Our Neighborhood Earth - Anti-environmental Politics

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Environmental Politics

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Page Updated:
August 4, 2020

House Select Committee
on the Climate Crisis
Climate Change: The Science
is In -We Know the Cause
The U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis is charged with delivering ambitious climate policy recommendations to Congress, in order to achieve substantial and permanent reductions in pollution and other activities that contribute to the climate crisis.
The select committee was authorized by House Resolution 6 on January 9, 2019, and will publish a set of public policy recommendations for congressional climate action by March 31, 2020.
Its members include experts in environmental justice, coastal flooding, clean energy development and other issues that are vital for addressing the climate crisis.
Click now for their website.

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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.	Memorable Presidential Environmental Quotes Six Memorable Presidential Environmental Quotes Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson and Barack Obama had something to say Some didn't always follow up on those quotes. Click now to read the article From the Earth Matters News.

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.