(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . To Protect and Serve -- Strike for the Planet week 88 [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-09-25 You can make a difference to the hurt being caused by climate chaos and the great extinction event in your town or your city! How? Reuse, repurpose, and recycle this information. You can push your local politicians to act. It will make a difference! This is the letter for week 88 of a weekly climate strike that went on for 4 years in front of San Francisco City Hall, beginning early March 2019. For more context, see this story. For an annotated table of contents of the topics for all the strike letters, see this story. Meanwhile… STRIKE FOR THE PLANET Who do you work for? This week’s topic: To Protect And Serve. Who do you work for? According to the Preamble to the 1996 Charter1, you are supposed to work for the residents of San Francisco. But do you? To find out, let’s look at who has privilege in SF and who doesn’t. We can get a handle on this because a great marker of privilege is to see who the political establishment protects and serves. So, who do you protect and serve? San Francisco is the most gentrified city in the U.S. with more than 30% of eligible census tracts gentrifying between 2013 and 2017. 2 Gentrification privileges the wealthy. Gentrification privileges the wealthy. Per capita income in SF in 2019 dollars was $68,883. 3 The January 2020 median rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in SF was $3,500. 4 That puts the rental for a 1-bedroom apartment at 61% of the median income. A typical SF household spends $5,200 per year on groceries. 5 Add in food and you’re up to 69% of your income used. 6 This is before any spending on utilities, insurance, transportation, clothing, student loans, or anything else. Clearly, SF housing and construction policies privilege the wealthy. The January 2020 median rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in SF was $3,500. That puts the rental for a 1-bedroom apartment at 61% of the median income. A typical SF household spends $5,200 per year on groceries. Add in food and you’re up to 69% of your income used. This is before any spending on utilities, insurance, transportation, clothing, student loans, or anything else. Clearly, SF housing and construction policies privilege the wealthy. Up to the start of the pandemic, the housed population of the city was growing steadily Whiter and wealthier. San Francisco has a long history of Black removal 7 , redlining 8 , anti-Asian actions 9, 10 , ignoring and underserving Latinos 11, 12 , and theft and murder of Natives. 13 Racism in SF has worked to consolidate wealth in the White population. , redlining , anti-Asian actions , ignoring and underserving Latinos , and theft and murder of Natives. Racism in SF has worked to consolidate wealth in the White population. San Francisco has the #1 income gap in the U.S. 14 We have the highest density of billionaires in the world. 15 We also have in California the worst poverty rate in the nation; we are 12% of the U.S. population but 25% of its homeless population. 16 SF’s income gap favors the wealthy. We have the highest density of billionaires in the world. We also have in California the worst poverty rate in the nation; we are 12% of the U.S. population but 25% of its homeless population. SF’s income gap favors the wealthy. Our schools are woefully underfunded17, our parks depend on privatizing18, our commons are being destroyed by “disruptive” corporate colonizers19, 20, 21, but the rich are getting richer even in the pandemic22, and have full access to all levels of government.23, 24, 25 In fact, those with connections don’t even have to be rich to get special privileges in SF.26 I could go on, but I believe I’ve made my point. So you work for the 0.1% — why? Why them and not us? They are the smallest group in SF with the most resources at their disposal. They don’t need your constant attention, deference, or for your first thoughts to be of them. We do. In fact, many of them are no better than vampires or arsonists27, 28 — their intentions toward SF are not good.29 How is you working for the rich going to help San Francisco at all? When you work for them, you are working against us. They insist you focus on saving and enriching their holdings no matter what happens to us or to the city. The planet, however, is essentially a closed system, so whatever you allow and assist the rich to do to us you are doing to yourself and, ultimately, to the rich as well. It’s like this: Sinking last doesn’t mean you survive the shipwreck. The rich and their business practices are not a rising tide that lifts all boats; they are the cannonballs crashing through our infrastructure, knocking down the masts, ripping the sails, and holing the hull.30 Why are you assisting them? How can you protect and serve SF? Doing your jobs would be a great way to start. We’re in a Climate Emergency, remember? You officially declared so on 26 February 2019.31 From the Charter, section 3.100, on the Office Of Mayor: Powers And Responsibilities32: 14. In the case of an emergency threatening the lives, property or welfare of the City and County or its citizens, the Mayor may direct the personnel and resources of any department, command the aid of other persons, and do whatever else the Mayor may deem necessary to meet the emergency; In meeting an emergency, the Mayor shall act only with the concurrence of the Board of Supervisors, or a majority of its members immediately available if the emergency causes any member of the Board to be absent. The Mayor shall seek the Board's concurrence as soon as is reasonably possible in both the declaration of an emergency and in the action taken to meet the emergency. You’re learning how to do this with this pandemic. So now it’s time to get to work. Our boat is sinking fast and no amount of pretending it isn’t will keep it afloat. Work might. What needs to be done that might save SF? Run SF on 100% local, renewable, clean, sustainable, carbon neutral or carbon negative energy by 2025. 33 Eliminate all “natural gas” infrastructure in SF. 34 by 2025. Eliminate all “natural gas” infrastructure in SF. Recycle all blackwater countywide. 35 countywide. Get everyone involved 36 in solving environmental racism and inequality. 37 Develop inclusive leadership and policy formation practices. 38 Use and support the arts to get the message across: the arts tell us the story of what it means to be alive at this time — use them. in solving environmental racism and inequality. Develop inclusive and policy formation practices. Use and support the arts to get the message across: the arts tell us the story of what it means to be alive at this time — use them. Put a progressive Carbon Added Fee on items that swell SF’s carbon footprint. 39 Require cradle to cradle purchasing. 40 Eliminate all non-recycled plastic use in SF. 41 Recycle everything in SF in SF since there is no “waste” — only wasted resources. 42 on items that swell SF’s carbon footprint. Require cradle to cradle purchasing. Eliminate all non-recycled plastic use in SF. Recycle everything in SF in SF since there is no “waste” — only wasted resources. Move from “streets are for cars” to “ streets are for people ” policy frameworks. 43 ” policy frameworks. Sequester carbon in SF. 44 Plant a connected, native urban forest with green pathways for flying animals, insects, nocturnal animals, large predators and scavengers, and people. 45 Begin the coastal retreats now. Plant the coastal buffer zones now. 46 in SF. Plant a connected, native urban forest with green pathways for flying animals, insects, nocturnal animals, large predators and scavengers, and people. Begin the coastal retreats now. Plant the coastal buffer zones now. Eliminate light pollution. 47 Increase SF’s albedo. 48 pollution. Increase SF’s albedo. Require green building practices, push what is permitted, and stop building for capital instead of for the people. Don’t piss away our last chance. This is our last chance. There’s so much more and so much worse than Covid in the works: pandemics49, climate change50, drought51, extreme weather52, ocean acidification53, plastic pollution54, extinctions55, global average temperature rise56, worsening health impacts57, food shortages58, and so much more.59 It’s all getting a LOT worse, fast.60 Don’t sacrifice SF. Don’t sacrifice us. There is 1 week left to start the big actions that need to happen if we’re going to survive.61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68 In a little over a year and a half, we have lost 10 years time in which to act; our situation now is what we thought the worst case scenario would be in 2030. The U.S. has now been out of the Paris Agreement for 56 days, and every day out is making our situation worse. You’re going to be bailing water out of a sinking boat if you don’t ACT NOW! FOOTNOTES 1. From http://sf-ca.elaws.us/code/charter_appid81076 , accessed 29 December 2020: In order to obtain the full benefit of home rule granted by the Constitution of the State of California; to improve the quality of urban life; to encourage the participation of all persons and all sectors in the affairs of the City and County; to enable municipal government to meet the needs of the people effectively and efficiently; to provide for accountability and ethics in public service; to foster social harmony and cohesion; and to assure equality of opportunity for every resident: We, the people of the City and County of San Francisco, ordain and establish this Charter as the fundamental law of the City and County. 2. Elliott Davis. “Report: San Francisco Is the Most Gentrified U.S. City”. U.S. News & World Report. 23 June 2020. https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/2020-06-23/report-san-francisco-denver-are-the-most-gentrified-us-cities . 3. “QuickFacts: San Francisco County, California”. U.S. Census Bureau. Accessed 29 December 2020. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/sanfranciscocountycalifornia/EDU68521. 4. Zillow. “San Francisco Home Prices & Values”. Accessed 22 March 2020. https://www.zillow.com/san-francisco-ca/home-values. 5. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Selected western metropolitan areas: Average annual expenditures and characteristics, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 2017-2018”. Accessed 22 March 2020. https://www.bls.gov/cex/2018/msas/west/pdf. 6. $3,500 per month rental x 12 months = $42,000. $42,000 rental per year ÷ $68,883 yearly income = 42%. $42,000 rental per year + $5,200 grocery costs per year = $47,200 per year. $47,200 for rent and food per year ÷ $68,883 yearly income = 69%. 7. Editorial Staff. “San Francisco’s Vanishing Black Population”. AfricanGlobe. 20 January 2016. https://www.africanglobe.net/headlines/san-franciscos-vanishing-black-population/ . 8. K. Chapple and T. Thomas. “Redlining and Gentrification”. Berkeley, CA: Urban Displacement Project. 2020. https://www.urbandisplacement.org/redlining . 9. Vanessa Hua. “Anti-Chinese law had effect for generations / Exclusion Act forced many immigrants to lie in order to stay”. SF Gate. updated 17 January 2012. https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SAN-FRANCISCO-Anti-Chinese-law-had-effect-for-2596777.php . 10. Adrian De Leon. “The long history of racism against Asian Americans in the U.S.” PBS News Hour. 9 April 2020. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/the-long-history-of-racism-against-asian-americans-in-the-u-s . 11. Salvador Rodriguez. “As Tech Giants Push For Diversity, Blacks And Latinos Are Fleeing Once-Diverse San Francisco”. International Business Times. 4 September 2015. https://www.ibtimes.com/tech-giants-push-diversity-blacks-latinos-are-fleeing-once-diverse-san-francisco-1872760 . 12. Rigoberto Hernandez. “Latinos Make Gains Everywhere Except the Mission”. Mission Local. 23 June 2011. https://missionlocal.org/2011/06/latinos-make-gains-everywhere-except-in-the-mission/ . 13. Jonathan Cordero, Ph.D. “A Brief History Of The Muwekma Ohlone People”. The Association of Ramaytush Ohlone. Accessed 22 September 2023. www.ramaytush.org/original-peoples.html. 14. Shelly Hagan and Wei Lu. “The Income Gap Is Getting Worse in American Cities”. Bloomberg. 22 March 2019. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-22/from-boise-to-nyc-uber-rich-are-leaving-the-middle-class-behind . 15. Katelyn Newman. “San Francisco Is Home to the Highest Density of Billionaires”. U.S. News & World Report. 10 May 2019. https://www.usnews.com/news/cities/articles/2019-05-10/san-francisco-is-home-to-the-worlds-most-billionaires-per-capita . 16. Noah Buhayar and Christopher Cannon. “How California Became America’s Housing Market Nightmare”. Bloomberg. 6 November 2019. https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2019-california-housing-crisis/ . 17. Andrew Gumbel. “California schools were once the nation’s envy. What went wrong?” The Guardian. 19 January 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/jan/19/california-school-funding-los-angeles-strike-what-went-wrong . And I'd like to point to a bunch of personal anecdotal evidence: SFUSD school teachers qualify for low income housing in SF, a teacher at my campus became homeless and could not afford an apartment in SF so left, none of my students who graduate can afford to live in SF again when they’re finished with college unless they live with their families, and our population of children is the smallest of any major city in the U.S. ( https://www.sfpublicpress.org/can-san-francisco-add-150000-more-people/ ). 18. Rachel Gordon. “Public-private pairing envisioned for S.F. parks”. SF Gate. 9 February 2012. https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Public-private-pairing-envisioned-for-S-F-parks-3205271.php . 19. Drew Costley. “Uber, Lyft impact on SF traffic may have doubled in two years”. SF Gate. 5 August 2019. https://www.sfgate.com/travel/resources/transit/article/Uber-Lyft-impact-SF-traffic-doubled-ride-hailing-14282551.php. 20. Christian Lanng. “At The World Economic Forum, A Study Of Disruption And Its Discontents”. Tech Crunch. 20 January 2016. https://techcrunch.com/2016/01/20/at-the-world-economic-forum-a-study-of-disruption-and-its-discontents/ . 21. Josh Sager. “The Era of Corporate Colonialism”. The Progressive Cynic. August 2013. https://theprogressivecynic.com/2013/08/09/the-era-of-corporate-colonialism/ . 22. Jack Kelly. “The Rich Are Getting Richer During The Pandemic”. Forbes. 22 July 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/07/22/the-rich-are-getting-richer-during-the-pandemic/?sh=519e86625c7e . 23. “Two in one: differences in the US justice system for the rich and the poor”. Research Gate. 14 April 2016. https://www.researchgate.net/blog/post/two-in-one-differences-in-the-us-justice-system-for-the-rich-and-the-poor . 24. Sean McElwee. “How the rich control policymaking”. Al Jazeera America. 25 February 2016. http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2016/2/how-the-rich-control-policymaking.html . 25. Christina Pazzanese. “The costs of inequality: Increasingly, it's the rich and the rest”. The Harvard Gazette. 8 February 2016. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/02/the-costs-of-inequality-increasingly-its-the-rich-and-the-rest/ . 26. Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez. “Corrupt SF Official Used Nonprofits to Funnel ‘Pay to Play’ Cash”. KQED. 24 September 2020. https://www.kqed.org/news/11839531/report-corrupt-sf-official-directed-nonprofit-to-pay-60k-to-organizations-under-fbi-investigation . 27. “Elizabeth Warren wants to put private equity firms ‘vampires’ to the stake”. CBS News. 18 July 2019. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elizabeth-warren-private-equity-firms-are-like-vampires-proposes-curbs-on-wall-street-in-new-bill/ . 28. Jessica Corbett. “Arsonists ‘Pledging to Light a Few Less Fires’: Analysis Exposes Failure of Big Oil Climate Pledges”. Common Dreams. 23 September 2020. https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/23/arsonists-pledging-light-few-less-fires-analysis-exposes-failure-big-oil-climate . 29. Daisy Grewal. “How Wealth Reduces Compassion”. Scientific American. 10 April 2012. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-wealth-reduces-compassion/ . 30. Tess Riley. “Just 100 companies responsible for 71% of global emissions, study says”. The Guardian. 10 July 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change . 31. “USA: San Francisco officially declares a climate emergency”. Climate Emergency Declaration. 18 March 2019. https://climateemergencydeclaration.org/san-francisco-declares-a-climate-emergency/ . 32. “San Francisco Charter, Article III. Executive Branch - Office Of Mayor. Section 3.100. Powers And Responsibilities.” Accessed 30 December 2020. http://sf-ca.elaws.us/code/charter_artiii_sec3.100 . 33. Strike letter week 38: Energy and week 39: Energy details. 34. Strike letter week 32: CH 4 . 35. Strike letter week 1: Water, week 20: Access to water, week 28: Water recycling, and week 52: Build blackwater recycling. 36. Strike letter week 2: Ideas, week 14: Self-assessment, week 15: Environmental justice, week 40: Climate emergency, week 54: Taking action fast, and week 58: Restorative Justice. 37. Strike letter week 15: Environmental justice, week 23: Examples pt 2, week 58: Restorative Justice, and week 64: Environmental racism. 38. Strike letter Week 2: Ideas, Week 15: Environmental justice, Week 21: Priorities, Week 48: Green New Deal, Week 49: Basic tenents, Week 54: Taking action fast, Week 55: How SF is hurt by global changes, Week 58: Restorative Justice, Week 60: Scope, Week 64: Environmental racism, and Week 65: How to take action. 39. Strike letter Week 61: CAF and Week 62: CAF implementation. 40. Strike letter week 4: Local recycling, week 31: Plastic, and week 41: Scope of the plastic problem. 41. Strike letter week 4: Local recycling, week 31: Plastic, and week 41: Scope of the plastic problem. 42. Strike letter week 4: Local recycling. 43. Strike letter week 7: Transportation, week 15: Environmental justice, and week 29: Transit. 44. Strike letter week 3: Carbon sequestration, week 6: Planting, week 16: The ocean, week 27: Trees, week 35: CO2 pt 2, and week 36: CO2 pt 3. 45. Strike letter week 6: Planting, week 9: Insects, week 22: Examples pt 1, week 27: Trees, week 44: Insects in SF, and week 45: Bio highways. 46. Strike letter week 5: Elevation, week 6: Planting, week 11: The coasts, week 13: Early financial risks, week 16: The ocean, week 18: Now or never, week 21: Priorities, and week 22: Examples pt 1. 47. Strike letter week 9: Insects, week 12: Light, week 23: Examples pt 2, and week 44: Insects in SF. 48. Strike letter week 12: Light, and week 22: Examples pt 1. 49. Miriam Berger. “Covid-19 ‘not necessarily the big one,’ WHO warns”. The Washington Post. 29 December 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/12/29/coronavirus-2020-the-big-one-who-pandemics/ . 50. Rebecca Leber. “There’s a Lot Less Pollution But Climate Change Is Still Getting Worse”. Mother Jones. 19 May 2020. https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2020/05/theres-a-lot-less-pollution-but-climate-change-is-still-getting-worse/ . 51. Henry Fountain. “Nearly Half of the U.S. Is In Drought. It May Get Worse.” The New York Times. 15 October 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/15/climate/noaa-climate-call-drought.html . 52. John Yewell. “Climate change worsens air pollution, extreme weather, expert says.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. July 2020. https://factor.niehs.nih.gov/2020/7/science-highlights/climate-change/index.htm . 53. University of Bern. “Arctic Ocean acidification worse than expected”. Phys Org. 18 June 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-arctic-ocean-acidification-worse.html . 54. Stephanie Borrelle. “Recycling isn’t enough — the world’s plastic pollution crisis is only getting worse”. Red Green and Blue. 26 December 2020. http://redgreenandblue.org/2020/12/26/recycling-isnt-enough-worlds-plastic-pollution-crisis-getting-worse/ . 55. John Sutter, David McKenzie, Ingrid Formanek, and Nick Paton Walsh. “Vanishing”. CNN. Accessed 29 December 2020. https://www.cnn.com/specials/world/vanishing-earths-mass-extinction . 56. Allister Doyle. “Global warming may be more severe than expected by 2100: study”. Reuters. 6 December 2017. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climatechange-temperatures-idUSKBN1E02J6 . 57. Emily Holden. “Climate Change Is Having Widespread Health Impacts”. Scientific American. 16 September 2019. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/climate-change-is-having-widespread-health-impacts/ . 58. Jen Christensen. “250,000 deaths a year from climate change is a ‘conservative estimate,’ research says”. CNN. 16 January 2019. https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/16/health/climate-change-health-emergency-study/index.html . 59. Juliette Jowit. “World is facing a natural resources crisis worse than financial crunch”. The Guardian. 28 October 2008 — look at that date, and then read the article. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/oct/29/climatechange-endangeredhabitats . 60. Associated Press. “Think 2020’s disasters are wild? Experts say the worst is yet to come”. NBC News. 10 September 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/think-2020s-disasters-are-wild-experts-say-worst-yet-come-rcna114 . 61. Matt McGrath. “Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months”. BBC News. 24 July 2019. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-48964736 . 62. Heather Smith. “Climate Change: Even Worse Than We Thought”. Sierra. 8 October 2018. https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/climate-change-even-worse-we-thought-ipcc-report . 63. Michael Grose and Julie Arblaster. “Just how hot will it get this century? It’s worse than we thought”. Phys Org. 18 May 2020. https://phys.org/news/2020-05-hot-century-worse-thought.html . 64. Amelia Urry. “The scientist who first warned of climate change says it’s much worse than we thought”. Grist. 22 March 2016. https://grist.org/science/the-scientist-who-first-warned-of-climate-change-says-its-much-worse-than-we-thought/ . 65. Rafi Letzter. “Today’s Climate Change Is Worse Than Anything Earth Has Experienced in the Past 2,000 Years”. Live Science. 25 July 2019. https://www.livescience.com/66027-climate-change-different.html . 66. John D. Sutter. “Vanishing”. CNN. Accessed 30 June 2020. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2016/12/specials/vanishing/ . 67. Peter Castagno. “Biodiversity Loss Worst in Human History — 1 Million Animal Species Risk Extinction”. Citizen Truth. 6 May 2019. https://citizentruth.org/biodiversity-loss-worst-in-human-history-1-million-animal-species-risk-extinction/ . [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/25/2194937/-To-Protect-and-Serve-Strike-for-the-Planet-week-88 Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/