Earth Watch: Jason Davidson On Climate Solutions

Today on Sojourner Truth:

New freedom riders are descending on Washington DC, even as the Rev. William Barber, joint coordinator of the Poor People's Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, along with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other religious leaders, were arrested during civil disobedience. Their cause? The right to vote. On Tuesday, June 22, the Republican Party blocked opening debate on the For the People Act, a key voting rights bill put forward by the Democrats. All members of the Republican Party in the Senate voted against opening debate on the bill, thus killing the legislation. Is there a way forward for those who defend protecting voter rights? What next steps will the movement for the right to vote take next? Our guest is Barbara Arnwine, a veteran civil rights and human rights leader and advocate. She is currently the President & Founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition.

Excitement across the country builds as millions of families across the United States will begin receiving monthly child tax credit payments for as high as $300 per child, if they are under 6 years old, $250 per child if they are between 6 and 17 years old. Payments are also available for those whose income is generally too low to pay taxes. Many are hailing this as breakthrough legislation, attacking child poverty on a level not seen since the New Deal. But it is not yet permanent and members of Congress are working on legislation to make sure that Child Tax Credit continues after its one-year mandate as part of the Biden-Harris American Rescue Plan. Today, we hear a presentation delivered by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat of Connecticut, to an audience of income rights campaigners.

For our weekly Earth Watch, we speak with Jason Davidson, a Senior Food and Agriculture Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, supporting the Bee Action Campaign. Prior to joining Friends of the Earth, he interned at Climate Reality Project and served as a research assistant in the Geography Department at George Washington University.