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An Environmental Political Watch/Political Action Page
The League of Conservation Voters is Informing the Public about the Most Important Environmental Legislation & Tracking How Congress Voted
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) produces the National Environmental Scorecard, the authoritative record of how members of Congress and the Administration handle the most important environmental issues before them each session. The Scorecard provides explanations of the most important environmental bills that Congress consider. The Online Vote Tracker informs the public about how their own and other representatives vote on those bills in real-time. This tool encourages and enables citizens to contact their leaders to thank those who protect the environment and change the minds of those who need to give sound environmental policy greater importance during their tenure. Click Here to see visit the Online Vote Tracker. |
How Green are the Presidential Candidates?
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Kudos to Grist.org for assembling a clear and well-organized chart of the environmental positions of the five major presidential candidates (they include the independent, libertarian, and green parties). The issues include offshore drilling, fuel economy standards, emission cap-and-trade programs, nuclear energy, biofuels, renewable energy and coal. Do you know your candidate's stand on nuclear power?
Click here to see the chart at Grist.org.
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Gore Calls for 100% Renewable Electricity By 2018
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On July 17, former Vice President Al Gore spoke at Constitution Hall in Washington D.C., challenging Americans to transfer all of our power use to renewable, clean carbon-free energy sources within the next 10 years, for the good of the environment, national security and the economy.
Gore challenged our generation to produce 100 percent of our electricity from green fossil fuel alternatives by 2018 in this clear and inspirational speech. He stressed this goal is achievable, affordable and necessary, and will require Americans to break from past habits and old ways of thinking. |
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At one point, Gore said: 'We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change.'
Cathy Zoi, C.E.O. of the Alliance for Climate Protection, said of Gore's speech, "In the past months [Gore has] been hosting a series of solutions summits with engineers, scientists, CEOs, and financiers. This speech pulled together some of the best thinking from those talks and highlighted what we each can do to end our dangerous addiction to fossil fuels and solve the climate crisis.
Thousands were present to hear him speak and I know that we'll be hearing a lot about his challenge in the days ahead. Be among the first to take on this challenge."
Watch the speech at www.wecansolveit.org..
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Californians, Ask Your Senator For Lead-Free Lipstick!
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From our Friends at The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics: Did you know that some lipsticks contain lead-a powerful neurotoxin that builds up in the body over time? Last year, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 33 lipsticks for lead, and found the toxic metal in two-thirds of them. If you're a California resident, there's something you can do today to get lead out of lipstick: Call your state senator!
While some cosmetics companies have been busy defending the presence of this toxin in lipstick, California State Sen. Carole Migden has introduced a bill that would prohibit the sale of lipstick contaminated with lead. This legislation, Senate Bill 1712, will be up for a floor vote in the California Senate as early as next week, and your senators need to know that you expect them to vote YES.
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Lead is a potent neurotoxin linked to a variety of health and reproductive problems, including learning, language and behavioral problems. Lead is also linked to infertility and miscarriage. Pregnant women and young children are particularly vulnerable to exposure because lead easily crosses the placenta and enters the fetal brain, where it interferes with normal development. Lead has been eliminated from paint, gasoline and many other products for good reason, and now we must demand lead-free cosmetics.
Call or e-mail your sate senator today! Find your senator and his or her contact info online here. All you need to say is, "I support Sen. Migden's bill to remove lead from lipstick. Please pass SB 1712."
Learn more about the Lead in Lipstick bill, SB 1712.
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Support the Bill for Net Zero Energy Homes in CA!
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Help California reduce greenhouse gas emissions by supporting Assembly Bill 2112! If passed, this bill will require all new residential buildings to be zero net energy by 2020. It will also help CA to meet the requirement established by the 2006 CA Global Warming Solutions Act (which states CA's greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020).
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Energy efficient construction methods will be essential to help counter California’s growing population and the expected increase in energy consumption in residential sectors. AB 2112 will require the California Energy Commission to increase energy efficiency standards for new residential buildings statewide. These newly constructed buildings will produce as much energy and power as they use, due to energy-efficient design features, solar panels other clean on-site energy generation.
How You Can Help!
Help green California by supporting this crucial bill. If we're successful, your state may be next! Call or write the CA Assembly Appropriations committee members and urge them to support AB 2112. For a list of committee members and their contact information click here.
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Ask Governer Schwarzenegger to Help Save the Electric Car!
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From our Friends at Plug In America:
On March 27, the California Air Resources Board will vote to revise the history-making program that put more than 5,000 Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) on the road. The air board's staff has issued a proposal that, instead of propelling our country ahead toward a pollution-free future, will profoundly weaken the program once again.
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This proposal would require automakers to produce only about 150 ZEVs each per year through 2015—which amounts to less than what these influential regulators mandated in 2003.
The Governor must understand the advantages of electric cars. He is on the waiting list for one himself, the Tesla Roadster.
Urge the Governor to show leadership by asking the California Air Resources Board for a revised proposal that will help us all turn back the clock on pollution.
Ask Arnold Schwarzenegger to help save the electric car! Click here.
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How Green is Your Favorite Candidate?
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See how your favorite candidate answered a wide range of environmental questions at this website created by the League of Conservation Voters (LCV): http://presidentialprofiles2008.org
Then check out your candidate’s voting records (and those of your state and local representatives) in the 2007 National Environmental Scorecard, recently released by the League of Conservation Voters.
The Scorecard, which has been published every year since the founding of Earth Day in 1970, details votes cast by each congressperson on every environmental measure put to vote during the year. Every congressperson is also given an overall score for the year, ranging from 100 (voting in support of all environmental measures) to 0 (voting in support of none). Click here to view or download the Scorecard. |
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According to the 2007 LCV report, “the biggest environmental highlight of 2007 was the passage…of Bill H.R. 6, the Energy Independence and Security Act. It raises the overall fuel economy of cars and light trucks to 35 miles per gallon by 2020—the first fuel economy increase of new cars, SUV and other light trucks since 1975…. The new energy law also included important incentives and standards for efficiency in buildings and homes…[as well as] new light bulb efficiency standards….”
Environmental Champions (and Villians)
Looking at the most extreme scores of 2007, 3 senators and 33 members of the House scored 100, where as 7 senators (including John McCain) and 46 members of the House scored 0.
In terms of party voting averages, the LCV found a tremendous disparity when looking at congressional party leadership (including leader, vice chair, caucus chair , whip and speaker). Democrat congressional leaders averaged a score of 91 in the Senate and 87 in the House, where as Republican leaders averaged 7 in the Senate and 2 in the House.
Each of the environmental issues covered in the report (including fuel efficiency, clean renewable energy, liquid coal, clean water, clean air, biofuels and offshore drilling to name a few) is summarized in terms of the bills that addressed them during 2007.
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Californians: Toxic Toys Bill Signed by Governor!
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On September 4th, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma's Stop Toxic Toys Bill (AB 1108) passed out of the California state Senate. This bill prohibits the manufacture, sale, and distribution of children's toys and feeding products that contain phthalates (chemicals added to plastics to increase their flexibility).
Extensive scientific literature has shown that phthalates are toxic to our children. As stated in the press release, "Children’s exposures begin at conception, as chemicals, including phthalates, cross the placenta in a pregnant woman’s body and can affect the embryo or fetus during critical periods of development. Even after birth, children’s bodies remain immature, with under-developed detoxification mechanisms to protect them from phthalates." |
| Working through Environment California, hundreds of Californians sent emails and phthalate-free rubber duckies to show their support for Bill AB 1108. On October 15, 2007, Governor Schwarzenegger, who originally had threatened to veto the bill, signed it into law, making California the first state in the country to ban the use of phthalates from children's products. |
Californians: Take Action to Save BioDemocracy in California!
Fellow Green Patriot Americans, it's an important time to stand up and protect our democratic rights which are currently threatened by new laws being pushed by large corporations in California.
In order to protect their crops from being contaminated by drifting pollen from genetically engineered crops, last year, farmers and citizens in Mendocino County California voted to become the first county in the U.S. to ban genetically engineered (GE) crops. Since then, two more California counties and two cities have followed Mendocino's example.
In response, the biotech industry is working to remove these democratic rights. In the past several months, 14 U.S. states, prodded by the Monsanto Corporation and the Farm Bureau, have made it illegal for local communities to ban GE crops.
Two recently introduced bills in the California legislature (AB 1508 and SB 1056) would make California the 15th state to eliminate the right of local communities to ban or otherwise regulate genetically engineered seeds.
This "preemption" bill would overturn GE-Free victories in Mendocino, Trinity, and Marin counties, and the cities of Arcata and Point Arena, and would prohibit local communities from banning or regulating genetically engineered crops in the future.
Take action today to stop the biotech industry from taking away our democratic rights in California! Send a message to your state legislators:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/ca.htm
Senate Energy Bill: Down Payment on Our Future
By David Steinman
The Energy Bill that the Senate passed earlier this month was only a good start. The fuel economy provision it contains would mean American cars and trucks will average 35 miles per gallon by 2020. However, the Senate did not include vital measures to reduce global warming and protect our land and water.
I recommend three measures, in line with the Natural Resources Defense Council, that were not included in the Senate bill but must be addressed in the House and in conference in order to make meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and protect the environment:
1. Adequate Safeguards for Biofuels to ensure that intensive biofuel production does not result in water pollution, habitat destruction, or loss of forests. This should include analysis of the potential damage from highly increased use of herbicides to grow corn. We could inadvertently add many thousands of new cancers to the population due to overuse of toxic herbicides like atrazine.
2. A Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) that would require utilities to produce 20% to 25% of their electricity from clean renewable sources such as wind and solar.
3. A Greenhouse Gas Standard that would require advance biofuels to emit 50% less global warming pollution than gasoline.
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The problem with the energy bill right now is that it really isn’t an energy bill per se but an energy-environmental bill—and it won’t be successful in terms of addressing global warming or other national security issues without a comprehensive environmental component that includes critical examination of its effects on climate and human health. I would be extremely concerned if the huge increase in ethanol production resulted in a proportional increase of some of the most highly toxic petrochemicals today, such as atrazine, linked with ovarian cancer in humans and reproductive effects in amphibians.
“America not only deserves but needs an energy bill that includes meaningful reductions of global warming pollution and protects our natural resources,” said Dan Lashof, Science Director of the NRDC Climate Center. “This bill makes a down payment on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. When the House of Representatives takes up energy legislation, we trust they will include critical components that were not added before the clock ran out.”
We’ll keep you posted on this important legislation and tell you how to make your voice heard. Stay tuned.
Victory for Solar
Letter from Dan Jacobson of Environment California - June 8, 2007
Good news! On Wednesday evening, the California General Assembly approved a measure to create the nation's largest solar water heating program, promising to again expand the state's market for clean, renewable energy.
The bill, The Solar Water Heating and Efficiency Act of 2007 (AB 1470), authored by Assembly member Jared Huffman, sponsored by Environment California, and
supported by hundreds of organizations and businesses, would create a $250 million ten-year program to provide consumer rebates for solar water heating systems.
This victory would not have been possible without your actions. Over the last month Environment California members have sent over 7,500 emails on this issue. AB 1470 now heads to the State Senate to be heard in the Energy and Commerce Committee
in June or early July.
Please take a moment to thank your Assemblymember for their vote for our solar bill. To take action, click on the link below:
www.environmentcalifornia.org/action/energy/solar
Sincerely,
Dan Jacobson
Environment California Legislative Director
www.environmentcalifornia.org
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As Green Patriot™ Americans, we are highly motivated to use our votes to help create positive change for our environment, as we believe this will positively impact our national security as well. While we may disagree on candidates, parties and specific propositions, we have this common overall goal.
Click here to find out how your representatives are voting on environmental issues.
Members of all parties may be interested in reading the blog by David Steinman “Did you know? Republicans have a history of Green Patriotism” |
Green Patriot™ Americans, take Action!
Here's a simple way to take action and be part of the solution: Take 5 minutes each week to e-mail your representatives about important environmental issues. The following websites make it a very quick and easy process:
Feel free to contact us with your comments and suggestions for this page at greenpatriot@freedompressonline.com |
