Tag: #EndangeredSpeciesAct

Thurs 9/4 – The Trump administration is trying to kill off endangered species again. Deadline for comment tonight 11:59 EST

Either he’s still holding a grudge over this eagle or he’s owned by extractive industries, our president and his administration have been working fulltime to destroy the environment, wildlife, and the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  

Today’s action involves Trump’s Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who are targeting critical wildlife habitats with a deceptive and unresearched definition of “habitat” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). If finalized, it will be much more difficult to protect habitat critical for the survival and recovery of endangered species.

Let’s talk about how to comment on their proposed definition.

  • First, you write your comment here.
  • The proposed regulation is here. It is purposely hard to understand.
  • There are 47,880 comments already and you can read them for inspiration here. You can read about 5 of them before you realize…
  • …that about 47,870 of them are this exact one below, which means that, after they remove ALL THE COPIES, there will be about (11) original comments left.
Continue reading “Thurs 9/4 – The Trump administration is trying to kill off endangered species again. Deadline for comment tonight 11:59 EST” →

Sun 7/14 – Mon 7/15: We’re up to over 600,000 comments to protect the wolves!!! But there are a lot of copies…Let’s pile on some new ones. Deadline – Monday 7/15, 11:59 pm EST

Action – If you think your comment might be considered a copy, please submit it again with more personal add-ons. Or try writing one for the first time. 

Way back in April, we asked everyone to write comments to prevent the Trump Administration from removing Endangered Species Act protections from wolves and declaring open season of an animal that is still functionally extinct in much of its former range. (Why? See “Background” below) We asked that people read other people’s comments here for inspiration if they needed it but to channel their 7th grade creative writing class and mix it up. The government will throw out DUPLICATE/OR NEAR DUPLICATE COMMENTS.  However…There are still a lot of exact duplicates!
If you feel that maybe your comment will be considered a copy, or just have some writing-zen going, please submit again.  (These are the starts for what look like the most popular copies)

  • “(David Bernhardt) I am alarmed that the Trump Administration is ..”
  • “I am appalled by the Department of the Interiors decision to strip …”
  • “ Scientists estimate that hundreds of thousands of wolves once inhabited …”

The proposed regulation to wipe out wolves is here

Howl back/comment here

Deadline this Monday (tomorrow- 7/15 ) at 11:59 PM EST.

Walk through these quick questions to spice up your comment with personal insights… Be passionate, be concerned, be snarky, be you!

Mon 6/10: He wants to frack CA over. Got 5 minutes? Try the new EASY comment generator! Deadline TONIGHT 11:59pm EST!

PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

Action: This is it, people! Start making comments! Public comment open until Monday night 6/10, 11:59pm EST  – NEW EASY METHOD!

Option 1 – “Super Easy” 5-minute comment generator.

The folks at Los Padres Forest Watch have created this nifty system to help you create an original (VERY IMPORTANT!) public comment on this issue.

Simply go here and follow their instructions.  5 minutes, one click and you’re done! No, you don’t have to read any further. You’re ready to go right now!

In fact, it’s so easy, please share on all your social media platforms and do a couple today before deadline!

Option 2 – More challenging – comment directly on BLM’s weird comment site.

Click to comment directly here.

For graphic instructions on using this strange portal, links to maps of open leases, government documents on this project including the “Draft EIS”, go here.

If you’re interested in this subject, we’ve collected lots of information for you to skim through here. Take one fact or issue, or as many as you want to create your comment. Comments don’t have to be long or extremely technical.
(In item #12 below, there are linked sources that specifically address the BLM EIS. They are being updated while you read this…)

Background

Continue reading “Mon 6/10: He wants to frack CA over. Got 5 minutes? Try the new EASY comment generator! Deadline TONIGHT 11:59pm EST!” →

Tues 5/28: He’s coming to frack CA. Got 5 minutes? Try the new EASY comment generator! Deadline 6/10!

PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)
Kern County is the most-fracked county in California by a wide margin. This region also has the worst air quality in the nation, as well as highly elevated rates of cancer and respiratory illness. For the people that live here, fracking means more oil extraction, more crippling climate impacts, and more impacts on their health.

Trump had to delay his plans to give offshore drilling leases to his favorite donors, due to a court decision blocking fossil fuel activity in parts of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. So he and his EnergyDominance™ team (fossil-fuel-lobbyists-now-getting-government-paychecks) are concentrating on striking back at coastal states who oppose him and turning America into one big corporate-owned Superfund site.

Action : Start making comments! Public comment open from 4/26 to 6/10. – NEW EASY METHOD

How to comment – 2 ways – one way is REALLY EASY!:

Option 1 – “Really Easy” 5-minute comment generator.

The folks at Los Padres Forest Watch have created this nifty system to help you create an original (VERY IMPORTANT!) public comment on this issue.

Simply go here and follow their instructions. 5 minutes, one click and you’re done!

In fact, it’s so easy, please share on all your social media platforms and do one at lunch time every day until the deadline!

Continue reading “Tues 5/28: He’s coming to frack CA. Got 5 minutes? Try the new EASY comment generator! Deadline 6/10!” →

Tues 5/14: Protect our wolves – Part 3. More time = more comments! Also, call your state senator on CA anti-trapping bill AB 273!

Part #1 – Deadline for Wolf comments has been EXTENDED!!! – Jul 15th!

Message from Jim Hines of the Sierra Club:  “Greetings Activists: We did it…..after our official appeal and my recent face-to-face meeting with the new Interior Secretary, just minutes ago, the Secretary’s office announced that the public comment period for the proposed delisting (removal of federal endangered species act protections) for gray wolves in the U.S. has been extended from May 14, 2019 to July 15, 2019!  This administration has not only provided very short public comment periods but …refused to provide any public hearing venues for people to attend, learn about the issue and comment. (Note: the Sierra Club and our partners on the gray wolf issue set up 7 public hearings on the gray wolf issue across the nation in May and they were well attended and we had a court reporter take down the comments and we sent them onto the Dept. of the Interior). All of the above is the result of citizen action (YOU) at work, public pressure put on the administration to get public comments and public hearings on the many issues which matter to all Americans.” – For the wild, Jim.

Write a comment: Let’s not squander this hard-won gift of time. In Part 1 on Friday, 4/26, we asked you to write a comment using this link to prevent the Trump Administration from removing Endangered Species Act protections from wolves and declaring open season of an animal that is still functionally extinct in much of its former range.  Please join in and share! There are currently only 78,373 comments.

Part #3 – Stop the trapping our wild critters for “fun” and commercial profit. “YES” on AB 273!

Continue reading “Tues 5/14: Protect our wolves – Part 3. More time = more comments! Also, call your state senator on CA anti-trapping bill AB 273!” →

Thurs 5/9: This is our kids’ brains on chlorpyrifos. UPDATE: Newsom bans it in CA!

The colored parts of the image above, prepared by Columbia University scientists, indicate where a child’s brain is physically altered after exposure to this pesticide.

UPDATE: CALIFORNIA IS DONE, DONE, DONE with this neurotoxin!

Governor Newsom and the California Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday (Wednesday, 5/8) that the Department of Pesticide Regulation is moving to ban the use of chlorpyrifos in California by initiating cancellation of the pesticide, according to a news release issued today.

The cancellation process could take up to two years. During the cancellation process, DPR’s recommendations to county agricultural commissioners for tighter permit restrictions on the use of chlorpyrifos will remain in place. These include a ban on aerial spraying, quarter-mile buffer zones and limiting use to crop-pest combinations that lack alternatives. DPR will support aggressive enforcement of these restrictions.

Newsom will propose $5.7 million in new funding in the May Revision budget proposal to support the transition to safer, more sustainable alternatives, and plans to convene a working group to identify, evaluate and recommend alternative pest management solutions. “California’s action to cancel the registration of chlorpyrifos is needed to prevent the significant harm this pesticide causes children, farm workers and vulnerable communities,” said CalEPA Secretary Jared Blumenfeld. “This action also represents a historic opportunity for California to develop a new framework for alternative pest management practices.”

Minimal script – Call or email: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to thank Governor Newsom for banning chlorpyrifos (klaw-pir’-uh-fos), the terrible neurotoxin that’s been harming California residents and their children.

Contact: Governor Gavin Newsom: email, (916) 445-2841

Action #1 – Stand Indivisible with other states! Support H.R. 230/S.921 – Ban Toxic Pesticides Act of 2019

Continue reading “Thurs 5/9: This is our kids’ brains on chlorpyrifos. UPDATE: Newsom bans it in CA!” →

Tues 5/7: Wolf Protection – Part 2. Your taxes fund the slaughter of millions of wild animals a year…

Deadline for Wolf comments is coming up – 5/14!

In Part 1 on Friday, 4/26, we asked you to write a comment to prevent the Trump Administration from removing Endangered Species Act protections from wolves and declaring open season of an animal that is still functionally extinct in much of its former range. (Why? See Part 2, below) Please join in and share! There are currently only 55,000 comments.

In Part  2, below, we ask our own government to stop killing them, along with millions of other animals, with our tax dollars.

Part 2 – How much of your tax money goes to snuffing wildlife? Or “How much does a burger cost, really?”

The USDA Wildlife Services spends over $100 million a year to exterminate over 2.3 million native and wild animals a year at the request of ranchers who bring us “cheap” hamburgers. Their targets are usually predators like wolves, coyotes, bobcats, bears, and mountains lions, but the collateral damage includes thousands of non-target animals and birds, including endangered species and household pets, who are trapped or poisoned by mistake. Even people have been injured when they’ve accidently triggered spring-loaded M-44 cyanide cartridges meant to kill coyotes.

A growing body of research has found the agency’s war to protect livestock against predators is altering ecosystems in ways that diminish biodiversity, degrade habitat and invite disease. The public’s attitude towards wild animals has also evolved. “People want to see bears. They want to see wolves. They want to see mountain lions. It’s part of the natural heritage of the United States. We should be stewards of the system, not wiping out species and damaging ecosystems.” – Michael Mares, president of the American Society of Mammalogists.

Action #1 – Vote “YES” on HR 2471/S 1301 – Ban sodium cyanide and Compound 1080 poisons for predator control.

Continue reading “Tues 5/7: Wolf Protection – Part 2. Your taxes fund the slaughter of millions of wild animals a year…” →

Fri 4/26: A judge stopped Trump’s offshore pillaging. So now he’s coming to frack CA: Public Hearing – May 23/ Comment period open!/Call Newsom.

PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)


Action #1: Mark your calendars for May 23. Work out your carpools to the Santa Barbara meeting! 

Kern County is the most-fracked county in California by a wide margin. This region also has the worst air quality in the nation, as well as highly elevated rates of cancer and respiratory illness. For the people that live here, fracking means more oil extraction, more crippling climate impacts, and more impacts on their health.

Yesterday, while we were busy writing comments against the administration’s proposal to strip “streamline” the power of states to control drilling activities off their own coastlines, Trump had to delay his plans to give offshore drilling leases to his favorite donors, due to a court decision blocking fossil fuel activity in parts of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. But he and his EnergyDominance™ team (fossil-fuel-lobbyists-now-getting-government-paychecks) are concentrating on striking back at coastal states who oppose him and turning America into one big corporate-owned Superfund site.

Jim Hines, our Sierra Club advisor and early warning system sent this today…

“Greetings Energy Activists:
On this morning’s conference call with the executive staff at the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, the major topic was the advancement of the President’s ‘America’s Energy Dominance Program’, and wouldn’t you know it, but Ventura and Santa Barbara counties were mentioned. Continue reading “Fri 4/26: A judge stopped Trump’s offshore pillaging. So now he’s coming to frack CA: Public Hearing – May 23/ Comment period open!/Call Newsom.” →

Thurs 4/11: This is our kids’ brains on chlorpyrifos. New Senate action! Update on CA action! Learning to pronounce it -ongoing…

The colored parts of the image above, prepared by Columbia University scientists, indicate where a child’s brain is physically altered after exposure to this pesticide.

Announcement: The guy who protected chlorpyrifos is now Secretary of the Interior…

bernhardt2
David Bernhardt, the man who intervened to suppress the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) report on the lethal effects of chlorpyrifos on endangered species, was confirmed today (Thursday) as Secretary of the Interior (and boss of the FWS) in a 56-41 vote with three Democrats and one Independent voting for him. Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.(?)), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.(?)) and Angus King (I-Maine) voted in favor of his confirmation. (Note: Both Maine Sens. Susan Collins (R) and King voted for Bernhardt because he promised that their state would not be open to his evil offshore drilling plan – apparently Maine’s ocean is separated by an invisible force field from the ocean off other northeastern states!)

Action #1 – CA isn’t waiting for the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos. 

Continue reading “Thurs 4/11: This is our kids’ brains on chlorpyrifos. New Senate action! Update on CA action! Learning to pronounce it -ongoing…” →

Tues 3/26: This is our kids’ brains on chlorpyrifos. State & federal actions.

The colored parts of the image above, prepared by Columbia University scientists, indicate where a child’s brain is physically altered after exposure to this pesticide.

Action #1 – CA isn’t waiting for the EPA to ban chlorpyrifos. 

SB 458 (Durazo) will ban the use of Dow’s highly profitable pesticide chlorpyrifos (klaw-pir’-uh-fos) in California, its biggest market, because the EPA will no longer do its job. In 2016, the agency’s own scientists and the Dept. of Pesticide Regulation determined that there was no safe level on food crops and prepared to completely ban its use. After the election, however, the new and now-disgraced EPA director Scott Pruitt reversed course. Therefore, Californians are still being exposed to a neurotoxin that can cause serious, irreversable harm to adults, children, as well as fetuses, through residue on food which cannot be washed or peeled off, water pollution, or drift from 1/2 mile away. Everyone is at risk. The bill is co-sponsored by CPR allies/members: the United Farm Workers, the American Academy of Pediatrics-California and Earthjustice.

Earthjustice is currently presenting its case against the EPA reversal in court, but the agency can draw this out for years. Meanwhile, activists who are pushing for state and local bans to speed up the process of protecting their communities. Hawaii has already banned this toxin. We can too.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator [___] to vote ‘YES” on SB 458 – the “Protect Children from Brain-Damaging Chlorpyrifos Act of 2019.”

Continue reading “Tues 3/26: This is our kids’ brains on chlorpyrifos. State & federal actions.” →