QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

 

“I will do everything I can to fight back against this #DirtyPowerScam. By ignoring the warnings of their own researchers, Trump and his EPA are putting coal lobbyists and interest groups ahead of public health.”

–Representative Suzanne Bonamici from Oregon, pledging her support in the fight against Trump’s ridiculous new pollution rules

 

“Donald Trump is set on increasing corporate profits while ignoring the health risks & irreversible effects this plan will cause.”

–Representative Mark Pocan from Wisconsin, lending his voice to the millions speaking out against Trump’s Dirty Power Scam

 

“[Secretary Zinke] would sell his grandchildren for the oil industry.”

–While probably not to be taken literally, this quote from Washington Governor Jay Inslee reminds us where Secretary Zinke’s loyalties lie

 

LCV IN THE NEWS:

 

CNN: Group targets key House race voters on local environmental issues

E&E News: LCV opens wallet in $15M House midterm push

Concord Monitor: Kuster pushes to revive jeopardized land, water conservation fund

Politico: LCV TARGETS ON LWCF

Mother Jones: Trump’s Attacks on Public Lands Could Help the Democrats in These States

 

OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY:

LCV’s state affiliates are hard at work protecting the environment and fighting climate change in the states. Here’s what people are reading across the country:

NJ.com (NJ): 5 things Murphy could do with plastic bag bill to truly reduce pollution

Macomb Daily: Michigan League of Conservation Voters endorses Whitmer for governor

Nevada Current (NV): Environmental groups redoubling outreach to people of color

Door County Pulse: League of Conservation Voters Endorses Evers for Governor

 

 

 

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**SIREN** DIRTY POWER SCAM: Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler officially signed a proposal to overturn the Clean Power Plan, a dangerous move that will hand states untethered authority over regulating coal plants.

 

WHY IT MATTERS: Wheeler’s EPA is deliberately ignoring the lives and safety of the people in this country. An analysis from the Trump administration — let that sink in — revealed that the new plan will lead to as many as 1,400 premature deaths each year. Wheeler put his name on it anyway.

 

STAND UP, FIGHT BACK: Members of the LCV team have lined up against Trump’s Dirty Power Scam. Here’s a sample of what we had to say:

• GENE KARPINSKI: LCV’s president, Gene Karpinski, joined Senators Markey (Mass.), Carper (Del.), Whitehouse (R.I.), Cardin (Md.), Heinrich (N.M.), and Smith (Minn), in the Senate on Tuesday to denounce  the scam. Gene said: “Voters across the country support the Clean Power Plan and the movement for clean energy.”

 

• CAROL BROWNER: LCV’s board chair and former EPA administrator, Carol Browner, released a statement saying, “This ‘Dirty Power Scam’ puts us all in danger, slows the transition to clean energy and exacerbates climate change.”

 

• TIERNAN SITTENFELD: LCV’s SVP of Government Affairs had this to say in a CNN interview: “They’re doing this to pad the profits of their corporate polluter allies.”
• SARA CHIEFFO: LCV VP of Government Affairs released a statement saying, “Simply put, this dirty power scam is an attempt to deny us the cleaner air and clean energy economy we all deserve.”

 

74 DAYS UNTIL the midterms, and LCV is working hard for a green wave. This week, LCV Victory Fund announced a record $15 million investment in House races, showing our commitment to electing the most pro-environment Congress ever. A pro-environment majority in Congress is essential to protecting our environment, our water, our lands, and our health.

 

BIG WAVE, BIGGER INVESTMENT: Our $15 million House investment announcement this week is at least four times bigger than the previous largest House investment in 2012, and it’s going towards targeted congressional districts to ensure we retake a green majority. The announcement highlighted 12 districts, including California swing districts (CA-25, 45,48, and 49), out of step incumbents (CO-06, MN-03, and VA-10), 2016 Trump districts where strong pro-environment challengers put the races within reach (IA-03, MN-02, NC-09, and NJ-03), and a prime retirement district (WA-08).

 

DIRTY DOZEN: For decades, our Dirty Dozen program has targeted candidates, regardless of party, who consistently sided against the environment. This week, LCV Victory Fund announced that the first member for the 2018 Dirty Dozen will be voted on by supporters. The options are: Rick Scott (FL-SEN), Dean Heller (NV-SEN), and Jim Renacci (OH-SEN). The “winner” will be announced early next week.

 

LIVING DANGEROUSLY: For the first time, LCV Victory Fund collaborated with Years of Living Dangerously Action Fund to create a short video that highlights climate change deniers running for office across the country. Showcasing Ted Cruz, Dean Heller, Marsha Blackburn, and Martha McSally, the video highlights how these Senate candidates have questioned climate science and ends with a call to action to pledge to defeat climate change deniers running for office. This is our first electoral communication of 2018 that focuses on climate change and climate deniers specifically. To amplify the video, LCV Victory Fund is running it as a Facebook ad as well as promoting on Twitter and Instagram and sending as a mobile alert.

 

DIRTY DECISIONS: It’s been an especially dirty week for Trump and it’s impacting his  Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. Kavanaugh is another one of Trump’s toxic picks, and our “Dirty Decision of the Day” series highlighted another five cases this week that prove just how dangerous he is. Check out those five cases here.

 

SPEAKING OF KAVANAUGH: Senator Susan Collins — a swing vote on this nomination — met with Kavanaugh this week. She also this week criticized the Trump administration’s proposed replacement for the Clean Power Plan, saying it was a “step in the wrong direction” and highlighting that “Maine is also located at the end of our nation’s air pollution “tailpipe,” receiving pollution generated by power plants in other states.” It’s therefore worth noting that in 2012 Brett Kavanaugh struck down an EPA regulation that limited air pollution that crosses state lines. If Collins is serious about protecting Maine’s air quality she needs to vote against his nomination.

 

LCWFINAL STRETCH? : With just one month until the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) expires, we announced new digital ads urging Representatives John Culberson (TX-07), Darrell Issa (CA-49), Scott Perry (PA-04), and Kevin Yoder (KS-03) to support a bipartisan bill to permanently reauthorize the program.  Last month, all four members voted for a bill that would cut LWCF by $64 million, as well as an amendment that would have cut $2.4 million from LWCF — we’re pushing them to change their ways and support LWCF.  There’s time, though not much of it.

 

CAN’T QUIT CALIFORNIA: Secretary Zinke fired yet another shot at California this week, demanding his staff to draft a “plan of action” to modify the state’s water delivery systems. This news comes after his false assertion that “environmental terrorists” were to blame for the California wildfires.

 

THREE STRIKES AND YOU’RE OUT: Federal judges ruled against Trump’s environmental agenda three times last week, claiming in each case that his EPA was cutting corners. Friday’s case, for example, found that the agency failed to produce an extensive environmental impact statement for the Keystone XL pipeline in Nebraska.

 

WHAT ARE UTAH-LKING ABOUT? After an attempt to hide a proposal in Bureau of Land Management  documents, the Trump administration has thrown out a recommendation to sell off 1,600 acres of protected Utah land. Why the change of heart? Zinke claims not to have known what his department was up to, which seems like a weak defense, especially for someone who just last year recommended that we substantially shrink other protected lands, including Trump’s rollbacks of both Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears National Monuments in December.

 

REMINDER: Shortly after being sworn in, Zinke made one promise: “You can hear it from my lips. We will not sell or transfer public land.” We can count that promise broken.

 

PAYPHONE PRUITT: Remember that time former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt spent $43,000 to install a soundproof payphone in his office for confidential calls? Well, new records indicate that he used it only one time…for a five-minute call to the White House.

 

SCARY PERRY: New documents reveal that Secretary of Energy Rick Perry’s first days at the Department were full of meetings with oil, natural gas, and coal companies — but no environmental groups. These calendar entries make it clear that polluters are the priority in this administration.

 

COMING UP:

 

AUGUST 30 — The one-year anniversary of Irma, the Cape Verde hurricane that was made far worse by climate change and took the lives of 134 people.

SEPTEMBER 4 — Kavanaugh hearings begin

SEPTEMBER — Trump administration is expected to release their Dirty Water Rule, which will severely rollback Clean Water Act protections for waterways our families and communities depend on

SEPTEMBER 30 — Expiration of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), the nation’s best parks program

 

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Paid for by the League of Conservation Voters, www.lcv.org, and not authorized by
any candidate or candidate’s committee.