Between The Lines - Kids vs Global Warming Youth Council leader and plaintiff of federal lawsuit Garrett Serrels: Discussion of Kids Versus Global Warming During Walk for Our Grandchildren (Week Ending Sept. 13, 2013)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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Kids vs Global Warming Appeals Court Dismissal of Lawsuit Over Government Inaction on Climate Change

RealAudio MP3

Posted Sept. 4, 2013

Interview with Garrett Serrels, activist with the group, Kids vs Global Warming, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

In recent years, young people have been getting more involved in work to halt the warming of the planet. One 13-year-old, Alec Loorz, founded a group called “Kids vs Global Warming” in 2009, with his mother, Victoria. Through community engagement campaigns and leadership development programs, the group’s goal is to empower youth to speak up for their generation and ignite change in their worlds to value nature and future generations more than profits and power. Alec sued the federal government in 2011 over its failure to take action on climate change, based on the Public Trust Doctrine, under which the state serves as trustee of the commons on behalf of present and future generations.

Two other teens who got involved in the campaign as Youth Council leaders and plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Alec's twin cousins, 17-year-olds Garrett and Grant Serrels. They both participated in the recent July Walk for Our Grandchildren, a climate action where activists of all ages marched 100 miles from Camp David in Maryland to the White House, calling on President Obama to deny a permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would bring dirty tar sands oil south from Canada to Texas refineries. Participants in the Walk also called more generally for keeping fossil fuels in the ground and other measures to reduce the global rise in carbon dioxide. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus, who participated in the July walk, interviewed Garrett Serrels just before a rally in front of the White House at which he spoke. Here he talks about the lawsuit and other actions Kids vs Global Warming has undertaken, such as the iMatter campaign.

GARRETT SERRELS: I got involved through my cousin; he's the one who started the organization, so my family has been involved ever since the beginning. So Grant and I wanted to do something in our community in Virginia.

BETWEEN THE LINES: That's your twin brother.

GARRETT SERRELS: That's my twin brother, Grant. We moved from California to Virginia, and while we were in Virginia we wanted to get involved somehow. So we joined the iMatter Youth Council, which is a way all youth can stay connected through emails, phone calls, and Skypes. And so we can all talk with each other and update each other on what we're doing locally in our communities, either by petitions or by doing SLAP polls, which is Sea Level Awareness Projects, and they're poles you put on the coastlines of the beach to tell you, You'll be underwater at this level. So we do that, or by telling each other we've sent letters to our representatives, or to our governors, or mayors, and that's how we stay connected, through what is called the iMatter Youth Council. So Grant and I got involved by doing a march in our area.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And what was the focus of the march?

GARRETT SERRELS: The focus of the march was to raise awareness on the day the lawsuit was filed on May 8, 2011. There were marches around the globe, actually -- some in Japan, in Egypt, in Africa as well, and in all 49 states except Hawaii. So Grant and I were the ones leading the march in our local town, Harrisonburg, Va.

BETWEEN THE LINES: So this lawsuit was filed by a very young person, who was your cousin, a few years ago. Tell us about this.

GARRETT SERRELS: The lawsuit was filed in California, and then they said it was too big for the area so they moved it to D.C. Grant, my twin, and myself and my cousin and two others from California are plaintiffs in the lawsuit. And the lawsuit is asking for an 8 percent reduction in carbon emissions per year. The percent increases per year, and it was filed in 2011, so that was at 6 percent, and in 2012, 7 percent, and now we're in 2013 and it's 8. And now that the parts per million has raised up to 400 ppm in the past couple of months, parts per million, it's going to start increasing more than it will in one year. So that's one thing our lawsuit is asking -- for massive reforestation, and also for the atmosphere to be part of the Public Trust Doctrine, and that is sovereignty that the federal government uses as policies, which is land, agriculture, water, but not the atmosphere, so we can freely pollute into the atmosphere as much as we want, and our lawsuit is asking for the atmosphere to be, I guess, under watch, under control so we can not pollute as much.

BETWEEN THE LINES: That sounds like good policy prescriptions, but you're actually suing the government. Who exactly does the lawsuit focus on?

GARRETT SERRELS: The lawsuit focuses on the federal government, the EPA, I'm not really sure all the other...

BETWEEN THE LINES: Is it against the executive, which the EPA is part of? Is Congress involved?

GARRETT SERRELS: It's the Department of Agriculture, the EPA, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce...and other ones I can't remember.

BETWEEN THE LINES: But it's all executive.

GARRETT SERRELS: It's all executive, that's correct.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And just tell us what's happened so far since the lawsuit was filed.

GARRETT SERRELS: When the lawsuit was filed, during our hearing we figured out that the National Association of Manufacturers -- which is the broad corporations of oil, gas, coal, fossil fuel-consuming corporations, and they are the leading reason...they intervened in our lawsuit. And so they wanted to stop us and say, You can't do this. So they intervened in our lawsuit, so it was the National Association of Manufacturers vs. the iMatter youth. And so they saw us as taking away their power and taking away their jobs, and we want to do, in fact, the opposite. We said we wanted to provide a tool to help raise awareness, but we are changing that language to wanting to provide more awareness; we want to start an awakening, to show people that our future actually is at stake, and that we do matter. Our message is that our future matters. So during the hearing our lawsuit was dismissed due to a basis found that it was not constitutional. We partnered with a non-profit called Our Children's Trust, and those are attorneys and they work pro bono; they work for free for the passion and love of the youth and for fighting for our future and their future and their grandchildren's future and future generations as well. So our lawsuit was dismissed and a couple months later, our attorneys filed a motion to reconsider. We just heard recently that that was dismissed, so now we're going to the D.C. Court of Appeals.

Find more information on the Kids vs Global Warming campaign by visiting imatteryouth.org.