Pick up Your Pen
Two quick actions--but you need to do them today.
“If this country has a future, it’s in the streets, the courts, the movements and the continued exercise of free speech and freedom of assembly against this administration.” - Rebecca Solnit
Dear Friends,
It’s been a great week as we watch the MAGA base start to fracture and Trump’s poll numbers continue their free fall; and, especially, as we see our efforts, and the struggles of the brave women who fought for years to be heard and seen, finally bear fruit with the imminent release of the Epstein files.
I have only two action items for you this week—submitting public comment on vital issues—but they need quick attention.
Lastly, please read the Note to Readers at the bottom.
Yours for democracy,
Amy
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TWO ACTIONS
I’m asking you to submit comments to two government agencies on controversial moves they are considering. To skeptics, I will point out that government agencies are legally required to pay attention to, consider, and respond to significant public comments.
1. Stop Trump’s Western Arctic Sell Off. Comment by FRIDAY
The Trump administration is seeking to open more than 18 million acres in the Western Arctic to oil and gas development. We have a brief window to submit comments opposing this giveaway to polluting industries. You must do this by email by Nov. 21 (Friday).
Two easy steps:
Copy and paste or, even better, adapt in your words, this message:
“Dear Bureau of Land Management,
I am writing to ask that you prevent over 18 million acres in Western Alaska from being opened to drilling. Protecting this region is essential for preserving biodiversity and slowing global warming, avoiding the worst impacts of climate change. And the law supports it: Protections for the Western Arctic’s lands are embedded in the National Petroleum Reserves Protection Act.
Recklessly exploiting these priceless public lands to benefit oil companies, and to extract fossil fuels at a time when the rest of the world is switching over to renewable energy, when the planet is facing disastrous climate consequences from burning oil, is the last thing the federal government should be focused on right now.”
Paste into an email to the BLM, Alaska State Office, at: BLM_AKSO_AK932_AKLeasesales@blm.gov
2. Stop Naturalized Voter Disenfranchisement
The Department of Homeland Security is trying to purge new Mainers—and naturalized citizens everywhere-- from voter rolls by creating a “citizenship” check system that could wrongfully keep eligible citizens from voting. They are doing this by using (abusing) private voter data that the Trump administration culled from Social Security files—in flagrant violation of the Privacy Act.
DHS is taking public comments on this effort until Dec. 1. Please take a moment to send a quick message, following these two quick steps:
Copy and paste (or adapt) this sample script:
The Privacy Act protects U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents from improper government use of their data. We share private citizenship information with the Social Security Administration with the guarantee that it will only be used for purposes related to benefits, retirement, disability, and death. We did NOT consent to our sensitive SSA data being repurposed by federal or state governments for use in a massive voter verification system. The government has no right to do this without our consent.
This misuse of private data could wrongfully purge lawfully registered voters from voter rolls and prevent eligible voters from voting. In fact, some states have already started purging voter rolls and opening criminal cases using this system–even though this data is especially unreliable for naturalized citizens and states are doing little to confirm the data is accurate.
In addition, the consolidation and misuse of our data in this way substantially increases the risk of our personal information being vulnerable to security breaches.
Be sure to encourage family and friends to do the same by December 1!
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A Note to Readers
Over the past eight months, a surprising number of you have pledged to become paying subscribers to this newsletter, should I ever enable the payment option. While Maine Matters will always be free, I have decided to activate payments for those who choose to do so, starting next week. More on what this means in a future newsletter.
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Ongoing Weekly Rallies
Check out the graphic below, or my list of rallies or the (regularly updated) calendar at ActivateMaine.
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RESOURCES
Ice Watch Hotline in Maine: 207-544-9989. (Add to your contacts to report ICE activity.)
Maine Congressional phone #s.
Sen. Collins: Portland: (207) 618-5560 -- Lewiston: (207) 784-6969--Biddeford: (207) 283-1101--Caribou: (207) 493-7873 Augusta: (207) 622-8414 -- Washington DC: (202) 224-2523
Sen. King: (202) 224-5344; Portland: (207) 245-1565
Rep. Pingree: (202) 225-6116; Portland: (207) 774-5019
Rep. Golden: (202) 225-6306; Maine: (207) 241-6767
NEW! RESISTBOT. Resistbot, a free app, is a quick and easy way for people who prefer to write to elected officials. By simply by texting “resist” to 50409 you can add your name to pre-written letters that will be delivered to them.
Other Congressional Phone #s: Find your Rep here. Find your Senator here.
Turn Anger to Action: A quick guide to WHY and HOW to make those 5 or 6 daily phone calls.
5calls.org Great app for helping make those 5 calls a day. Does all the heavy lifting.
Find a Group Near You: a listing of the grassroots resistance groups in Maine.
ActivateMaine.com. Website with calendar of statewide protests and community organizing events. List your events here!
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As always, share this newsletter widely. And thank you for doing your part for democracy.
FYI, South Berwick rallies on Wednesdays have been moved up to 3:30 - 4:30 for the winter hours.