What Voting for the Environment Looks Like
Evaluating candidates running for office can be tricky. Especially when the environment is top of mind. Here are a few pointers to help you assess the best state, local, and national candidates.
Evaluating candidates running for office can be tricky. Especially when the environment is top of mind. Here are a few pointers to help you assess the best state, local, and national candidates.
A previous version of this blog was published in August, 2017 With the federal government stymied over any meaningful climate legislation, it’s up to the states to take the lead on curbing carbon pollution. Here in New England, such leadership is nothing new. Five New England states have climate laws in the books, mandating cuts… Continue reading Carbon Pricing 101
“Congress must prioritize people over polluters,” said Bradley Campbell, President of Conservation Law Foundation. “The very communities that continue to suffer disproportionately high rates of disease at the hands of big oil are now directly affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Any relief legislation must be focused on helping these families and not bailing out big oil and gas.”
“This report is yet another reminder that dithering by world leaders in the face of the climate crisis is becoming more costly and deadly by the minute,” said Bradley Campbell, President of CLF. “Neither the stroke of a Sharpie nor well-intentioned rhetoric can avert or obscure the irreversible damage already done to our oceans and our security. Only a quantum leap in climate leadership can limit the scale of the catastrophe and avoid utter betrayal of future generations.”
“PFAS chemicals are poisonous to humans and have no place in our water,” said Meredith Hatfield, Senior Attorney at CLF. “With the federal government dodging its responsibility on this critical issue, real action on the state level is the only way to combat this crisis. These rules are an important first step to protect the drinking water for New Hampshire families.”
“This is a huge victory for Rhode Island and for the health of our communities,” said CLF Senior Attorney Jerry Elmer. “In the face of climate emergency, opening a fossil fuel plant that will spew carbon pollution for decades is simply reckless. After years of lies and misinformation, Invenergy’s efforts to pave over a forest to build this dirty plant have been dealt a substantial loss. Today’s decision is proof that communities can stand up to big gas and win.”
Meanwhile, a federal judge in Boston in March allowed a suit filed by the Conservation Law Foundation against Exxon to go forward. The suit alleges the company failed to protect an oil storage facility against the impacts of climate change.
“The devastating impacts of climate change are at our doorstep,” said Greg Cunningham, Vice President and Director of CLF’s Clean Energy and Climate Change program. “Drastically reducing our climate-damaging emissions is the only way to avert these looming economic, social and environmental disasters. This bill will push Maine to do just that. After eight years with a climate denier in the governor’s office, we have real climate leadership from Governor Mills.”
“The 52 Senators who voted to confirm Andrew Wheeler to lead the Environmental Protection Agency are each complicit in the countless premature deaths, compromised health, and global economic peril that will undoubtedly result from Wheeler’s agenda to weaken protections and safeguards that are fundamental to the agency’s mission,” said CLF President Bradley Campbell.
“This report speaks loud and clear—fracked gas is increasing our carbon emissions and harming our environment,” said Greg Cunningham, VP and Director of CLF’s Clean Energy and Climate Change program. “Coal’s sharp-dressed cousin is continuing us on a path to irreparable and costly climate damage. It is imperative that we shift our clean energy transition into high gear and accelerate our clean car standards to reverse this trend.”