Earth Matters: Fuel economy retreat feeds Trump's energy bonfire; plus a Stewart & Kolbert convo

Daily Kos Staff Emeritus (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday December 05, 2025 · 7:17 PM PST

2025/12/05 · 19:17

Coal roller showing off its stuff — If the Trump regime really had its way, every new car on the road would be able to roll coal.

Crossposted from The Journal of Uncharted Blue Places
You can also catch me at meteorblades.bsky.social

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration unveiled its plan Wednesday to slash Biden-era fuel-economy standards for passenger cars from 50.4 miles per gallon to just 34.5 mpg by 2031. If finalized, it will mark the second time Donald Trump has sabotaged the effort to reduce vehicle inefficiency and pollution. He and his gang might as well be slashing tires.

By any honest measure, the Trump regime’s rollback of Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards isn’t merely policy malpractice. It’s another reason “war” might as well be included in the renaming of every federal department and agency, not just Defense. The proposed retreat on standards comes wrapped in one of the GOP’s favorite disguises — a promise of “freedom.” It’s a cover so flimsy it dissolves the moment you touch it, revealing Big Oil and its puppets grinning beneath.

The idea is designed not just to weaken standards now but also to cripple the ability of future administrations to strengthen them. It’s also to undermine the transition to electric vehicles, which is of a piece with the sabotage of solar and wind sources of electricity.

The Republican “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” eliminated penalties for automakers who fail to meet efficiency targets, no matter how strong or weak they are. And if the rollback holds, communities living near highways — disproportionately Black, Latino and low-income — will for decades breathe the extra pollution less efficient cars will spew in the same way they once sucked ruinous leaded gasoline fumes into their lungs.

Kathy Harris of the Natural Resources Defense Council warns that Trump is “sticking drivers with higher costs at the pump, all to benefit the oil industry,” predicting that households could end up paying hundreds of extra dollars for fuel each year. The regime insists that the relaxing of standards will reduce new vehicle prices — the average of which now is $49,766— by roughly $1,000.

Seriously?

Albert Gore III of the Zero Emission Transportation Association, described this tactic as scapegoating EVs for rising vehicle prices, even though the real drivers are tariffs, supply-chain shocks, and manufacturers pivoting to luxury SUVs. “The cost is dramatically exaggerated and the benefit is always ignored,” he said, recalling ferocious past industry resistance to seat belts and air bags, opposition that delayed their being government-mandated by many years despite the lives they save.

boatsie

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday December 04, 2025 · 5:32 PM PST

2025/12/04 · 17:32

❤️ On #GivingTuesday, join our partners at @feedingamerica.org to raise funds and awareness with the mission of ending hunger in our communities. 🙏
🏡 Consider a donation or advocate for hunger relief programs, volunteer with your local food bank and more: https://sm.eatright.org/FeedingAmerica

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— eatrightPRO (@eatrightpro.bsky.social) December 2, 2025 at 10:17 AM

I started seeing mention of Giving Tuesday this week and it brought to mind the good old days at Daily Kos. Old timers here will undoubtedly remember how popular blogathons once were on this site. I know I first became active when I gained my voice here through my participation in a few very successful Feeding America blogathons. With people struggling in this economy to make ends meet and relying more heavily on food banks, I thought the time might be right to publicize Feeding America once again.

Last week, the NYT reported that some 47 million Americans experience hunger and produced a video showcasing dozens of individuals across the countary recounting their problems with feeding themselves.

Hunger in America has been rising, but the Department of Agriculture has seemingly stopped tracking it. In September, the department announced that it would end the Household Food Security Report, which helped to quantify hunger in America. You can’t end hunger by simply ignoring it. And now it’ll be harder than ever to find the many people in America who need help the most.

This holiday season, Feeding America is matching with BoxLunch which makes it possible for every dollar you donate providing 20 meals to food banks helping famlies as they battle hunger.

Your support fuels Feeding America’s commitment to improving access to healthy foods. Every dollar you give can help provide at least 10 meals to families facing hunger through the Feeding America network of food banks.

Feeding America
www.feedingamerica.org
A nationwide network of more than 200 food banks
++++
Feeding America - California
www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-am...
++++++
Feeding America has a 95% rating through Charity Navigator
www.charitynavigator.org/ein/363673599
#Hunger
#SNAP

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— JonSam (@jonsam1961b.bsky.social) November 27, 2025 at 11:58 AM

Grocery Outlet Partners with Feeding America with the Goal to Provide 3 Million Meals to People Facing Hunger This Holiday Season

Grocery Outlet is joining the movement to end hunger by offering customers the opportunity to donate at the register at their local store. Store operators will have the discretion to choose which local food bank or community organization they wish to support. Grocery Outlet will also match the total amount of all in-store donations at checkout up to $150,000 to support Feeding America and its local partner food banks, keeping the support close to home.

How Feeding America's "Choice System" facilitates equitable food distribution

Feeding America, the largest organization tackling hunger in the U.S., saves billions of pounds of food each year. But with more than 200 food banks in its network, deciding where food goes is a huge undertaking.

Procter & Gamble, through its Always brand, donates one million pads to Feeding América

During the holiday season, many families experience additional pressure to meet their daily needs. Limited access to menstrual hygiene products can intensify this burden, impacting health, well-being, and confidence. With this donation, Always reinforces its mission to support communities, providing more people with dignity, peace of mind, and access to essential resources.

“For more than 40 years, Always has supported generations of girls and women, championing their confidence and well-being,” said Balaka Niyazee, Senior Vice President of North America Feminine Care at Procter & Gamble. She noted that, in a context where one in five girls in the U.S. has missed school or left early due to lack of menstrual products, ensuring access is crucial to removing educational barriers.

Donate Now.

Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.

Mutual Aid or as I say Community

Smurf

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday December 02, 2025 · 6:42 PM PST

2025/12/02 · 18:42

Mutual Aid groups have been growing since the Pandemic and the #Snap shut down really showed what they can do. So much that AP news is covering them.

When formal systems stop working, neighbors turn to each other in what many call ‘mutual aid’

“One of the principles of mutual aid is that it welcomes everyone. There’s no need to show an ID or prove income or residency, and most often, the organizers of these types of very local projects are all volunteers. Organizers are also often recipients, with many groups seeking to remove the distinction entirely between those who give help and those who need it.”

To me this is “Community” in it’s truest sense, when #Snap benefits were shut down November 1, my town basically said people aren’t going to go hungry here, even if this is a “Red” State. Large and small food drives were organized, the largest Food Bank in town did triple duty. Little Free Pantries were kept stocked. I felt it was a bigger effort than the October 18th #NoKings Rally and it sent the same message to the Administration.

AP News also ran this today What is mutual aid? And why are more people turning to informal efforts to help each other?

“What are examples of mutual aid projects?

Mutual aid practices have a long history, especially among immigrant and Black communities in the U.S., like the Black Panther’s Survival Programs or informal pooled savings circles. Examples include sharing food, exchanging household goods and clothes or organizing shared items like tools. In recent years, groups have helped people access reproductive healthcare, including abortions, and coordinated collective responses to immigration arrests under the umbrella of providing mutual aid.”

and

“The main thing is that you’re not trying to be an institution,” Zerkel said. “You’re trying to be a neighbor helping a neighbor, so you can do the best that you can and try to be responsible and loving to your neighbors and build something slowly.”

Mutual Aid movements builds Community on the ground, unites people in common causes. And its good for you, especially if your an older adult, as Mother Jones Magazine points out. Turns Out Fighting Fascism Helps You Live Longer . I was one of the younger volunteers at the Food Bank during the #SNAP crisis and I am in my late 60’s.

The Little Free Pantry movement began about 2016, and it’s been growing ever since. The mini pantry movement activates neighbor engagement with food insecurity. I have written about the off shoots that fight Period Poverty here. Something's Happening.

I feel people had forgotten how much “Community” matters and if most of us came come together around helping each other maybe we can begin to heal this Nation.

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Earth Matters: Fuel economy retreat feeds Trump's energy bonfire; plus a Stewart & Kolbert convo

Kitchen Table Kibitzing: Feeding America

Mutual Aid or as I say Community