Tag: Leslie Blatteau

Plans for Dec. 5 Panel on Reckless Tech are Set

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by Stanley Heller, Promoting Enduring Peace

The Saturday, Dec. 5 forum is called “What Is the Tech Billionaire Agenda and How Can We Defend Ourselves.”  It will be held at the Unitarian Society of Hartford on 50 Bloomfield Ave. starting at 4 p.m.

Speakers are: Ed Hawthorne, President of CT AFL-CIO, active in crafting legislation to protect workers from AI job loss; Leslie Blatteau, President of NHFT Local 933; James Saccardo, Political Director, Amazon Labor Union, International, Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 1; Desiree Brooks, Beacon Falls Group Against the Data Centers; Kenzie Metivier, Surveillance Off Our Streets, Southeast CT; Sena Wazer, Sierra Club Volunteer & Outreach Coordinator, organizing around gas pipeline expansion & data center mapping; Stanley Heller, Promoting Enduring Peace, author of “Connecticut’s Reckless Drive for More Nuclear Power” in the Sept. 30, 2026 CT Mirror; with greetings from Seth Freeman, President of 4Cs, SEIU 1973.

On Oct. 18 there was an article in the Hartford Courant about the fight to stop a new huge data center in Cromwell. The Courant notes, “Residents are concerned that a Long Island-based energy services entrepreneur is already advertising a data center it would build off Geer Street in Cromwell. The proposal would put 1.2 million square feet of data center space (roughly the size of the Westfarms Mall) in the middle of a small suburban neighborhood adjoining schools and parks.” Think of the constant noise, the water use, and the electricity that will have to be generated for the mammoth data center. Think of the greenhouse gases that will flow into the atmosphere because of the electricity production.

Recently, film director Adam McKay called attention to a study by actuaries at the University of Exeter in Britain. It predicts 2 to 4 billion deaths caused by “changing” climates. There’s a link to his article “The Gargantuan Lie that is Collapsing the Climate” [that we have lots of time to fix things] on PEPeace.org/climate-and-nature.

Schools Protest at Capitol Ends with Arrests

by Mona Mahadevan, May 21, 2025, New Haven Independent

Ten public education advocates, including five New Haven teachers and one student, were arrested at the state Capitol Wednesday [May 21] afternoon during a sit-in outside Gov. Ned Lamont’s office. ….

Chief among their demands: raising the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) foundation amount and adopting a higher weight in the ECS formula for students with special needs.

The demonstration — organized by the New Haven Federation of Teachers, AFT Connecticut, and Connecticut For All — took place as New Haven Public Schools Supt. Madeline Negron considers laying off 129 employees, including 56 teachers and all 25 librarians, to close an anticipated budget shortfall of $16.5 million for the 2025 – 2026 school year. …

Included among those arrested as part of Wednesday’s act of civil disobedience were New Haven teachers union President Leslie Blatteau and Wilbur Cross student John Carlos Serana Musser, a student representative on New Haven’s Board of Education.

[To read the article in its entirety, please go to www.newhavenindependent.org/article/teacher_arrests]