Multiple press outlets are reporting that President Trump has said that peace talks with Iran are scheduled for later today saying he had called off yet another attack on the country. Trump's increasingly erratic behavior continues to play out while the war he started with Israel months ago has prompted attacks across the Gulf to the Red Sea and even an Egyptian natural gas facility in the Mediterranean.
The Guardian is reporting that wildfires are raging in and around Spokane Washington destroying over 600 structures and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate their homes. Dozens of other wildfires throughout the western U.S. are stretching the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them.
The National Weather Service has issued air quality and red flag wildfire warnings for the Pacific Northwest and portions of Utah, Arizona, California, Nevada and Montana.
Climate crisis related wildfires are continuing to burn in Canada and Europe where two firefighting helicopters collided in Greece killing two firefighters dying in the crash over the weekend.
In Asia, South Korea is reporting its highest temperatures ever recorded in the more than a century of official record keeping prompting officials to warn the public to "immediately stop all outdoor activities" reported the Guardian.
Of course, the Trump administration in its full court press to dismantle the federal government and public science moved to close dozens of government research centers that studied wildfires and the public health impacts from ingesting wildfire smoke that carries toxic like copper, lead and zinc.
According to NOAA, wildfires are hitting local communities across the United States much harder with wildfire damage that has averaged between $15 billion and $25 billion annually over the past two decades, spiking to $57 billion last year alone.
This year the Trump administration gag slashed the U.S. Forest Service budget by $438 million, a 24 percent reduction. This year, wildfire activity is up nearly two fold, outpacing the 10-year average over previous wildfire seasons.
In this episode, we zeroed in on the consequences for our region and the planet from those Musk-Trump-GOP scorched earth disaster aid cuts that are targeted to do the most damage to so-called Blue States that historically elect Democrats.
We discussed the challenges of keeping New York City's vast watershed and drinking water system safe amidst the deepening climate crisis and growing risks from cyber attacks with Matt Kruger, President of the Environmental Police Benevolent Association. Matt recounted the years of organizing he and his rank and file had to do to free themselves from corrupt union leadership that was convicted of ripping off their union.
Our current events panel with Larry Hamm and Dr. Joe Wilson weighed in on the latest news.
In our second half, we look at the Trump - GOP induced meltdown of Medicaid upon which tens of millions of Americans rely. Our panel included Laura Waddell, NJ Citizens Action, Ursula Rozum, Citizen Action of New York, lead statewide healthcare organizer and Kelly Smith, with the Non-Violent Medicaid Army, with a presence in 14 states organizing around the principle that healthcare is a human right.
In both New York and New Jersey, hundreds of thousands of residents, many of them working in essential jobs, are losing their healthcare coverage.
Waddell says in New Jersey, Trenton used its annual budget to soften the impact of the Trump-GOP cuts. In Albany, Rozum says political leaders could have done more and described the importance of moving on the New York Health Act which would provide healthcare for all and cut the profiteering healthcare insurance sector out of the equation.
Smith fills us in on the power that Medicaid participants feel when they join in with others similarly situated to fight back against the cuts to their coverage. All three panelists reflect on how healthcare is a basic human right.
We finish up with Mia Logan, with Climate Power USA who fills us in on the socio-economic damage done to local, county and state governments that are targeted for disaster aid cuts based on their track record of voting for Democrats.
Earlier this summer, Politico reported “President Donald Trump overruled his own agencies when he denied disaster aid for four Democratic-led states this month."
Politico's reporting continued. "Emails between state and federal officials obtained by POLITICO along with more than 150 pages of documents submitted to FEMA by three states — New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island — provide new details about Trump’s low rate of approving disaster aid for his political adversaries. He also denied a request by New York after administration officials verified that it had met federal standards for approval, according to state officials."
