The first 100 days of the new Administration are not even over and yet we have already seen success in efforts to RESIST efforts and actions taken by Trump. The travel ban hasn’t happened and the ACA is still the law of the land. While a new Supreme Court Justice is on the court, it took a nuclear option to do it. We’ve lost some fights but not all.
In conjunction with Sierra Club, I have been touting you to RESIST. I have also been trying to direct you to ways to do that. The article below references some of the tactics being employed and, in fact, working. Court challenges are being waged against rollbacks of environmental laws (along with other egregious initiatives) and are effectively tying up in court implementation of Executive Orders and/or other administrative moves by Federal government departments such as the EPA.
“A White House official acknowledged in a Monday briefing that lawsuits would likely result from efforts to halt or rescind rules, including U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan, potentially delaying their removal by years.”
If we can delay rollbacks “by years”, we might be able to delay them permanently. This is especially true if in 18 months we elect a Democratic Senate and maybe even House!!
For this to happen YOU must get involved and engaged. It takes money to file and prosecute these lawsuits. It takes money to organize and educate volunteers to lobby their local and national officials. It takes money to run the institutions to organize and execute the resistance. So reach into your pocket and contribute. Of course I strongly recommend giving to Sierra Club but there are many, many other credible entities that are engaged in this work. Many of these are partnering with Sierra Club.
And you can show up!! Go to town hall meetings. Go to your legislators office and let them know how you feel. Participate in a march like the People’s Climate March on April 29th in DC or a city near you. Join me and my family in Chicago for it.
“On April 29, activists will march from the Capitol to the White House, ending on the grounds of the Washington Monument. In an event dubbed the “Peoples Climate March,” they aim to bring more than 100,000 demonstrators to Washington.”
Having participated in the first People’s Climate March in New York City two years ago, I personally believe that the DC crowd will be much larger than 100,000.
Furthermore, even with a Federal Government that denies Climate Change and is hostile to even the most basic environment protection (as described in my last blog) there is real action and progress in your own back yard locally at the Grassroots level.
“cities would continue leading the fight against global warming even if Washington will not.
“Local leaders are on the front lines of the fight against climate change every day, and we will continue to advocate for ambitious policies that address this global crisis, spur action at the local level and support our cities,” Zone said.”
So don’t just sit there and fret, worry, complain, stress out or ignore what is being perpetrated. RESIST. Do something. Get engaged. We can stop the worst attacks on our fundamental values and actually make progress on our vision for a better, cleaner and sustainable future. But only if YOU personally engage.
Above I’ve provided some links. Click on them and get some ideas of where to start and what you can do.
ONWARD!!!
Greens Plan Legal Battle, Protests in Wake of Trump’s Order
Hannah Hess and Ellen M. Gilmer, E&E News reporters
Published: Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Environmentalists and their allies are strategizing how to fight the Trump administration’s assault on climate regulations in the courtroom and the court of public opinion.
A White House official acknowledged in a Monday briefing that lawsuits would likely result from efforts to halt or rescind rules, including U.S. EPA’s Clean Power Plan, potentially delaying their removal by years.
The Justice Department has already asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to pause litigation over the Clean Power Plan while the agency reviews it. States and environmental groups defending the rule said today they plan to challenge the move in court (E&E News PM, March 28).
Ann Weeks, senior legal counsel at the Clean Air Task Force, previewed green groups’ position during a call with reporters today.
She argued that legal issues in the Clean Power Plan lawsuit are important to resolve whether or not the Obama administration’s regulation survives at EPA.
“They’re fundamental legal issues that, in fact, the administration should want the answers to before moving forward with another rulemaking,” she said.
Weeks also noted that freezing the litigation would not conserve judicial resources, which have largely already been spent on hours of oral arguments and voluminous legal briefs.
Natural Resources Defense Council attorney David Doniger agreed, arguing that even though the rule is on hold, debate over the Clean Power Plan is still a “live controversy” for purposes of judicial review.
“And there’s no reason for the court to put this decision off just because the government says it might want to change the rules,” he said. “The government always has the option to change rules, but that isn’t reason not to decide cases about rules that are already on the books.”
Supporters of the Clean Power Plan are expected to file their formal opposition to DOJ’s request to halt the litigation late next week.
Some court watchers have expressed skepticism about the approach, saying courts are not inclined to weigh in on a rule the administration is reconsidering (Energywire, March 29).
As for direct challenges to Trump’s executive order, Sierra Club attorney Joanne Spalding noted that a coalition of groups filed suit today over part of the order that ends the Obama administration’s moratorium on new coal leasing on federal lands. Spalding did not mention any other potential challenges to the order itself.
‘Take to the streets’
Green groups are also promising that President Trump will witness public opposition and protests against his actions this week.
“The best way to fight against these executive orders is to take to the streets,” May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, said yesterday in a statement.
On April 29, activists will march from the Capitol to the White House, ending on the grounds of the Washington Monument. In an event dubbed the “Peoples Climate March,” they aim to bring more than 100,000 demonstrators to Washington.
“From the upcoming congressional recess through the Peoples Climate March and beyond, we’ll be putting pressure on lawmakers to defend the climate and building power to stop the fossil fuel industry for good,” Boeve said.
Robert Verchick, president of the Center for Progressive Reform, noted that Trump’s order “goes against the will of the American people.”
The latest polling from Gallup on the environment shows a record number of Americans sounding the alarm about global warming.
Telephone interviews conducted March 1-5 with a random sample of 1,018 adults living in all 50 states show half the public categorized as “concerned believers” on climate change — a new high, up from 37 percent in 2015. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.
“Unfortunately, instead of listening to the public, President Trump has made endangering our health and lives a key priority of his administration,” Verchick said.
National League of Cities President Matt Zone, a council member from Cleveland, said cities would continue leading the fight against global warming even if Washington will not.
“Local leaders are on the front lines of the fight against climate change every day, and we will continue to advocate for ambitious policies that address this global crisis, spur action at the local level and support our cities,” Zone said.
The director of the American Lung Association’s Healthy Air campaign joined leaders from the Catholic Climate Covenant, Consumers Union and the American Security Project yesterday for a call decrying the executive order.
Retired Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney spoke to the “many benefits” of the Clean Power Plan, including mitigating greenhouse gases and furthering the transition to renewable energy. Most important, Cheney suggested, engaging on climate “maintains our leadership.”
Cheney said the American Security Project will “always engage” in the rulemaking process, echoing remarks from public health, religion and consumer advocates.
Twitter: @ha_nah_nah Email: hhess@eenews.net
