3161 - Will Biden SUE Big Oil?; The State Of Student Debt Relief w/ Richard Wiles, Eleni Schirmer

It's an EmMajority Report Thursday! She speaks with Richard Wiles, President of The Center for Climate Integrity, to discuss the recent efforts to file lawsuits against Big Oil companies for violating racketeering laws. Then, she's joined by Eleni Schirmer, organizer with Debt Collective, to discuss where things stand at the 1-year anniversary mark of President Biden's student debt relief plan. First, Emma runs through updates on the release of Trump’s co-conspirators' mugshots, the death of Prigozhin, potential action from the executive branch, fascist policy in South Carolina and Florida, right to repair, environmental disaster, and SpaceX’s hiring discrimination, before parsing through their initial responses to last night’s GOP Presidential debate, and watching some highlights from Trump and Tucker’s broadcast on X. Richard Wiles then joins as he dives right into why litigation has proved to be a promising avenue in the fight against climate change, as – while it doesn’t allow for actual solutions – it provides the opportunity to hold to account the companies responsible, and reaffirm in the public eye what we already know about the mass and ongoing coverup of the climate emergency. Wiles then parses through the blueprint set by cases against the Tobacco and Opioid industries, respectively, and the long history of politicians asking the DOJ to pursue similar claims against Exxon, Shell, and co. Next, Wiles walks us through the various legal avenues open to the DOJ, including base-level fraud charges, versus a much larger RICO case, and why the former allows for bigger financial accountability, while the latter forces open and active communication in any future marketing or sales of fossil fuels, before wrapping up by assessing the Biden administration’s shaky record on climate change, and how this case could change that. Eleni Schirmer and Emma then jump right into the Biden administration’s complete failure in the very delayed rollout of their student debt relief plan, tackling the problems with Biden’s avenue for justification, and why his fear of outright cancellation forced him into undermining his own program. Stepping back, Schirmer then walks through her recent work on the massive lasting impact of student debt among older generations, before tackling the Debt Collective’s work on pushing forward a new plan to cancel student debt, why Joe Biden and the DOE have already proven it’s possible, and a new tool that can help make it possible for even more debtors. Wrapping up, Schirmer and Emma explore Biden’s personal relationship to the world of creditors, and how his approach to canceling student debt may evolve.

And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Brandon Sutton and Matt Binder as they watch Tucker’s incredibly odd interview questions for Trump, during the Presidential debate, before watching Ron DeSantis’ incredibly awkward dance routine to defend Donald Trump, Vivek’s extreme approach on the debate stage, and Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy’s apartheid-measuring contest. Newsmax freaks out over a kids’ streaming platform censoring music, Mehmet from Newton dives into the rollout of the Trump indictment, and Terry from Georgia discusses Medicare for All’s messaging, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out The Center for Climate Integrity here: https://climateintegrity.org/

Check out Debt Collective here: https://debtcollective.org/

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