EDA News Winter Edition 2023

THIS QUARTER IN EDA

Time to read: 14:00

Welcome to the Winter Edition
What's happening in EDA
2024: A critical year for democracy
Are government subsidies doing more harm than good?
Are we really making progress towards sustainable energy?
Growing the local economy
PFAS: A strong case for advocacy
The power of grassroots advocacy
Is Green Infrastructure an option to ease flooding?
Regenerative agriculture
How our diet is killing us

Back issues of EDA News can be found on the EDA website

We’ve had some exciting changes at EDA this year. New leadership on some teams has brought a fresh perspective on leveraging broader technology and innovation to enhance our effectiveness. We’re looking at new fundraising approaches and membership drives to ensure the long-term viability of EDA.

2023 was a year of examining everything from our strategic direction to our organizational culture. It has been a delicate balance in preserving the organization's core values while embracing new ideas and approaches. We would like to thank all of you for your continuing support and participation.

One of our speakers was Kevin Hansen, who is the Country Hydrogeologist for Thurston County in Washington. His engaging presentation focused on the rising pressure we’re seeing on our water resources due to the increase in migration of people from the middle latitudes. He used his county as an example of how challenges facing water resources are becoming an issue in many communities.

Another speaker was Roar Bjonnes, former EDA President and co-founder of Systems Change Alliance. He explained how Neo-liberalism as a philosophy and economic system has created a civilization that’s careening toward climate breakdown. Roar proposed a solution based on a PROUT approach offering four possible scenarios.

We also heard from our friend Karen Suhaka, Founder of BillTrack50. Karen explained the many different ways EDA could display legislative data in eye-catching and engaging ways. EDA uses BillTrack50 as the source for the legislation information found on the maps in the State Legislative section of our website.

This year’s conference format allowed for greater audience participation with multiple opportunities for questions, comments and discussion. A big thank you to all who attended!

At the beginning of the year, our State Legislation team will begin reviewing thousands of bills across the country. The team will identify bills that support the sustainable and equitable use of food, water and energy. Those that meet the criteria will be uploaded to the maps on the State Legislative section of the website so that you can see what's happening in your state.

The team is also starting a new project. They will be looking at creating a scorecard for ranking legislation that supports greater carrying capacity of food, water and energy in each state. This scorecard will help you clearly see which states are seriously committed to sustainable solutions.

If you like doing research, the team is always looking for additional members to review pending legislation. For more information contact Grant Grover.

Our grassroots outreach program is not a lecture series, nor are you expected to be an expert in economic democracy. Simply speaking, we’re inviting people in our own community to join us in a conversation about issues of mutual concern. Together we’ll explore ways in which we can all come together to help our neighbors attain their sustainability goals, and safeguard our precious resources for future generations. We can do this through education and legislative action.

The program is carefully curated by your Education and Advocacy Teams to help you every step of the way, from identifying potential sponsoring organizations, to handling your first contact with them, all the way through to follow-up. We’re developing printable material, templates, power points and resource guides to help you engage others in discussion on a range of topics.

If there are other EDA members in your area, or friends who share your interests and concerns, you can create a team and work on an action project together. It’s always more fun, not to mention more effective when we work together.

We’ll host another Town Hall in early 2024 to go over all the materials in the program. After that, we’ll offer practice sessions to help you get a real feel for how this will work in the real world. Our goal is to help you get to a place where you’re excited about sharing what you know with others, and expanding your own knowledge.

Together we will grow EDA!

From Russia, Belarus, Rwanda and South Africa to El Salvador, Indonesia, India and Bangladesh, the growing trend is to stage ‘demonstration’ elections. These are referendums that appear to offer voters a meaningful choice of candidates but are rigged to elect or re-elect corrupt rulers into office.

This practice is usually more than stuffing ballot boxes. It involves exploiting public media, creating fake news on social media, redrawing electoral boundaries, tampering with voter rolls, deploying the police or army, influencing judges and using administrative gimmicks to suppress voters from casting their ballots.

Throughout its history, the United States has been an influential beacon of liberal democracy. But a polarizing election next November in the US could imperil the future of democracy in the US and the world.

EDA was created to model the importance of democratic elections and institutions. We encourage you to exercise your privilege of participating in representative democracy. Please vote in the 2024 elections. And work with EDA to increase your dialogue with elected officials on legislative issues of significance to your community and nation.

The problem is bigger than direct government expenditures. The report assesses the harmful impact of implicit subsidies, which amount to $6 trillion each year. These represent the costs to people and the planet from pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, road congestion, and the destruction of nature ultimately resulting from these subsidies.

Watch this video from the World Bank to see how subsidies for agriculture, fisheries and fossil fuels are negatively impacting people, economics and our planet.

Back in March 2023, the newsletter had an article on forever chemicals, or PFAS (3M to stop making ‘forever chemicals’). We’re revisiting this issue again. It's a perfect example of how advocacy for legislative change has the potential to stop the use of these dangerous chemicals.

What are PFAS?
These chemicals are now ubiquitous. They’re found in non-stick cookware, cosmetics, fast food packaging, water resistant clothing, stain resistant products, pesticides, fast food packaging, paint, our drinking water and even in microwave popcorn bags. Studies have uncovered that they’re also in the blood of 99% of Americans.

Why are they so dangerous?
These chemicals do not break down over time. They have been linked to asthma, cancer, liver damage, decreased fertility and thyroid diseases. In fact, in areas that are close to high levels of PFAS, there is an abnormally high rate of cancer in people and animals. Here’s a guide to avoiding PFAS chemicals.

Contamination of our water impacts farming and livestock. Most states don’t test every farm and the problem is that the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) haven’t established any limits for PFAS in food or livestock. That means there are likely farming operations who sit on property with a history of chemical contamination. If it hasn’t been tested, that farm can continue to sell its livestock and produce. Michigan is the only state that tests for PFAS and other unknown chemicals in its watersheds and waterways.

Here’s three steps you can take to have an impact:

This victory resulted from twenty years of grassroots advocacy by local citizens. This work also demonstrates how important it is to protect a democracy that allows citizens to put issues of critical importance on the ballot.

That was Ecuador—could we do this in the US?

Unfortunately, oil and gas companies realize the threat that a citizen-based democracy may pose to their power. One of the best-kept secrets is that in the United States, the fossil fuel industry quietly funds a national campaign to push through anti-protest bills in at least eighteen states. This means that anyone protesting at an oil or gas facility will be fined or given prison sentences. These laws are meant to intimidate and stop protesters before they begin. And it’s not just happening in the United States. Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany have had similar issues.

Case in point: Steven Donziger, the environmental justice and human rights lawyer who helped people win the case for pollution in Ecuador was detained for almost three years in the US after he was targeted with the nation’s first-ever corporate prosecution.

Advocacy for climate justice
What happened in Ecuador teaches us that a strong grassroots movement working within the democratic process can achieve results. But it takes persistence and commitment.

If 2023’s wildfires and air pollution, floods, hurricanes, extreme weather and drought haven’t demonstrated the impact of climate change up to all of us, consider the inaction of our two political parties. Both support the expansion of fossil fuels. As more people stand up for climate justice, it will send a message to our government that we the people declare that it’s time to take action.

The science of food processing has allowed companies to produce food that isn’t food. Read the label on any packaged food in your cupboard. If there are ingredients that you don’t have in your pantry, then it’s ultra-processed food (UPF). UPF additives replace real food with cheaper alternatives that extend the product’s shelf life, make it easier to transport over long distances and generate huge profits for companies like Unilever, Heinz, PepsiCo, Mondalez, Nestle, and others. But are these products healthy?

In the 1970’s, health wisdom told us to eat fewer calories. Low-fat foods such as salad dressings, sauces and condiments were introduced as healthy alternatives. Since the low-fat movement, Americans may be eating fewer calories, but the obesity rates have been steadily rising. Why is that?

For an eye-opening look at ultra-processed food, you can read the book by Dr. Chris van Tulleken: Ultra-Processed People: why we can’t stop eating food that isn’t food. He explains that UPF is cheap and profitable to produce, high in carbohydrates, elevates blood sugar levels in larger quantities, and worst of all, they’re addictive. These additives make us want to eat more, and that means higher profits for food companies. Sadly, multinational food companies are getting richer, while the rest of us suffer the health repercussions of eating food that isn’t food.

Watch this interview with Dr. Chris van Tulleken where he explains how our diet is killing us.

Regenerative agriculture is an approach to farming and land management that aims to improve and restore the health of ecosystems while providing for sustainable and productive agricultural systems. It’s often seen as a more environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative to large commercial farming operations.

The Nature Conservancy offers some FAQ’s about food, farming, climate change and biodiversity. Find the answers to these questions:

Is farming bad for the planet?
Does farming make climate change worse?
What is regenerative agriculture?
What are the benefits of regenerative agriculture?
What are examples of regenerative farming practices?
Is regenerative food production new?
How does climate change affect farming and our food?