EcoWatch & Gene Karpinski / League of Conservation Voters & Marjorie Mulhall / Earthjustice – 2017-02-23 00:27:37
http://www.ecowatch.com/epa-pruitt-trump-2276037345.html
Assault on the EPA Begins:
Trump to Sign Two Executive Orders
EcoWatch
(February 21, 2017) — The Trump administration is expected to begin attacks on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and climate science at the executive level now that the administration has a leader in place at the agency.
Multiple outlets have reported that President Trump may be planning a visit to EPA headquarters as early as this week, where he could sign executive orders targeting Obama administration climate policies and the agency’s structure.
The Washington Post added additional details yesterday evening, reporting that two executive orders being prepared target the Clean Power Plan and the Waters of the US rule for a revamp, while also lifting a moratorium on coal leasing on federal land. Congress is keeping busy with climate rollbacks too, as the Senate eyes a vote on methane regulations this week.
As the Washington Post noted:
One executive order — which the Trump administration will couch as reducing US dependence on other countries for energy — will instruct the Environmental Protection Agency to begin rewriting the 2015 regulation that limits greenhouse-gas emissions from existing electric utilities. It also instructs the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to lift a moratorium on federal coal leasing.
A second order will instruct the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to revamp a 2015 rule, known as the Waters of the United States rule, that applies to 60 percent of the water bodies in the country.
That regulation was issued under the 1972 Clean Water Act, which gives the federal government authority over not only major water bodies but also the wetlands, rivers and streams that feed into them. It affects development as well as some farming operations on the grounds that these activities could pollute the smaller or intermittent bodies of water that flow into major ones.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
URGENT: Trump to Push TWO New Executive Orders
To Gut the Clean Power Plan and Clean Water Rule
Gene Karpinski / League of Conservation Voters
(February 22, 2017) — This is not a drill: Donald Trump is expected to announce TWO new executive orders targeting critical climate and water protections. We have a long fight ahead of us — can we count on your help?
We just got word that Donald Trump could sign two new executive orders as soon as this week to gut President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and Clean Water Rule. This is really, really bad.
The Clean Power Plan is our nation’s biggest step ever to fight climate change and transition to a clean energy economy.
The Clean Water Rule clarifies pollution protections for our drinking water. Without it, water for 1 in 3 people in this country is at risk.
These executive orders make it crystal clear that Donald Trump is putting the interests of Big Polluters over the air we breathe and water we drink.
We have a long fight ahead of us. These orders are just the start of the process to fully cripple these standards, which could take months, or years.
Every single person has a right to clean air and clean water. Don’t let Trump destroy our planet without a fight. We must prepare for the battles ahead, but resources are seriously low and we need your help.
With notorious fossil fuel shill Scott Pruitt now officially at the helm of the EPA, it’s hard to see how this news could get any worse. But we must remember, the public is on our side!
When the EPA first proposed the Clean Power Plan, LCV supporters sent in 420,000 comments to the EPA supporting the plan. And we joined over 800,000 people in calling for drinking water protections under the Clean Water Rule. We know that our planet cannot afford any delays in fighting climate change, and that every single person, regardless of race, age, or income, deserves access to clean, safe water.
These executive orders are just the start of sweeping attacks designed to drastically diminish the EPA and the work they can do to protect our health and the environment. It is up to us to be the resistance — it is up to us to secure a better planet for future generations. Are you in?
We will keep fighting Trump, his cabinet, and extreme Republicans in Congress who try to roll back vital environmental protections every single day, but we can only do it with your help.
Gene Karpinski is President of the League of Conservation Voters
ACTION ALERT: Save Endangered Species Act
Marjorie Mulhall / Earthjustice
(February 22, 2017) — The Endangered Species Act is one of the strongest, most effective wildlife protection laws in the world. It was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support more than 40 years ago to provide a legal safety net for wildlife, fish and plant species that are in danger of extinction.
Now this Congress — which is shaping up to be the most anti-wildlife Congress we have ever seen — wants to slash the Endangered Species Act, threatening the very existence of the imperiled wildlife and ecosystems the Act protects.
Biologists warn that our planet is facing a sixth wave of mass extinction. The Endangered Species Act, which has prevented 99 percent of the species under its care from vanishing, is precisely the kind of effective tool we need today. It has revived the bald eagle, the American alligator, the California condor and many others.
Yet anti-environment interests in the House and Senate are currently orchestrating some of the most serious threats ever posed to the Endangered Species Act. Some of the legislative proposals put specific imperiled wildlife species on the chopping block, while others attack core provisions of the Endangered Species Act itself.
House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) has said he wants to “repeal and replace†the Endangered Species Act. Others are supporting legislative proposals that would make it harder for the US Fish and Wildlife Service to resolve Endangered Species Act lawsuits.
During the previous (114th) Congress, anti-wildlife representatives authored more than 100 bills and amendments to undermine the Endangered Species Act. Similar legislative attacks are already being introduced in the current (115th) Congress.
These proposals would put imperiled species at greater risk by:
* Establishing arbitrary land boundaries where species protections would not apply
* Imposing limitations on the ability of citizens to help enforce the Endangered Species Act
* Undermining the use of science under the Endangered Species Act
* Declaring open season on individual species, including wolves and sage grouse, by blocking federal protections or denying existing protections
If anti-environment members of Congress get their way, the Endangered Species Act’s vital protections will be cast aside. Tell your congressional representatives and senators to oppose any legislation that hurts imperiled wildlife!
Earthjustice and supporters like you have been fighting to stop political attacks on the Endangered Species Act for decades.
We cannot allow this bedrock environmental law to be undermined by lawmakers who are in the pocket of polluting industries. Take action now to ensure this landmark law is not weakened by political attacks.
ACTION: Tell your representative to stand up for the Endangered Species Act now!
Marjorie Mulhall is the Senior Legislative Counsel for EarthJustice.
