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Environmentalists fete John Kerry as a possible savior in a stalled battle against global warming if the Democratic front-runner topples President Bush in the November election. "Kerry has probably been the greatest champion of climate change issues with (Joe) Lieberman in the U.S. Senate," said Jennifer Morgan, director of the WWF environmental group's climate change program. European governments, among the strongest backers of the U.N.'s stalled 1997 Kyoto protocol meant to limit global warming, would welcome a shift toward Kerry's environmental policies after years of transatlantic feuds with Bush. "Clearly we would like the new administration, whether Republican or Democrat,...

<p>WASHINGTON -- While blaming President Bush for the high price of gasoline, his Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry, on Tuesday reiterated his opposition to drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, saying it is no solution.</p> <p>"We deserve an administration that doesn't fake it to the American people and pretend that somehow by drilling in the Alaska wildlife refuge we can deal with the problems of America," Kerry, D-Mass., told university students in San Diego. "We can't provide the supply of oil America needs from the Alaska wildlife refuge or from any other source in the United States, because we only have 3 percent of the world's oil reserves."</p>

Kerry's Rhetoric on Gas Prices Offers Dangerous Solutions, Says the National Center for Policy Analysis To: National Desk Contact: Sean Tuffnell of the National Center for Policy Analysis, 800-859-1154 or stuffnell@ncpa.org WASHINGTON, March 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Senator John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, today used the specter of rising prices at the gas pump to attack President Bush for America's dependence on foreign oil and calling on him to, among other things, stop filling the strategic petroleum reserve. Experts with the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) said "Kerry's rhetoric would be laughable if the consequences of...

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka is backing construction of the Keystone XL oil sands pipeline in comments that downplay divisions among unions in the labor federation over the controversial project. “They are not divided on the pipeline itself,” Trumka said in a C-SPAN interview when asked about differences among unions over Keystone. “They are divided on how the pipeline is done.” ADVERTISEMENT “I think we are all unanimous by saying we should build the pipeline, but we have to do it consistent with all environmental standards, and I think we can work that out, I really do, and we are for...

<p>Washington -- The fate of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge rests with the U.S. Senate, but the debate these days is on the airwaves, not in hearing rooms.</p> <p>The Teamsters union, emerging as the most prominent pro-drilling group, is about to launch its own ads to counter a recent anti-drilling advertising campaign, said Alaska Teamster leader Jerry Hood.</p>

Rhetoric ANNOUNCER: “George Bush let corporate polluters rewrite our environmental laws. He wants to rollback the Clean Air and Water Acts …” VIDEO: Stairway/White House; Child at water fountain/Smokestacks. CHYRON: “George Bush; Rewrite Environmental Laws; George Bush; Rollback Clean Air & Water Acts” The Facts Administration Proposed Tough New Diesel Emissions Rules Bush Administration Proposed Tough Off-Road Diesel Emissions. “The proposed rules, unveiled by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, would slash off-road diesel emissions by as much as 95 percent and bring them in line with recently adopted standards for heavy-duty diesel trucks and buses. They would...

Rhetoric VIDEO: Kerry KERRY: “There’s nothing we value more in America than our freedom and independence.  And yet here we are today a nation more dependent than ever on Mideast oil.  I’ve proposed a plan that will make us energy independent of Mideast oil in the next ten years.  Energy independence isn’t just about better gas mileage and a cleaner environment, it’s about protecting our national security and our freedom.  I’m John Kerry and I approved this message because a strong America is an independent America.” CHYRON: John Kerry; A Plan For Energy Independence; JohnKerry.com; Approved By John Kerry...

Some of the largest and most influential trade unions in the country are calling out Democrats for boosting guest worker programs and open borders policies. North America's Building Trades Unions--an umbrella organization representing three million workers and 15 major unions, including the Laborers and Teamsters--sent outgoing Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D., Md.) a letter Thursday accusing her of selling out workers by importing foreigners to work for "Close to Slavery" wages. Mikulski pushed for increasing the number of temporary H2B visas that allow companies to bring guest workers to the United States to fill seasonal jobs. "We wanted to express to...

No wonder Tom Minerath is angry. Sixty-eight years old and retired since 2007, the Town of Merton man is about to have about $20,000 taken away from his annual pension — money he earned, money that was promised him, money guaranteed in contracts negotiated by one of the country's strongest labor unions. "I'm going to make it through this, but it's just not right," he said. "It's just not right." Which probably sums up the feelings of more than 270,000 people, including thousands in Wisconsin, who have been told by the financially troubled Central States Pension Fund that their pension...

Some 407,000 Teamsters are learning a painful lesson: Their private-sector pensions aren’t as safe as they once thought. Pay attention, government workers — and taxpayers — in New York and New Jersey. Last week, letters informed these Teamsters they’re facing cuts in benefits of up to 60 percent. Why? Because their pension fund is going broke. The Central States Pension Fund covers workers from more than 1,500 trucking, construction and other companies in 37 states. Thanks to trucking deregulation, declining union rolls, aging workers and weak stock-market returns, the fund is now paying out $3.46 in benefits for every $1...

Reports say that the influential Teamsters union may snub Hillary Clinton in favor of endorsing a Republican candidate such as Donald Trump for the White House in 2016.Such a move would likely be a notable boost for Republicans with Independents and “Reagan Democrats,” a critical segment of swing-voters that candidates spend millions trying to woo. These “middle of the road” type voters are crucial to winning bellwether regions like Michigan’s Macomb County.Clinton also faces snubs from other powerful unions like the AFL-CIO and AFSCME, refusing to back Hillary as they try to push Vice President Joe Biden into the race.According...

Attorney General Maura Healey and state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg are refusing to return donations from Teamsters Local 25, even after five members of the embattled union were slapped with federal extortion indictments this week. “The attorney general feels strongly that the actions that are alleged by these individuals shouldn’t reflect on the good work of an entire organization,” Guarino said. “She’s pleased to have the support she does and to work collaboratively with Teamsters 25.” U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz’s office announced the extortion indictments against the five Teamsters on Wednesday. They are accused of yelling “racial and homophobic slurs”...

The Fox News report that the Teamsters have decided not to endorse Hillary Clinton’s candidacy at this time, shortly after her pronouncement of her opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline, does not surprise and shows the peril of trying to be all things to all constituencies. On the one hand, there is a need to placate environmentalists and climate change true believers who oppose the pipeline from Canada. Among them is billionaire Tom Steyer, an eco-zealot who has pledged his fortune in support of Democratic candidates who want to repeal the Industrial Revolution who want us to rely on solar...

With the announcement Wednesday that the Teamsters union will delay endorsing anyone for president, rumors are now circulating the union is looking at Republican Donald Trump.The news of a delay comes as a particularly harsh blow to Hillary Clinton. As the Democratic frontrunner, she is the most likely to pick up support from the labor movement. With her hesitance to take a firm stance against President Barack Obama on trade and her more recent opposition to the Keystone Pipeline, she has found herself at odds with unions. According to Fox News correspondent James Rosen, leadership within the Teamsters wants to...

TEAMSTERS OFFICIALS WANT TO MEET WITH DONALD TRUMP! Teamsters officials met behind closed doors today. The union refused to endorse Hillary Clinton for president. The officials told FOX News they want to meet with Donald Trump. James Rosen reported: "Union executives told me they want to sit down with Republican candidates, most notably, front-runner Donald Trump who has collaborated with unionized work forces across his real estate career." Via Special Report: BREAKING: Teamsters Withhold Endorsement for Hillary Want to Meet With Donald Trump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6tot9T6ims

Don’t miss FrontPage’s other Union Gangsters profiles featuring Craig Becker, Richard Trumka, Stephen Lerner, Andy Stern and Daniel De Leon. Few union gangsters have the exquisitely barbaric pedigree of International Brotherhood of Teamsters president James P. Hoffa. And few labor unions can match the Teamsters, the million-plus member union of truckers and blue-collar workers, for its legendary connections to organized crime, corruption, and violence. For decades the word Teamster was essentially a synonym for gangster. Hoffa is the son of James R. Hoffa, the relentlessly corrupt, larger-than-life Teamsters president who worked closely with figures from the crime underworld. In July...

Calling Americans “Sons of Bitches” and threatening to “take us out” is entirely in line with the low rent character of Jimmy Hoffa junior. Having been raised at the knee of a criminal who specialized in extortion theft and betrayal of those who depended on him, Hoffa is a rotten apple who did not fall far from the poison tree. Since his rise to power on the backs of other, equally as corrupt but less cunning and soulless, Teamster Union thugs Hoffa has always wallowed in whatever mud ….. in order to line his pockets. During his successful effort to...

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters endorsed President Obama Monday, calling his likely Republican opponent Mitt Romney a "vulture capitalist" whose election would amount to a "fox guarding the henhouse." "He represents everything that is wrong with our financial system. He made his money as CEO of Bain Capital by destroying U.S. businesses, sending good-paying American jobs overseas and filling his pockets with millions while putting workers out on the street," Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa said in a release. The organization's endorsement comes with a promise to put "boots on the ground" in all fifty states. "Working families know who is...

Fred Gegare, who is challenging Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa in elections this month to head up the transport union, says that Hoffa and the US government are colluding to control the union by the use of intimidation. If true, the allegations could mean that 50 years of work trying to rid unions of mob influence has come to an end.  Hoffa and the Justice Department, says Gegare, have abused a decades-old consent decree, “which was once used to remove mobsters two decades ago, [but] is now being used to target [Hoffa’s] critics” through a “rogue investigative unit set up by...

Teamsters President James Hoffa makes no apology for taking on the Tea Party during a union labor celebration, claiming, “They declared war on us.” In Detroit, before President Obama arrived for a Labor Day speech, Hoffa rallied the crowd, “We got to keep an eye on the battle that we face: The war on workers. And you see it everywhere, it is the Tea Party.” “President Obama, this is your army,” Hoffa concluded to applause, his voice raising to a shout. “We are ready to march. Let’s take these sons of bitches out and give America back to an America...