The Trump administration is finalizing plans to open one of the world's last pristine wilderness regions, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to oil and fracked gas drilling. Trump is pushing the drilling at a time when climate change is permanently altering the Arctic and devastating local communities. The plan calls for the creation of landing strips, drill pads, pipeline supports, a seawater treatment plant, 175 miles of roads, and other infrastructure in Alaska's north coast. On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to block the Trump administration from opening up Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; however, a companion bill is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate. From Charlotte, North Carolina, we speak with Subhankar Banerjee, a professor of art and ecology at the University of New Mexico and the author of "Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land."

A major new project from The Nation and the Columbia Journalism Review hopes to improve global coverage of the climate crisis, with more than 250 media outlets around the world — including Democracy Now! — signing on to the effort to publish or broadcast stories on climate. Organizers say this is one of the most ambitious efforts ever to organize the world's media around a single topic. The week of coverage, which leads up to next week's U.N. Climate Action Summit, kicked off on Sunday. As part of the effort, CBS News released a new poll of over 2,000 U.S. residents that measured attitudes around climate change, which found that two-thirds of Americans believe climate change is either a crisis or a serious problem, and a majority want immediate action to address the Earth's temperature rise. In San Francisco, we speak with Mark Hertsgaard, one of the co-founders of the project, called Covering Climate Now, and The Nation's environment correspondent and investigative editor.

President Trump is threatening to take military action after several large Saudi Arabian oil facilities were attacked Saturday by drones and cruise missiles. Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, but numerous reports indicate the attack may have come from Iraq or Iran rather than Yemen. Crude oil prices soared more than 15% after the Aramco-run plants suffered heavy damage. One of the plants struck is the world's biggest petroleum-processing facility. According to one estimate, the attacks decreased Saudi's daily oil output by nearly 6 million barrels. While the United States has been quick to blame Iran, other world powers have not yet assigned blame. In our New York studio, we speak to Peter Salisbury, the International Crisis Group's senior analyst for Yemen. And from Washington, D.C., we speak with Medea Benjamin, co-founder of CodePink and author of "Inside Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

U.S. Threatens Military Action Against Iran After Oil Attacks in Saudi Arabia, United Auto Workers Strike to Demand Fair Wages, Healthcare & Job Security from GM, Purdue Pharma Files for Bankruptcy, Calls Mount to Impeach Justice Kavanaugh After NYT Report on Sexual Misconduct, Hong Kong Protesters Appeal to U.S., U.K. as Uprising Shows No Sign of Slowing Down, Outsiders Lead Tunisia's Presidential Exit Polls, Algeria Announces Elections Amid Ongoing Protests Against Ruling Elite, U.K. Judge Says Julian Assange a Flight Risk, Must Remain in Prison, Appeals Court Revives Emoluments Case Against Trump, Felicity Huffman Gets 2 Weeks in Prison for Paying Someone to Cheat on Daughter's SATs, NYC Activists Protest Microsoft for Collaborating with ICE, Bernie Sanders Previews Plan to Cut Homelessness, Set National Rent Control Standards, Greenpeace Activists Who Rappelled Off Houston Bridge Facing Charges, Greta Thunberg Leads School Strike for Climate in Front of White House

September 16, 2019 - Mansour Farhang | Paul Sullivan | Michael Kazin by Ian Masters

Some 2020 Presidential Predictions; Will There Be a Hispanic Backlash at the Polls in 2020?; Avoiding a New Cold War with Russia

Finally Anti-Trust Action Against the Tech Monopolies; Afghanistan's Uncertain Future; Trump's Cynical Deal with Honduras's Drug-Dealing President

The Falling Out between the Adelsons and the Netanyahus; The Looming War Between Trump and California Over Fuel Efficiency; The Latest Chapter in the Brexit Drama backgroundbriefing.org/donate twitter.com/ianmastersmedia facebook.com/ianmastersmedia

FEATURING ARIEL GOLD – The US and Saudi Arabia appear to be readying a retaliatory attack on Iran for major airstrikes on Saudi oil fields that severely damaged the Gulf Kingdom’s oil output. Without presenting evidence, US intelligence officials are saying that Iran was the staging ground for the attacks, not Yemen. Yemen’s Houthi rebels...

FEATURING KSHAMA SAWANT – The Republican Party has deliberately crafted a strategy to win elections by painting their opponents “socialists.” When President Donald Trump was accused of using racist language against the Squad of four Congresswomen of color, his GOP defenders justified his words by claiming that the targets of his vitriol were socialists. Republicans...

Drone strikes aimed at Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure have severely damaged the Gulf kingdom’s oil production cutting it by nearly half. The coordinated strikes took place on Saturday morning with drones making 19 strikes against two major facilities called Abqaiq and Khurais operated by Aramco, the national Saudi oil company. Saudi authorities say it will...

FEATURING JOHN BONIFAZ – The latest Democratic Presidential debate on Thursday evening, hosted by ABC and Univision showcased only the top 10 out of 20 candidates vying for their party’s nomination. Julian Castro, who is struggling to maintain traction on his campaign took on former Vice President Joe Biden in a powerful exchange over healthcare....

if (window.document.getElementById('post-13134')) window.document.getElementById('post-13134').parentNode.className += ' adhesive_post';Apologies for my sudden (and continuing) absence here. Late on Wednesday night (9/11!), I received a phone call from my mother regarding my otherwise-ridiculously healthy 80-year old father... After waking up at 6am that morning to play 18 holes of golf with mom on the same day --- all without a [...]

Welcome to another BradCast! I'm in for Brad and Desi today - Angie Coiro, heard on some of these same stations and streams with my own show, In Deep with Angie Coiro. Best wishes to Brad and Desi while they take care of family business. If you haven’t read Brad’s post about what’s going on, please [...]

* * * Perry Dorrell blogs as PDiddie at Brains and Eggs, usually on topics concerning the strange brew of Texas politics. He's also on Twitter @PDiddie.

It's NICOLE SANDLER, back to guest host another episode of the BradCast. Brad and Desi are in Arizona dealing with a family medical emergency. Angie Coiro and I will hold down the fort until they're able to return. The third of the Democratic Primary debates is now history. To recap, discuss and critique, I'm joined by [...]