Thurs 2/28: Say “NO” to Andrew Wheeler, the once and future coal lobbyist nominee for the EPA.

Action Update – Let’s use our power of oversight to hem this guy in.

He’s in, on a basic party-line vote with only Sen. Collins crossing the aisle. Our EPA, as well as the GOP itself, are now completely owned by the fossil-fuel industry (read “Background” below). So where do we go now? RESIST, of course! We propose a serious email to all your legislators.

New minimal email:

“Until we are in a position to remove Andrew Wheeler, coal-industry mole and climate-change denier, from his new position at the EPA and repair the damage he’s causing, we want you to commit to using our power of Congressional oversight to investigate the following issues:

Corruption: Wheeler, after it was first rumored he would be considered for the EPA last March, raised funds for Republican senators on the committee that makes the preliminary decision on confirming appointments to the agency. (intercept)

Continue reading “Thurs 2/28: Say “NO” to Andrew Wheeler, the once and future coal lobbyist nominee for the EPA.” →

Thurs 1/31: Positive Legislation Day! 3 actions – Title IX, paying workers and keeping our government going.

Hey, while Betsy’s minions have to read through over 104-THOUSAND comments (updated 2/1 – great job, everybody!) and our legislators are arguing over how to say “wall”, let’s put out encouragement for some positive legislative actions.

Action #1 – Remind Congress to reintroduce and support pro-Title IX legislation.

There were some great laws proposed last session to protect students from harassment and arbitrary rule changes by ideologues like Secretary of Education Betsy Devos. Let’s get them reintroduced and through the system this time.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Rep. [___] to sponsor, cosponsor and support these proposed laws:

H.R.4030, the Title IX Protection: (check here – Carbajal signed, Brownley didn’t)
H.R.6464, the HALT Sexual Violence Act (check here – neither signed)
H.R.1949, the Campus Accountability and Safety Act. (check here – neither signed)

Continue reading “Thurs 1/31: Positive Legislation Day! 3 actions – Title IX, paying workers and keeping our government going.” →

Tues – 1/29: How has climate change affected you?

(Photo – Thomas Fire burns near Meiners Oaks in the Ojai Valley.)

This is our chance to let Congress know how climate change is affecting our lives.

(From Jim Hines, Los Padres Sierra Club)

Greetings Climate Activists:

Our good friend congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources will be holding a month long series of hearings on the climate change crisis.

And he wants to hear from YOU. How has climate change impacted YOU.

Please share your thoughts with Chair Grijalva here.

Chair Grijalva will be using your comments and testimony from the hearings to develop far reaching climate change legislation this year

Jim

This is a nation-wide appeal. Share are far as you can.

Tues -1/29: TODAY is the deadline to stop Trump’s destruction of our right to know.

Action – Write a protest comment and submit it TODAY (Tues) by 11:59 pm EST.

Trump started censoring public information before he was even elected.

However, even as president, he can’t totally abolish the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but he can direct how executive agencies respond to our requests, which has already started. According to APNews: “The federal government censored, withheld or said it couldn’t find records sought by citizens, journalists and others more often last year than at any point in the past decade… People who asked for records under (FOIA) received censored files or nothing in 78 percent of 823,222 requests, a record over the past decade. When it provided no records, the government said it could find no information related to the request in a little over half those cases.” Continue reading “Tues -1/29: TODAY is the deadline to stop Trump’s destruction of our right to know.” →

Fri – 1/25: Part 1 – Why do we keep killing Flipper and Friends? Comment today.

The government site appears dead, their offices are deserted and no one has responded to our comments from 2 days ago to extend the deadline due to faulty links. Assume it’s still due today.

Action: Because our Navy keeps wanting to. Deadline supposedly today (1/25)

Navy sonar harms whales and dolphins. Watch this 2007 video shot by the Center for Whale Research in Washington State. Hear what the sonar sounds like and see what it does to these marine mammals.

Continue reading “Fri – 1/25: Part 1 – Why do we keep killing Flipper and Friends? Comment today.” →

Mon 12/17: Three actions today.

Two proposed rules changes close out today and some continued support for your legislators to do the right thing.

Those of us who aren’t scientists may feel we’re not qualified to write about methane pollution, or offshore oil drilling. Not true. Skim through the postings below to get an understanding of what’s being proposed. Stop and look at the links that interest you and reference them in your posts if you wish.

Your comment can be broad-brush : America’s reputation, our economy, government corruption, unbridled corporate power and greed, the environment, the future. Or just one aspect that affects you deeply: your air, your water, your joy, your health and the health of those you love.

There are no wrong answers. The only wrong action is letting this administration think that we don’t care enough to stop them.

Action #1 – DEADLINE TODAY! – December 17th, 11:59 EST

Continue reading “Mon 12/17: Three actions today.” →

Wed. – 12/12: “The World Has Had Enough” – Fight/write against the EPA’s methane rollback. Deadline Dec. 17th.

(attribution – Tea Pain, #BondTrumpBond)

(While our attention is elsewhere… (Trump: orange or striped jumpsuit? Which Dems are missing from the net neutrality petition? 3 years for Cohen…)
…the dark business of deconstructing our protections continues unabated as corporate-friendly and extremist-backed rule-change proposals roll off the assembly line every day.)

Action – Oppose EPA’s Methane Rollback – Deadline Monday, December 17. 11:59 EST

A surprising number of the James Bond movie plots center around the threat of environmental disaster, with the fate of mankind held ransom for money, fame or political power.

Today, with the issuance of alarming government reports at how close we are already to world-wide catastrophe (2018 Arctic Report Card, Fourth National Climate Assessment) one can only wonder if we are inside a real-life James Bond movie. Trump, with his clownishly long ties, the sartorial tic required for any great Bondian villain, is single-mindedly intent on removing all Obama-era protections – including this one which eliminates the requirement that oil and gas companies check for methane leaks from capped wells on public and tribal lands. If he succeeds, hundreds of thousands of tons of methane will be released, polluting our atmosphere while costing us millions in potential royalty revenue. In return, like the proper villain he is, he’ll continue to profit from huge contributions from extractive industries such as gas, oil and mining.

So be your favorite Bond, be it Connery, Moore, Lazenby, Dalton, Brosnan, or Craig, or even better, Miss Moneypenny, and wield your “Q”-enhanced keyboard against this rule. Continue reading “Wed. – 12/12: “The World Has Had Enough” – Fight/write against the EPA’s methane rollback. Deadline Dec. 17th.” →

Wed – 12/5: Today in “Toxic Nominees” – Bernard McNamee is up for a vote. Say “NO” to this environmental nightmare!

Even though an hour-long video outed this Koch-funded oil industry extremist for exactly what he is, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said “Based on my conversations I think he understands the FERC is an independent agency and must remain as such.”

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

No. No, he doesn’t.

Action #1 – Ask your Senator to vote against Bernard McNamee, a horrible choice for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Continue reading “Wed – 12/5: Today in “Toxic Nominees” – Bernard McNamee is up for a vote. Say “NO” to this environmental nightmare!” →

Mon – 11/19: “Mommy, what’s a wolf?” Update on the war on endangered species.

This is what happens when science and the knowledge of experts is respected.

https://youtu.be/SAGEXDlUHDE

This is what happens when they’re not.

Message from Jim Hines, Sierra Club.

Greetings Wildlife Advocates:

Continue reading “Mon – 11/19: “Mommy, what’s a wolf?” Update on the war on endangered species.” →

Tues – 11/13: Bees need you to write some stinging comments in their defense. Today. By 11:59pm EST.

Today, we need comments on two almost identical rules regarding some our smallest, yet most essential agricultural benefactors. It will take you about 5 minutes to read this and another 5 minutes to write something.

(These “Rules” are where legislators, who should be packing up their desks, together with their pet lobbyists, push through legislation that is too shady, dangerous and/or un-American to withstand the scrutiny and cameras they would encounter on the floor of Congress. This is where lawmaking, money and influence meet, hoping we don’t notice.)