Your weekly resource to learn what the environmental movement is saying about the news of the day and the political fight of our generation. Be sure to follow LCV on Facebook and Twitter.
REPORTER NOTEBOOK: Keep Track of the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Health, Climate, Air, Water, Energy and Conservation Issues
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
“There is no excuse for unsafe drinking water, dirty air, more asthma attacks in kids, and increased extreme weather events that destroy homes and livelihoods. Donald Trump may care more about corporate interests, but the people of this country care about a safe, clean and healthy environment and they will not let him get away with destroying it.”
“Just two months into his administration, Donald Trump has put in place the most anti-environmental Cabinet in our nation’s history, and he is quickly becoming the most anti-environmental president ever. In no way did the elections give him a mandate to attack either bedrock environment protections or recent progress.”
LCV IN THE NEWS:
CNN: What Trump’s climate change order accomplishes — and what it doesn’t
NY Daily News: Trump guts Obama-era green energy provisions with executive order
Huffington Post: This State Shows Us What A Future With A Hobbled EPA Could Look Like
USA Today: President Trump’s executive order will undo Obama’s Clean Power Plan rule
Huffington Post: A Majority of Americans Disagree with Donald Trump’s Hard-Line Stances On Climate Change
The Hill: Dem states pledge climate action in face of Trump roll-back
THIS WEEK:
EXECUTIVE ORDER: Trump Reverses Biggest Steps Ever Taken To Combat Climate Change
Donald Trump cares more about big polluters than public health protections for our communities. On the heels of the three hottest years on record, President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that will begin a process to reverse our efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions.
The order directs the EPA to begin gutting the Clean Power Plan, instructs the interior department to end the moratorium on federal coal leasing and repeals several Obama administration directives aimed at reversing our efforts to curb climate change.
GET THE FACTS: Read the New York Times fact check on the executive order here.
BUT, BUT, BUT…THE FIERCE RESPONSE:
READ THIS: Washington Post: Trump Wants To Rollback Progress Against Climate Change. He’s Going to Fail
AND THIS (Mike Bloomberg op-ed): The New York Times: Climate Progress, With or Without Trump
PUTTING POLLUTERS AHEAD OF PEOPLE, ASAP: Zinke Lifts Federal Coal Moratorium
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wasted no time putting polluters ahead of people, reversing President Obama’s ban on coal-mining leases on federal land.
REALITY CHECK: If We Don’t Invest in Clean Water, We Suffer the Consequences
Consequences totaling $97 million, to be exact. Flint, Michigan is finally receiving money to pay for new, lead-free pipes, fund health care programs for those affected by lead poisoning and continue distributing bottled water to residents who are without clean drinking water. This is a timely reminder for elected officials as to what happens when infrastructure, health and the environment are not considered a priority.
SHOT: CLIMATE CENSORSHIP (Apparently, Words Can Hurt)
The Department of Energy’s climate office reportedly banned the use of the phrases “climate change,” “emissions reduction” and “Paris Agreement” in written memos, briefings or other written communication.
CHASER: CLIMATE DENIAL (But, Insecticide Really Can Hurt)
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt rejected his own agency’s scientific conclusion that recommended one of the most widely used pesticides be banned from farms nationwide. This insecticide poses significant risks to children and farm workers, including declines in learning and memory capabilities. Pruitt rejected the scientific conclusions of safety experts in his own agency before claiming “we are returning to using sound science in decision-making — rather than predetermined results.” Something doesn’t add up.