NH Politics

Scott Pruitt: Bad News and Challenges Ahead for New Hampshire

Posted on March 24, 2017March 24, 2017 by gbaldwin

The appointment of Scott Pruitt to head the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has prompted worries concerning the likely impact of his policies on New Hampshire, as well as New England more broadly. Although the Tenth Amendment of the US Constitution reserves broad latitude to New Hampshire to address many environmental matters at the state level, there are many ways in which the federal government can override and influence state efforts.

Scott Pruitt is fundamentally opposed to the EPA’s mission to help ensure a clean environment and manage the country’s natural resources in a manner that serves both present and future generations. During his tenure as Attorney General of Oklahoma, he initiated numerous lawsuits challenging the Clean Water Rule and the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. He has continuously challenged the legitimacy of the EPA’s regulation of carbon dioxide and maintains that there is little scientific consensus on climate change. New Hampshire is already profoundly affected by the early effects of climate change, and the State is downwind from major sources of air pollution in rustbelt states. While New Hampshire does not contribute significantly to these problems, it does stand to suffer the increasingly severe adverse impacts. This should alarm anyone with a love for the natural world or an economic stake in tourism, forestry, or agriculture, to name a few.

[blockquote text=”The source of Mr. Pruitt’s positions on the environment should be centerpiece of scrutiny and a central basis for efforts to resist his agenda as EPA head. ” show_quote_icon=”yes”]

The source of Mr. Pruitt’s positions on the environment should be centerpiece of scrutiny and a central basis for efforts to resist his agenda as EPA head. His views are not the result of candid disagreement over scientific findings, but are nakedly the product of his unabashed support for the oil and gas industries – his primary constituents. The connection between these constituents and his EPA agenda could not be more clear.

For years, Scott Pruitt has had a cozy relationship with Devon Energy and other energy companies, tailoring his actions in his former positions to align with the interests of extractive industries like oil, gas, and coal. Furthermore, it is no secret that Mr. Pruitt has received hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions from these industries. He is a seasoned member of an inside club that knows that serious action on climate change would not only undermine, but collapse, the value of fossil fuel assets and the lucrative profits they generate. The fact that new jobs and opportunities could – and must – come from renewable energy and a green economy is an anathema to his sponsors’ entrenched interests.
Even more alarmingly, the new head of the EPA has often allowed his energy company staff to draft the text of his own reports, bills, and personal correspondence – often using text drafted by oil company reps verbatim. During his confirmation hearings he never mentioned the earthquakes in Oklahoma that were widely attributed to fracking. Nor did he mention the countless families that now have poisoned wells or flammable kitchen faucets. Now Mr. Pruitt is poised to begin dismantling over 50 years of progress in reversing environmental destruction.

[1. Jeremy Diamond and Rene Marsh, Emails reveal Pruitt’s behind-the-scenes collaboration with oil and natural gas giant, CNN, (February 22, 2017) http://www.wmur.com/article/emails-reveal-pruitts-behind-the-scenes-collaboration-with-oil-and-natural-gas-giant/8966922.]

[2. NH DES, Fact Sheet: Global Climate Change and Its Impact on New Hampshire Skiing, https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/commissioner/pip/factsheets/ard/documents/ard-24.pdf ]

Be an Existentialist Hero from the Comfort of Your Own Home: Sartre’s The Flies and Political Resistance

Posted on March 8, 2017March 8, 2017 by gbaldwin

This has been a difficult few months for many of us. We may find ourselves at a crossroads, incredulous about what we witness on the news every day. Is this our reality? We do not recognize this America, or perhaps we recognize it all too well, from ugly episodes we thought we’d left far behind in a shameful past. From a philosophical standpoint, this government is denying verifiable truth with alternative facts, imposing walls and bans, manipulating the worst elements of human nature, fear and anger, for destructive ends. We have seen this before; history repeating itself in a bizarre festival of incompetence, hatred, bigotry, and greed.

It is not a coincidence that the word resistance has been revived under these circumstances [1]

[blockquote text=”We do not recognize this America, or perhaps we recognize it all too well, from ugly episodes we thought we’d left far behind in a shameful past. ” show_quote_icon=”yes”]

How do we resist? Perhaps we should consult some experts. Jean-Paul Sartre, the existentialist philosopher, along with his partner Simone de Beauvoir endured the humiliating experience of the German occupation of France during World War II. Sartre was even taken prisoner by the Nazis and escaped, returning to Paris where he and de Beauvoir survived together, writing and developing a politically engaged philosophy of existentialism which would become fashionable in America in the postwar period.

In 1943, Sartre writes the play, The Flies, a retelling of the classical Oresteia cycle, in which Orestes and his sister, Electra, return to their homeland of Argos to avenge the death of their father, Agamemnon, by killing their mother, Clytemnestra, and her new husband, Aegisthus. Orestes and Electra find Argos under a swarm of flies, Sartre’s metaphor for talking about Nazi-occupied Paris despite the censors.

Living in humiliation because of their illegitimate government, the citizens of Argos have become morally degraded and abject, filled with shame, anger and self-loathing. Avenging his father’s death is not enough; Orestes must rid the city of the flies and lift the scourge that has befallen his home.

The flies become the classical Furies and Orestes refuses Zeus’s aid in freeing the city of them. “An existentialist hero, rebelling against tyranny and taking on the weight of personal responsibility, he prefers to act freely and alone.”[2] Orestes must walk out of the city with the flies and liberate the city himself, without the help of the gods and Fates, who have proven to be unreliable and untrustworthy. The burden of Orestes’ freedom and the freedom of Argos lie on Orestes’ shoulders alone.

We now find ourselves surrounded by another swarm of flies. The buzzing is unmistakable. Yet the importance, the powerful message of Sartre’s existentialism is that it reminds us that

resisting is a choice, as it was then. We can choose to walk out of the city with the flies or live among them. “Sartre’s audience would have recognized the debilitating effects of the compromises most of them had to make, and the humiliation that came from living under tyranny.”[3] Freedom is a choice, personal and real, that we make every day. It is not given and we must fight for it. As difficult a burden as this can transform itself into the ultimate act of liberation.

Existentialist philosophy places the burden of action squarely on the individual. For that reason, it is both terrifying and liberating. During Nazi occupation, there were no more excuses for inaction and “any act of rebellion brought a real moral burden.”[4] For Sartre and his audience, their involvement in the Resistance meant real risks for themselves, their friends and family.

The risk of rebellion has become real for many of us again. We have sacrificed relationships to this administration, worried about the health and safety of our loved ones, and watched as dishonesty and discord divides our nation. Yet there is hope if we can recognize how each of us must make the decision daily to be like Orestes.

Sartre thus explains our existential burden; Zeus confronts an old woman who has heard the sounds of a murder in the streets below her home. “You’re quite old enough to have heard those huge cries that echoed and re-echoed for a whole morning in the city streets. What did you do about it?” Zeus asks. Sartre shows that the old woman too was responsible for the murder outside her door because she did nothing to stop it. “What could I do, a woman alone?” she exclaims. “I bolted my door.”[5]Now, like then, we cannot afford to bolt our doors.

We must not capitulate. We must not surrender. The stakes are too high.

Thanks to technology, the bolt becomes a metaphor we can overcome.

Be like Sartre. Be like de Beauvoir. Be like Han Solo and Princess Leia if you prefer! But be an existentialist hero from the comfort of your own home.

There is a role for everyone in the resistance.

[1] The Resistance never really went away; thanks, Star Wars!

[2] Bakewell, Sarah. At the Existentialist Café. New York, Random House, 2016. 158.

[3] Ibid.

[4] ibid.

[5] Sartre, The Flies. (1.1 50-1)

Fired Up and Ready to Go!

Posted on October 4, 2013March 8, 2017 by Joyce Weston

Welcome to Plymouth Area Democrats. Our organization was founded in 2004, during President George W. Bush’s second run for office, by a group of locals who felt that they could not just sit by helplessly any longer. That group included people you may know: Martha Richards, the first Chair, Deb Reynolds who ran and won a seat in the NH Senate, Kate Hedberg, Veronica Barbardos, Bob Crowley who provided a space for the group, and others. Lisa Lundari, a local graphic artist, designed our logo and other materials as needed.

I arrived in 2005, new to the community and looking for like-minded friends. In no time, Martha had me engaged in the organization. If you have not come to a meeting yet, please join us. You’ll find our meetings—which are generally on the third Wednesday of the month at the Plymouth Area Senior Center—fun and informative. We start with potluck supper at 5:30 —we have a number of wonderful cooks and food lovers in the group.

[blockquote text=”As you can imagine, we are enormously energized right now. We are fighting back against the Republican assault on the progress the Democrats made in NH. ” show_quote_icon=”yes”]

After a brief business meeting and announcements, our guest speakers come on, usually at 7pm. On election years, we try to get all the Democratic candidates here, and in the past we’ve been honored to have visits from Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, Colin Van Ostern, Annie Kuster, and Carol Shea-Porter. Bernie Sanders spoke at PSU, sponsored jointly by the university and PAD. And we have enjoyed accompanying Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan on Main Street walks.

On alternate years, we explore issues that affect the lives of New Hampshire residents and try to find speakers that can provide new and enlightening information on those issues. During my tenure as Chair, we have looked at NH’s tax situation, the opiod crisis, the effect of the minimum wage, the threat of Northern Pass, the effectiveness of Core Curriculum in our schools, and the condition of the rural poor.

As you can imagine, we are enormously energized right now. We are fighting back against the Republican assault on the progress the Democrats made in NH. We are providing weekly action ideas to keep the pressure on the GOP in both Concord and Washington.

We need your help. Please join our email list, our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Come to a meeting soon and make yourself known. We look forward to adding your skill set to our organization.