Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Harvey has flooded one of the most heavily industrialized places on earth #HurricaneHarvey #HelpForHouston

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Bryan Parras, Dirty Fuels Organizer" <reply@emails.sierraclub.org>
Date: Aug 29, 2017 6:53 PM
Subject: Harvey has flooded one of the most heavily industrialized places on earth



Explore. Enjoy. Protect.
Harvey has devastated Texas and Louisiana with historic rainfall -- impacting millions of people -- in an area with more heavy industry than almost anywhere else in the country.

Congress must make sure disaster relief includes funding to address toxic releases, superfund sites, and a just recovery for frontline communities.



Photo by Bryan Parras

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Dear Reader,

My name is Bryan Parras -- I'm a founding member of Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS) and a Dirty Fuels Organizer for the Sierra Club.
I'm a long time organizer and resident of Houston, Texas and the Gulf Coast. The Gulf Coast region is my home, and as I'm sure you've heard my hometown has just been struck by catastrophic flooding.
This is the third "500-year" flood event to impact Houston in the last three years, but this is the worst disaster Texas has ever seen.1 
A comprehensive relief package must include:
  • Funding to clean up toxic sites, 
  • Ensure the right to return for communities at risk of displacement, 
  • Resources to be distributed to everyone who is impacted -- not just citizens, and 
  • A focus on sustainable and locally-led development.
The Gulf Coast region is one of the most heavily industrialized areas in the country. For many years I've been monitoring heavy industry like oil refineries, toxic waste disposal tanks, injection wells, and chemical plants. Some estimates place more than 10,000 potentially hazardous sites in the impact zone of Harvey.

Already people are reporting toxic smells, headaches and nausea across Houston -- I myself have experienced these symptoms. Pipelines are leaking, and already one gas spill has been reported.2

When Congress meets to discuss a disaster relief bill, we can't let them forget the toxic toll this heavy industry will have as part of our recovery. They must make sure they authorize funding to address the particular toxic hazards faced by communities in the path of the flooding.

Please, take a moment to send a message to your representative now.

Thank you, 
Bryan Parras, Dirty Fuels Organizer
Sierra Club

[1] The Washington Post, Houston is Experiencing its Third 500-year Flood in Three Years -- How is that Possible?
[2] Houston Public Media, Texas Regulators Report Gas Spill Due to Harvey. 
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Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Don't Rollback Protections for Wildlife

We need your help NOW!

Please don't look away or there may be nothing TO see in the future!


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: National Wildlife Federation Action Fund <info@nwa.org>
Date: May 10, 2017 7:04 AM
Subject: Don't Rollback Protections for Wildlife


The National Wildlife Federation Action Fund
Tell the Environmental Protection Agency: Don't rollback basic protections for wildlife!   |   View in Browser
TAKE ACTION
Don't Rollback Basic Protections Depended on by Wildlife


Dear Visitor,

I won't mince words. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "regulatory reform" that includes "repeal, replacement, or modification" of safeguards is anything but reform. It is a frontal assault on decades of basic protections that ensure wildlife and habitat have the clean air and healthy waters they need to survive and thrive.

Take action TODAY by urging the Environmental Protection Agency to keep in place important protections for wildlife and not rollback these safeguards.

TAKE ACTION »

Rolling back basic environmental protections would be devastating for wildlife and the outdoors. We can't afford more toxic mercury in our air and water that will compromise loons' ability to thrive, more paved over wetlands that destroy crucial aquatic habitats, or unchecked climate pollution driving higher temperatures that fuel more devastating forest fires and tick infestations in moose. Almost five decades worth of bi-partisan protections supported by Republican and Democratic administrations, based on laws passed overwhelmingly in Congress, are at risk.

Without strong protections for clean air and clean water and a safer climate, the rivers, lakes, streams, mountains, coasts, plains and climate that we and wildlife depend on will suffer. The Environmental Protection Agency intends to bow to industry pressure and rollback or remove many of these protections.

The Environmental Protection Agency is accepting public comments right now, please submit a message BEFORE the May 15th deadline.

Under both Republican and Democratic Presidents, protective rules were crafted—based on sound science and well vetted, transparent processes—to keep wildlife like loons and thousands of others safe from pollution and habitat degradation.

Virtually all evidence suggests that the benefits of these protections outweigh the costs, often vastly. Moreover, the benefits accrue broadly to the public, keeping people healthier, protecting wildlife and enabling everyone to better enjoy our abundant natural resources.

Take action now. Wildlife can't bear the costs of the pollution that a rollback of basic protections would bring.

Thanks for all you do for wildlife and our natural world.

Collin O'Mara
Sincerely,

Collin O'Mara
Collin O'Mara
President; CEO
National Wildlife Federation Action Fund
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Sunday, February 12, 2017

New England Braces for it's next wave of Significant #SNOW #NH #ME #MA #VT 24 hour event

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Friday, February 10, 2017

Bighorn sheep are at risk in Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument #NPS


At 1.88 million acres, Utah's Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is larger than the combined footprints of the state's "Mighty 5" national parks and Cedar Breaks National Monument.

That's too big, according to a resolution approved Wednesday by the Utah Senate after passage last week in the House.

HCR12 calls on Utah's federal delegation to support a reduction or modification of the monument, which was created by then-President Bill Clinton in 1996.



Thursday, February 9, 2017

H.R. 861 - To Terminate the Environmental Protection Agency #NPS #HR861 (update)

If you love the outdoors and want future generations to enjoy it as well, we can't let them dismantle everything that helps the outdoors and our environment! Stay involved and speak up!

Shortly after I posted the above tweet this morning it was taken down by someone.  The bill is real and I have posted the new link to the bill below.