2035 – the year that all new cars should be electric zero-emission models to meet the Paris Accord goals, is just 13 years away.
The transportation sector contributes 27 percent of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions – the biggest single culprit. Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill contains $7.5 billion for building a national network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers to compete with nearly 117,000 gas stations. On the state level, Gov. Newson signed an executive order requiring that 100% of new passenger vehicles sales in California will be ZEVs by 2035. Meanwhile, polls indicate that while three quarters of Americans see electric vehicles as the future of transportation, initial high cost and lack of easy access to a charging station hold many back. Here are some CA proposals to help solve these problems.
Action #1: Tell your CA state senators that we need SB-1230 & SB-1482!
Action #1 – Call your legislators with support for two local environmental bills.
(Message from Jim Hines, Sierra Club) Good Morning Ventura and Santa Barbara County Friends!: Noon (west coast time) February 12th…vote on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on:
Both bills protecting lands within Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
It has been exciting working on these two bills, lobbying members of congress for passage and now we will see tomorrow if we are successful.
for the wild, Jim
Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep. [___] to know how important [his/her] support for HR 2199 – Central Coast Heritage Protection Act and HR 1708/S.774 – Rim of the Valley Corridor Preservation Act is for the protection of our environment and wildlife.
Rep-check for HR 2199 here – Brownley has cosponsored, Carbajal is the original sponsor.
Rep-check for HR 1708 here – Brownley has cosponsored, Carbajal has not.
Contact Rep. Julia Brownley:email, (CA-26): DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779 or Rep. Salud Carbajal:email. (CA-24): DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348 Who is my representative/senator?:https://whoismyrepresentative.com
Action #2 – Put your legislator on notice – “Don’t let selling off our public lands and our national parks to destructive industries happen on your watch.”
“There’s a quiet, almost covert, effort to dismantle the public lands management infrastructure,” said Jim Lyons, who was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the Interior Department in the Obama administration. “It’s very effective. I call it evil genius.” So let’s let in a little sunshine, folks!
Indivisible Ventura is still in mourning over Congressman Elijah Cummings’ passing. In his honor, we encourage everyone to do these actions for democracy listed on our10/16 post.
Action – Tomorrow – Thursday 11/21 – Meet at Santino’s for pizza, good conversation, and social justice – every Third Thursday starting at 11:30 am
Where: Santino’s Pizza. It’s at 4231 Telegraph Rd., Ventura, 93003
When: Thursday, Nov. 21st, 11:30am – 1:30pm.
RSVP for our supporters: Nope. Just come. Invite your friends!
We do, however, reserve the right to refuse any volunteers and their services.
What to bring: We provide the pizza, postcards, stationary. If you prefer, you may bring your own stationary for letter actions.
Donations gratefully accepted: A postcard stamp is $0.35! We’re trying to achieve 300 finished postcards, which equals $105. Donations of money for stamps and pizza or rolls of postcard stamps are gratefully accepted.
Postcards: We’re going to be writing 300 postcards to voters in Texas in connection with the NAACP and the Center for Common Ground‘s – Reclaim our Vote campaign!
In honor of Congressman Elijah Cummings, please take some actions today to protect democracy. We’ve listed some on our10/16 postand we have more below.
Action #1 – TODAY! Meet at Santino’s for pizza, comradery, and social justice – every Third Thursday starting at 11:30 am
Where: Santino’s Pizza. It’s at 4231 Telegraph Rd., Ventura, 93003
When: Thursday, Sept. 19th, 11:30am – 1:30pm.
RSVP for our supporters: Nope. Just come. Invite your friends!
We do, however, reserve the right to refuse any volunteers and their services.
What to bring: We provide the pizza, postcards, stationary. If you prefer, you may bring your own stationary. A postcard stamp is $0.35. (300) postcards equals $105. Donations of stamps are always gratefully accepted.
Postcards: We’re going to be writing 300 postcards to voters in Dallas in connection with the NAACP and the Center for Common Ground‘s – Reclaim our Vote campaign!
Why do we need a RECLAIM OUR VOTE campaign? Community of color voters are being placed on “Inactive” or “Unregistered” lists at a 16% higher rate than whites. The ability to vote of people in minority communities was already being systematically undermined over the last decade, by the imposition of strict new voter ID laws, by the reduction in polling places and early voting, and through many other tactics.
Cards of support: We’ll also send cards of support to Rep. Adam Schiff and staff. President Trump has focused his vitriol, and the rage of his followers against this incredibly brave legislator overseeing the inquiry that threatens his corrupt presidency.
Action #2 – Mark your calendars! Jim Hines of the Sierra Club needs our help! (Please share!)
(From the Animal Welfare Institute) “Nearly 2 million Americans, joined by the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and a broad coalition of animal welfare and environmental organizations, have registered their opposition to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposal to gut Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for gray wolves across the contiguous United States.
The USFWS received more than 1.8 million public comments opposing the wolf delisting plan by its deadline yesterday. The total number of comments ranks among the highest ever submitted on a federal decision involving an endangered species. In addition, 86 members of Congress, 100 scientists, 230 businesses, and 367 veterinary professionals all submitted letters rebuking the administration’s plan to cede management of the species to state agencies.
Upon reviewing the submitted comments, the USFWS will prepare and publish a final rule in the Federal Register.”
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 exactduplicates! 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
Up in the Santa Monica Mountains, P-47 was just going about his job. The mountain lion, studied by researchers since he was 4 weeks old, was part of an ecosystem that keeps rodent populations under control. However, due to eating prey animals dosed with anticoagulant poisons, internal bleeding caused him to die a slow and painful death.
Action #1 – Stop the poisoning of our wild critters. Say “YES” to AB 1788!
AB 1788 – Pesticides: use of anticoagulants. Anticoagulant rodenticides (rat poison) indiscriminately destroys ecosystems and poisons native wildlife such as bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions, owls and hawks. These rodenticides are also one of the top ten pet toxins, injuring or killing household pets who eat either affected rodents or the bait itself. In addition, more than 4,400 children under age 6 were poisoned with these long-acting toxins in 2016, which disproportionately harmed those from low-income families. (More information from Project Coyote and Marilyn Krieger’s article “Rat Poisons Aren’t Selective” here.) We can do better.
This bill has passed the Assembly and is now in the Senate Natural Resource and Water Committee. Senator Jackson is on it, along with Senators Stern, Jones, Allen, Borgeas, Caballero, Hertzberg, Hueso, and Monning. They’ll be voting Tuesday morning (7/9), so get your call in today.
One call does it all! See the combo-script under Action #2 below!
Action #2 – Stop killing bobcats! Say “YES” to AB 1254
Many people saw this picture of a bobcat kitten and a fawn, who had been rescued from Santa Barbara’s 2009’s Jesusita Fire. During the mayhem, rescuers were forced to put animals anywhere they could, since they had run out of crates. The kitten ran to the fawn, and it was instant bonding
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.
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…)
How does a river catch on fire…13 times? Ohio’s Cuyahoga River caught fire because flammable petroleum products were being dumped directly into it, along with contaminated seepage from groundwater. Images like these from 1962 inspired the creation of the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA).
Action – Write a comment on why Andrew is wrong before 11:59 pm EST Friday 6/7!
Hey, remember this guy? Andrew Wheeler, fossil fuel lobbyist, Washington Coal Club VP and putative Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)? An earlier public notice period alerted him to Big Ag and Industry’s annoyance with requirements to get NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permits. And they didn’t think they should have to for releasing hazardous waste to groundwater systems with direct hydrologic connections to potable surface water. So Andrew issued an INTERPRETATIVE STATEMENT – the EPA and the Clean Water Act (CWA) would no longer protect the public from releases of pollutants from a “point source” to groundwater, regardless of the risks posed by hydrologic connections to potable surface water. If this rule change goes through, it’s another win for big agricultural, industrial and commerical polluters. Significant sources of water pollution, like agricultural storm water discharges and return flow from irrigated agriculture are already excluded the EPA’s charge. Now, this proposed regulatory loophole will allow polluters to avoid CWA liability by encouraging them to dispose of their problem wastes directly into local groundwater supplies, even when they know it flows into navigable, potable water. Already, a fifth of the United States, over 63 million people, have been exposed to potentially unsafe water.
Stop this now! Take 5 minutes to read some facts we’ve gathered, get mad, and write a comment. It doesn’t have to be long or technical. Just original. Comment here.
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!:
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 