. It’s an unprecedented step toward equity and mutual care, and one that will hopefully set an example for other cities and states as this crisis continues.
My article, sourced from EuroNews, continues to focus on energy and climate reform. As of July 1, 2020, Sydney, Australia has been running entirely on renewable energy. By sourcing their energy from New South Wales wind and solar farms, the region has seen annual CO2 emissions decrease by roughly 20,000 tons. Over the next decade, Sydney will see about $500,000 annual savings from the change, and thousands of jobs have opened up as well. Good news all around!
Round 3: Inoculation and Voter Access
My next story, sourced from BBC News, reports an absolutely staggering achievement in medicine: all of continental Africa has been declared 100% free of wild polio. For those who aren’t aware, the three different strains of poliovirus are responsible for what we know as polio and can cause irreversible muscle paralysis. It mostly affects children under 5 years of age, and can cause death if the respiratory muscles are affected. There is no known cure for the virus once it’s contracted, but immunization provides lifetime protection.
Whereas there were over 75,000 paralyzed children 25 years ago, today 95% of Africa’s population have been immunized against the last existing strain of poliovirus. It’s estimated that the oral vaccine has avoided 1.8 million cases of polio worldwide.
And finally, Olivia closed us out with a press release from the NBA announcing that NBA arenas and facilities will be used as polling/voting centers in the 2020 Presidential election. A comprehensive list of how each team will use its facilities is available on their website. This is a hugely beneficial (not to mention high-visibility) push for accessible in-person voting in light of recent polling place closures and USPS stifling.
And on the note of voting…
I think Olivia and I have made our positions relatively clear, but in case we haven’t: this system doesn’t work. It never has. The comfort of white supremacy was built on the backs of those who continue to suffer today. We understand the complaint from those who are most affected by Capitalism and our false democracy that voting doesn’t work because the system is inherently broken. We agree.
What we would recommend, first and foremost, is that you connect with groups whose concerns align with your own (I recommend your local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America or the Sunrise Movement). Grassroots organizations and direct action are the only source of real change in this country, and I implore you to get involved if you feel compelled to motivate that change. Feeling good about ourselves by voting and going home simply isn’t enough.
However. If there’s anything Olivia and I know intimately, it’s the playbook of the descent into fascism. Our democracy is a farce and has been authoritarian in a lot of ways for a long time, but we are going down a path that bars fixing it moving forward. I, myself, would rather rise up against injustice against a cowardly Democrat than a power-hungry lunatic who takes extreme pleasure in ordering public kidnappings and executions. Things can only get worse from here with Donald Trump in the Whitehouse.
“But fascism can’t be voted out,” I hear you smugly saying from behind your computer. You’re correct! Your strategy should be grassroots organizing first and foremost. But if voting were not important, then they wouldn’t be trying so hard to prevent you from doing it. Exercise the rights you have while you have them. Organize. Fight. Keep revolutionary change at the front of your mind. We have so much to gain.