Friends, it’s been a rough week. Every day I’ve woken up feeling discouraged, terrified, pessimistic, outraged, or all of the above. It’s been hard for me to process how utterly destructive Trump’s first week in office has been, and I’ll admit I’ve pretty much failed to stay calm. The news has been hitting me like big, crashing waves – and before I can get up again and recover, another wave comes crashing over me. The blazing pace of news this week about pretty much every progressive issue – women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration – has been utterly astounding and I’ve found it nearly impossible to keep up. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to help myself and those around me by summarizing what exactly happened this week in terms of the environment, what people are already doing in response, and what you can do right now to help.
GENERAL ACTIONS TO TAKE
- Call your representatives and your senators. Calling is the most effective way to get your voice heard. They can throw away letters and delete emails, but it’s hard to ignore a phone when it’s ringing off the hook. Try to call during business hours if possible.
- Visit 5calls.org, which has a great updated list of high-impact phone calls you can make.
- Visit thesixtyfive.org, which has scripts and weekly calls to actions.
- Download this app that makes it easier for you to contact your elected officials.
- Want to boycott Trump’s businesses? There’s an app for that too.
- Sign up for email newsletters from reputable news sites. I recommend E&E News, if you can get access through your company or school, for incredibly accurate and objective news on the environment.
- Filter out fake news from your feed using this plug-in and watch out for these common fake news sites.
- Remember that knowledge is power. Educate yourself about what’s going on and discuss it with your community, especially those with different viewpoints. Back up all your claims with accurate, reputable sources.
And now for this week’s summary…
WHITE HOUSE WEB SITE
What Happened:
- All mention of climate change was wiped off of the White House web page
- It was replaced with a page on “America’s First Energy Plan”, calling for things like the destruction of the Clean Action Plan, increasing fossil fuel extraction, and using oil and gas revenues to finance major infrastructure projects.
What the Resistance Did:
- Reminded themselves that you can still find Obama’s White House page in archives
- Senators and lawyers on Capitol Hill are questioning whether there are enough oil and gas revenues to fund the infrastructure projects.
- Hackers from UCLA downloaded US climate data during Trump’s inauguration and stored in on European servers to save it from a potential future wipe.
What You Can Do:
- Call your representatives and tell them why you think they should oppose America’s First Energy Plan.
FREEZE ON FEDERAL HIRING AND REGULATIONS
What Happened:
- Reince Preibus, Chief of Staff, issued a memorandum freezing all new or pending government regulations, including four that President Obama put forth in his final days in office about energy efficiency. They are effected because all regulations have to go through a 45-day waiting period before being finalized, and welp, we’re still in that window.
- Also affected is a rule that would have gone into effect on Thursday, which “encourages” landowners to sign on to voluntary conservation agreements to protect wildlife and habitat on their land – this rule now won’t go into effect until March 21.
- Trump announced a 90-day hiring freeze for all federal agencies – this includes the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, etc.
- A freeze on EPA’s grant program was issued on Tuesday, but apparently it will only last until Friday.
What the Resistance Did:
- Eight states filed a court motion to defend Obama’s greenhouse gas and energy efficiency rules for tracks.
- The nonprofit group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility pointed out that the hiring freeze could impede Trump’s goals of increasing projects on federal lands.
RE-OPENED THE DOOR FOR TWO BIG PIPELINES
What Happened:
- Trump issued an Executive Order (1) inviting TransCanada to resubmit their application to construct the Keystone XL pipeline; and (2) requiring an expedited process and for the final permitting decision to be made by 60 days from the time the application is submitted
- Trump issued an Executive Order (1) calling for expedited approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline; (2) see if the Army Corps’ of Engineers’ denial of an easement can be removed or changed; and (3) see if the intended Environmental Impact Report in association with the Standing Rock Reservation can be scrapped.
What the Resistance Did:
- The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe said that the Executive Order violates the law and tribal treaties, and that they will take legal action to fight it.
- People started organizing protests responding to the pipeline decisions, some which are still going on
- Seven activists from Greenpeace climbed a crane located several blocks from the White House and flew a flag that says “Resist”
What You Can Do:
- Participate in the protests! For Bay Area folks, there is one on January 26th from 6-8pm in San Francisco.
- Sign this petition.
- Donate directly to Standing Rock. Or, to support other forms of legal action against DAPL, you can donate to any of these groups: Earth Justice, Red Warrior Camp, Lakota People’s Law Project, Water Protector Legal Collective, or Free Red Fawn.
- Pick up the phone to voice your dissent to the Dakota Access Pipeline: call North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple at 701-328-2200, Energy Transfer Partners (the owners of the pipeline) executive vice president Lee Hanse at 210-403-6455, and the Army Corps of Engineers (who issue the permits and who previously denied the easement to ETP) at 202-761-8700.
SPED UP THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS
What Happened:
- Trump issued an Executive Order giving the new chairman of the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality (who has not been chosen yet) authority to (1) identify “High-Priority” infrastructure projects and (2) expedite the approval and environmental review process for them.
LAND THREATS
What Happened:
- Greg Hughes, the House Speaker in Utah, urged Trump to rescind Bears Ears National Monument, established by President Obama.
- Representative Jason Chaffetz from Utah introduced a bill (H.R. 621) that would sell off 3.3 million acres of public land to the federal government.
What You Can Do:
- Call your representatives and urge them to block H.R. 621.
CENSORED THE E.P.A. AND USDA
What Happened:
- After the National Park Service retweeted a picture of Trump’s very small inauguration crowd and tweeted about the missing White House web pages, their Twitter account was shut down for a day. And now Trump wants the National Park Service to produce photos that prove that his inauguration crowd was a lot bigger than it was.
- A “media blackout” was ordered at the Environmental Protection Agency and the USDA – this means that all press releases, posts to the agency’s social media accounts, and blog updates are banned; employees are not allowed to talk to reporters; and incoming media requests will be “screened” by the administration. The gag order was later rescinded at USDA, but remains at the E.P.A.
- And yet, Sean Spicer (White House press secretary) said to reporters that the “social media clampdown” on several federal agencies including the EPA didn’t come from them. Is this an “alternative fact”?
- EPA staff was told on Tuesday to take down their climate change page on the agency’s website, but after considerable public backlash, EPA employees were told on Wednesday to “stand down” on those orders.
What the Resistance Did:
- Badlands National Park became a new national hero when a rogue employee tweeted about climate change from their account. It was soon taken down, but not before the world noticed.
- Unofficial Twitter accounts for federal agencies have started popping up everywhere!
- Scientists from Cambridge, Yale, and George Mason are try to figure out how to stop the “‘fake news’ epidemic”.
- A University of Maryland researcher is forming a network of fired federal scientists to help them find new jobs.
- A D.C. law firm just hired five ex-employees of DOE, Interior, and EPA.
What you can do:
- Tweet your support for and follow the Badlands NP social media manager and for the new “Twistance” accounts.
THREAT TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE EFFORTS
What Happened:
- Representative Blaine Leutkemeyer of Missouri introduced a bill (H.R. 673) that would block the U.S. from giving any money to UN climate change efforts – this includes the IPCC and the Green Climate Fund.
What the Resistance Did:
- A much better, bipartisan bill (H.R. 663) was introduced that would help laid-off coal miners retrain for new jobs.
- Mexico asserts that environmental regulation and their pledge under the Paris Agreement is a top priority for them.
- Democrats turned a regular House Energy & Commerce Committee meeting into a discussion of Trump’s recent actions around climate change.
- Five representatives (Elise Stefanik of New York, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Mia Love of Utah, Don Meyer of Virginia, and Brian Mast of Florida) joined the Climate Solutions Caucus, a bipartisan group that champions climate action in the House of Representatives.
What You Can Do:
- Call your representatives and tell them to reject 673 and support 663
- Call all of the new Climate Solutions Caucus representatives, as well as Carlos Curbelo of Florida who founded the Caucus, to thank them for joining and to urge them to follow through on their commitment especially in the face of challenge.
CABINET CONFIRMATIONS
What Happened:
- Nikki Haley was confirmed as UN ambassador, and her treatment of the Paris climate deal is uncertain.
- Rex Tillerson (Secretary of State), Ryan Zinke (Secretary of Interior), Rick Perry (Secretary of Energy), and Scott Pruitt (E.P.A. Administrator) have not yet been confirmed, but this will likely happen early next week.
- Sonny Perdue (nominated head of USDA) has also not been confirmed yet, and some are calling his stance on climate change into question.
What You Can Do:
- Call your senators urging them to reject these nominees. Also call Marco Rubio.
Coming up soon:
- Congress may start rolling back Obama’s coal and methane regulations (in fact, a group has already filed a motion asking for a delay in court processes to give Trump time to decide what to do about these regulations)
- Trump’s planned wall along the Mexican border will likely run into some land issues – over 25 million acres of land within 100 miles of the border are “overseen by federal land agencies”, and these include wildlife refuges, tribal land, and national parks.
- Scientists are planning a March on Washington of their own, date TBA.
- The People’s Climate Movement is organizing a bunch of actions during Trump’s first 100 days in office, leading up to a People’s Climate March on April 29th, 2017.
I will be updating this post as much as possible until the end of the day on Friday, January 27th. If I missed something or if you have more ideas about ways to get involved, please comment below!
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