Our Neighborhood Earth - Anti-environmental Politics

Our Neighborhood

Earth

Keeping It Green

(There's No Planet B)

Recent News Stories
Recent Stories in the News
90 days worth of political news stories can be found here.
Click now to visit that section
of our News by Category page.

Environmental Politics

(VOTE! Because Democracy is
NOT a spectator Sport)

More on
the Govermental Page

Page Updated:
October 16, 2020

What You Should Know
Conservatives and Liberals Want a Green Energy Future - But.. They Want it For Different Reasons May 5, 2020,(The Conversation)-Political divisions are a growing fixture in the United States today, whether the topic is marriage across party lines, responding to climate change or concern about coronavirus exposure. Especially in a presidential election year, the vast divide between conservatives and liberals often feels nearly impossible to bridge. Our research examines what people know about the energy sources in use today in the United States, and what types of energy they would like to see the nation using in 2050. Energy connects to many important issues, including climate change, jobs and economic growth, equity and social justice, and international relations. It would be easy to assume that America’s energy future is a highly polarized topic, especially when the Trump administration is clashing with many states led by Democrats over energy policies. Click now to learn what the 'BUT' means. Trump's Early Environmental Rollbacks 23 Environmental Rules Rolled Back in Trump’s First 100 Days May 2, 2017 (NY Times Climate Forward) - President Trump, with help from his administration and Republicans in Congress, has reversed course on nearly two dozen environmental rules, regulations and other Obama-era policies during his first 100 days in office. Citing federal overreach and burdensome regulations, Mr. Trump has prioritized domestic fossil fuel interests and undone measures aimed at protecting the environment and limiting global warming. The Climate President Action Plan 10 Climate Actions the Next President Can Take Without Congress Dec. 23, 2019 (ClimatePresident.org)-The United States faces an indisputable climate emergency. The solution to the crisis is also inarguable: We must transform our extractive economy to a regenerative and inclusive one. The actions called for in this Presidential action plan can be implemented by the President acting alone without any Congressional action. These ten actions form the necessary foundation for the country's true transformation to a safer, healthier, and more equitable world for everyone. Click now for the complete plan. Why Not a Green Marshall Plan? Elizabeth Warren Has Added a Green Marshall Plan to Her List of Proposals June 4, 2019 ( Mother Jones)- Elizabeth Warren has ascended in recent Democratic presidential polls atop a growing stack of audacious proposals to wipe out student debt, break up giant companies like Amazon and Facebook , and slap new taxes on the ultra-rich. Yet the senator from Massachusetts is taking a different approach to the climate crisis, weaving a patchwork that will likely amount to Warren’s answer to the Green New Deal. Click now for more details. Who Are the Climate Mayors? We Are Climate Mayors Climate Mayors, founfed in 2014, is a bi-partisan, peer-to-peer network of U.S. mayors working together to demonstrate leadership on Climate Chane through meaningful actions in their communities, and to express and build political will for effective federal and global policy action. The Climate Mayors coalition has emerged as a key voice anddemonstration of the ongoing commitment of U.S. cities to accelerate climate progress. Click now to learn more. Congress Should Be Supporting Clean Energy Incentives Tell Congress to Support Clean Energy Incentives July, 2019 (Environment Florida)) - By going big on renewable energy, we can stop polluting our communities and planet with dirty energy sources and make real strides in tackling the climate crisis. Tell your representatives to expand their support for clean energy incentives. Click now to sign on. The 2020 Candidates on Climate Quiz Where the Candidates Stand on Climate- Answers Might Surprise You. GreenPeace, - Take the quiz to learn what you know or don’t know about the Presidential hopefuls wih regard to Climate Change. Interested? Click now for to proceed. Jay Inslee’s Campaign Pledge: No Fossil Fuel Money Jay Inslee’s Pledge to Reject Fossil Fuel Money Mar. 1, 2019 (Huffington Post)) -Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed a pledge Tuesday promising to reject donations from the fossil fuel industry ahead of a likely run for the White House that he’s vowed to uniquely center on climate change. In an interview with HuffPost, Inslee, 67, said he added his name to the list of more than 1,300 politicians across the United States who took the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge. Almost every Democratic candidate running in 2020 has signed the pledge. Click now to read more. The Green New Deal Explained What Is the Green New Deal? A Climate Proposal, Explained NY Times Climate Forward, Feb. 21, 2019 - The Green New Deal is a congressional resolution that lays out a grand plan for tackling climate change. Introduced by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, both Democrats, the proposal calls on the federal government to wean the United States from fossil fuels and curb planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions across the economy. It also aims to guarantee new high-paying jobs in clean energy industries. Interested? Click now for whole story. Burn It or Eat It (Trump’s Choices) Food Vs. Fuel: What Trump's Ethanol Policy Means For the Food System Oct. 25, 2018 (Forbes) -The Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward with President Trump’s directive to lift a federal ban on high ethanol blended gas during the summer months, though not quickly enough for Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who Reuters reports is urging the EPA to lift the ban on a much quicker timeline. Lifting the ban is a policy shift that’s being celebrated by large-scale corn growers and decried by biofuel opponents. But the policy has implications for the food system too, as many food system reformers say the last thing U.S. farmers should be growing is more corn. Corn is a complicated crop. It’s highly efficient, nutrient-packed and yet, on the other hand, the U.S. probably grows too much of it. Corn has earned its fair share of criticism — it’s starchy, grown industrially and ubiquitous in ultra-processed food — but this leading cereal crop has also more than earned its place as an agricultural success story. Click now to stay on top of the situation. How the Border Wall Affect Wildlife Near the Border ‘This Is Not Like a Fence in a Backyard’ — Trump’s Border Wall vs. Wildlife The Revelator Podcasts, Apr. 11, 2019 - As was discussed recently on the Sciencentric podcast, the wall’s true impact becomes more evident when you envision all of the things that accompany it: Roads, vehicles, lights, and acres upon acres of cleared habitat. That’s bad news for jaguars, bears, birds, bees and hundreds, if not thousands, of other species. Check out the video interview, where host Eric R. Olson and John Platt also discuss The Revelator, my work on “Extinction Countdown,” and what technologies might work instead of a wall. Click now to watch the interview. President Wants to Tell the Polar Bears Where to Get Off Help Protect the Arctic Refuge Before It’s Too Late! NRDC -The Trump administration is closer than ever to tearing open the heart of Alaska’s pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for dangerous oil and gas drilling — and if they succeed, it will have devastating, irreversible consequences for our waters, wildlife, climate, and the region’s Gwich’in people. NRDC is fighting back in and out of the courtroom in an unprecedented battle to protect the Arctic Refuge and its fragile Arctic coastline. Trump is Not the 1st to Assault Env. Protection History of US Presidential Assaults on Environmental Health Protection Apr. 26, 2018 American Public Health Association - The Trump administration has undertaken an assault on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an agency critical to environmental health. This assault has precedents in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. The early Reagan administration (1981–1983) launched an overt attack on the EPA, combining deregulation with budget and staff cuts, whereas the George W. Bush administration (2001–2008) adopted a subtler approach, undermining science-based policy. Wait, there’s more… Some Republicans Support Carbon Fee/Dividend Exceeding Paris Contain Forewords by: Ted Halstead, George P. Schultz, Lawrence Summers, Rob Walton, Christine Todd Whitman and Janet Yellen. The Baker-Shultz plan would achieve approximately 32% in greenhouse gas reductions by 2025, thereby exceeding our Paris commitment by a wide margin The Baker-Shultz Carbon Dividends Plan is not only the most environmentally ambitious plan, but also the most politically-viable. Why? Because it addresses the legitimate concerns of all key stakeholders in the climate debate and enables each to realize an important victory. Click to read the PDF from the Climate Leadership Council. Attention Humanists: You Have a Role to Play Ask 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.	Donald Trump: Making the Oceans Not-So-Great Again Donald Trump Aims to Weaken Ocean Protections Mar. 16, 2020 (CleanTechnica) -We are approaching the 10th anniversary of the British Petroleum (BP) disaster, which killed 11 men, injured 17 others, and spilled more than 130 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The disaster polluted more than 1,300 miles of coastline, devastated marine life, and cost the Gulf Coast billions in lost revenue. The Trump Administration’s aggressive deregulatory agenda threatens to undo many of the safeguards for ocean and coastal ecosystems, including those that regulate the offshore oil industry. We cannot have a repeat of the BP disaster and we need common sense protections for the ocean now more than ever. Strip Mining on Protected Tennessee Cumberland Plateau Trump May Approve Strip Mining on Tennessee’s Protected Cumberland Plateau Feb. 13, 2020 (inside climate news) -LAFOLLETTE, Tennessee—Even as the nation's demand for coal tumbles, the Trump administration is considering a permit that would allow strip mining on protected ridgelines in Tennessee's Cumberland Plateau over the objection of environmental groups and the state's Republican attorney general. The wild, scenic terrain is within 75,000 acres designated, at the state's behest, as unsuitable for surface coal mining in 2016 by the Obama administration's Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation, the agency responsible for regulating coal mining in the state. Good Riddance to Climate Denier From NSC Climate Denialist to Depart White House National Security Council Sep. 11, 2019 (New York Times)- William Happer, the White House architect of a stalled plan to attack the established science of climate change, is leaving the Trump administration on Friday, according to three people familiar with his plans. Dr. Happer, a physicist who gained notoriety by claiming that the greenhouse gases contributing to warming the planet are beneficial to humanity, and for likening attacks on fossil fuels to “the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler” in a 2014 interview, served on the National Security Council as President Trump’s deputy assistant for emerging technologies. 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. DOW's Campaign Contributions Stopped the Banning of Chlorpyrifos How Dow Chemical Influenced the EPA to Ignore the Scientific Evidence on Chlorpyrifos (Union of Concerned Scientists) -On March 29, 2017, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that his agency would decline to ban chlorpyrifos, despite years of scientific study and deliberation indicating that the pesticide poses a clear risk to children, farmworkers, and users of rural drinking water. This was a 180-degree turn from the science-based conclusion reached just a few months before by the EPA Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, which found that chlorpyrifos has harmful effects on children’s brain development. Both EPA scientists and the American Academy of Pediatrics have urged the EPA to ban the insecticide. Click now to read on. 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. Climate Change Collapsing Australia’s Ecosystems Ecosystems Across Australia Are Undergo Climate Change The Converstion Research, recently published in Nature Climate Change, describes a series of sudden and catastrophic ecosystem shifts that have occurred recently across Australia. 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. Is the State of 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 (Keeping Track of Congress) 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 Caucus Republicans 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. Make Your Voice Heard in Washington 5 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.

<

Environmental (or Anti-Environmental)
Politics News Stories in the Past Several Months
Fracking and the Election Is Joe For or Against It? That Depends Whether or Not He Wants the PA Vote Lisa Friedman,(NY Times Climate Forward), Oct. 14, 2020 - Early this year my colleague Shane Goldmacher and I met a group of Western Pennsylvania trade union leaders at an Italian restaurant outside of Pittsburgh to talk about fracking. They were all longtime Democrats, but they told us they were worried the party would choose a candidate who would attack the natural gas industry that provides livelihood for them and for thousands of people in Pennsylvania. I caught up with the group again last week by phone and found most are now rallying behind Biden President Trump has repeatedly and falsely accused the former vice president of planning to ban fracking. Many of the union leaders and members I spoke with said they take Mr. Biden at his word that he will protect fracking — and by extension the natural gas industry — even as he pursues a $2 trillion climate change plan. Click now for more. Will Judges Block Trump’s Biggest Climate Rollback? Trump Fights to Allow Power Plants to Keep On Polluting Lisa Friedman,(NY Times Climate Forward), Oct. 8, 2020 -A three-judge panel appeared divided Thursday on President Trump’s effort to repeal his predecessor’s regulations on planet-warming emissions from the power sector and replace them with far weaker controls. The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia panel, with two judges named by President Barack Obama and one by President Trump, could well agree to block the Trump administration’s plan, but the issue is almost sure to reach the Supreme Court if Mr. Trump is re-elected. Click now to read it all. Presidential Climate Policy Report Card Weighing The Administrations of Obama, Trump, & Biden (CleanTechnica), Oct. 4, 2020 -As we approach the momentous US federal election of 2020, American voters must weigh long-range concerns against short-term issues, and domestic matters against foreign policy. Concerns for Americans today and tomorrow, and concerns for other global citizens in the coming years, are being weighed in households and over coffee around the country, and indeed the world. Climate change remains the most important issue of the 21st century, even as COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter take precedence in this tumultuous year. Click now for the scoop. Allowing Seismic Blasts in Atlantic Search For Oil? Idea Seems Dead on Arrival Sorry, Donald Trump (ZME Science), Oct. 1, 2020 -The Trump administration’s plan to drill off the Atlantic Coast for the first time in more than half a century is on the brink of collapse because of a court development Thursday that blocked the first steps to offshore oil and gas exploration, as well as the president’s recent actions that undermine his own proposal. Opponents of the drilling declared victory on Thursday after the government acknowledged that permits to allow seismic blasting in the ocean — the first step toward locating oil deposits for drilling — will expire next month and not be renewed. Nine state attorneys general and several conservation groups filed a federal lawsuit early last year to block seismic blasting, arguing it could harm endangered whales and other marine animals. The court battle dragged out so slowly that, in the meantime, time ran out on the permits. Click now for more. Trump Gives Polluting Mining Projects a Pass Executive Order Seeks to Both Expand and Fast-Track Polluting Mining Projects (CleanTechnica), -Oct. 1, 2020 The order impacts the mining of 35 minerals that the U.S. Department of the Interior identified as “critical,” including those identified as having vulnerable or global supply chains. But the extraction of these minerals — many of which are common, such as aluminum, and used to make things like weapons and electronics — often requires destructive and chemically laden processing techniques that leave behind massive amounts of toxic waste byproduct. Click now for the story and some graphs. Trump Moves To Expand Development In Alaska's Tongass National Forest He's Also Set to Remove Long -Standing Protections Against Logging And Development There (npr News), -Sept. 29, The Trump administration has cleared the way to open the country's largest national forest to more development and logging. In a revised environmental impact study made public on Friday, the Department of Agriculture recommends granting a "full exemption" for the Tongass National Forest, which covers some 25,000 square miles in southeastern Alaska. The forest is currently protected by the Roadless Rule, a 2001 policy passed in the waning days of the Clinton administration, which has long prohibited development on 9.37 million acres of roadless areas, comprising about 55% of the Tongass. Click now to read more. What Amy Coney Barrett Could Mean For Climate Law It Could Push the High Court to Open Up Landmark Legal Precedents About Climate Change. (POLITICO), -Sept. 23, Trump's nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, a Circuit Court judge with strong support from conservatives, could spell trouble for landmark judicial holdings about climate change, Pro's Alex Guillén reports. Barrett is considered an "originalist" in the mold of late Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom she clerked in the late 1990s. She has long advocated for the Supreme Court to show more flexibility in overturning past precedents. That could apply to the high court's 2007 ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA that said the Clean Air Act gave EPA the authority to regulate greenhouse gases, Alex reports. At least two justices still on the court have signaled interest in revisiting the climate ruling — Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — and other members of the court's conservative wing may also be sympathetic to arguments to reconsider the decision. Click now for more. US Elections: What Environmental Scientists Expect From a President Which Science-Based Considerations are Most Important For the Environment? (ZME SCIENCE), -Sept. 24, 2020, While voting will always carry a great degree of subjectivity, objective measures are also important. Here are the measures environmental scientists hope to see from the future US president. The US presidential election is probably the most followed political event. It’s so consequential that it affects not only the US, but the entire world. Naturally, researchers both inside the US and out are closely following the event. Understandably, the first thing climate scientists want is for the US president to take climate change seriously. Click now for more. Trump’s Environmental Rollbacks & Global Warming How They Contribute to Climate Change (ZME SCIENCE), -Sept. 17, 2020, President Trump has made dismantling federal climate policies a centerpiece of his administration. A new analysis from the Rhodium Group finds those rollbacks add up to a lot more planet-warming emissions. A handful of major climate rules reversed or weakened under Mr. Trump could have a significant effect on future emissions. Together, these rollbacks are expected to result in an additional 1.8 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by 2035. Click now to read all about it. Conservative Media, Wildfires, Climate Change They All Agree It's a Hoax (NY Times Climate Forward), -Sept. 15, 2020, Rush Limbaugh told millions of his radio listeners to set aside any suggestion that climate change was the culprit for the frightening spate of wildfires ravaging California and the Pacific Northwest. “Man-made global warming is not a scientific certainty; it cannot be proven, nor has it ever been,” Mr. Limbaugh declared on his Friday show, disregarding the mountains of empirical evidence to the contrary. He then pivoted to a popular right-wing talking point: that policies meant to curtail climate change are, in fact, an assault on freedom. “Environmentalist wackos” — Mr. Limbaugh’s phrase — “want man to be responsible for it because they want to control your behavior,” the conservative host said on the show. He added that they “want to convince you that your lifestyle choices are the reason why all these fires are firing up out on the Left Coast.” Click now to read all about it. A Climate Skeptic Will Now Run NOAA The Latest In Climate- Killing Trump Appointees (ZME SCIENCE), -Sept. 15, 2020, The Trump administration has hired David Legates, an academic who doesn’t believe that human activity is causing climate change, to work at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — the agency that produces much of the climate research funded by the government. NOAA had struggled to escape the political influence from the government, although it succeeded in carrying out its weather forecasting and climate research without much intervention. This contrasted with the EPA and other science agencies in which the government has sidelined climathe scientists. But now, things might change. Click now for more. Trump Green Washes His Abysmal Record Calls Himself ‘the No. 1 Environmental President (NY Times Climate Forward)-Sept. 8, 2020 President Trump, who has vowed to exit the Paris Agreement on climate change, loosened restrictions on toxic air pollution, rolled back clean water protections and removed climate change from a list of national security threats, stood in front of supporters in Jupiter, Fla., on Tuesday and declared himself “a great environmentalist.” Mr. Trump was speaking at an official presidential event, where he endorsed a 10-year moratorium on oil and gas drilling off the state’s coastline as well as the Georgia and South Carolina coasts — a feat of political jujitsu, since his administration is the one that proposed lifting the moratorium. Click now to read all about it. Trump's Assault on Alaska’s Tongass Old-growth Forest Two Massive Clearcutting Proposals Threaten Wildlife, Climate, Economy (Center for Biological Diversity), -Sept. 4, 2020, JUNEAU, Alaska— The Trump administration announced plans today for a massive timber sale that would destroy more than 5,100 acres of critical old-growth habitat in the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. “Shame on the Trump administration's Forest Service for having the gall to continue to burden and overwhelm Southeast Alaskans with yet another needless and money-losing timber sale when we are in the midst of a pandemic and a controversial Alaska Roadless Rulemaking process,” said Dan Cannon, Tongass Forest program manager for Southeast Alaska Conservation Council. “As Alaskans await Secretary Perdue's decision on the Roadless Rule, they will yet again have to advocate for the protection of critical old-growth habitat in their backyards. We don't know how many times we need to say it: Timber only contributes 1% to Southeast Alaska's economy, while the fishing and tourism industries contribute 26%. Stop making Southeast Alaskans' lives more difficult by threatening our true economic drivers.” Click now to read more. The Prominent Republicans Supporting Biden The Coalition is Led by Former Governor Christine Todd Whitman (RepublicansForBiden.net)-Sept. 3, 2020 Today, nearly one hundred current and former Republican and Independent elected officials, government officials, and political operatives from across the country have come together to form Republicans and Independents for Biden, a new coalition whose sole mission is to defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden the next President of the United States. “More than 180,000 Americans are dead from a pandemic that, with consistent leadership, could have been contained. Instead, it has been left to spin out of control by a President who ignored it, refused to lead, and endangered American lives,” said Christine Todd Whitman, former Governor of New Jersey and National Chairwoman of the Steering Committee for Republicans and Independents for Biden. “In this moment of great national crisis, we need to elect a leader matched to the moment, someone who can restore competence to the oval office and unify the country. Joe Biden is that leader.” In the midst of a global pandemic, with tens of millions unemployed, we deserve a president who sees the best in us, who can bring us together, and who will fight for the well-being of every American. Instead, Donald Trump delivers a daily dose of bigotry, anger, division and fear. Click now for the story. Rep. John Curtis Speaks Up For Climate Action Says GOP Must Stop Calling Climate Change a Hoax (Salt Lake Tribune), -Aug. 24, 2020, Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, says that action needed to address climate change is blocked by extremism on the political left and by denial on the right. But he believes both sides could be drawn together by asking a simple question. “Do you want to see the Earth better than you found it? I believe you do,” he said in a webcast speech Monday to the conservative Sutherland Institute. Click now to read more. E.P.A. Relaxes Rules Coal Plants Toxic Waste	Climate Is Taking On a Growing Role for Voters The Number of Voters Deeply Engaged on the Issue Rises Sharply NY Times Climate Forward, Aug. 24, 2020 -he number of Americans who feel passionately about climate change is rising sharply, and the issue appears likely to play a more important role in this year’s election than ever before, a new survey shows. What’s more, despite the turmoil caused by overlapping national and global crises, support for action to curb climate change has not diminished. Backing for government to do more to deal with global warming, at 68 percent in May of 2018, was at the same level in 2020, according to the survey, issued Monday. Click now to read all about it. Would We Like Another Beirut-like Explosion in the U.S.? Trump’s Rollback of Chemical Disaster Rule Threatens Communities SIERRA, Aug. 16, 2020 -The massive ammonium nitrate explosion that devastated Beirut earlier this month has brought renewed attention to the danger of improperly stored chemicals. In fact, it was another ammonium nitrate explosion—the deadly 2013 blast at the West Fertilizer Company plant in West, Texas, which killed 15 people—that prompted the Obama-era EPA to issue a series of tough new regulations collectively known as the Chemical Disaster Rule. Those regulations never went into effect because the Trump administration first delayed, then rescinded them, claiming they were too costly and, ironically enough, would make chemical plants vulnerable to terrorist attacks. Trump Administration's Assault on the Arctic Refuge Plan Finalized to Open the Refuge to Drilling NY Times Climate Forward, Aug. 17, 2020 -The Trump administration on Monday finalized its plan to open up part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil and gas development, a move that overturns six decades of protections for the largest remaining stretch of wilderness in the United States. The decision sets the stage for what is expected to be a fierce legal battle over the fate of the refuge’s vast, remote coastal plain, which is believed to sit atop billions of barrels of oil but is also home to polar bears and migrating herds of caribou. The Interior Department said on Monday that it had completed its required reviews and would begin preparations to auction off drilling leases. “I do believe there could be a lease sale by the end of the year,” Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said. Trump Doesn't Want Americans to Save Water Latest Trump Rollback Targets Water-Saving Shower-heads (EcoWatch), Aug. 13, 2020 -TThe Trump administration continued its war on appliance efficiency Wednesday with a proposal to increase the water that can flow from shower-heads. The latest Department of Energy (DOE) plan follows its rollbacks on lightbulb and dishwasher standards, as well as President Donald Trump's repeated complaints about water-saving appliances. But consumer advocates say the changes are unnecessary, and would harm both the environment and American pocketbooks. Click now for the whole story. Trump's EPA Rolls Back Methane Regulations The Move Could Be Catastrophic For the Climate inside climate news, Aug. 13, 2020 -The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a long-anticipated rollback of methane emission regulations for the oil and gas industry on Thursday, marking the latest in a long series of attacks on federal climate policy by the Trump administration. The move, which was opposed by several leading oil and gas companies, could result in a catastrophic increase in the release of a climate "super-pollutant," at a time when global methane emissions from human activity are already rising yet, to limit future warming, they must be quickly reduced. Click now to read about another reason not to re-elect Trump. The Sierra Club Endorses Joe Biden Donald Trump’s Time is Up SIERRA Magazine, Aug. 11, 2020 -This may be the most consequential election of our lives, and not just because of Donald Trump. Our country will be facing crises on multiple fronts. We’ll be struggling to recover from the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; this is especially true for the Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities that have lost so many loved ones to the virus. We’ll be in the midst of a climate emergency that disproportionately harms those same communities. We’ll still have a crisis of police brutality: If trends continue, police will be killing three people every day, most of them Black, Indigenous, or other people of color. And we’ll still have devastating racial gaps in everything from household wealth to maternal health. Biden understands that solving the climate crisis represents an opportunity to rebuild our economy in a way that works for everyone. Yes, he’ll rejoin the Paris Agreement and reinstate environmental protections overturned by Trump. But he also plans to leverage trillions in federal investments to rebuild our middle class and create family-sustaining jobs in clean energy and infrastructure. Click now to learn what can be done. Landmark Pesticide Reform Introduced in the Senate The Biden Climate Plan He Provides a Roadmap National Resources Defense Council(NRDC), July 29, 2020 -Joe Biden released a $2 trillion plan in July to combat climate change. Environmentalists rejoiced. It is, by far, the most ambitious climate proposal ever floated by a major party nominee. But what makes Biden’s proposal special is not its price tag—it’s the way that it integrates climate mitigation into a comprehensive modernization of the U.S. economy. The plan would accelerate the innovation and adoption of new technologies. It would improve public health and extend lives. It would begin to address some of the inequities that fossil fuels have inflicted on society. And it would reestablish the United States as a country of makers. That’s not a climate plan. It’s a vision for a better America. Click now to learn all about it. House Passes Great American Outdoors Act The Vote Was 310 over 107 July 22, 2020,(DominionPost)-The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Great American Outdoors Act Wednesday, 310-107, ushering in a new era for American conservation. The legislation now moves to President Donald Trump’s desk for signing. “Passing the Great American Outdoors Act is quite simply the most significant investment in conservation in decades. It’s a huge win for wildlife, our natural treasures, our economy, and all Americans, who enjoy our America’s public lands for solace, recreation, and exercise, especially amid this pandemic,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “The Great American Outdoors Act shows us once again that investing in our public lands and waters is a rare issue that transcends partisan politics. All Americans will benefit from this historic legislation, which will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, expand outdoor recreation opportunities in every community, and accelerate our nation’s economic recovery from COVID-19.” Click now for more. EPA Proposes No Changes to Airline Emissions Basically, It's Trump Continuing With His Emissions Rollbacks July 22, 2020,(NY Times Climate Forward)- The Trump administration on Wednesday made public the federal government’s first proposal to control planet-warming pollution from airplanes, but the draft regulation would not push the airlines beyond emissions limits they have set for themselves. President Trump is still pressing forward on his three-and-a-half-year rollback of environmental standards, and the proposed airline rule would stave off an impending lawsuit by putting the federal government in compliance with a legal requirement that it regulate airplane greenhouse emissions. Ohio House Speaker Fails to Bailout Fossil Fuel Company Powerful Ohio Republican Is Arrested in $60 Million Corruption Scheme July 22, 2020,(NY Times Climate Forward)- Federal agents on Tuesday arrested one of the most powerful officials in Ohio state government, the Republican House speaker, along with a former state Republican Party chairman and three other people in what law enforcement officials described as a $60 million scheme to bail out a foundering energy company. Click now to read all about it. Biden’s Big Climate Decision: Biden Announces $2 Trillion Climate Plan July 14, 2020,(NY Times Climate Forward) -Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced on Tuesday a new plan to spend $2 trillion over four years to significantly escalate the use of clean energy in the transportation, electricity and building sectors, part of a suite of sweeping proposals designed to create economic opportunities and strengthen infrastructure while also tackling climate change In a speech in Wilmington, Del., Mr. Biden built on his plans, released last week, for reviving the economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, with a new focus on enhancing the nation’s infrastructure and emphasizing the importance of significantly cutting fossil fuel emissions. As he denounced President Trump’s stewardship of the virus and climate change, he drew criticism from Republicans — but he also faced a key test from progressives who have long been skeptical of the scope of his climate ambitions. Trump: To Hell With NEPA Trump Weakens Major Conser- vation Law to Speed Construction Permits July 15, 2020,(NY Times Climate Forward) -President Trump on Wednesday unilaterally weakened one of the nation’s bedrock conservation laws, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), limiting public review of federal infrastructure projects to speed up the permitting of freeways, power plants and pipelines. In doing so, the Trump administration claimed it would save hundreds of millions of dollars over almost a decade by significantly reducing the amount of time allowed for completing reviews of major infrastructure projects. Click now to learn read all about it. Environment Justice & Racial Justice Democrats Detail a Climate Agenda Tying Them Together June 29, 2020,(NY Times Climate Forward) -Democrats in Congress are expected to make public on Tuesday a broad list of proposals on climate change, laying out in detail what could become the starting point for their climate agenda if the party regains control of Congress and the White House next year. The 538-page report sets a range of targets including ensuring that every new car sold by 2035 emits no greenhouse gases, eliminating overall emissions from the power sector by 2040, and all but eliminating the country’s total emissions by 2050. Click now to read the full article. Not Getting Enough Perchlorate in Your Water? E.P.A. Won’t Regulate Toxic Compound Linked to Fetal Brain Damage June 18, 2020,(NY Times Climate Forward) -The Trump administration on Thursday finalized a decision not to impose any limits on perchlorate, a toxic chemical compound found in rocket fuel that contaminates water and has been linked to fetal and infant brain damage. The move by the Environmental Protection Agency was widely expected, after The NY Times reported last month that Andrew Wheeler, the E.P.A. administrator, had decided to effectively defy a court order that required the agency to establish a safe drinking-water standard for the chemical by the end of June. In addition to not regulating, the E.P.A. overturned the underlying scientific finding that declared perchlorate a serious health risk for five million to 16 million people in the United States.