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Politics
Pointing to the rise in plastic being used during the COVID pandemic, an alliance of the nation’s largest chemical companies called the “Recover Coalition” is requesting that Congress give them $1b to deal with the current lack of a functioning recycling system in the U.S. The industry group, in a letter to legislators, explained that […]
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John is an original Friend of the Planet, and the Founder of the Center for American Progress, a member of its Board of Directors, and a law professor at Georgetown University’s Law School. Not to mention a hero of ours! ODP: Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. What will it take to recreate […]
Continue Reading 487 wordsOn the eve of Earth Day, the Trump Administration published its final rule greatly narrowing the scope of the landmark Clean Water Act (CWA), known as the “waters of the U.S.” or WOTUS rule. Environmental groups immediately announced their intention to challenge it in court and thereby limit its impact.
Why This Matters: The new rule puts in place an interpretation of the CWA first articulated by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, even though it is not clear that Congress intended it to have such a limited scope.
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Yesterday 80 scientists signed onto an open letter endorsing Joe Biden for president. According to the Biden campaign’s press release, the letter includes some of the most prominent scientists and public health experts in the country, including: Five Nobel Laureates or National Medal of Science winners; Several MacArthur Genius Grant Award Winners; More than 20 […]
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When Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the 2020 presidential race, his supporters lamented that former Vice President Joe Biden–the presumptive Democratic nominee–did not have a climate plan that was bold enough to meet the breadth of the climate crisis. As a result, progressive climate action groups like the Sunrise Movement did not endorse Biden […]
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Late last night, President Trump made an announcement that he will sign an executive order temporarily suspending immigration to the United States. There were few details about when the executive order would go into effect or how it would be enforced. However, the President did state that his motivation for this decision was based on […]
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This week we celebrate 50 years since the first Earth Day. It was the brainchild of Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, led to a “cascade” of groundbreaking laws and a much greater societal awareness of the environment and conservation that persists today.
Why This Matters: Despite the President’s efforts to divide the nation by creating a false dichotomy between economic growth and conservation, ensuring a clean environment and addressing climate change have bipartisan support.
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The spread of coronavirus is frightening especially because there is still so much we don’t know about the virus. This has created an environment where conspiracy theories have exploded across social media creating a dangerous scenario for governments seeking to build trust, and an opportunity for those wanting to create chaos. As Foreign Policy Magazine […]
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Global cases of COVID-19 topped 2 million and at least 134,000 people have died worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. Yet despite this, the White House has circulated a draft plan that advises areas with low numbers of coronavirus infections to begin pulling back on social distancing measures after May 1st if they meet certain […]
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As we reported yesterday, the Governors in several regions of the country have teamed up to fight the coronavirus within their respective areas — but regional agreements between Governors are nothing new in the world of conservation and the environment because pollution, just like a virus, does not respect state boundaries.
Why This Matters: Governors working together to fight the coronavirus and its impacts through regional cooperation arrangements may prove to be a way that President Trump fixed the government by breaking it.
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Environmental groups and Democratic Senators decried the White House Council on Environmental Quality using a separate, non-public email address for its select friends in industry and business to submit views on the administration’s proposal to weaken the regulations implementing a bedrock environmental law, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Why This Matters: The whole point of NEPA is for the public to know the environmental impacts of government actions and have a chance to comment on them — it is a sunshine law at its core.
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by Miro Korenha Yesterday, Senator Bernie Sanders suspended his presidential campaign thus making former VP Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee. For many progressives and especially progressive youth voters who overwhelmingly supported Sanders, the decision was disappointing. In response, a coalition of progressive youth groups sent Joe Biden a letter outlining a list of commitments […]
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