Consequences of Republicanism

Action Alert: Our Water Is At Risk

2008-01-20T09:36:00.000-06:00

The following action alert is from Earthjustice:

For over thirty years, the Clean Water Act has provided essential safeguards to all waters. However, two muddied U.S. Supreme Court decisions and an organized attack by industry polluters and developers are threatening protections for 20 million acres of wetlands and 60% of our nation's streams! To add insult to injury, the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently issued a vague and confusing "guidance" that further erodes critical protection on our waters.

The guidance is seriously flawed and will lead to more polluted water. In its current form, the guidance leaves many so-called "isolated" waters such as wetlands open for destruction, leaves many headwaters and streams without clear protection, and ignores legal tools that could be used to preserve America's waters.

The EPA is currently taking public comments on this "misguided"
guidance. But time is running out. The public can comment until January 21.

Please take a moment to send a letter to the EPA urging them to revise this guidance and guarantee protections for all waters of the United States!

Click here to take action.

Tags: environment, water, Earthjustice, Clean Water Act, EPA, Supreme Court, activism

Republicanism Blocks Environmental Progress

2007-12-13T08:23:00.000-06:00

According to former Vice President Al Gore, the United States "is principally responsible for obstructing progress" on reducing emissions of greenhouse gasses. Now there is talk of European nations boycotting upcoming climate talks in the States as a form of protest.

For Gore, or anyone else from the United States, to call for action to reduce harmful emissions linked to global warming is likely to strike international observers as somewhat hypocritical. After all, the United States has repeatedly blocked measures to reduce our environmental impact.

I am skeptical that an EU boycott of climate talks will accomplish much as long as our Republican leadership continues to value big business over human welfare. The go-it-alone sort of attitude that has characterized this administration is not going to change overnight, and international pressure only seems to lead to increased resistance. I imagine the administration would simply use a boycott to engage in more European-bashing. Remember what they did to France?

I can't help wondering if the solution is for the international community to organize a meaningful boycott, one with sufficient teeth that it would truly get the attention of our President. It seems like even a limited boycott of American goods and/or withdrawing investments would be impossible to ignore. I agree that this seems harsh, but this is an administration who has made its willingness to ignore reason and science into a source of pride.

Tags: Republican, Al Gore, climate, global warming, environment, United States, European Union, pollution, politics, boycott

Earthjustice Stops Shell's Oil Exploration

2007-08-18T13:36:00.000-05:00

We have not witnessed many wins for the environment under the Bush administration, so every one is worth celebrating. From Earthjustice:

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals just halted all oil exploration by Shell Offshore Inc. in the Beaufort Sea for this year. The ruling stops a fleet of Shell ships dead in Alaskan waters. They had been poised to drill and do seismic testing right in the migration path of mother bowhead whales and their calves. The court agreed with Earthjustice's urgent challenge to the exploration permit, and set hearings to begin in December on whether federal agencies failed to properly assess environmental impacts. Endangered whales, polar bears, and other marine animals are gravely threatened by Shell's large-scale industrial activities. Read about the Ninth's Circuit ruling here.

Tags: environment, Earthjustice, oil, drilling