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• Wash. State to Decide on a Carbon Fee in Nov. Washington Initiative 1631, Carbon Emissions Fee Measure (2018)

  Fall, 2018 -Washington Initiative 1631, the Carbon Emissions Fee Measure is on the ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the People, a type of initiated state statute, on November 6, 2018.

  Click now to read
  more from Ballotpedia.

• Attention Humanists: You Have a Role to PlayAsk What You Can Do for Your Climate(1)

  Apr. 18, 2017 -While the federal government is becoming a follower rather than a leader on climate change, humanists can fight on the state, local, and personal levels

  IF THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL, then climate change is personal, too. As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump campaigned against the Paris Agreement negotiated in December 2015 at the 21st Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. With President Trump signing an executive order to roll back federal efforts to reduce global warming, humanists must do more at the state and local levels to fight climate change. If you’re up for it, there are many things you can do to help.

  Click now if you’re ready to learn more.

• We Can Take Active Role in the Climate Crisis Ask What You Can Do for Your Climate<2>

  Join a Climate Reality Chapter,and be part of a sustainable future. You’ve heard about “the future.” It’s not that far away, and your children and grandchildren will be living in it, long after you’re gone.

  Chapters give you the opportunity to draw on Climate Reality’s support and expertise, while creating and executing plans for climate action that make the most sense for your community.

  Already, Climate Reality chapters have become a vital force for progress, helping expand clean energy alternatives, tackling the legacy of fossil fuels in low-income communities, and pushing for carbon pricing policies, to name just a few of the many campaigns underway across the US.

  Click now if you’re ready to take action too.

• Dems to Fossil Fuel Contributions: No Thanks DNC Votes to Ban Fossil Fuel Company Donations

  June 12, 2018 -The move is a step toward purging oil, gas and coal industry influence on the Democratic Party’s climate policies.

  The Democratic National Committee voted over the weekend to ban donations from fossil fuel companies, HuffPost has learned.

  The resolution — proposed by Christine Pelosi, a party activist and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s daughter — bars the organization from accepting contributions from corporate political action committees tied to the oil, gas and coal industries. The executive committee voted unanimously to approve the motion.

  Click now for more from the Huffington Post.

• Clean Energy Research Not a Priority White House Seeks 72% Cut to
  Clean Energy Research,Underscoring
  Its Preference for Fossil Fuels

  Feb. 1, 2018 -The Trump administration is poised to ask Congress for deep budget cuts to the Energy Department’s renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, slashing them by 72 percent overall in fiscal 2019, according to draft budget documents obtained by The Washington Post.

  Many of the sharp cuts would probably be restored by Congress, but President Trump’s budget, due out in February, will mark a starting point for negotiations and offer a statement of intent and policy priorities.

  Click now for the story
  from the Washington Post.

• No Lessons Learned From Deepwater Horizon Trump Plan Would Open Nearly All
  the Gulf of Mexico to Oil Drilling

  Jan. 4, 2018 - The Trump administration on Thursday (Jan. 4) announced plans for the largest expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. history, putting up for lease federal waters in the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic oceans and millions of acres in the Gulf of Mexico, including protected areas in the eastern Gulf.

  Click now for article from azCentral.

• Clean Energy and Electric Cars Hit By GOP Tax Overhaul Hammers
  Clean Energy and Electric Cars

  Dec. 8, 2017 - Legislators from both chambers are now hashing out their differences in the reconciliation committee in hopes of delivering a final bill to the White House before the end of the year. Clean-energy lobbyists are scrambling to push back on provisions they and others fear could stunt development or deployment of technologies needed to lower the nation’s greenhouse-gas emissions.

  Click now to read the M.I.T. Technology Review story.

• The Top Ten Toxic Threats The E.P.A.’s Top 10 Toxic
  Threats, and Industry’s Pushback

  Oct. 21, 2017 - The E.P.A.has published a list of 10 toxic threats it will evaluate first under a law passed last year intended to crack down on hazardous chemicals.

  They are among 90 chemicals identified by the agency that may harm children, damage nerve tissue, cause cancer, contaminate the environment, accumulate in the bloodstream or show up in consumer products. As the review begins, industry and other interest groups are urging the E.P.A. to limit any restrictions.

  Click for the list that should
  not be on your top ten.

• CC Advisory Committee Dropped Administration Disbands Climate
  Change Advisory Committee

  Aug 20, 2017 - The Trumpv administration of has decided to disband a federal advisory panel on climate change - in a further sign of the White House's view on environmental policy.

  The panel is part of the National Climate Assessment, a group aimed at helping officials and policy makers integrate the US Government's climate change analysis into their long-term planning.

• Climate Skeptic Heads Top Science Post New USDA Research Head
  Thinks Climate Science Is 'Junk'

  July 20, 2017 - President Trump has nominated a well-known climate change doubter to the top science job at the Department of Agriculture.

  The nomination, which had been expected, was announced in a statement by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Sam Clovis, an early campaign adviser to Trump, will serve as undersecretary for research, education and economics.

• News Stories

The 112th Congress was the most
anti-environmental in history.
But You ain't seen nuthin' yet!

Politics That Prevent Sound
Environmental Policies

Memorable Presidential
Environmental Quotes

Newsworthy

• The Great Lakes a State Problem? Trump Says 'Yes' - Congress Says 'No'

  July 14, 2017 - Together, the five lakes hold nearly one-fifth of the earth’s surface freshwater. They’re home to 3500 species of plants and animals, including 170 species of fish. Not to mention the drinking water for about 35 million people, in eight states plus Canada. They have been a major highway for transportation, trade and migration. And more than 1.5 million jobs are directly connected to the lakes.

  But the Trump administration views the health of the Great Lakes as a local issue. Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow and budget director Mick Mulvaney squared off at a budget hearing a couple months ago on the topic. You can watch the exchange here:

• Shades of White House Climate Denial 5 Shades of Climate Denial,
  All on Display in the White House

  June 9.2017 - - From ‘it’s not real’ to ‘it’s not urgent,’ take a tour through the many shades of climate change denial wielded by Donald Trump's administration.

• LCV Scorecard How Congress
  Voted on Environmental Issues

  The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) keeps track of how our elected officials are (or not) protecting us.

  Click now to catch up.

• Bi-Parisan Climate Solutions CaucusRepublicans Who
  Care About climate change:
  'They are done with the denial'

  Apr. 27, 2017 - The failure of American politics to deal with, or even coherently discuss, climate change was perhaps best illustrated when James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, took to the floor of the US Senate in February 2015 with a Ziploc bag and a mischievous grin.

• Pruitt's Climate Data Is 'WRONG'So Called EPA Chief
  Gets Climate Change Completely Wrong

  May 25, 2017- A group of prominent climate scientists have written a study explicitly refuting statements made by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt on climate data. During his Senate confirmation hearing, Pruitt claimed in a written response that satellite data shows a "leveling off" of warming over the past two decades.

  The study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, takes Pruitt's claim to task by examining three sets of satellite data since 1979, concluding that "temperature measurements do not support" Pruitt's statement.

• Temporary EPA Grant Ban LiftedThe Admin. Lifts Temporary
  Freeze on EPA Grants

  Jan. 30, 2017- The Trump administration has lifted a temporary freeze on billions of dollars of grants from the Environmental Protection Agency, saying the programs will continue as planned.

  An email sent late Friday from the EPA’s acting administrator, career official Catherine McCabe, informed staffers that officials had completed a review of the agency’s extensive list of grants and that all "are proceeding normally, and nothing has been delayed," including revolving grants to states and Native American tribes.

• Make Your Voice Heard in Washington5 Ways to Make Your Voice
  Heard, and 2 That
  Are Not Worth Your Time

  Jan. 30, 2017- As a new era in American politics begins, citizens across the political spectrum may find themselves engaging in some collective hand-wringing. No matter your political leanings, times are changing, and many people are clamoring to make their voices heard.

• Mr. Trump - Are You Listening? Trade Group Outlines
  Benefits of Geothermal in
  Paper for Trump Administration

  Jan. 23, 2017 - In the paper, “Geothermal is Good for America,” GEA said that there are 104 operating geothermal plants in the U.S. with a capacity of 3.7 GW, and there are more than 80 new projects in development.

  ”Geothermal delivers a triple bottom line to our energy system: It is an abundant domestic energy source, it brings economic benefits in the form of taxes and long-term, high-paying jobs, and it has one of the lowest Levelized Costs of Energy of all power sources in the United States,” the paper said.

• Sen. Inhofe and Big Oil Only a Slight Conflict?

  Senator James Inhofe is Chair of the Energy Committee. We should question how he can serve the best interests of the people he is supposed to be protecting, while his camaigns have been mostly funded by the fossil fuel industry.

  Click now to see what we mean.

(The Leading Anti-Environmentlists)

Name

Affiliation

Consequences

Post

• Mercury Rules? We Don’t Need No Stinking’ Mercury Rules E.P.A. Review of Mercury Rules Could Remake
  Its Methods for Valuing Human Life and Health

  Sept. 7, 2018 — WASHINGTON — When writing environmental rules, one of the most important calculations involves weighing the financial costs against any gains in human life and health. The formulas are complex, but the bottom line is that reducing the emphasis on health makes it tougher to justify a rule.

  Last week the Trump administration took a crucial step toward de-emphasizing the life and health benefits in this calculus when the Environmental Protection Agency said it would rethink a major regulation that restricts mercury emissions by coal-burning power plants.

  Click to read the frightening
  story from The NY Times.

• State’s Rights and Trump’s WrongsWestern States Proceed with Climate
  Legislation Regardless of Trump’s “ACE” Rule

  Sept. 4, 2018 — Spurred by President Trump’s announcement that the United States will abandon commitments President Obama made in the Paris Climate Agreement, western seaboard elected officials are highly motivated to act on climate change, notwithstanding the Trump Administration’s actions to replace the Clean Power Plan. California has a well-established and functioning “cap and trade” program that has survived judicial challenge and been extended through 2030. As the fifth largest economy in the world, California’s efforts are a significant driver for similar programs throughout the nation.

  Click now to read more
  from Renewable Energy World.

• Aussie PM is Following in Trump’s Footsteps Australian Prime Minister Abandons Greenhouse Gas Target

  Aug. 20, 2018 -Australia's prime minister on Monday abandoned plans to legislate to limit greenhouse gas emissions to head off a revolt by conservative lawmakers.

  Malcolm Turnbull on Monday conceded that he could not get legislation through the House of Representatives where his conservative coalition holds only a single-seat majority.

  He said although most government lawmakers supported the target of reducing Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by 26% below 2005 levels, that support was not enough.

  Click now for more
  from The Associated Press.

• Legal Challenges Could Face Trump on Env. RollbacksFuzzy Math Could Doom Trump’s
  Attack on Obama Climate Rule

  Aug. 16, 2018 -The Trump administration’s attempt to reverse President Barack Obama’s most sweeping climate regulation rests on a legally risky strategy — redoing the calculations of how much the rule would cost and who would benefit.

  The EPA’s proposed replacement is expected to downplay the money that people and businesses would save from using less electricity, a key feature of the Obama-era greenhouse rule for power plants. People tracking the issue also expect that the agency will count only a fraction of the improvements in public health from reduced smog and soot pollution, and won’t consider any benefits from slowing climate change outside the U.S.

  Click now to read more from Politico.

• Trump’s EPA Has a Problem With Emissions StandardsTrump Administration Clashes on
  Vehicle Emissions Standards Rollback

  July 31, 2018 -"The rollback, one of the most consequential proposals of the Trump administration, not only would permit more planet-warming pollution from cars, it would also challenge the right of California and other states to set their own, more restrictive state-level pollution standards," reports Coral Davenport, energy and environment reporter for The New York Times, on July 27.

  On one side is the Environmental Protection Agency’s acting chief, Andrew Wheeler, who has tried to put the brakes on the plan, fearing that its legal and technical arguments are weak and will set up the Trump administration for an embarrassing courtroom loss. Mr. Wheeler inherited the proposal from his predecessor, Scott Pruitt, who resigned on July 5 under a cloud of ethics investigations.

  Click now to read the whole
  story from Planetizen.

• This is How Donald Trump Drains the Swamp?From Dow’s ‘Dioxin Lawyer’ to
  Trump’s Choice to Run Superfund

  July 28, 2018 -The lawyer nominated to run the Superfund toxic cleanup program is steeped in the complexities of restoring polluted rivers and chemical dumps. He spent more than a decade on one of the nation’s most extensive cleanups, one involving Dow Chemical’s sprawling headquarters in Midland, Mich.

  The lawyer, Peter C. Wright, was nominated in March by President Trump to be assistant administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency overseeing the Superfund program, which was created decades ago to clean up the nation’s most hazardous toxic waste sites.

  Click now to see what’s
  wrong with this picture
  from NY Times Climate Forward.

• Rising Pollution Resulting From Relaxed Economy Standards5 Things to Watch as the Trump
  Administration Weakens Car Rules

  July 20, 2018 -With the Trump administration set to weaken Obama-era fuel economy standards for passenger cars and trucks, a chasm is opening between red and blue states.

  EPA is expected to propose a rule in the coming days to prevent the standards from rising past the 2020 levels established under former President Obama, who hailed those increases as a major step toward addressing rising temperatures.

  Click now to read more
  from Scientific American.

• Can Young Activists Do What Older Adults Can’t? Young Activists Want to Make
  Climate Change A Political Priority

  July 20, 2018 -Standing in the middle of a grassy field just outside Pittsburgh, Anaïs Peterson recalled the years she spent playing soccer here.

  A mile beyond that goalpost in Indiana Township lies a natural gas well pad that didn’t exist during her soccer days.

  Click now to read their plan,
  brought to you by  the Allegheny Front.

• Trump Would Protect Ground Water - or Wouldn’t? Trump Administration Rolls Back Coal Ash Rules Aimed at Groundwater Protection

  July 20, 2018 -Environmental groups say a Trump administration rollback of Obama-era coal ash rules could threaten Pennsylvania groundwater. The new rules, finalized on Tuesday, loosen requirements on utilities for disposing the coal ash left after burning.

  Coal-fired power plants often dispose of their coal ash in ponds, or landfills. But the waste contains mercury, cadmium, arsenic, and other pollutants that can foul waterways, groundwater, and air, according to the EPA.

  Click now to learn more from
   The Allegheny Front.

• Another Supreme Court Justice - Another Threat to the EnvironmentWhat Brett Kavanaugh on Supreme
  Court Could Mean for Climate Regulations

  July 11, 2018 -In his dozen years on the federal appeals court that hears the most disputes over government regulatory power, Judge Brett Kavanaugh has compiled an extensive record of skepticism toward the government's powers to act on climate change.

  In particular, while Kavanaugh has repeatedly voiced the belief that global warming is a serious problem, he has challenged the argument that Congress has given the Environmental Protection Agency authority to do something about it.

  Click now to read the
  story from Inside Climate News.

• Environmental Rules - Do We Really Need them? 76 Environmental Rules on
  the Way Out Under Trump

  July 6, 2018 -Since taking office last year, President Trump has made eliminating federal regulations a priority. His administration, with help from Republicans in Congress, has often targeted environmental rules it sees as overly burdensome to the fossil fuel industry, including major Obama-era policies aimed at fighting climate change.

  To date, the Trump administration has sought to reverse more than 70 environmental rules, according to a New York Times analysis, based on research from Harvard Law School’s Environmental Regulation Rollback Tracker, Columbia Law School’s Climate Tracker and other sources.

  Click now to learn more
  from The NY Times Climate Forward.

• Conservatives Push Trump to Get Onboard on Climate A Climate Policy Even Trump Can Support?

  June 20, 2018 - This is not something you see every day: Over the past month, a growing chorus of Senate Republicans, conservative taxpayer groups and corporate executives has been urging President Trump to implement a major Obama-era policy to tackle climate change.

  Click now to read more
  from The NY Times Climate Forward.

• Getting Environmentalists to Show Up on Election Day Environmental Voter Project Gets
  Environmentalists to the Polls

  June 19, 2018 - On Citizens’ Climate Lobby’s June 2018 national call, they welcomed guest speaker Nathaniel Stinnett, the founder and executive director of the Environmental Voter Project. Sharing the sentiments of CCL, Nathaniel is passionate about building the political will for politicians to act on climate change. Unlike many, he has also been recognized as a “visionary” by The New York Times for his work with the Environmental Voter Project.

  Click now to read more
  from Citizens’ Climate Lobby .

• Is Virtual Power a “Virtual” Reality? Cities Look to “Virtual Power” to Reach Climate Goals

  June 15, 2018 -Corporate America has emerged as a leading buyer of renewable energy in recent years. Now, U.S. cities are getting in on the act.

  Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announced an initiative last week aimed at bolstering municipal renewable procurements nationwide. By working together to purchase large amounts of renewable energy, Walsh hopes cities can cut the costs of wind and solar, stimulate the economy, and meet the terms of the Paris climate accord.

  Click now for more
  from Scientific American.

• How Conservative Media Protects EPA Chief Conservative Paper Influence on EPA Decision Making

  June 12, 2018 -Conservative Paper Reporter Says EPA Put “extreme pressure” on Him to “be their lickspittle” Right-wing media outlets The Daily Caller and the Washington Free Beacon have often acted as de facto press offices for Scott Pruitt's Environmental Protection Agency.

  Media Matters has documented how the two publications have defended Pruitt in the face of his many scandals and tried to discredit sources of information about his misdeeds. Now we learn from Washington Examiner reporter John Siciliano, who covers energy and environment for the conservative-leaning newspaper, that the EPA's press office tried to strong-arm him into writing flattering pieces about the agency and complained to his editors when he refused.

  Click now to read more
  from Media Matters.