Ryan Zinke told me that “wildlife needs to show that it has economic value to warrant protection” – Jim Hines, Sierra Club

Update from Jim Hines 7/18:

Greetings Activists:

YOU are making a powerful difference. On our conference call this morning with U.S. Dept of the Interior officials in DC they said that so many people are calling, emailing and texting various Dept of Interior staff (including the Secretary of Interior himself) about protecting national public lands and wildlife that it is getting overwhelming.

And this is all because of YOU. So lets keep it up. Never stop speaking out on what is important to you.

YOU matter, YOU make a difference.

for the wild,

Jim

Save the Endangered Species Act! Congress is considering multiple bills on July 19th – including one from Senator Rand Paul – that would gut the Endangered Species Act and put countless species at risk of extinction. These bills allow decisions on the fate of endangered species to be made by local politicians, not scientists. Call to stop these cynical attempts to destroy the Endangered Species Act.

Please contact members of the House Committee on Natural Resources before July 18th:

https://naturalresources.house.gov/contact/

Address all comments to Chairman Bishop and copy your member of congress as well.

Script: I’m calling Rep. [___] to convey our disapproval of the 5 bills coming up to U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources on July 19th. In an age where the pace of extinctions is increasing, we need to stop any reductions in Endangered Species Act protections.

Call all three Members of Congress:

Senator Feinstein: DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430

AND Senator Harris: DC (202) 224-3553, LA (213) 894-5000, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 355-9041, SD (619) 239-3884

AND Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26): DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779

OR Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24): DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348

More Info: http://www.salon.com/2017/03/07/congress-targets-species-act-and-its-climate-benefits

The Bills:

H.R.3131 —Endangered Species Litigation Reasonableness Act

H.R.2134 —Endangered Species Management Self-Determination Act

S.935 —Endangered Species Management Self-Determination Act

H.R.1273 —21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act

S.375 —A bill to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to establish a procedure for approval of certain settlements.

Your Weekly Dose of Sanity-Saving Good News! – The “Holding Hands” Edition

As soon as I read this story…I knew that I wasn’t alone in thinking how inspirational this was. Alison & Stephanie connected it to this amazing essay from Rebecca Solnit comparing the conservative ideology of isolation to the reality of our communion with each other and the world:
“The modern right may wish that every man were an island, entire of himself, but no one is wholly independent. You can’t survive without taking air into your lungs, you didn’t give birth to or raise yourself, you won’t bury yourself, and in between you won’t produce most of the goods and services you depend on to live. Your gut is full of microorganisms, without which you could not digest all the plants and animals, likely grown by other people, on which you rely to survive. We are nodes on intricate systems, synapses snapping on a great collective brain; we are in it together, for better or worse.”

So in honor of these awesome people who held hands to help strangers, let’s start with news from states where aid and respect was extended to others… Continue reading “Your Weekly Dose of Sanity-Saving Good News! – The “Holding Hands” Edition” →

Friday 10-minute Resistance Diet

We at Indivisible gnaw on legislators’ corruption and greed. The effort keeps us lean.

This has been a big week for bad bills!

Let’s do a 10-minute call blitz to add to our legislator’s call tallies. We have short and long versions for scripts. Choose what seems natural to you. If calling makes you nervous, take a minute to read this: https://tinyurl.com/God-I-hate-calling

Senator Calls

(Ask the intern if they’ll record more than one subject per call.) Continue reading “Friday 10-minute Resistance Diet” →

OMG! Over 2.5 million comments! But they’re not done and neither are we.

(Message from Jim Hines, Team member Sierra Club Protect Wild Utah Team, Co-Team Leader Protect California/Nevada National Monuments Team, Chapter Chair of the Sierra Club Los Padres Chapter which serves Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.)

Greetings Activists:

The public comment phase for the possible reduction in size or complete elimination of America’s national monuments has officially ended.

A big THANK YOU to each of you for getting so many supportive and passionate comments for protection of America’s national monuments in before the July 10th deadline. Your individual comments regarding specific national monuments are especially encouraging.

U.S. Dept of the Interior senior staff in DC told us this morning that over 2.5 million comments were received, the majority from the official comment webpage but a large number were in the form of postcards and letters sent by mail to the U.S. Dept of the Interior. You inundated them supporting America’s national monuments. In fact they are not sure what to do with so many comments. Staff says that a preliminary tally shows that by a 10 to 1 margin people who commented supported leaving America’s national monuments fully intact and protected. The national monument which received the most individual comments was Bears Ears NM in Utah.

Continue reading “OMG! Over 2.5 million comments! But they’re not done and neither are we.” →

The Ozone Implementation Act undercuts 46 years of air quality protections. Oppose!

One hundred and twenty one organizations oppose HR 806, which eliminates the right to safe air that we enjoy under the Clean Air Act. It would delay for ten years efforts to improve air quality, and even the right to know if the air is safe to breathe. By expanding exemptions and imposing barriers to strict air quality standards, it undercuts 46 years of air quality protection.

Script: I ask Representative (________) to oppose HR 806, the Ozone Standards Implementation Act. Many areas in California do not yet meet the EPA’s ozone standard, and I’m concerned because ozone causes asthma, lung disease and premature death. Please don’t weaken clean air protections; oppose HR 806.

Call Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26): DC (202) 225-5811, Oxnard (805) 379-1779, T.O. (805) 379-1779

OR Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24): DC (202) 225-3601, SB (805) 730-1710 SLO (805) 546-8348

More Info:

Continue reading “The Ozone Implementation Act undercuts 46 years of air quality protections. Oppose!” →

Mitch McConnell is fast-tracking the Environment Disaster, S. 1460, without a committee vote. That can’t be good.

Mitch McConnell is using “bi-partisan!” to fast-track S 1460 directly to the floor. This almost 900-page monster increases hunting on public land, expedites pipeline approvals, increases fracking and methane hydrate use, slashes laws created to stave off climate change and includes boundary changes in our national parks. Vote NO without extensive committee review and comment.

Script: I’m calling to tell Senator (____) to vote “NO” on this ridiculously long and complicated bill until it’s been fully analyzed and run through the appropriate public hearings. I’m suspicious of the rush and worry that this bill allows the government to more easily approve dirty oil and gas pipelines and exacerbate the climate crisis even more.

Senator Feinstein: DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430

Senator Harris: DC (202) 224-3553, LA (213) 894-5000, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 355-9041, SD (619) 239-3884

More Info: Continue reading “Mitch McConnell is fast-tracking the Environment Disaster, S. 1460, without a committee vote. That can’t be good.” →

Your Weekly Dose of Sanity-Saving Good News! Get out a #2 pencil…there’s a quiz.

(Huffpost) “Every year, the U.S. holds special citizenship-induction ceremonies on or around the Fourth of July. This year, nearly 15,000 people were being sworn in as U.S. citizens at more than 65 such gatherings across the country, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

At one of those ceremonies, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) ― the daughter of immigrants from India and Jamaica ― took not-so-veiled jabs at President Donald Trump, who has called for limits on legal immigration along with his effort to ramp up deportation of undocumented immigrants.

“Whenever you feel that future is threatened, whenever those values of liberty and justice for all that drew us here seem under assault, you need to speak up and speak out,” Harris said at a ceremony on the battleship Iowa in the Port of Los Angeles on Monday, according to prepared remarks. “That’s the whole point of the freedoms we cherish.” Continue reading “Your Weekly Dose of Sanity-Saving Good News! Get out a #2 pencil…there’s a quiz.” →

This week in resistance – No rest for the wicked and no recess for us…

“We are a country, I believe, full of determination, hope, and compassion. We cannot and will not stay silent on something that fundamentally challenges our values.
I am determined to fight this bill.
I am hopeful that our leaders will listen.
I believe our American values can prevail when we join together in the fight for the lives of every American.
I know we can do this together.
Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.”
(From Connie Britton)

Remember, as we leave the 4th of July behind, that this country was born of resistance and that revolutionaries were the first patriots. So wave your flags proudly, as our movement is as American as it gets… Conservatives…well, recently, even the words of that revolution made them kind of nervous. Continue reading “This week in resistance – No rest for the wicked and no recess for us…” →

Block Far-right Extremist Damien Schiff from the US Court of Federal Claims

Damien Schiff is a far-right extremist. He’s accused a CA school district of “teaching ‘gayness’, and he opposes decriminalizing homosexual sex and adoptions by same-sex couples. He’s an enemy of the EPA and the Endangered Species Act, and he supports unlimited corporate donations to political campaigns. Why is he a candidate for the U.S. Court?

Script: I’m calling to ask Senator (_____) to vote NO on Damien Schiff for the US Court of Federal Claims. He is a far-right extremist whose views on equal rights, the environment and the corruption of our political processes are far from what the majority of Americans want.

Call Senator Feinstein: DC (202) 224-3841, LA (310) 914-7300, SF (415) 393-0707, SD (619) 231-9712, Fresno (559) 485-7430

AND Senator Harris: DC (202) 224-3553, LA (213) 894-5000, SAC (916) 448-2787, Fresno (559) 497-5109, SF (415) 355-9041, SD (619) 239-3884

More Info: Continue reading “Block Far-right Extremist Damien Schiff from the US Court of Federal Claims” →

How much toxic waste inside of your kids is OK? Insist on protections!

In the fall of 2015, the EPA finalized a rule which set federal limits on the amount of toxic metals that may be allowed in power plant wastewater; wastewater which, in turn, is then dumped into our nation’s water resources. However, it looks like the Trump administration, with Scott Pruitt at the helm of the EPA, is looking to delay the compliance deadlines for the rule.

The public comment period runs ends tomorrow at 11:59 pm, so let the EPA know right away that we do not want the compliance date to be moved back.

Comment Here: https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OW-2009-0819-6485

More Info: Continue reading “How much toxic waste inside of your kids is OK? Insist on protections!” →