Common Dreams - breaking news & views for the progressive community

Despite the rapid growth of renewable energy usage in recent years, the even-more-explosive growth of data centers is delaying the transition to a cleaner grid in ways that could harm the air we breathe. That’s according to new research released for Earth Day on Wednesday by Frontier Group, Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund.

“It’s great that renewable energy is growing rapidly, but we also need to be transitioning away from dirty energy sources. We can't afford to lose ground on that front,” said Johanna Neumann, senior director of the Campaign for 100% Renewable Energy at Environment America Research & Policy Center. “Pollution from fossil fuels harms our kids’ lungs and dangerously heats up our planet. We need to get our priorities straight. A healthy, safe environment is essential for a good quality of life.”

The research, building on new government data, tracks a dramatic slowdown in the previously accelerating pace of coal plant retirements as utilities respond to rising electricity demand from data centers and other sources. Compared to 2022, when the country was retiring power plants at a pace that would lead to a coal-free grid by 2040, the current pace of plant retirements would keep some of our dirtiest ones online until 2065. Power generation from coal-fired power plants increased by 13% in 2025 as U.S. electricity generation hit an all-time record.

• One of the research papers, Energy Transition at Risk, uses data from the Energy Information Administration to document both the dramatic slowdown in retiring America’s dirtiest power plants and the resurgence of new proposals for gas-powered plants.
• The other research paper, Fossil fuel plants are staying online longer. That means dirtier air, uses U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data to quantify the amount of air pollution – sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury – produced by many of the fossil fuel power plants whose lifetimes are being extended.

The authors recommend that to reduce the environmental and public health harms of increased electricity demand from data centers and other sources, policy makers should increase energy efficiency, ease barriers to clean energy, and continue to phase out dirty power plants.

“We’ll all suffer if we rush to build new, polluting gas plants for uncertain data center demand,” said U.S. PIRG Education Fund Energy and Utilities Program Director Abe Scarr. “Instead, policy makers should prioritize no-regrets strategies like energy efficiency and renewable energy.”

The new analysis follows Frontier Group’s analysis of delayed fossil fuel power plant retirements in its January 2025 report, “Big Data Centers, Big Problems” and an update of that data in October 2025.

"It's absurd to power the technology of tomorrow with the dirty and dangerous energy sources of yesterday," said Quentin Good, policy analyst with Frontier Group. "Harming the environment and jeopardizing people's health is no way to build a better future."

The groups have also organized a petition as part of broader efforts advocating for data centers to run on 100% renewable energy, follow efficiency standards and operate in ways that reduce load stress on the grid.Environment America Research & Policy Center, a 501(c)(3) organization, conducts research, policy analysis and public education. We illuminate the problems facing our natural world, advance solutions, and inspire intelligent debate about how to put our country and our planet on a greener, healthier path.

U.S. PIRG Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) organization, conducts research, policy analysis and public education projects. We spotlight the problems that affect consumers’ health, safety and well-being, advance practical solutions, and promote dialogue about how to elevate the quality of our lives over the quantity of “stuff” we consume.

Frontier Group provides information and ideas to build a healthier, more sustainable America. U.S. PIRG Education Fund, Environment America Research & Policy Center, and Frontier Group are part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to social change.

New research by 350.org shows that on top of soaring energy bills, fossil fuels cost households an additional $12 trillion a year in taxpayer handouts, health impacts and extreme weather damage – equivalent to a $23 million a minute “gift to Big Oil” that costs each person on Earth $1,400 per year.

In the report “Out of Pocket: How Fossil Fuels are Draining Households and Economies,” 350.org recalculated IMF estimates on fossil fuel subsidies, uncovering what fossil fuels actually cost society and what governments spend to keep production flowing. These hidden costs – totalling $12 trillion annually [1] – are “silently siphoning trillions away from household budgets and draining state coffers” while a handful of big corporations make windfall profits from the war in South West Asia.

The report highlights that:

• Fossil fuels cause $9.3 trillion per year in climate damages and air pollution, higher than IMF estimates.[2] These are social costs that the fossil fuel industry should be charged with but pay nothing for, and which the public shoulders through taxes and out of pocket payments.
• The $4.1 trillion annual climate undervaluation [3] could finance more than 5,900 gigawatts of new solar capacity — enough to power every home in Africa, South Asia and Latin America combined.
• The $12 trillion owed by the fossil fuel industry annually in avoided costs is more than 100 times total global climate finance — or the money the world has committed to help countries respond to the climate crisis.
• In the first 50 days of the war, over $150 billion has been siphoned from ordinary people to oil and gas companies due to soaring energy prices alone. [4]

As decision-makers from over 50 countries gather for the first international conference on a fossil fuel phase-out in Santa Marta, Colombia this week, 350.org said that leaders have an unprecedented opportunity to put the world on the right path. “Decades of delay have turned every oil price spike into a household emergency and every climate‑fuelled disaster into another withdrawal from the savings of the world’s poorest communities,” the group said.

350.org is calling on governments to:

• Tax fossil fuel windfall and corporate excess profits to channel the revenues directly into lowering people’s energy bills.
• End fossil fuel subsidies and replace them with targeted household support; and invest public money in cheaper, reliable renewables that bring bills down for good.
• Protect families and businesses from future price shocks by ending fossil fuel expansion and building affordable 100% renewable energy.

Using case studies from Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, the report also highlights how an alternative energy system is already being shaped. From community‑owned grids, Indigenous‑led wind projects, subnational 100% renewable commitments, and regional subsidy reforms, the great power shift from fossil fuels to people‑centered renewables has already begun.

Bill McKibben, climate activist and 350.org founder said:

“A building El Niño means 2026 and 2027 will set new global temperature records, and that will offer yet more chaos, and yet more reminders that it is the poorest people on earth who must bear most of the cost of this ongoing tragedy. We have a narrow path out of these crises, and that path has been illuminated by the bombs from this misbegotten war. It would be a waste and a sin not to seize this moment.”

Anne Jellema, 350.org Chief Executive said:

“The economic case for fossil fuels has not just weakened, it has collapsed. Climate chaos and volatile oil prices have pushed ordinary people to a breaking point: unable to afford food, transport, housing or healthcare. Leaders must acknowledge the real costs of fossil fuels and redirect public money where it belongs — into making clean energy a right, not a privilege.”

Hala Kilani, Head of Energy Diplomacy, REN21 said:

“Renewables are not controlled by a few fossil fuel exporting countries. It is abundant, distributed, and affordable. It can stabilize costs and be deployed locally, empowering communities rather than concentrating power. It is a peace, development, and justice solution. It’s high time we transition to reliable, affordable renewable energy.”

Hilda Flavia Nakabuye, Founder of Fridays for Future Uganda said:

“African families are paying for fossil fuels three times over: through taxes, through rising living costs, and through worsening climate disasters. The fossil fuel system is not a distant global issue; it is something people experience in their daily lives. Public resources are being drained to support this system, while wealth is extracted and exported. We must ensure that polluters pay for the damage they have caused to our communities over generations. We must shift investment towards a system that reduces costs for households, strengthens resilience, and prioritizes the people.

Jan Rosenow, Professor of Energy and Climate Policy at Oxford University said:

“This crisis is a stark reminder of just how risky it is to rely on fossil fuels, with around 80 percent of global energy still coming from them and driving the instability we see today. We should be focusing on long-term solutions rather than applying short-term sticking plasters to a much deeper problem. Price volatility is not a flaw in the fossil fuel system; it is a built-in feature. The real question is not what the energy transition will cost us, but what it will cost if we fail to act.”

Muhammad Mustafa Amjad, Program Manager for Renewables First Pakistan said:

“The system is structured in such a way that fossil fuels continue to benefit, even as cleaner and cheaper alternatives become available. Pakistan has imported less fossil fuel but ended up paying more, which shows how deeply flawed the system is. We learned how to build an energy system around fossil fuels, and now we must learn how to build one around renewables. This transition is no longer just about economic growth; it is about human survival.Solar energy is not only a source of clean power, but also a driver of economic stability.”

Executive summary of the report

Full report

Notes to Editor:

[1] (a) ~$11.4 trillion in underpriced fossil fuel costs — including explicit government subsidies, climate damages, air pollution, and road externalities — recalculated from IMF data using peer-reviewed US EPA damage models; plus (b) ~$700 billion in production-side support to fossil fuel producers tracked by the OECD across 52 countries.

[2] The IMF’s climate damage figure rests on a carbon price — US$85 per tonne of CO2 — that represents the cheapest possible price to keep warming below 2°C, not the actual damage fossil fuels cause. Using the peer-reviewed damage models that now underpin the US Environmental Protection Agency’s official social cost of carbon, 350.org recalculated those figures for 186 countries.

[3] Social costs of fossil fuels not accounted for by IMF estimates, as calculated by 350.org

[4] This 350.org analysis calculates the losses from price spikes using weighted oil and gas price averages for the period, combined with global consumption levels. It does not yet include wider knock-on effects such as inflation, decline in economic outputs and unemployment.

The Environmental Working Group today filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming the Environmental Protection Agency is unlawfully delaying a response to the group’s petition seeking stricter limits in oats on the notorious herbicide glyphosate.

The petition also asks for a ban on use of glyphosate as a pre-harvest drying agent.

In its suit, EWG urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to compel the EPA to respond to the petition, which has languished at the agency for seven years.

EWG argues the agency’s inaction violates federal law, which requires a timely response to petitions. The delay leaves millions of Americans – especially infants and young children – potentially exposed to unsafe levels of the weedkiller in many foods marketed to kids.

“The EPA has a clear legal duty to act on this petition, and it has simply refused to do so,” said Caroline Leary, EWG’s general counsel and COO.

“This kind of delay has real consequences for families who rely on the agency to ensure children are not exposed to toxic farm chemical residues like glyphosate,” she added.

The suit comes ahead of oral arguments in the Supreme Court on April 27 in a case centered on allegations that Monsanto – which sold the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup – failed to warn consumers about the health risks linked to exposure to the product.

That case could have sweeping implications for whether farmers and consumers can keep pursuing lawsuits for harms linked to glyphosate, and whether states can require warning labels on glyphosate products.

History of EWG’s request

EWG first filed its petition in 2018, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, later amending it in 2019.

The petition presents scientific evidence that the EPA’s current “tolerances” – or allowable levels – of glyphosate on oats do not adequately protect children’s health.

It also calls for an end to the practice of spraying glyphosate shortly before harvest, known as pre-harvest dessication, which greatly increases residue levels in final food products.

In 2018, two rounds of EWG-commissioned laboratory tests found widespread glyphosate contamination of oat-based foods. In the first round of tests, glyphosate was detected in nearly all non-organic oat products tested, with most samples exceeding EWG’s health benchmark of 160 parts per billion for children.

The second round of tests focused on popular kids’ cereals and found glyphosate in 100% of samples, again with the majority above EWG’s health benchmark.

Together the findings point to pervasive low-level exposure in everyday foods and raise concerns about current federal safety standards.

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in Roundup, the most widely used herbicide in the U.S. and around the world. While commonly applied to control weeds in farm fields, it is also used late in the growing season on crops like oats to accelerate drying before harvest. This practice leaves little time for the chemical to break down, resulting in higher residues in foods such as oat cereals, granola bars and snacks kids often eat.

Cancer risk

EWG’s petition and supporting data say oat-based foods are a major source of dietary exposure to glyphosate, particularly for infants and toddlers. Because young children eat more food relative to their body weight than adults, they can face disproportionately higher exposure levels.

“Parents shouldn’t have to second-guess whether everyday foods like cereal and snack bars are putting their children at risk of cancer,” said EWG President and co-Founder Ken Cook. “The EPA’s silence leaves families in the dark and falls far short of its responsibility to protect public health.”

Under the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act, the EPA must ensure that pesticide residue limits in food are “safe” – that there’s a reasonable certainty of no harm, with special protections for infants and children.

The Administrative Procedure Act also guarantees the public the right to petition the agency and receive a timely, reasoned response. EWG contends that the EPA’s prolonged inaction violates both requirements.

The EPA avoiding responsibility

EWG further argues that the agency’s delay prevents judicial review of a final decision on the group’s requests, and undermines accountability. By failing to issue a final decision, the agency is falling short of its legal obligations while also blocking courts from evaluating whether those obligations have been satisfied.

“This is exactly the kind of situation where courts are meant to step in,” said Leary. “The EPA cannot avoid its responsibilities simply by doing nothing.”

EWG’s petition also raises concerns about how current glyphosate tolerance levels were established. The allowable limit for glyphosate on oats has increased dramatically over time, from 0.1 parts per million, or ppm, in the early 1990s, to 30 ppm today.

According to the petition, those increases were driven not by new safety data but by efforts to align U.S. standards with international trade standards.

At the same time as the EPA has increased the tolerance levels, scientific debate over glyphosate health effects has persisted.

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” citing evidence from animal studies and limited human data. While the EPA has reached different conclusions in some assessments, it has acknowledged data gaps and internal disagreements about the chemical’s potential risks.

‘Stop stalling’

EWG’s lawsuit does not ask the court to determine whether glyphosate is safe or unsafe.

But it does seek a court order requiring the EPA to respond to the petition by a firm deadline, make the safety determination and explain its reasoning, as the law requires.

EWG argues that further delay would continue to expose families to potential risks. More inaction would also deny them transparency and accountability from an agency whose purpose is to protect the public from toxic chemicals like glyphosate.

“For seven years, the EPA has left this critical issue unresolved,” Cook said. “It’s time for the agency to stop stalling and do its job.”

The Federal Reserve released its April 2026 Beige Book, which provides economic commentary from each of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts. In this month’s report, the first since the start of Trump’s war in Iran, regional contacts reported painful price increases tied directly to the conflict, sustained consumer strain, and instability in the labor market.

Groundwork’s Chief of Policy and Advocacy, Alex Jacquez, offered his reaction:

“The Fed last week confirmed what working families already know to be true. Trump’s illegal war in Iran is driving up prices and squeezing wallets across the country, while businesses struggle to keep up with market instability. The Beige Book’s message couldn’t be clearer – as long as the president continues on this destructive path, workers and consumers will pay the price.”

Background:

The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book contains critical economic indicators, including the risk of recession. It is compiled with firsthand reports from contacts at businesses, banks, and community organizations across each of the 12 Federal Reserve Districts to report regional economic conditions. April’s Beige Book reveals the following.

Trump’s war in Iran is directly responsible for driving up prices across the economy. Increased input costs for producers and tightened oil supply ballooned prices on everything from fertilizer to plastic products.

• Volunteers may have to cut back on delivering meals to homebound seniors due to exorbitant gas prices, according to a contact in Dallas.
• Business leaders in Atlanta admitted that should the war in Iran continue, they’ll be forced to reevaluate their pricing.
• Contacts at Richmond ports forecast that the longer Trump pursues the war in Iran, the greater impact the conflict will have across supply chains.
• Businesses are holding off on long-term hiring, instead turning to temporary and contract workers, according to a temporary employment agency in Chicago that has seen a surge in demand amidst the uncertainty, as well as contacts in Cleveland and Boston.
• A Chicago manufacturer said they have instituted a hiring freeze in anticipation of higher input costs related to the Iran war.

Energy costs are hitting everyone, everywhere. Higher freight and shipping costs hit producers and families face budget-shattering utility bills.

• In Cleveland, contacts reported that their fuel costs are ‘skyrocketing,’ and attributed the spike directly to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
• Atlanta energy contacts anticipate that crude oil prices will remain elevated or increase further into the summer due to infrastructure destruction in the Middle East.
• In New York, a contact reported that Trump’s war is pushing up utility prices for working and middle class families.

Low-income households are struggling while high earners pull away. The K-shaped economy is on display as high earners splurge and working families scrimp.

• A Kansas City report says that working families’ budgets don’t stand a chance against low wages, tariff fallout, and elevated inflation.
• Food bank lines are getting longer thanks to price increases at the grocery store and an uncertain economic outlook in the wake of the Trump administration’s attacks on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, according to contacts in Dallas and Atlanta.
• In St. Louis, a contact noted that increased overdraft fees reflect that budgets are strained and working families have been forced to make difficult choices to reduce discretionary spending.

The Center for Biological Diversity, The Protect Our Communities Foundation and the Environmental Working Group have appealed to the California Supreme Court to overturn the state’s new rooftop solar policy after a lower court approved it a second time. The policy significantly slashes the credit new solar users get for sharing extra solar energy with the grid and has reduced demand for new rooftop solar systems.

“The appeals court ignored the Supreme Court’s order, so we’re asking the state’s highest court to force it to follow the law and stop capitulating to state regulators on this policy that’s devastating rooftop solar,” said Roger Lin, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s illegal to give undo deference to the utility commission. The Supreme Court agreed and ordered a do over. So why did the appeals court rubberstamp the commission’s decision again and basically endorse utility talking points? I’m hopeful another appeal gets this unfair policy thrown out so more Californians can afford rooftop solar, which an essential tool to fight the climate crisis.”

In March the California Court of Appeals upheld the California Public Utility Commission’s December 2022 action for a second time, despite the Supreme Court ruling in August 2025 that the lower court gave the commission too much latitude and needed to revise its ruling.

Friday’s appeal to the state Supreme Court says the lower appeals court again ignored state law, which requires the court to review the commission’s statutory interpretations as it would those of any state agency. Instead, the three-judge panel resurrected the same flawed review standard giving extreme deference to commission decisions. That leaves the agency virtually untouchable, which was what the legislature was trying to prevent when it passed the law in 1998.

“We’re asking the California Supreme Court to provide additional clarity to the lower courts so that both its decision and the Legislature’s intent have real effect in practice,” said Malinda Dickenson, who is representing The Protect Our Communities Foundation.

California’s updated net-metering policy slashes customer credits by up to 80% for electricity generated on rooftops and sold back to the grid, which reduces the financial benefit of installing solar systems. This has crushed efforts to expand rooftop solar in California, including in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods, and led to huge layoffs in the solar industry. It also violates state law, which requires that any policies ensure the rooftop solar market keeps growing.. The net energy metering rollback also goes against the United States’ recent global agreement at COP28 to triple renewable energy by 2030.

“From rising costs to wildfires to blackouts to air pollution, California consumers are fed up with the state’s investor-owned utilities,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, senior vice president for California with the Environmental Working Group. “And yet the one government agency that voters created over a 100 years ago to stand up to these monopoly utilities on behalf of consumers is now doing their dirty work, blocking consumers from having access to the technologies needed to solve myriad problems. At its core, that’s what this lawsuit is really all about.”

In its 2025 ruling, the Supreme Court said the appeals court had overlooked the California Legislature’s 1998 direction to limit deference to regulators, rejecting arguments from the utility commission and the three large investor-owned utility companies in California — Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas and Electric Company.

For-profit utilities across the country are trying to gut rooftop solar programs because distributed energy resources like rooftop solar threaten the utility business model.

Gulf and environmental groups sued the Trump administration today over its approval of BP’s new ultra-deepwater oil drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico. The project endangers the health of Gulf residents, ecosystems and industries like fishing and tourism.

Kaskida is BP’s first completely new oilfield approved in the Gulf since the U.K.-based company’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, which occurred 16 years ago today. BP’s infamous accident killed 11 people, wiped out horrific numbers of marine animals, and caused billions of dollars in damages to the Gulf, including by eliminating thousands of local jobs, including in fishing and tourism. BP’s Deepwater Horizon remains the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Kaskida will be at greater depths than Deepwater Horizon, in riskier waters. BP will drill for oil as far down as six miles below the sea floor, deeper than the height of Mount Everest.

The groups are challenging the approval of BP’s development proposal because legally required information is either missing or significantly flawed. For instance, BP failed to demonstrate it has the experience, expertise and certified equipment to conduct safe drilling under extreme conditions at Kaskida’s location, where a “loss of well control” incident (which caused BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster) is six to seven times more likely compared to typical deepwater oil wells.

BP’s proposal also underestimated the volume of a worst-case oil spill by at least half-a-million barrels of oil, which the Interior Department unfortunately adopted in its environmental analysis. And BP did not show in its proposals that it will have the necessary containment capabilities in case the company needs to stop a blown-out well from spilling 4.5 million barrels of oil or more across the Gulf.

The groups — Healthy Gulf, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Habitat Recovery Project, Sierra Club, and Center for Biological Diversity — are being represented by Earthjustice.

“The Trump administration has teed up the entire Gulf region for a Deepwater Horizon sequel with its approval of BP’s extremely risky ultra-deepwater drilling project,” said Earthjustice senior attorney Brettny Hardy. “The greenlighting of BP’s project sets a dangerously low bar for oil-and-gas companies that want to drill in our public waters. We’ll see the Trump administration in court over its unlawful and insulting approval of Kaskida.”

“Once again, BOEM has approved a deep water well in the Gulf of Mexico. Marine wildlife and communities along the Gulf coast were devastated by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill 16 years ago,” said Joanie Steinhaus, ocean program director for Turtle Island Restoration Network. “This project is a threat to our fragile ocean ecosystem, will inflame climate change and threatens the health of coastal residents. BP has not adequately demonstrated the capacity to operate and handle an oil spill in the high-pressure, high temperature conditions of this project.”

“Kaskida is emblematic of a new era in offshore oil extraction: corporate hoarding of risky, ultra-deep water leases in an attempt to monopolize the future of oil production, with little to no oversight from the Trump Administration. We, as citizens of the Gulf South, are not standing for it,” said Martha Collins, Healthy Gulf executive director. “BP has shown how they handle oil spills on this anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster — their risky drilling and inexperience at this great depth will ensure their continued legacy of the Gulf never being the same again.”

“Offshore drilling is one of the riskiest kinds of oil extraction, but the Trump administration is ignoring the law to allow Big Oil CEOs to endanger coastal communities for the sake of corporate profit,” said Devorah Ancel, senior attorney at Sierra Club’s Environmental Law Program. “This permit would allow BP to develop multiple ultra-deep high-pressure wells, which is already exceptionally risky, and with BP’s track record in the Gulf, coastal ecosystems face extraordinary danger. We’re suing the Trump administration to ensure the coastal communities that would suffer the consequences of BP’s actions get their day in court.”

“It's appalling that the Trump administration has authorized this deepwater drilling project without having information critical to preventing harm to marine life,” said Rachel Mathews, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This will put Rice's whales, sea turtles and other Gulf wildlife at terrible risk. Ultra-deepwater drilling is ultra-dangerous, full stop.”

Background

The Trump administration’s approval of Kaskida follows a series of actions that prioritize the oil-and-gas industry in the Gulf at the expense of communities and ecosystems.

Last month, the White House illegally exempted federally authorized Gulf oil-and-gas exploration, development and production from needing to comply with certain requirements of the Endangered Species Act, even though no Gulf projects have been rejected due to the Act, and the oil industry is not facing any burdensome requirements under the law that are slowing or halting offshore drilling activities. The U.S. is also already producing more oil than any nation in history, is the world’s top producer of gas, and is a net exporter of both.

The administration has also proposed weakening “well control” rules developed to tighten up safety protocols in the wake of Deepwater Horizon. It has sought to roll back “financial assurance” requirements that require the weakest oil and gas companies to backstop their obligations to clean up the mess they leave behind, rather than forcing American taxpayers to foot the bill. And, it is now consolidating two federal agencies involved in offshore drilling oversight that were intentionally separated after Deepwater Horizon to root out industry influence over regulators. The White House has proposed a budget cut for the new agency of more than 30% in funding and staff that address safety and manage operations.

While such measures may boost oil industry profits, they have done little to nothing to alleviate energy prices or inflation.

In the 16 years since BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, the oil industry has set its sights on deeper and riskier Gulf waters. In the three most recent oil-and-gas lease sales, 90% of company bids are going for deep or ultra-deepwaters, even though the likelihood of uncontrolled oil spills arising from offshore drilling operations increases exponentially with depth. Meanwhile, the oil industry is sitting on millions of acres of leases (nearly 80% of all leases the industry is in possession of) in the Gulf that haven’t begun producing oil or gas.

Seeking to rally the troops for his unholy war, Christian nationalist, TV-carnie and war fanboy Pete Kegseth just passed off some vengeful Gospel According to Tarantino as scripture at his (unconstitutional) Pentagon prayer service, and yes we have them now. Added to the "shameless blasphemy" of quoting - without credit - Samuel Jackson's homicidal hitman Jules as "prayer," Pete moronically misses the redemptive point: As he cites the "tyranny of evil men," he, unlike Jules, doesn't friggin' get that he is one.

With their calamitous illegal war continuing to spiral out of control, flailing regime officials are striking out in ever more erratic ways. Nursing his deranged feud with Pope Leo XIV, a vindictive Private Bonespurs - Suffer the little children to own the Pope - abruptly cancelled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities in Miami to fund a vital, decades-long foster program for migrant children, aka small deadly illegals, who enter the U.S. alone in what experts call "an incredibly psychologically harmful" move for already vulnerable kids. Meanwhile, slimy, Bible-and-chest thumping braggadocio Pete is working hard to match his boss' outrages with some fire-and-brimstone carnage.

Blithely pressing on with a serial slaughter based on evidently "entirely make-believe" grounds, Hegseth killed three more "narco-terrorists," likely fishermen, in the Eastern Pacific last week, the third boat bombing in three days - complete with giddy video - in the name of a "narco-trafficking" criminal conspiracy of which, experts say, there is "zero evidence," with "no impact at all" on America's drug problems. Despite bogus legal theories scrounged up by the regime in an attempt to justify the deaths of at least 177 mostly innocent people, rights advocates note, “'Murder' is the general term for premeditated killings outside of armed conflict."

In the wake of those transgressions and many more, Democrats just filed six articles of impeachment against Hegseth; their lead sponsor, Iranian-American Arizona Rep. Yassamin Ansari, cited "high crimes and misdemeanors,” including war crimes, abuse of power, and other charges. The bill didn't mention Hegseth's clearly unconstitutional worship services (what separation of church and state?), part of a brazen Christian crusade that faces a lawsuit arguing, "The federal government’s role is to serve the public, not proselytize." Nor does it flag his bloody, unseemly prayers for U.S. troops to inflict “overwhelming violence against those who deserve no mercy."

Finally, the impeachment effort fails to note the movie plagiarism and general dumbfuckery committed by cosplay Hegseth, one of a host of inept imposters in this awful Oceans 11 re-make, in his latest, lamest piece of performance art: Asking Pentagon officials and their families at last week's "Christian" service to bow their heads in prayer for a godless war as he recited scripture from the Book of Ezekiel, or maybe of Caesar or Samuel or Snakes On A Plane, a prayer he claimed was delivered by the lead planner of the “Combat Search And Rescue” mission that earlier this month rescued two pilots downed in Iran."They call it 'CSAR 25:17,' which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17," he blustered of "the Lord’s word about who we are and how we conduct ourselves." "Pray with me please."

Then, with his greasy smirk, he launched into an almost word-for-word rip-off of the iconic speech by blood-stained hitman and aspiring philosopher Jules Winnfield, played indelibly by Samuel Jackson in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 black comic morality tale Pulp Fiction, just before Jules point-blank executes hapless young Brett, not because he posed any threat to Jules or was allegedly developing nuclear weapons, but because Jules was just following orders. Because that's his job, and each time he does it he likes to recite that "prayer" before killing strangers he’s been hired to kill in cold blood; it helps make him feel powerful, morally upright, cleansed of whatever guilt or grief or questions that might otherwise trouble his sleep.

"The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men," Pete declaimed. "Blessed is he who, in the name of camaraderie and duty, shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper, and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother. And you will know my call sign is Sandy One when I lay my vengeance upon thee, and Amen." Some in the audience, presumably moviegoers, chuckled at the source; others looked dutifully, cluelessly solemn as their kids squirmed in boredom. Blessed be the hitmen. Let us prey, indeed.

In reality, of the three passages in Ezekiel 25:17, only the shortest comes close to Pete's/Jules' harangue: "I will execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes, and they shall know that I am the LORD when I lay My vengeance upon them." Tarantino, a fan of Kung Fu flicks, lifted his own fake version from a 1973 Japanese martial arts film, Karate Kiba, about a Kung Fu vigilante who vows to eliminate the crime-infested drug business in Japan. Hegseth, the guy with Nazi tattoos who lectures people about "Christian values," didn't mention or credit Tarantino, a theft and sacrilege first caught by Baptist minister Brian Kaylor. But no harm no foul: In today's idiocracy, notes Mary Trump, "Who among us has not mistaken the holy words of Tarantino's Pulp Fiction for Biblical scriptures?"

Online, Pentagon shill Sean Parnell acknowledged the prayer was "obviously inspired by dialogue in Pulp Fiction"; of Pete's failure to note that, he argued, "Anyone saying the Secretary misquoted Ezekiel 25:17 is peddling fake news and ignorant of reality." The next day, at a briefing on the war, the thin-skinned Hegseth went off on the press, calling their accurate reports on an unpopular war "unpatriotic" and likening the media to the Pharisees: "They were there to witness (but) their hearts were hardened (in) pursuit of their agenda." The whining didn't go over well; America really seems to hate Pete. "The gospel according to St. Jack Daniels. What a dick," they griped, and, "Talibangicals' perverted take on Christianity - Hegseth is literally an anti-Christ. And a rapist."

Mostly, people were pissed at his ignorant appropriation of the much-loved Pulp Fiction for his own base and bloody purposes, declaring, "And you call yourself a white Christian nationalist?" and, "I'd take Samuel Jackson's character over Pete's any day." They wondered if, next time, Pete would add the famed Biblical parable, "You know what they call a quarter-pounder with cheese in Paris?” (Royale.) They argued Pete's "scriptures" should include more "Motherfucker"'s, they offered hilarious video of Jules meeting up with another quivering Brett, and they marveled at the idiocy and ignorance of Hegseth, a bellicose grandstander who evidently didn't understand that, in Jules' bonkers, vengeful "prayer," the speaker is actually the bad guy.

In one of Pulp Fiction's two final scenes, in the diner where the film begins, Jules comes to a reckoning with himself on his own moral journey. He has long justified his bloody past by telling himself (like Pete) he's taking righteous vengeance on the "bad." But earlier that day, after killing Brett, he's untouched by a barrage of gunshots, a survival he attributes to "divine intervention, and a sign to re-evaluate his life. Telling the young thief about his ritual recitation, he says, “I never gave much thought to what it meant. I just thought it was some cold-blooded shit to say to a motherfucker before I popped a cap in his ass...The truth is, you’re the weak, and I’m the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo, I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd." Drunken Pete, who missed the point, should too.

"Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic, and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth - Pope Leo X1V

After months of fossil fuel industry lobbying, Republican lawmakers have introduced federal legislation that would give oil and gas companies immunity from any laws or lawsuits that aim to hold them accountable for their role in the climate crisis.

Eleven U.S. states and dozens of city, county, and tribal governments collectively representing more than 1 in 4 Americans are currently taking major oil and gas companies to court to hold them accountable for deceiving the public about the dangers of fossil fuels and make them pay for the resulting damages. Many cases are heading toward discovery and trial after courts rejected Big Oil’s efforts to stop them.

The oil and gas industry and its allies have been lobbying Congress and the Trump administration for more than a year to escape accountability. Last year, 16 Republican attorneys general proposed creating a “liability shield” for fossil fuel companies modeled on a 2005 law protecting gun manufacturers from lawsuits. In January, the American Petroleum Institute announced that killing state climate lawsuits is a top 2026 priority for the oil lobby. And a growing number of states have passed state-level laws that aim to shield fossil fuel companies from legal accountability. Recent reporting from ProPublica found those bills are "part of a coordinated effort by groups linked to right-wing activist Leonard Leo."

Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, said:

“Big Oil companies have raked in massive profits at the pump while lying to the American people about the catastrophic harm of their products, and now they want to deny Americans their rightful day in court and stick taxpayers with the bill for the mess they made. If fossil fuel companies have done nothing wrong, why do they need immunity?”

Jay Inslee, the former three-term Washington Governor who has been sounding the alarm about this growing threat, said:

“Every elected official who cares about the interests of their constituents more than those of corporate polluters should oppose this disgraceful proposal. Juries are a fundamental bastion of democracy, and it’s beyond dangerous to allow powerful and wealthy corporations to shield themselves from ever having to face jurors’ judgment.”

Background on U.S. Climate Accountability Lawsuits Against Big Oil:

Eleven U.S. states — California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai`i, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont — and the District of Columbia, along with dozens of city, county, and tribal governments in California, Colorado, Hawai`i, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Puerto Rico, have active lawsuits to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about their products’ role in climate change. These cases collectively represent more than 1 in 4 people living in the United States.

Later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider a case from Boulder, Colorado. Boulder is one of a growing number of communities across the U.S. — including Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, the District of Columbia, and the states of Massachusetts, Vermont, Minnesota and Connecticut — whose climate deception lawsuits against Big Oil companies are advancing toward discovery and trial after courts denied the companies’ motions to dismiss.

On Thursday, the House failed to adopt a war powers resolution to end the war in Iran. Notably, Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) sided with a majority of Republicans to oppose the measure. Demand Progress is leading a campaign in support of the war powers resolutions.

The following is a statement from Demand Progress Senior Policy Advisor Cavan Kharrazian:

“Congress has once again failed to uphold its constitutional responsibility by refusing to block this unauthorized and dangerous war. While we are encouraged to see growing support, including three of the four previous Democratic ‘no’ votes flipping, it is deeply disappointing that Rep. Golden joined Republicans in opposing efforts to stop further escalation, casting a decisive vote against the resolution.

Democratic leadership’s handling of this moment is also concerning. They previously declined to force a war powers vote before a critical period of escalation before recess, citing a lack of votes. Now they have moved forward under less favorable conditions, including during sensitive ceasefire negotiations, but still without the votes they previously claimed were necessary before proceeding, and with a changed balance in the House. That inconsistency raises a serious question about what is driving leadership’s priorities: strategy or politics.

We urge members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, to support sustained diplomatic efforts to resolve this conflict. The American people overwhelmingly reject this war and want a diplomatic end to it.”

Today, standing steps away from the U.S. Capitol, the Patriotic Millionaires, along with Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD), Senator Edward Markey (MA), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08), Rep. Chris Deluzio (PA-17), and countless other organizations, demanded Congress tax the rich in order to defeat the oligarchs and billionaire class and advance a new kind of economy that works for everyone.

The “Tax the Rich, Make Life Affordable” rally highlighted efforts to reform the tax code for working people and to unrig our economic system that currently rewards wealth over work. During the press conference, speakers noted previous failures over the past 60 years to stem the growth of inequality and the billionaire class and the current administration’s priorities and policies that actually accelerated it. Several organizations noted their support for current bills in front of Congress that would raise taxes on high earners and bring much-needed economic relief to low- and middle- income people.

“While I’ve seen examples of the good that wealth can do, I have also seen all the ways it can lead to irreparable harm to our personal, political, moral, and societal well-being. There is a level of wealth beyond which it threatens the health and even the existence of our democracy and our economy. We cannot hand over the keys to our democracy to people who are unwilling to address the economic injustices that exist today,” said Patriotic Millionaire Scott Ellis, who spoke on behalf of the organization. “I joined Senator Van Hollen, Representatives Jayapal, Beyer, and DeLuzio, and others to urge our government leaders to deal with the money problem in our country head-on with solutions like those found in the Patriotic Millionaires’ MONEY Agenda platform. Every time inequality reaches extraordinary levels, we create a vulnerability to authoritarianism where money becomes power. If we want to unrig our economy, we need a bold, surprisingly simple economic vision. Millionaires like me who want a rich, stable, free country demand an economy that ensures it. That begins with commonsense revenue raisers and tax reforms that stop the accumulation of oligarchic concentrations of wealth.”

Today’s rally also follows an increase in state momentum to pass legislation to tax the rich in light of federal inaction on the issue. States like Massachusetts, Maryland, and Washington state have passed their own laws to raise taxes on high earners and the wealthy in recent years, with states like California, Virginia, and others now considering similar actions. Speakers pointed to these efforts as evidence that federal lawmakers should proactively address economic inequality.

“Our federal tax code is stacked in favor of the wealthy, especially those who make their money off of money – while disfavoring working Americans who are living paycheck-to-paycheck. My Working Americans’ Tax Cut Act creates a fairer system that ensures those who are stretching to make ends meet can keep more of what they earn, while asking the well-off to pitch in more. It’s long past time that we rebalanced our tax code to put working people first – and promote greater opportunity and shared prosperity for all,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD).

“Our government has a fiscal recklessness problem, and it looks like this: the richest people in the history of Earth facing lower tax rates than Americans who earn a paycheck,” said Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17). “Yet that is the Republican plan—jack up the national debt and slash healthcare and more for the American people to pay for these huge tax giveaways to corporations and the ultra-rich. We need a vastly different approach, like passing the Ultra-Millionaires Tax to get some sanity back into our tax system.”

Over the past several months, the Patriotic Millionaires saw two elements of its legislative platform, The MONEY Agenda, introduced in both chambers of Congress. The first component, the Equal Tax Act, was introduced in the Senate by Senator Edward Markey in March and in the House by Congresswoman Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03) in September. It would ensure millionaires and billionaires, who earn most of their money passively through investments, pay the same tax rates as working people and close other common loopholes used by the super rich to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. In March, the second component, known as the “Cost of Living” Tax Cut Act, was introduced as the Working Americans’ Tax Cut Act in the Senate by Senator Chris Van Hollen and in the House by Representative Don Beyer (VA-08). The legislation would provide a substantial tax cut for working people, paid for by a surtax on millionaires.

“We welcome the introduction of the Equal Tax Act. Investment income being taxed less than income from work is one of the most glaring examples of how the ultra-wealthy exploit and rig our broken tax system to their advantage,” said David Kass, Executive Director of Americans for Tax Fairness. “It's only reasonable that Wall Street elites and the ultra wealthy should not be made to pay lower federal tax rates than nurses, teachers, and most working Americans. These changes are long overdue and mark a vital step toward a fairer tax system that ensures these ultra-wealthy individuals pay their fair share like everyone else.”

“As an organization that fights for women and girls, we know that we can’t achieve gender justice without tax fairness,” said Emily Martin, Chief Program Officer at the National Women's Law Center. “Through their tax agenda, Republicans in Congress and the Trump-Vance administration have made it crystal clear that their priorities lie not with women and families, but with the billionaire class. Women and their families deserve a government that ensures the wealthy pay their fair share, invests in health care, child care, and education, and builds an economy that works for everyone—not just billionaires and big corporations.”

“The affordability crisis isn't an accident. It's the result of policy choices that protect concentrated wealth over the prosperity of working families,” said EJ Juárez, State Innovation Exchange (SiX) Executive Director. “We know that when extreme wealth goes unchecked, the costs get passed down to working families: in rent, health care premiums, childcare bills, groceries, and electricity. In 2025 alone, billionaire wealth grew 22%—from $6.7 trillion to $8.2 trillion—while working families see the cost of living go up, and wages too low. That is why SiX is working alongside state legislators across the country to lead the way. Across all 50 states, lawmakers are advancing bold solutions to make the ultra-wealthy pay what they owe, close corporate loopholes, and build tax systems that actually lower costs and empower working families. Together, states are proving a better future is possible.”

Polls released Wednesday, April 15, by IMEU Policy Project, and conducted by Data for Progress, found that 58% of Arizona voters, 67% of California voters, 61% of Colorado voters, and 53% of Michigan voters support the resolution the Senate will vote on today to block President Trump’s delivery of 12,000 1,000-pound bombs to Israel.

54% of Arizona voters, 65% of California voters, 57% of Colorado voters, and 52% of Michigan voters also support the resolution to block Trump’s delivery of $295 million worth of bulldozers to Israel. Israel has used these bombs and bulldozers to destroy homes and kill civilians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon.

View full Arizona results

View full California results

View full Colorado results

View full Michigan results

MORE KEY FINDINGS:

• Strong majorities of Democrats and independents in each state support these resolutions, including:
  • 74% of Arizona Democrats and 62% of Arizona Independents support the resolution to block bombs, and 73% of Arizona Democrats and 55% of Arizona Independents support the resolution to block bulldozers
  • 79% of California Democrats and 76% of Colorado Independents support the resolution to block bombs, and 77% of California Democrats and 72% of Colorado Independents support the resolution to block bulldozers
  • 85% of Colorado Democrats and 60% of Colorado Independents support the resolution to block bombs, and 78% of Colorado Democrats and 58% of Colorado Independents support the resolution to block bulldozers
  • 67% of Michigan Democrats and 60% of Michigan Independents support the resolution to block bombs, and 65% of Michigan Democrats and 59% of Michigan Independents support the resolution to block bulldozers
    
• Majorities in each state believe war with Iran benefits Israel more than the United States
  • 54% of Arizona voters say war with Iran benefits Israel more, while just 33% say the US benefits more
  • 66% of California voters say war with Iran benefits Israel more, while just 24% say the US benefits more
  • 58% of Colorado voters say war with Iran benefits Israel more, while just 29% say the US benefits more
  • 54% of Michigan voters say war with Iran benefits Israel more, while just 30% say the US benefits more
    
• Majorities of Democrats and Independents in each state say Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, including:
  • 76% of Arizona Democrats and 53% of Independents
  • 74% of California Democrats and 68% of Independents
  • 84% of Colorado Democrats and 52% of Independents
  • 66% of Michigan Democrats and 53% of Independents

Today, the House Democratic Whip advised that a debate on a rule to allow a vote on renewing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was postponed. The House had previously planned to vote on the rule around noon. The White House and intelligence agencies have been exerting maximum pressure to get Congress to pass a “clean” renewal of FISA without any privacy reforms. However, both Republicans and Democrats keep raising concerns about moving forward without enacting privacy protections. Demand Progress is part of a bipartisan coalition urging Congress to close loopholes in the law that allow the government to bypass the courts to surveil Americans.

The following is a statement from Demand Progress Senior Policy Advisor Hajar Hammado:

“This time, fearmongering was not enough to overcome a bipartisan movement fighting for the privacy rights of all Americans. We rarely ever see the full force of the White House and the intelligence agencies fail to browbeat Congress into giving them what they want. That this happened today is a testament to the tireless work of our movement, which has been successfully bringing Republicans, Democrats and independents together for a common cause.

Of course, this fight is nowhere near over. Speaker Johnson can still force a vote any time with extremely short notice, but our coalition feels the wind at our backs and we won’t stop fighting for a self-evident truth: the government should not be able to bypass the courts to surveil Americans.”

A robust set of resources on the need for privacy reforms for FISA is available here and here, and additional background, context, polling, reform demands, resources and other information is available here. Video of Drop Site News asking members about their support for a clean FISA renewal is here.

A new report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) examines the sovereign debt trap cycle and the need for systemic reforms to the international financial architecture that perpetuates it. As of March 2026, 75 out of 119 low- and middle-income countries evaluated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and credit rating agencies were either already facing a debt crisis or are at high risk of one. Developing countries are forced to choose between meeting debt obligations and investing in vital public services, climate resilience, infrastructure, and other Sustainable Development Goals.

“Our report shows how the debt and climate crises are interconnected,” report coauthor and CEPR Senior Research Associate Ivana Vasic-Lalovic said. “Developing countries shouldn’t have to choose between paying off debt and funding schools, hospitals, or climate preparedness and response.”

The economic impact of the Iran war is likely to worsen these dynamics, due “not only [to] the immediate impact of higher energy and food prices, but the broader dynamics that can follow: inflation persists, interest rates remain high, and external financing becomes more costly,” the report states.

It goes on to note: “In the context of multiple unfolding crises, the current debt burden of developing countries is unsustainable and requires a comprehensive policy response, including systemic reforms, debt cancellation, as well as immediate relief measures.” The IMF warned this week in its World Economic Outlook that the Iran war could lead to the risk of a global recession in a “severe scenario” of highly elevated oil prices continuing through 2027. An adverse, but less severe, scenario could lead to only 2.5 percent global growth this year and a 1.5 percent increase in inflation, and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned that “now, even our most hopeful scenario involves a growth downgrade” due to damage to oil and shipping infrastructure, supply disruptions, “and other scarring effects.”

The CEPR report finds that interest payments on external public debt rose from 1.4 percent of government revenue in 2010 to 3.5 percent in 2024 — higher than during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Higher interest on debt at a time of lowered economic growth risks creating the kinds of debt traps that have ensnared countries in the past, leading to the Jubilee movement for debt cancellation, debt audits, and greater scrutiny of foreign debt holdings.

“Unfortunately, the dynamic is all-too familiar: the IMF continues to insist on conditions that put many countries in a debt trap, where burdensome debt service payments prevent governments from being able to spend on essential services and human needs ― as well as on climate response and climate change mitigation measures,” coauthor Paola Jaimes said.

“The IMF — and therefore the US government, which has decisive influence there — can no longer ignore their responsibility in both the debt and climate crises. We need climate finance commitments that won’t worsen indebtedness, such as a new issuance of SDRs. Without urgent reforms, the world’s most vulnerable countries will remain trapped in a never-ending cycle of debt distress and climate disaster,” CEPR Co-Director Mark Weisbrot said.

Whew. It's been a time: "Open the Fuckin' Strait," "A whole civilization will die," puerile threats, boundless botches and cover-ups, deranged lurches into ballrooms, auto-pens, Davy Crockett, and a media sanewashing it all. And when their slapstick "ceasefire" and "peace talks" imploded, our Supreme Leader was at a UFC cage match watching men batter each other bloody for fun and profit. Then he depicted himself as Jesus, with a hotel on the moon. Breaking: "The president has lost his mind."

It's a historic given that the final act of any narcissist is inevitably a descent into psychosis. Thus are we now witnessing - and struggling to survive - the mayhem of "history's dumbest madman," a toddler with a gun, a Dunning-Kruger president with a brain of moldering oatmeal as supremely confident as he is utterly ignorant, leading to dazzling insights like, "I'll know the war is over when I feel it in my bones." A criminal braggart and loathsome human being, he is above all extraordinarily stupid, giving rise to the first time in history you can post, "He's an idiot," and 90% of the world knows who you're talking about. It may also be the first time aggrieved, enraged citizens regularly say of their purported leader, "Die as soon as possible, you child-raping worthless fuck."

Today, we find ourselves mired in "the worst-run war in US history," a witless war conducted mostly by thumb by "a depraved idiot" with no plan, no map, no clue, inexorably morphed into the "Worst. Ceasefire. Ever." In his staggering stupidity, Trump has done more damage to American status, power and respect in weeks than any adversary did in decades, experts say, empowering and enriching Russia, China and Iran while endlessly, mindlessly declaring, Baghdad-Bob-like, "victory" over "obliterated" enemy forces. Abetted by a cabal of inept sycophants whose "collective incompetence is unprecedented," a demented old crook who relishes carnage has rendered America a rogue state lacking all credibility, a beleaguered world's preeminent villain and laughingstock.

In the lead-up to his illegal war, the chaos begun on Day One had already wildly escalated, blunders coming fast and lethal. He gutted measures to reduce civilian casualties, decommissioned minesweepers, fired judge advocate generals who keep military action within international law, did no planning for the economic fallout, stupefyingly ignored warnings about Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz - universally deemed by anyone who's glanced at a map or history book the key vulnerability in Middle East geopolitics. The result: A Wild West lack of accountability that on the first day saw a US strike slaughter some 175 Iranian schoolgirls, an atrocity first met with lies and denials, then silence and as yet no apology from any American representative.

We've since seen a flood of senseless, trash-talking claims, threats and whiplash deadlines that sound either like a rabid 10-year-old schoolyard bully, a pissed-off late-night text to a mob sweetheart who hasn't called back, or a ransom note in crayon: "If they don't make a deal, I am blowing up everything," "Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today,” "WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!", "If it goes well we'll settle, otherwise we'll keep bombing our little hearts out," "TAKE THE OIL & MAKE A FORTUNE," "48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down," "We will bomb Iran back into the Stone ages (sic)." They're so dumb Iran trolls him online: When he claimed (fictional) “good and productive talks," they echoed him with a smiley face and, "To the president of peace."

They, and the world, were less amused when he went full genocidal and proclaimed, "Power Plant Day and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one. Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards," with a jeering, "Praise be to Allah," and then the more bonkers, "A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again." Still-spineless legacy media translated that into, "Mr. Trump issued a new ultimatum." For Easter, Jonathan Larsen noted the day would be "commemorated with the traditional threatening of the war crimes (with the) ritual repetition of deadlines and horrific consequences...(The) incantation was followed (by) the miracle of the levitating oil prices. They were risen." The Strait, Iran officials asserted, "will not be opened through the ridiculous spectacle (of) the president of the United States." His name, they wrote, "will be etched in history as a supreme war criminal.”

Another deadline shuffled, the madness by "a dangerous delinquent idiot" went on. At a surreal Easter Egg Roll, he ranted about Iran's fighters beside a bewildered Easter Bunny, babbled to the assembled, equally baffled kids about Biden's auto-pen, insisted bombing was good for Iranian children, and silently stared down a reporter who asked about war crimes, stonily turning away with, "What else?" He gave a droopy, gibberish speech about America's "overwhelming victories on the battlefield,” though there haven't been any battles and "the whelmingest victory" was against a girls' school. It was rote stale lies, noted Colbert: "All the stuff you’ve heard before, delivered by a narcotized turtle” who'd disastrously "started a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle" and then walked away.

Online, amidst a war, he's ceaselessly spewed batshit claptrap: He raged at Somali Americans, wondered if Jasmine Crockett is related to Davy Crockett, trashed Bill Maher and "dried-up old prune" Springsteen (LOL), obsessed over his ballroom and Hitler-esque arch. He said "we can’t take care of daycare" or Medicaid/ Medicare "little scams" because we need more war; speaking of, he posted a bizarre, pre-Bonespurs photo of himself in military garb. He danced, partied as tankers burned, danced again: "Young man, there's no need to feel down!" Letting his homicidal freak flag fly, he fundraised off images of dead soldiers - him in his fucking baseball cap - and lied their families urged the war on. One non-fan: "He has the empathy of a serial killer."

He's also brazenly saber-rattled - the US military can do "whatever it wants in the world" - and blasphemed - God supports the war because He/She "wants to see people taken care of." Umm. Add the "heretical Christianist gibberish" of bombastic ghoul Drunk Pete - who's giddily celebrated “death and destruction from the sky," urged war-crimey "no quarter" against enemies, and prayed for "overwhelming violence against those who deserve no mercy" - and even devoutly apolitical church leaders have protested, "There are no new crusades. If God is present in this war, He is among those who are dying." Noted Pope Leo, "Jesus, King of Peace, does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: Your hands are full of blood.’"

Following in a long, grim American tradition, the regime's hands may prove more bloody than we know. Despite an "investigation" into the massacre of Iranian schoolgirls, there's been no accountability and many deem it unlikely there will ever be. Meanwhile, multiple reports suggest a series of cover-ups by officials seeking to hide the deadly cost of a catastrophic war nobody wants. A new report accuses military leaders of a "casualty cover-up," charging they're issuing “low-ball and outdated figures" of U.S. casualties of up to 750 Americans killed or wounded. Unsurprisingly, the chest-thumping, out-of-his-depth, lying- his-way-out-of-sexual-assault-charges Drunktank Pete is often at the center of reported deceptions, with angry soldiers themselves calling them out.

Survivors have disputed his account of a deadly March 1 Iranian drone attack in Kuwait that killed six U.S. soldiers and wounded dozens, with almost 40 hospitalized. Soldiers describe a grisly scene with many head wounds, perforated eardrums and shrapnel hits to abdomens and limbs; The Great Empathizer infamously shrugged off the carnage with, "That's the way it is." Hegseth claimed the drone was a "squirter," an anomaly that "squeaked through" a well-fortified operations center. But survivors call bullshit, saying they were left "unprepared to provide any defense." "Calling it a squirter is a falsehood," said one, citing "a bunch of little tin buildings” unprotected from the sky, in "a deeply unsafe area" not just within range of Iran's missiles but a known potential target. On the degree of fortification, he said, "I would put it in the 'none' category."

A new WaPo story also disputes Hegseth claims about Iran's losses that fail to line up with intel and reality. Despite his persistent boasts that Tehran's military might has been "decimated" by U.S. forces' "complete control of Iranian skies" in now-"uncontested airspace,“ experts say Iran still has over half its missile launchers and thousands of medium- and short-range ballistic weapons that can be repaired or pulled from underground facilities. They also say his focus on the number of Iran's missile launches is "a dumb metric" that ignores what matters: Not their volume, but their precision, or "hit rates," which are increasing as their strategy evolves. In another nod to his cluelessness, they note the downing of an F-15 and subsequent rescue of its airman - itself a suspected cover-up of a failed mission - is "what happens when you have air superiority but not air supremacy."

Finally, many have suggested a cover-up of possible sabotage on the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, the Navy’s $13 billion crown jewel, which has morphed into a sort of McHale's Navy "Voyage of the Damned" for a war-weary crew of about 4,500 sailors stuck in a record-breaking 11th month of deployment. "It’s on fire. It’s heading to Greece. And the toilets don’t work," runs one succinct summary of its series of mishaps, from the breakdown of over 600 toilets - also suspected as sabotage - to a laundry-room fire that raged for 30 hours, caused far greater damage than initially reported, and left some 600 sailors sleeping on floors and tables before the ship limped to Greece for repairs. The Navy is now investigating whether the fire was deliberately set,

Between lies, blunders, mutinies against mindless wars and an addled Commander Bonespurs who doesn't know how batteries work, some WH officials have reportedly "raised concerns" - thanks legacy media - if lackeys are "explaining the evolving complexity of the conflict" to him. Seriously? The guy claims he invented the word "groceries," thinks migrants come from insane asylums, and gets his daily info from a two-minute video of "stuff blowing up" (which has never ended a war, except in Hiroshima) so what are the odds? This weekend, he again displayed his strategic acumen by railing against a (female) reporter who asked about the Strait. "We win, no matter what," he snapped. "We've defeated their military, it's all at the bottom of the sea (with sharks!), their leaders are dead. With all that, lets see what happens. But from my standpoint, I don't care."

Neither, apparently, do the whip-smart, deeply knowledgeable "negotiators" - a corrupt slumlord, clueless golf bro and creep who fucks couches - who just went to Pakistan for "peace talks." Less than shockingly, they gave up in under 24 hours and fled home empty-handed. According to Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the Ugly Americans "derailed" the talks with "maximalist demands and shifting goalposts" just as the two sides were "inches away" from an agreement. "Zero lessons learned," Araghchi wrote. "Good will begets good will. Enmity begets enmity.” Profoundly weirdly - and aptly for this timeline - at the same moment J.D. was announcing their failure, Trump, slathered in clown makeup, was entering Miami's Kaseya Center to watch two men beat up each other, or pretend to, in a UFC cage match.

With Kid Rock blaring and accompanied by assorted bottom-feeders - UFC's Dana White, rapper Vanilla Ice, a few of his evil spawn and a hammered-looking, dead-eyed Marco Rubio who bafflingly skipped seeking peace, which is kinda his job, for this - Trump strutted into his last MAGA chud safe space, a symptom of the decline of Western civilization and a tacky haven for people who get off on watching other people get hurt. Last year, Trump was loudly cheered here; this year, he was cheered and booed, not a good sign for his shot at the UFC Peace Prize. Amidst our many crises, people mulled why Rubio was there. One sage: "He makes Trump look tall." Others: "This ain’t a cabinet. It’s a junk drawer," "This is not serious leadership. It’s amateur hour,” and "What a circus."

Trump, a fat, clumsy, longtime manosphere wannabe, watched the fighting intensely from ringside, occasionally dodging blood and spit, oblivious to the madness of attending a fucking cage match as the world burns. Ever-dazzled by celebrity, he went gaga for Brazil’s Paulo Costa when the fighter came over to shake his teeny, rotting hand. “You’re a beautiful guy," Trump crooned. "You could be a model, you look so good.” Filmmaker Jeremy Newberger: “This montage of dueling events" - UFC vs. war and peace - "would be the denouement of The Godfather Part VII: Corleone Nights, a straight to video release by a second cousin of Francis Ford Coppola’s tax attorney." We are adrift in a dumpster-fire idiocracy, wading through Trump's opus, I Really Don't Care, Do U?

The next day, he announced a blockade to block the blockade that’s blocking the Strait of Hormuz that wasn’t blocked before he caused it to be. "Any Iranian who fires at us, will be BLOWN TO HELL!" he bellowed. "We are fully 'LOCKED AND LOADED.'" He went on Fox, babbling about the Gulf of Trump and stunning into wide-eyed silence Maria Bartiromo when she asked if he thought gas prices would be lower by the midterms. "I hope so. I mean, I think so. It could be," he yammered. "It could be or the same or maybe a little bit higher." Online, he (again) trashed Pope Leo, who's "weak on crime," for being against war. Rep. Ted Lieu, who earlier reminded the military not to obey illegal orders, added, "If you receive an illegal order to attack the Vatican, you will also disobey that order."

In a social media frenzy, he posted 12 times, all Sunday night. He posted an AI image of a Trump Hotel on the moon. Then he posted an image of himself cosplaying as Jesus healing a sick man, who if things weren't weird enough many thought looked like Epstein. Cue flags, eagles, jets, angels, widespread outrage even from MAGA world - most charged "blasphemy," not insanity - who maybe should've seen this coming? Taken aback by the uproar, he sputtered it "had to do with red cross as a red cross worker," but took it down. Still, America's eyes hurt. The consensus: "This man is not well." And, said John Brennan, "The 25th Amendment was written with Donald Trump in mind.” Aaron Rupar sent out the image as a plea. "I'm not sure it has broken through to the general public that the president is a megalomaniac crazy person," he wrote. "Hopefully posts like this help." Or not.

Trump watches guys maul each otherImage from Bluesky

This man is not well.Image from Truth Social

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has contracted with two troubled companies to build and operate a massive new billion-dollar ICE detention center in Texas. One company, Acquisition Logistics LLC, fired by DHS last month, was never registered to operate in Texas, and the new company, Amentum Services Inc. has a history of health and safety, and other violations of federal law according to a new Public Citizen report titled Billion Dollar Collapse: The Anatomy and Failure of an ICE Detention Center Contract, authored by researcher Douglas Pasternak.

The Trump administration first awarded a $1.3 billion contract to construct and operate Camp East Montana in El Paso, TX at Ft. Bliss to Acquisition Logistics LLC, a company with no prior experience constructing or operating a detention facility. The contract has a financial ceiling of $2.7 billion. The 5,000-person facility is being built in the same location that housed Japanese-Americans in internment camps during World War II, and its construction has been condemned by Japanese-American and other groups. One subcontractor employee died at the site just two days after the contract was first awarded. Since then, three detainees have died and one of those deaths was ruled a homicide by the local coroner. Eight months after the contract was first awarded in July 2025, due to a litany of these lethal and other problems, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) replaced Acquisition Logistics with Amentum Services, Inc.

Amentum Services, received a no-bid, sole-sourced contract last month to provide management of the facility, including housing, transportation and medical care. However, Amentum and its affiliated companies have been cited and fined for 112 regulatory violations over the years including fraud, employment discrimination, and one dozen health and safety violations over the past six years.

Public Citizen Researcher Douglas Pasternak, who authored the report, said the Trump administration is awarding large contracts to businesses with little prior experience, as well as to more well-established corporations with dubious records, setting off alarm bells about how taxpayer funds are being spent and how these detainees are being treated.

“This is not just about corporate negligence and government mismanagement, it’s about human lives, literally. Every American should be deeply concerned,” said Pasternak. “The Trump administration is doling out billions of dollars in taxpayer funds on contracts that have led to the death of four people in a six-month period. And things are not likely to improve. The new contractor has a history of health and safety violations, including a 2023 incident that involved the potential exposure of workers at the CIA’s headquarters in Virginia to a toxic chemical, and the death of a worker in 2024 at Fort Belvoir. None of that bodes well for the 5,000 immigrant detainees the Trump administration hopes to house at the Camp East Montana detention center in Texas.”

Upcoming ICE detention protests: On Saturday, April 25th, communities across the country will come together for the Communities Not Cages National Day of Action — a coordinated, nationwide mobilization against the Trump administration’s reckless expansion of ICE warehouse detention and its assault on the due process rights of immigrants and all Americans. Public Citizen is a lead partner of Disappeared in America, a campaign organized by the Not Above the Law coalition.

The answer to the question is this: No.

At 9:49 pm on Sunday evening, President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image (previously shared months ago online by MAGA zealot Nick Adams and others) that depicts him as a healing Jesus Christ-like figure.

Like the president himself, the image is absurd on its face. It is also deeply concerning in terms of the deranged narcissism it represents—not to mention the timing as Trump drags the nation and the world further into ruin with his illegal war of choice against Iran.

Let the record show that Trump is neither holy nor a healer. He's an unrepentant war criminal and a billionaire enemy to the working class. We asked an AI image generator to create a picture of "Trump as a war criminal" but the response was "an error occurred." But that's okay. Every real picture of Trump is a picture of a war criminal and a deceitful, lying, crude, and greedy man. We decided to use one of those instead.

US President Donald Trump speaks on election night in the East Room of the White House in the early morning hours of November 04, 2020 shortly after losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

That's better. Though, honestly, no more enjoyable to look at.

Eighty-six organizations that work on migrant rights, human rights, and humanitarian aid sent a letter to Congress today as the U.S. military threatens to detain Cubans in Guantánamo should they begin fleeing deteriorating conditions in their country — conditions caused by the United States’ sanctions and fuel blockade. The authors call on Congress to bring an end to the sanctions, the fuel embargo, and the funding of Guantánamo so that it is never again used for mass detentions and ultimately closes forever. “Guantánamo should be a relic of the past,” they write.

Signers include the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Victims of Torture, the International Refugee Assistance Project, Refugees International, American Friends Service Committee, Defending Rights and Dissent, the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, the Latin American Working Group, the Center for Economic and Policy Research, and Church World Service, among others in response to remarks on March 19 by SOUTHCOM Commander General Francis L. Donovan that, in the event of mass migration from Cuba, SOUTHCOM would “set up a camp to deal with migrants” at the US Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay.

With the current de facto US oil blockade against Cuba, and the worsening humanitarian crisis on the island, such a mass migration appears increasingly likely. The organizations signing the letter express concern that “Given the well-documented history of abusive and unlawful detention at Guantánamo, any proposal to use the base for additional detention is deeply troubling and unacceptable.”

The groups addressed their letter to Congress because “Congress has the power to stop use of the Naval base for any form of detention–and must take steps to prevent funding for detention operations and close Guantánamo for good.”

The letter goes on to describe the history of abuse and mistreatment at Guantánamo’s Migrant Operations Center, particularly during the 1990s when many Haitian refugees were held there following the 1991 CIA-backed coup d’etat against Haiti’s democratically elected government. The letter cites inadequate medical care and poor health and safety conditions as other reasons for concern.

Experts comment:

“Time and again, we have seen the U.S. government try to use Guantánamo as a legal black hole to mistreat migrants, subjecting them to inhumane conditions and interfering with both their right to seek protection in the United States and their right to counsel. IRAP opposes any effort to continue detention at Guantánamo.” — Pedro Sepulveda, International Refugee Assistance Project Litigation Fellow

“The continued use of Guantánamo Bay, which has an extensive history of abuse and torture, is horrific and unconscionable. By disappearing people at Guantánamo, the administration puts people’s lives at risk, obscures transparency, denies people due process, and subjects them to brutal conditions, at times indefinitely. We demand the permanent closure of Guantánamo and denounce any continued expansion of the facility and the deadly immigration detention system that is already operating at an unprecedented scope and scale at a cost to American taxpayers.” — Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director of Detention Watch Network

“The ongoing threat of using the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay to detain migrants would extend one of the most troubling chapters in our nation’s history, in which legal gray zones deny people their basic rights. Guantánamo still illegally houses detainees. Expanding its use to hold migrants would further entrench a system designed to evade due process and accountability. Proposals to establish a migrant camp at GITMO in response to potential migration from Cuba reflect a dangerous willingness to sidestep the rule of law. Congress must act to block funding for such detention, shut down Guantánamo once and for all, and address the root causes of migration, including harmful sanctions policies that destabilize entire populations.” — Robert S. McCaw, Council on American-Islamic Relations Government Affairs Department Director

“If the Trump administration is worried about Cuban migration, the solution is simple: stop intentionally impoverishing the Cuban people through an embargo and fuel blockade.” — Michael Galant, Senior Research and Outreach Associate, Center for Economic and Policy Research

“The president has held Guantánamo detention as a threat over the heads of migrants in the United States and now threatens the same over Cubans who may be forced to flee their homes as a result of his own actions. The United States cannot continue to leverage Guantánamo’s legacy of torture and inhumane treatment to intimidate people seeking safety.” — Yumna Rizvi, Center for Victims of Torture Senior Policy Analyst

Today’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report shows prices surged 3.3% over the past year in March. Prices jumped by 0.9% in the past month alone. The spike in prices was largely driven by the energy price shock from Trump’s war with Iran, which has skyrocketed oil prices and pushed gasoline above $4 per gallon. This report is the first full snapshot of inflation since the onset of the conflict. Even with a two-week ceasefire in place, global supply chains are still disrupted and the inflationary shockwaves will continue to hit Americans’ wallets for months to come.

Groundwork Collaborative's Managing Director of Policy and Advocacy Elizabeth Pancotti shared her reaction:

“Today’s inflation report comes as no shock to anyone who has filled up their gas tank in the past month. The toll of Trump’s war in Iran won’t stop at the pump – price hikes on summer vacations, groceries, and electronics are coming down the pike as his war stokes chaos in supply chains around the world. By pursuing this illegal war, the president has made it clear that he’s putting American families last.”

BACKGROUND

Rising energy prices are driving the spike in inflation. Energy prices in March surged 12.5% over the past year and 10.9% in March alone. Gasoline prices have risen from just under $3 before the conflict to over $4 a gallon, and diesel has climbed more than 50% to $5.68, just 13 cents below its record-high in June 2022. Rising gasoline prices accounted for nearly three-fourths of the increase in headline inflation last month.

The fallout of Trump’s agenda doesn’t stop at the gas pump. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, rose 2.6% over the past year, up from 2.5%, and 0.2% over the past month.

• There were big monthly price jumps in computer software and accessories (4%) and airline fares (2.7%).
• Following the Supreme Court’s ruling against his IEEPA tariffs, Trump imposed a 10% global tariff, blocking any relief for American families. In the past month alone, the price of items primarily imported, like clothing and toys, rose by more than 2%.
• Persistent inflation also continues in key service categories, with health care services up 3.7% and housing prices rising 3% over the past year. Instead of offering American families relief, Trump proposed eliminating more than $8 billion in funding for housing and utility affordability in his FY27 budget last week.

The fragile ceasefire can’t reverse the damage that is already done. Even if the conflict was fully resolved and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz resumed without disruptions, prices would continue to rise in the months to come as higher input costs pass through to consumers. Steel, aluminum, plastics, and fertilizer prices have all spiked, and this rise in input costs is still working through supply chains.

• If the ceasefire holds, KPMG expects inflation to stay elevated in the months ahead, as energy prices remain high before gradually easing. If the war drags on, inflation pressures intensify and persist, with higher oil prices prolonging the cost-of-living squeeze and weakening the broader economy.
• The Federal Reserve has even warned that if the conflict continues, it would lead to more sustained energy shocks that are likely to feed into broader inflation in the months ahead.

The Trump administration’s Gaza ceasefire plan – as endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803 – is failing, according to a progress scorecard released today by five humanitarian organizations.

The scorecard, led by Danish Refugee Council, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International, and Save the Children, assessed progress against the plan’s own stated objectives, and concludes that six months on from the signing of the ceasefire plan, implementation of these core provisions is regrettably failing. In particular, Palestinians are continuing to suffer extreme deprivation, hunger, injury, and death due to the Israeli government’s continued attacks, movement restrictions, and aid obstructions.

“Six months into the so-called ceasefire in Gaza, we are seeing a continuation of the designed deprivation that we saw throughout the hostilities,” said Refugees International president and former senior U.S. humanitarian official Jeremy Konyndyk. “Palestinians are experiencing severe malnutrition and preventable deaths every day because many cannot reliably access basic food or services. Both the terms of the ceasefire deal and the core tenets of international humanitarian law require that humanitarian goods enter Gaza, and that humanitarians can do their jobs to save lives. The deal signed last year rightly committed to this – it is time to deliver on those commitments.”

“At least two children a day have been killed or injured in the six months since the ceasefire for Gaza was agreed,” said Save the Children International CEO Inger Ashing. This is not peace for children in Gaza. The ceasefire agreement has not translated into meaningful protection for children or created conditions for recovery. Even its humanitarian provisions – the most straightforward to implement – remain obstructed. We are ready to scale up and support the people of Gaza, but we must be allowed to do our jobs.”

“Six months into the ceasefire, Palestinians in Gaza are still facing a daily struggle to survive.President Trump promised to lead an extraordinary recovery and declared a ‘new day’ for Gaza. Instead, his plan for peace is stalling and his attention has turned away from the crisis,” said Oxfam America President & CEO Abby Maxman. “Six months later, Palestinians are still experiencing more of the same: going to bed hungry in flooded tents, facing long lines for clean water, and succumbing to diseases and injuries without a healthcare system or basic medical supplies. All while the government of Israel drops bombs and cuts off vital, life-saving assistance with U.S. support. We cannot look away – Palestinians in Gaza need our support and pressure on our leaders to deliver on the promise of peace now more than ever.”

Responding to the United States President Donald Trump’s statement about Iran on Truth Social on 7 April 2026, warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again”, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International said:

“President Trump’s very act of making such apocalyptic threats, including his warning of ending ‘a whole civilization’, reveals a staggering level of cruelty and disregard for human life. It becomes all the more terrifying when coupled with his explicit threats to directly attack civilian infrastructure by bringing about the ‘complete demolition’ of Iran’s power plants and bridges.

“International humanitarian law strictly prohibits direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects. The US President’s threat of extermination and irreparable destruction brazenly shreds core rules of international humanitarian law, with potentially catastrophic consequences for over 90 million people. It may constitute a threat to commit genocide, a crime defined by the Genocide Convention and by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as committing one or more defined acts ’with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.’

The US President’s threat of extermination and irreparable destruction brazenly shreds core rules of international humanitarian law, with potentially catastrophic consequences for over 90 million people.

“The stakes could not be higher. The international community, including the UN Security Council, regional bodies and all states must urgently intervene to avert an impending catastrophe and unequivocally affirm that inciting, ordering or committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide entail individual criminal responsibility under international law.

“President Trump’s threats, coupled with escalating USA and Israeli attacks destroying civilian infrastructure, are terrorizing millions of people in Iran and their distressed relatives abroad as tens of millions of lives hang in the balance. We call for immediate action to stop unlawful attacks that would plunge an entire country into darkness and deprive millions of their fundamental human rights to life, water, food, healthcare, and an adequate standard of living.

“In recent days, US and Israeli forces have attacked civilian infrastructure, including power plants, bridges, universities, steel factories and petrochemical facilities, killing and injuring civilians, condemning the population to years, if not decades, of deepened economic hardship, inflicting serious harm on civilian health and the environment, and leaving long‑lasting damage to civilians’ lives and livelihoods.

“Intentionally attacking civilian infrastructure constitute war crimes under international law. Even in the limited cases that civilian infrastructure qualify as military targets, a party still cannot attack them if this may cause disproportionate harm to civilians. Power plants, water systems and energy infrastructure are indispensable to civilian life, underpinning access to clean water, medical care, hospital electricity, food supply chains, and basic livelihoods. Attacking them would be disproportionate and thus unlawful under international humanitarian law and could amount to a war crime.”

Background

In recent days, President Trump has repeatedly issued escalating threats against Iran’s energy and transport infrastructure, warning that unless the Iranian authorities reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the United States would carry out the “complete demolition” of the country’s power plants and bridges. He also threatened to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age”.

On 5 April, President Trump warned that Iran could be “taken out in one night” and set a deadline of 8pm Eastern Time on 7 April for Iranian authorities to comply. He further vowed that every power plant and bridge in the country would be left “burning, exploding, and never to be used again”.

On 7 April, the Israeli military issued an overly broad warning to civilians in Iran to avoid trains and railway lines nationwide, stating that being near such infrastructure would “endanger your life”.

During the same period, USA and Israeli strikes across Iran struck bridges, petrochemical facilities and steel factories, killing and injuring civilians and heightening fears of widespread, unlawful attacks on essential civilian infrastructure.