Page 2 The Skanner Portland & Seattle August 21, 2024
Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now
Bernie Foster
Founder/Publisher
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Executive Editor
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Product Manager
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Photographer
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The IRA is Still Our Biggest Step Toward
a Brighter Future for Our Children
batter homes and businesses
and leave hundreds of thou-
sands of Americans without
power. With so many people
hurting and at risk, the IRA
remains one of our most pow-
erful tools to mitigate climate
change’s harm. We must con-
tinue to learn from our expe-
rience implementing it, fill
gaps where we see them, and
double down on our efforts to
protect people, places and the
planet we call home. And we
must remember that throw-
ing everything we have at
combating the climate crisis
is also the way America wins
in the next economy.
In the decades since the
North American Free Trade
Agreement (NAFTA), the
shipping of U.S. jobs overseas
has helped destroy towns and
cities across America. Now,
the IRA is fueling a manufac-
turing rebirth that is creating
good-paying jobs while bring-
ing our energy economy into
the 21st century.
Plans to build a new solar
cell factory near Minneapo-
lis, Minnesota are currently
underway. This factory will
create more clean energy jobs
in the Midwest while address-
ing the need for more Ameri-
can-made solar cells. The so-
lar company Heliene, which
co-owns the project, publicly
credits the IRA’s tax credits for
inspiring its decision to invest
in U.S. solar manufacturing.
ice President Kamala
Harris has the vision,
the intellect and the
heart to lead a conver-
sation about how to preserve
American democracy. As a
country, we are still strug-
gling to make this “A more
perfect union.” We are an in-
credibly unique and beauti-
fully diverse nation, blessed
in so many ways. However,
our history of cultural cleav-
age and racial unrest still
plagues us. At times, the ideo-
logical divide seems to be an
unbridgeable chasm. There
are those who would use po-
litical power to exploit our
differences and undermine
the very democratic institu-
tions that have held us togeth-
er as a nation.
So, America is at the cross-
roads. What we choose to do
between now and election day
will determine our destiny.
Will we work hard to keep
our democracy, or will we be
seduced to accept authoritari-
an rule? Let there be no doubt
about it: The choice is upon
us, and we will have to live
with the consequences of our
collective decision for years
to come.
As providence would have
it, the American people are
Pres. Emerit.
National
Bankers
Assoc.
now being offered two very
different candidates for pres-
ident: one who is the embod-
iment of democratic norms,
individual liberty and a re-
spect for the rule of law. The
“
often think about a factory
hallway in Dalton, Georgia
that is filled with pictures
drawn by children. It is a re-
minder of what can be, what
will be, thanks to the historic
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA),
which celebrates its second
anniversary this month.
The drawings capture how
these children see their par-
ents who work at this solar
manufacturing plant. There
are pictures of beautiful sun-
ny days, of the earth with
pristine water. Of their par-
ents saving the world. These
children see their parents as
superheroes. As I remember
these pictures, I wonder: how
can anyone not be inspired by
these children to fight every
day for a better, livable fu-
ture? For more clean energy
jobs, in big cities and rural
communities across the coun-
try, that will power our econ-
omy – and our homes – for
generations to come?
Around this anniversary,
the news has been filled with
reflection on what the IRA has
achieved and what still needs
to be done. It is – as it should
be – a major focal point at the
Democratic National Conven-
tion happening now in Chica-
What we
choose to do
between now
and election
day will de-
termine our
destiny.
other, a candidate who has
not sought to hide his vision
for America: a welcoming of
authoritarian rule. He and
his cohorts will work through
a master plan (Project 2025)
for gutting the federal bu-
reaucracy with its system of
meritocracy, replacing it with
one that favors cronyism and
dictatorial decision-making.
For an example of how
Trumpism would funda-
mentally change the Amer-
ican political system (with
its checks and balances), one
need only to observe how he
has already transformed the
Supreme Court into a vehicle
I
LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS
LOCAL EVENTS
on
she has announced her pol-
icy positions on a number
of issues: favoring a wom-
en’s right to control her own
body; protect the healthcare
of millions of Americans;
calling major businesses for
a summit to discuss price
gouging; continuing her de-
cades-long fight for equality
for all Americans; continuing
to address global warming;
and protecting her fellow
Americans from the insane
proliferation of senseless gun
violence, she knows that this
election is about more than a
civil debate about policy dif-
ferences. She knows that this
election is about protecting
our most cherished freedoms
as Americans.
We, the people, are being
given the choice to continue
our march towards a more
perfect union, or to accept
a new model of governance
where some are considered
above the law and the masses
are subjugated to an injudi-
cious system where revenge,
retribution and cronyism are
tolerated with impunity.
I think it is interesting that
when the American family
has become so dysfunctional,
a house divided again, that
Almighty God would send us
a leader who has shown her-
self to be a proven guardian
of what we hold as sacred:
Democracy buttressed by the
rule of law.
V
Saundra Sorenson
Reporter
! • L i ke u s
of his power-grabbing. In its
recent ruling on presiden-
tial immunity, six of the jus-
tices, disregarding precedent,
placed the president above
the law. These political hacks
- parading as jurists sitting
on the highest court of the
land – broke with 250 years
of jurisprudence to give the
president powers reserved
for a king. So why did we fight
the American Revolutionary
War?
Donald Trump is working
in concert with many others
who are prepared to destabi-
lize our sacred democracy in
favor of a system that is anath-
ema to what has made Ameri-
ca the envy of the world: A
system that celebrates the
consent of the governed and
the rule of law.
Yes, we are at a critical mo-
ment in American history
not witnessed since the Civil
War. The forces of retrench-
ment are highly organized,
well-funded and prepared to
do whatever is necessary to
impose their minority will on
the will of the majority. Don-
ald Trump has publicly stated
that he doesn’t need the votes.
Is that so? Then, tell us, Mr.
Trump, how do you intend to
come back into power?
Thankfully, Vice President
Kamala Harris has prepared
herself for this moment in
our nation’s history. Like Joan
of Arc, she has donned her
suit of armor and is prepared
to confront the enemies of
America’s democracy! While
Michael A.
Grant, J.D
Because a ‘House
Divided Against
Itself Cannot
Stand’
Jerry Foster
Advertising Manager
d ay
• to
Opinion
America Needs Kamala Harris to Win
Ben
Jealous
Dir.Sierra
Club, Prof
University
of Penn.
go.
You do not have to look hard
to find examples of its success.
More than 334,000 new clean
energy jobs have been creat-
ed across the country. More
than 3 million U.S. households
have collectively saved over
“
step ever toward securing
a healthy and livable planet
for all. No other single piece
of legislation has done more
to address our climate goals
and support the clean energy
revolution already underway.
Through the Climate Pollu-
tion Reduction Grants pro-
gram, the IRA is projected to
reduce greenhouse gas pollu-
tion by as much as 971 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide
equivalent by 2050. That’s
equivalent to the emissions
from about 5 million homes’
energy use every year for
No other single piece of legisla-
tion has done more to address our
climate goals
$8 billion on upgrades that
will save them money and
make their homes more ener-
gy efficient. In Illinois alone,
for example, nearly 140,000
residents claimed more than
$260 million in tax credits on
their 2023 tax returns for in-
stalling solar or making other
energy efficiency improve-
ments on their homes.
One fact should loom larg-
er than most: the IRA is still
this nation’s biggest single
more than 25 years.
Need a reminder of the ur-
gency and necessity of this
investment in combating the
climate crisis? Just turn on
the news. Or step outside.
We are experiencing the hot-
test summer on record … in
the hottest year on record.
Supercharged storms and
wildfires from all that heat
are impacting more and more
Americans. Hurricane Ernes-
to is just the latest storm to
Read the rest of this commentary at
TheSkanner.com
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