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A self-described army of young people devoted to climate change activism are taking their show on the road to build support for national Democrats’ Green New Deal and to counter business interests that favor fossil fuel use.

The Sunrise Movement first attracted media attention when hundreds of its followers organized sit-ins at congressional offices following the 2018 midterm elections. The movement’s network of activists is touted as including teenagers and college-age students and graduates.

In a widely reported encounter in February, elementary school children from San Francisco urged Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to support the Green New Deal. The Sunrise Movement posted a video of the spirited exchange, which also included middle and high school students, on its Facebook page.

Beginning April 18 in Boston, the environmental advocacy group will go on a speaking tour, called “Road to the Green New Deal,” that will visit nine major U.S. cities. The tour is set to conclude May 13in Washington.

The group’s stated goal is to make the 2020 elections a referendum on climate change and to implement the hotly debated Green New Deal as policy in 2021.

“Sunrise hopes the media falls for its image of itself as a youth-led …read more

A self-described army of young people devoted to climate change activism are taking their show on the road to build support for national Democrats’ Green New Deal and to counter business interests that favor fossil fuel use.

The Sunrise Movement first attracted media attention when hundreds of its followers organized sit-ins at congressional offices following the 2018 midterm elections. The movement’s network of activists is touted as including teenagers and college-age students and graduates.

In a widely reported encounter in February, elementary school children from San Francisco urged Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to support the Green New Deal. The Sunrise Movement posted a video of the spirited exchange, which also included middle and high school students, on its Facebook page.

Beginning April 18 in Boston, the environmental advocacy group will go on a speaking tour, called “Road to the Green New Deal,” that will visit nine major U.S. cities. The tour is set to conclude May 13in Washington.

The group’s stated goal is to make the 2020 elections a referendum on climate change and to implement the hotly debated Green New Deal as policy in 2021.

“Sunrise hopes the media falls for its image of itself as a youth-led …read more

Mississippi’s governor has signed into law a donor privacy bill designed to protect the anonymity of those who give money to nonprofit charities.

The new
law prohibits state government officials from soliciting or releasing donor
information from charitable groups that fall under section 501 of federal tax law.

Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, signed the legislation known as HB 1205 last week after both houses of the Mississippi Legislature passed it.

“In
recent years, charitable donations have been weaponized by certain groups
against individuals to punish donors whose political beliefs differ from their
own,” Bryant said afterward in a tweet March
28. “I was pleased today to sign HB 1205, which protects free speech rights of
Mississippians who make charitable donations.”

Not
everyone in Mississippi was on board with the donor privacy bill.

In an opinion piece published in The Meridian Star, columnist Bill Crawford urged the
governor to veto the legislation. Crawford accused Republican state lawmakers
of working “to protect dark money from the light of transparency.”

Crawford
wrote that he views HB 1205 as an extension of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling
in the 2010 case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. He argued that the high court’s decision made it possible for
“big money individuals and corporations” to “funnel …read more

Mississippi’s governor has signed into law a donor privacy bill designed to protect the anonymity of those who give money to nonprofit charities.

The new
law prohibits state government officials from soliciting or releasing donor
information from charitable groups that fall under section 501 of federal tax law.

Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, signed the legislation known as HB 1205 last week after both houses of the Mississippi Legislature passed it.

“In
recent years, charitable donations have been weaponized by certain groups
against individuals to punish donors whose political beliefs differ from their
own,” Bryant said afterward in a tweet March
28. “I was pleased today to sign HB 1205, which protects free speech rights of
Mississippians who make charitable donations.”

Not
everyone in Mississippi was on board with the donor privacy bill.

In an opinion piece published in The Meridian Star, columnist Bill Crawford urged the
governor to veto the legislation. Crawford accused Republican state lawmakers
of working “to protect dark money from the light of transparency.”

Crawford
wrote that he views HB 1205 as an extension of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling
in the 2010 case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. He argued that the high court’s decision made it possible for
“big money individuals and corporations” to “funnel …read more

Leading technology and social media companies that have partnered with the Southern Poverty Law Center either are distancing themselves from the controversial organization or declining to comment about their relationship with the nonprofit in light of a recent shake-up at the top.

Of five tech giants contacted by The Daily Signal regarding their ties, only Facebook and Twitter responded.

Morris Dees, a lawyer who co-founded the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center in 1971, was dismissed last month amid allegations of sexual harassment and racial discrimination.

Then, Richard Cohen, president of SPLC since 2003, announced that he would step down, citing “recent events.”

“Whatever problems exist at the SPLC happened on my watch, so I take responsibility for them,” Cohen wrote in an email to staff, The New York Times reported.

A former employee, Bob Moser, recently authored a piece in The New Yorker describing SPLC’s business practices as “a highly profitable scam.”

Social media juggernauts Facebook and Twitter and tech giants Google (which owns YouTube) and Amazon (which owns Audible and IMDB.com) are among major players that have partnered with SPLC to root out “hate speech” on their platforms, according to media reports. Apple also has strong ties to SPLC.

The …read more

Leading technology and social media companies that have partnered with the Southern Poverty Law Center either are distancing themselves from the controversial organization or declining to comment about their relationship with the nonprofit in light of a recent shake-up at the top.

Of five tech giants contacted by The Daily Signal regarding their ties, only Facebook and Twitter responded.

Morris Dees, a lawyer who co-founded the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center in 1971, was dismissed last month amid allegations of sexual harassment and racial discrimination.

Then, Richard Cohen, president of SPLC since 2003, announced that he would step down, citing “recent events.”

“Whatever problems exist at the SPLC happened on my watch, so I take responsibility for them,” Cohen wrote in an email to staff, The New York Times reported.

A former employee, Bob Moser, recently authored a piece in The New Yorker describing SPLC’s business practices as “a highly profitable scam.”

Social media juggernauts Facebook and Twitter and tech giants Google (which owns YouTube) and Amazon (which owns Audible and IMDB.com) are among major players that have partnered with SPLC to root out “hate speech” on their platforms, according to media reports. Apple also has strong ties to SPLC.

The …read more

An elderly veteran who ran a business supplying water to fight forest fires was prosecuted by the federal government and sent to prison for digging ponds on his own property, one of his lawyers says.

Joe Robertson, a Navy veteran from Montana, was 78 when he was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution through deductions from his Social Security checks.

His crime?

Robertson, whose business supplied water trucks to Montana firefighters, dug a series of small ponds close to his home in 2013 and 2014. The site was a wooded area near a channel, a foot wide and a foot deep, with two to three garden hoses’ worth of flow, according to court documents.

The U.S. government prosecuted Robertson for digging in proximity to “navigable waters” without a permit, a violation of the Clean Water Act administered by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Tony Francois, a senior attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit, public interest law firm specializing in property rights, described the events leading up to Robertson’s prosecution during a panel discussion Monday at The Heritage Foundation.

Also on the panel was Kevin …read more

An elderly veteran who ran a business supplying water to fight forest fires was prosecuted by the federal government and sent to prison for digging ponds on his own property, one of his lawyers says.

Joe Robertson, a Navy veteran from Montana, was 78 when he was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution through deductions from his Social Security checks.

His crime?

Robertson, whose business supplied water trucks to Montana firefighters, dug a series of small ponds close to his home in 2013 and 2014. The site was a wooded area near a channel, a foot wide and a foot deep, with two to three garden hoses’ worth of flow, according to court documents.

The U.S. government prosecuted Robertson for digging in proximity to “navigable waters” without a permit, a violation of the Clean Water Act administered by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers.

Tony Francois, a senior attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation, a nonprofit, public interest law firm specializing in property rights, described the events leading up to Robertson’s prosecution during a panel discussion Monday at The Heritage Foundation.

Also on the panel was Kevin …read more

Political figures who support the so-called Green New Deal and other proposals to restrict carbon dioxide emissions are up against some “inconvenient facts” that Americans may access immediately through a smartphone application, a geologist and author says.

But there’s one big problem.

The app, called Inconvenient Facts, is available only to Android users through the Google Play Store. Since March 4, users of Apple’s iPhone no longer can access the app through the tech giant’s App Store.

Why is that?

Gregory Wrightstone, a geologist with more than three decades of experience, told The Daily Signal in an interview that he has his own opinion about what may have transpired inside Apple.

Wrightstone is the author of the book “Inconvenient Facts: The Science That Al Gore Doesn’t Want You to Know,” which served as the basis for the information available from the app.

He notes that former Vice President Al Gore, a leading proponent of the view that mankind’s activities propel dangerous climate change, is a board member of Apple.

“It’s very rare for an app to be approved and then taken down unless there is offensive material or some other extreme issue,” Wrightstone said of Apple’s action in a …read more

Political figures who support the so-called Green New Deal and other proposals to restrict carbon dioxide emissions are up against some “inconvenient facts” that Americans may access immediately through a smartphone application, a geologist and author says.

But there’s one big problem.

The app, called Inconvenient Facts, is available only to Android users through the Google Play Store. Since March 4, users of Apple’s iPhone no longer can access the app through the tech giant’s App Store.

Why is that?

Gregory Wrightstone, a geologist with more than three decades of experience, told The Daily Signal in an interview that he has his own opinion about what may have transpired inside Apple.

Wrightstone is the author of a book,“Inconvenient Facts: The Science That Al Gore Doesn’t Want You to Know,” which served as the basis for the information available from the app.

He notes that former Vice President Al Gore, a leading proponent of the view that mankind’s activities propel dangerous climate change, is a board member of Apple.

“It’s very rare for an app to be approved and then taken down unless there is offensive material or some other extreme issue,” Wrightstone said of Apple’s action in a phone …read more