If you care about the air you breathe, the water you drink, stopping climate change, and reducing your family’s exposure to toxic chemicals, it is absolutely essential that you vote in the 2020 election. But with Coronavirus raging, the U.S. Postal Service under assault, and record turnout expected, many of us wonder what is the best way to vote in 2020 so we also stay safe and make sure our vote counts.

The absolute best way to vote in 2020 is actually pretty simple for most of us:

BEST WAY TO VOTE IN 2020? VOTE EARLY

Here’s how:

REGISTER: Make sure you’re registered to vote. Use this site to check your registration status if you’re unsure or need to register. In most states, it is quick and easy to register.

PLAN: Vote early in person, or vote at home using an absentee ballot. Find out how to vote early in your state here.

IF VOTING EARLY IN PERSON: Find out when your state’s polls open and pick a day to vote. Several states have already begun in-person early voting. Others will open in October. Choose your day and time. Probably mid-day during the week when others are working or homeschooling would mean fewer crowds.

IF ABSENTEE VOTING AT HOME: Request an absentee ballot NOW. Each state decides for itself how it handles absentee ballots. You can find out how to do it in your state here. This map shows early voting options state-by-state.

DROP YOUR BALLOT IN AN OFFICIAL BALLOT BOX: If possible, vote early and put your ballot in an official ballot box. You can also mail in your ballot. If you choose to mail it, mail it as soon as possible.

Why is Voting Early the Best Way to Vote in 2020?

Beat the Crowds. Presidential elections are always big events. But this year, so much is at stake, voter turnout is expected to be particularly high. Voting early will help you beat the crowds but also help state elections boards handle the huge influx of votes they expect.

Avoid Coronavirus. Voting early also could help you avoid exposure to the Coronavirus. Especially if you vote at home and then drop your ballot off at an official drop box, you will minimize your contact with other voters and limit your chances of getting COVID-19.

Help the Post Office. If you decide to mail in your ballot, voting early gives the U.S. Postal Service more time to deliver your ballot (though the USPS says it is fully committed to delivering all ballots in a timely way).

Inspire Others. Once you vote early, you can turn your attention to helping others vote. Use your social media to share links to websites in your state that help you register, get your ballot, or vote early in person.

How to Stay Safe If You Vote in Person

If you decide to vote in person, wear a mask and use hand sanitizer.

Don’t Miss:

6 Best Non-Toxic Hand Sanitizers That Kill Coronavirus

5 Plastic-Free Reusable Cotton Face Masks To Outlast Coronavirus

Stand 6 feet away from the person in front of you and behind you.

Know if advance who you plan to vote for, so when you get to the ballot box, your can quickly make your selections and leave. You can find out what’s on your ballot here.

Do not linger at the polls and around crowds of other voters. Minimize contact with other voters.

Vote For Candidates Who Support Protecting the Environment and Our Health – But Not Third Party Candidates!

No matter when you vote, choose candidates for every office – president, governor, Senator, Representative, mayor, local statehouse office holders – who are committed to protecting the environment, stopping climate change, and safeguarding our health.

Don’t miss this “open letter” to voters who might be inclined to vote for the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, or other third party candidates. This is not the year to cast a “symbolic” vote. Too much is at stake!

How Do You Plan to Vote in 2020? Please go to the Big Green Purse Facebook page and share your plan!

The post Here Is The Absolute Best Way to Vote in 2020 appeared first on Big Green Purse.

If you care about the environment, you must vote for Joe Biden for president in 2020 — and not for the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, or any third party candidate.

That is the message of more than 170 longtime environmental activists, including me, expressed in an “Open Letter to Green Voters” released this morning. The letter is now being widely circulated, especially in the key battleground states, where in 2016 Donald Trump carried Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania by margins of less than 1 percent. He would have lost all three races if the votes cast for the Green Party had gone to Hillary Clinton instead.

There is no environmental problem we faced in 2016 that is not even more problematic today, from climate change to air and water pollution to endangered spaces and plastic pollution. Each of these problems — and many more — will get exponentially worse if we don’t get Trump out of office.

But just as importantly, in Joe Biden, we have the opportunity to elect someone who could become the strongest environmental advocate in the history of the presidency.

We can’t sit this election out. We can’t write in “Thoreau” or some other entity. And we can’t vote for third party candidates who could ensure another four years of Donald Trump.

Green voters need to vote for Joe Biden, not a third party!

OPEN LETTER TO GREEN VOTERS:

DON’T BE TOO PURE TO BEAT DONALD TRUMP

See the complete list of Open Letter signatories here.

See the press release about the Open Letter here.

PLEASE USE OUR FACEBOOK AND TWITTER LINKS ABOVE TO SHARE THE LETTER AS WIDELY ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA AS YOU CAN.

#GreenVote4Biden

The post Why Green Voters Need to Vote For Joe Biden, Not Third Party appeared first on Big Green Purse.

An organization called Reward Volunteers wants to encourage people to volunteer for good causes. So even though doing good is its own reward, Reward Volunteers sweetens the pot by offering incentives to encourage people to do more, and do it more often. Plus, Reward Volunteers helps people find local volunteer opportunities. I’ve teamed up with Reward Volunteers to let you know about the program so you can get involved, and maybe even help get a group you volunteer with in on the benefits.

Volunteering at Miriam’s Kitchen

One of the groups I volunteer for is Miriam’s Kitchen. Miriam’s Kitchen provides delicious meals to primarily homeless men in Washington, D.C.

“We strive to show our guests dignity” by providing restaurant-quality meals produced by professional chefs, says Miriam’s Kitchen on its website. “This is the foundation for our guests to build trusting relationships with the case management team and get connected to a range of services aimed at helping them to find housing.” The kitchen is open Monday through Friday all year long, serving breakfast from 6:30 – 8:00 a.m. and dinner from 4:45 to 5:45 p.m.

Miriam’s is committed to making all of its meals from fresh, healthy ingredients. As a volunteer, I can help by working at my local farmer’s market to collect food at the end of the market that the farmers can’t keep because it won’t stay fresh, or because the farmers just want to make a donation.

Here’s how it works:

Miriam’s parks its van near the Takoma Park farmers market. The market closes at 2 p.m. but around 1:30 pm, MK volunteers distribute bags and crates to the farmers who want to donate. At 2 p.m., we’ll start wheeling wagons around to the farmers to collect their donations. Farmers also bring bins of food they’ve filled up to the center of the market. 

Once all donations are collected, we fill up the Miriam’s Kitchen van. Then,  a Miriam’s staffer drives the loaded van down to the kitchen where the food is unloaded and later prepared into delicious salads, soups, entrees and more.

I am always amazed at the abundance of food the farmers donate. It includes crates of fresh fruit, huge bags full of bread, mountains of greens, pickled beets and green beans, whatever vegetables are in season, and anything else the farmers generously contribute.

In addition to benefiting the kitchen, gleaning food at the farmer’s market reduces food waste. This is especially true for “seconds,” fruit and vegetables that might be bruised or past their prime and difficult to sell. Give it to Miriam’s and the chefs will turn it into applesauce, fruit compote, spaghetti sauce, and more.

It never occurred to me to get any particular reward for volunteering, but now that I’ve signed up for Reward Volunteers, I can log in and register my hours and Miriam’s Kitchen can earn benefits, as well.

I can also find additional organizations to volunteer for.  For example, I live in the Washington, D.C. area. Currently, a wonderful group called Bread for the City is looking for help at its food pantries, rooftop gardens and in their clothing room. The Lincoln Memorial (yes, THAT Lincoln Memorial) also needs volunteers to assist park rangers in answering questions, providing directions, and leading tours of the Memorial. Local charter schools are recruiting volunteers to help tutor adult students seeking to obtain their GED/State Diploma. It’s easy to connect with these opportunities on the Reward Volunteers website.

Here are a couple of other benefits to volunteering: If I can’t or don’t want to make a big financial contribution to an organization, I can still help out by contributing my time. And I love the camaraderie I gain from volunteering. Let’s face it: volunteers are “do gooders” – and those are my kind of people!

How Reward Volunteers Works

Reward Volunteers is a web-based initiative that allows you to log your volunteer hours and keep a record of your good deeds. You register and log the hours you volunteer. Depending on how many hours you log, you might also win a prize. Organizations also benefit when they register on Reward Volunteers. In same cases, they may earn financial grants. In other cases, they get connected to more volunteers. Either way it’s a win/win for the volunteer as well as the organization.

Registering couldn’t be easier. Once you do, you’ll get to a dashboard that is very easy to use. If you are looking for new opportunities, you just put in your zip code and then search according to who you want to serve and the kind of volunteering you want to do. Options range from disaster relief to environmental preservation to mentoring to working with animals. You can also decide if you want to volunteer regularly or for special events.  

I encourage you to check out Reward Volunteers, especially now, during April’s #NationalVolunteerMonth.

Please follow Reward Volunteers on Facebook

NOTE: Partners like Reward Volunteers enable us to bring you accurate, unbiased information so you can live the greener, more rewarding life you want. Our editorial opinions remain our own. Thanks!

The post Earn Cash, Points from REWARD VOLUNTEERS When You Pitch In appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Green consumers have scored a major victory! CVS Health, the store where you probably buy many cosmetics and personal care products, has promised to make those products safer by removing chemicals in their products that have been linked to cancer, birth defects, and hormone disruption.

Those chemicals include parabens, phthalates and formaldehyde.

Nearly 600 beauty and personal care products will become safer to use, including the CVS Health store brand, Beauty 360, Essence of Beauty, and Blade product lines. The Promise Organic line of store brand products already does not contain any of these toxic chemicals.

Why Did CVS Health Commit to Safer, Healthier Products?

The company wanted to “provide customers with the safe, efficacious products that they are looking for,” said Cia Tucci, Vice President of Store Brands and Quality Assurance at CVS Health.

“We listened when customers voiced their desire for products that provide the benefits they need with fewer ingredients of concern.”  

“Customer feedback has driven this move to eliminate parabens, phthalates and the most prevalent formaldehyde donors.”

Does It Matter? Yes!!

CVS Caremark Corporation is one of the largest drugstore chains in the U.S. It has over 7,300 stores and 2011 U.S. retail sales of almost $60 million, the 7th highest nationally.

The non-profit organization Safer Chemicals, Health Families’ “Mind the Store” campaign, which Big Green Purse and many other consumer groups endorsed, put pressure on CVS Health to clean up its act.

Safer Chemicals has applauded CVS for its decision to clean up its products but says there is still more work to be done.

CVS Health can use its leverage to work with their suppliers to reduce, eliminate or safely substitute over a hundred questionable chemicals.

Consumers should also continue to carefully read labels and buy products that are free of chemicals that have been linked to health problems.

Get Help Here: The Best 11 Non-Toxic Ways to Get Healthy Skin

CVS Health won’t have its safer products fully available until the end of 2019. Until then, avoid products that contain the following:

√ Parabens

√ Phthalates

√ Formaldehyde

√ Triclosan

Parabens – Parabens are commonly found in cosmetics, sunscreen, shampoo, conditioner, hair styling gel and lotion and deodorant. Studies show parabens mimic estrogen and inhibit testosterone, potentially disrupting hormonal balance in both women and men.

Phthalates – These compounds are often found in fragrances and aerosols like air fresheners, as well as in plastics, solvents and even children’s toys. Of the variety of health impacts linked to exposure to phthalates, damage to male reproductive organs is among the gravest concerns.

Formaldehyde – Formaldehyde is a “volatile organic chemical,” which means that it will “off-gas” or emit its components into the air you breathe over time. It’s found in antiseptics, cosmetics, nail polish, dishwashing liquids, fabric softeners, shoe polish, carpet cleaners, glue, adhesive, paint, and more. It’s also used as a preservative in foods, like some cheeses, dried food, and fish.

Triclosan – Triclosan is actually a pesticide that may be included in toothpaste; it’s also the ingredient formulated into many antibacterial products, like hand wash, body wash and many cleaning compounds.

Increasing members of the medical community oppose using triclosan because they worry that it is actually encouraging the growth of drug-resistant bacteria.

By the way, washing your hands with hot soapy water seems to be just as effective as anti-bacterial soaps for getting rid of germs.

The post Green Consumers Score Big Victory: CVS Health Commits to Safer Beauty Products appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Why Is Climate Change So Serious?

It’s the most serious threat we face because it has the potential to devastate every pillar on which our country is built.

The catastrophic storms linked to climate change are draining our economy of trillions of dollars.

The spread of infectious diseases is killing thousands of people.

Droughts, wildfires and floods related to sea level rise and changing weather patterns are affecting our ability to grow food and keep our cities and towns intact.

We will be swamped, burned up and blown out if we don’t put the skids on the causes of climate change – and fast.

Speaking of which, it’s solving climate change that creates so many opportunities for us.

Why Does Climate Change Create So Many Opportunities?

Burning coal and oil are the largest sources of the carbon dioxide emissions that cause climate change.

Transitioning to solar and wind energy are two smart solutions. They’re also the fastest growing source of jobs in the energy industry.

You know that employment crisis we keep hearing about?

Get out of coal, get into solar. It can work in every state in the US.

Solving climate change through increased energy efficiency and using more solar and wind is also our ticket to energy independence.

Tired of worrying about our oil fields in the Middle East?

So am I. With domestic solar and wind, those worries can be a thing of the past.

Want cleaner air and water?

Banishing climate changing fossil fuels is a good way to get started.

Burning coal and oil (and gasoline) are primary causes of air and water pollution. When’s the last time there was a code “red” day attributed to solar panels?

Can you remember any time when turning on a wind mill led to the pollution of a river, lake or ocean with toxic oil that couldn’t be cleaned up?

Me neither.

The People’s Climate March Statement

The People’s Climate March is a project of dozens of organizations working together to solve the climate crisis.

First and foremost, it will focus attention on the anti-climate policies of the new Trump Administration. President Trump has called climate change a hoax. In fact, Trump is trying to increase use of the very fossil fuels that cause climate change. Say the organizers of the People’s Climate March: Not on our watch!

At the end of April, Donald Trump will have been in office for 100 days.

We need to mark that day with a massive demonstration that shows that our resistance is not going to wane or fade away.

So far, our resistance has been beautiful — and it’s beautiful because at its heart is a vision of a future that inspires us and gives us hope.

It’s a vision that protects our families, our communities, and our climate.

Most importantly, it’s a vision that we are building together.

Since his inauguration, we’ve seen what people power can achieve: Trumpcare? Withdrawn. Muslim ban? Blocked. Now Trump’s entire fossil fuel agenda is next.

Join us on April 29th.

Here’s how you can participate in the People’s Climate March.

The post People’s Climate March: For Jobs, Justice and the Climate appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Is it an exaggeration to urge you to
“March for Science to Save Your Life”?

It is not.

Anti-science agendas and policies are being forced on the American people by politicians and corporations that intentionally choose to deny the very scientific principles upon which our entire civilization is based.

Rather than work in good faith to protect us, many companies actively oppose laws, regulations and initiatives that would keep us safe from toxic chemicals, protect the air we breathe and the water we drink, and stop the climate change that threatens to send the entire planet into a tail spin.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the internationally renowned astrophysicist, says in this compelling 4-minute video that when people who deny science rise to power, they concoct a “recipe for a complete dismantling of our democracy.” He is right.

Science has allowed us to build our economy. Stop disease. Grow food. Put a man on the moon. Invent electric cars.

You can read this digital article thanks to computer science. Binge on Netflix. Facetime with your friends and family.

You can buy organic food because soil scientists and the scientists who study pests and plant disease have figured out how to grow our fruits and vegetables without spraying them with cancer-causing chemicals.

You have clothes to wear, furniture to sit on, deodorant to keep you smelling sweet, and coffee to drink, all because some inventor somewhere along the way used science to create them.

Basically, any service you value, any health care you receive, any medical emergency you’ve survived, any work you do, are all possible because science made them possible.

And yet – the Trump Administration is now destroying
the science-based programs and projects that society desperately needs.

It started with one particularly symbolic move: the Administration eliminated the word “science” from the mission statement of its Office of Science and Technology Policy. Whaaa?

But it didn’t stop there. Whole programs that reduce pollution and rein in climate change are coming under attack.

Don’t Miss: Pope Francis Calls for “Revolution” to Stop Climate Change

Writing here in the Los Angeles Times, Denis Hayes, who convened the very first Earth Day in 1970, describes Trump’s insidious plan to defund scientific research and the agencies that are doing the most to protect the planet and human health.

Specifically, the Trump budget would:

• Decimate the ability of the National Institutes of Health to continue to come up with ways to fight the spread of infections diseases like ebola and zika.
• Cut the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research by 50%.
• Eliminate the Sea Grant Program, which helps us protect and sustain coastal ecosystems and restore the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay and other waterways.
• Kneecap the U.S. solar energy industry, even though, says Hayes, in 2016 solar energy was America’s largest source of new electricity-generating capacity and the U.S. solar industry employs 260,000 people, more than three times as many workers as the coal industry.

We cannot let attacks on science – and on the ability of the United States to benefit from scientific advances – go unchallenged.

And we won’t. On April 22, millions of people will March for Science in hundreds of cities all over the world. The March, say the scientists who are organizing it, is

“the first step of a global movement to defend the vital role science plays
in our health, safety, economies, and governments.”

I hope you’ll march, too. You can find your local march right here.

Join the #MarchforScience.

The post March for Science To Save Your Life appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Protect EPA

Protect EPA?

We shouldn’t have to say it, or do it. EPA – the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – is supposed to protect us.

Yet, the EPA is under siege. And if we don’t help protect it, it won’t be around to protect us.

The threats EPA faces is real.

The new Administrator of the EPA, Scott Pruitt, has a long track record of suing EPA and trying to overturn the very laws he is now supposed to enforce. And as thousands of his newly released private emails show, he’d rather protect oil and gas polluters  than you or me. These are the same industries that are working to undercut our country’s efforts to stop climate change, keep our air safe to breathe, and our water safe to drink.

Members of Congress openly oppose EPA doing its job – so much so that Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida has introduced a bill to terminate the EPA as of December 31, 2018.

President Trump continues to attack EPA and the environmental laws and regulations it’s supposed to oversee.  Though he’s only been in office for a month, already he has allowed coal companies to delay cleaning up their polluted mining sites. He has given mining companies permission to dump their toxic waste into our streams and rivers. He has also okayed construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, despite well-documented concerns about the potential for the pipeline to leak and pollute drinking water.

Read More: Exploding Coal Mines, Crashing Oil Tankers Make Clear the Need for New, Clean Energy

In short, Pres. Trump is happily giving toxic industries permission to pollute your water, your air, and your planet, your health — and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — be damned.

That’s just wrong.

It’s wrong to pollute our drinking water with toxic chemicals that could give us cancer.

It’s wrong to pollute our air with toxic emissions that give us asthma and respiratory failure.

It’s wrong not to do everything possible to stop climate change.

It’s wrong to pollute the planet, destroying Nature and the natural systems that sustain our lives, and the biological systems we need to thrive.

And it’s wrong to undercut the federal agency that’s been designated to keep us safe.

Thanks to EPA, the environment has gotten cleaner. Our air has gotten healthier.

Take a look at these photos pulled together by MomsCleanAirForce.org. They document how polluted our air was before the Clean Air Act was passed, when industries “treated our skies and water as cesspools.”

Does anyone really want to go back to a time like this? I sure don’t. And I can’t imagine you do, either.

That’s why we need to stand up for EPA: to protect the agency that’s been protecting us since it was created in 1970 – by a Republican president, no less.

CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS
URGE THEM TO PROTECT EPA

Here’s what you can do:

First and foremost, contact your two U.S. Senators and your Representative in Congress. Let them know you support keeping a strong EPA working on our behalf to fulfill its mission to protect the environment and human health.

Find addresses for the President, Members of the U.S. Congress, state governors, state legislators, U.S. mayors and county executives all at USA.gov.

Second, attend town hall meetings with your Senators and Representative. Take friends and family with you. Make signs. Talk to the media. Make sure your elected officials know that you want them to protect EPA.

Check their website or phone their office to find out when they have a town hall scheduled. Or, ask when they’ll be back in their district and what their office hours are for meeting with constituents.

Want to see what it looks like to successfully use town halls to pressure Senators? Paige Wolf at SpitThatOutTheBook.com has documented her success organizing folks to hold Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) accountable. If she can do it, so can you!

We need the EPA.

But if we want it, we need to protect it.

Whether your Members of Congress are Democrats or Republicans, tell them today that if they want to protect their jobs, you expect them to protect the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The post Protect EPA Against Efforts to Shut It Down appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Everyone has their own reason for joining the Women’s March on Washington.

My reasons are pretty simple – but they matter to me.

√ I want to demonstrate with my physical presence that I oppose the hateful rhetoric and destructive intention of the new administration to dismantle the laws that
protect our health and the health of the planet.

√ I want to stand up for the progress we’ve made on protecting our environment.

√ Especially, I want to affirm my commitment to stopping climate change
and reducing pollution.

The new president and his nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency intend to roll back the progress we’ve made reducing our use of the fossil fuels that cause climate change.

They show no interest in safeguarding the air we breathe and the water we drink.

Shielding our bodies from exposure to toxic chemicals is not a priority for them.

It is for me, and I want my presence at the Women’s March on Washington, D.C. to make that clear.

But perhaps most of all, I’ll be at the Women’s March on Washington because I know that I can’t fight the battles that need to be fought – and won – alone.

Being surrounded by 500,000 other concerned citizens who also agree that we need to protect ourselves and our world will give me the virtual shot in the arm I need to do the work that lies ahead.

How do I know?

Last week, I was on Capitol Hill with Moms Clean Air Force meeting with Senate staffers about the EPA nominee. After two months of post-election blues, it felt great to be working with smart, passionate, and committed people who share a common vision for a better, safer, healthier, cleaner world.

For the first time since the election, I felt like “I can do this. I can get up every day and do something that makes a difference.”

That feeling of hope, and empowerment, and ENERGY came from being with others who feel the same way and who are also taking action!

That’s the feeling I expect to get in spades during the Women’s March on Washington. It will be like taking a great big psychic vitamin – only more empowering, more sustaining, and probably a lot more fun!

If you’ll be at the March in Washington, maybe I’ll see you there. I hope so.

But you don’t need to be in D.C. to march. Similar events are happening all over the United States, and around the world, too. Go to WomensMarch.com to find a march you can join.

Remember: As we said over and over during the presidential campaign, we are stronger together. The March is just the beginning of that show of strength – not the end.

The post The Women’s March on Washington: Better Than Taking a Great Big Vitamin appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Why should you tell your Senator to vote NO on Scott Pruitt for EPA?

Here are the 12 best reasons I’ve come up with. What are yours?

Trump Recap

When Donald Trump attained the presidency, my heart sank. As a woman, mother, and citizen, I feel personally violated by this man and all he represents.

But as someone who has worked to protect the environment for almost four decades, I also was discouraged because I knew what we’d be up against.

Trump has shown total disregard for Nature and the environment in the way he’s run his businesses.

He believes climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese.

And in his first environmental act as president-elect, he’s nominated the worst person possible to head the United States Environmental Protection Agency: Scott Pruitt, the attorney general for the state of Oklahoma.

Pruitt has a long record of suing the very agency he’d be charged with administering and endangering the very environment he’d be charged with protecting.

Rather than enforce the laws and regulations under his purview, he’d strive to dismantle them.

Rather than prioritize our health, the health of our kids, and the health of our planet, he’d protect the industries that jeopardize our health.

Though the president nominates a person to head the EPA, the Senate must confirm the nominee. Last week, as part of Moms Clean Air Force, I met with staff members for Senators who will vote on that confirmation either in the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, or in the full Senate chamber (Here’s a picture of “The Force” at work! I’m in the back row, 3rd from the right, in case you can’t tell).

I gave them 12 reasons why they should vote NO on Scott Pruitt for EPA.

I offer this list to you, as well. Please use the links above or below this post to share it on your social media, with your friends and colleagues, and with your own Senator.

Pruitt has been nominated, but he should not be confirmed.

Why Tell Your Senator to Vote NO on Scott Pruitt for EPA?

Because you want to breathe clean air – Pruitt has sued the EPA to overturn standards to curb mercury and other toxic air pollutants that will prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths and 130,000 asthma attacks per year.  He has sued to void standards to reduce soot and smog pollution projected to prevent up to 15,000 non-fatal heart attacks, 34,000 premature deaths, and 400,000 asthma attacks every year. These lawsuits are bad news for all Americans, but especially the more than 24 million Americans with asthma.

Because you want to drink clean water – Pruitt has sued the EPA to overturn clean water safeguards for more than half the nation’s waterways, including streams that feed into the drinking water supplies of 117 million Americans.  He even sued to block limits on water pollution into the Chesapeake Bay, which has no known connection to Oklahoma.

Because you want to keep your kids safe and healthy – Pruitt refuses to accept research from the American Academy of Pediatrics that mercury, a neurotoxin emitted by power plants when they burn coal, is actually dangerous to developing children or that mercury poses a public health threat. (Here’s the report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and their Committee on Environmental Health if you want to read about mercury in the environment for yourself.)

Because you want to protect Nature and the environment – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency helps protect the natural world by enforcing laws and regulations intended to prevent pollution. A big source of pollution is oil spills, either at the site of an oil operation or from a leaky or ruptured oil pipeline. Since 2002, Pruitt has received more than $300,000 in contributions from the fossil fuel industry. How likely is it that Pruitt would bite the hand that feeds him and rein in the industry that’s been so generous to him? Answer: Not likely at all.

Because you want to protect our national parks – Says the National Parks Conservation Association, “the EPA should not be led by someone who has a history of active opposition to the mission, science and values of the agency it is tasked to uphold…Mr. Pruitt has a long record of …opposition to strong stewardship of these resources.”

Because you want to protect lakes and rivers -As Oklahoma attorney general, reports Moms Clean Air Force, Pruitt shut down his office’s environmental enforcement unit, which investigated issues like water contamination and illegal dumping. That action sent a signal to the most irresponsible elements of industry that there would be few legal consequences for violating clean air and water laws. In place of that enforcement unit, Mr. Pruitt built a multi-million office to crusade against EPA’s public health and environmental safeguards.

Because you want to protect birds, bees and other wildlife – Birds, bees and many other wild animals are threatened by overdevelopment and the excessive use of pesticides. It’s the EPA’s job to keep track of what pesticides are legal to use, and how they’re used. So here’s a chilling fact: Pruitt’s home state of Oklahoma led the nation in pesticide-related illnesses and deaths between 2000 and 2010. As Trump would tweet: Bad! Sad!!

Because you want to eat safe food – Like tuna fish? With or without mercury? If you’re pregnant or have small children, you need to limit how much you eat because mercury pollution from burning coal is falling into our oceans, lakes and rivers and getting concentrated in the bodies of the fish we eat. EPA’s safeguards are actually helping mercury to decline in the Atlantic Bluefin tuna. But Pruitt doesn’t believe mercury poses a threat and in all likelihood would unravel the protections that are making a difference.

Because you want to stop climate change – Pruitt said in his confirmation hearings that he does not believe climate change is a hoax. Nevertheless, as Oklahoma’s attorney general, he sued unsuccessfully to overturn the EPA’s finding that greenhouse gases are harmful.  He has also sued to block the EPA from setting any limits on carbon pollution from power plants, the nation’s largest polluter.

By the way:

 More than 97% of scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are due to human activities.

According to a March 2016 Gallup poll, 64% of Americans are worried about climate change.

Also according to Gallup, 65% of Americans believe that human activity is to blame for increases in the Earth’s temperature over the last century.

Because you want to see the U.S. use more solar and wind energy and less coal and oil – The EPA is currently tasked with implementing the Clean Power Plan, which would accelerate America’s transition to renewable, non-polluting energy. Would that transition happen under Pruitt? Hardly. This review in The Guardian calls the attorney general a “staunch advocate for fossil fuels” and “a dream for oil and gas firms…a nightmare for the environment.”

Because you want to live in a country that values people and the planet – No need to explain that one!

Because you want to leave the world a better place for your kids and grandkids – What future do we want for our children, and our children’s children? I believe we want to leave the world a better, safer, healthier place than it is today. That requires not only vigilance to protect the gains we’ve made, but a commitment to do even more to reduce pollution, protect Nature, and link our health and prosperity to a healthy planet. Having an Administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency who shares that commitment is essential.

Just Say NO! to Pruitt

One hundred seventy – that’s 170 – environmental organizations have joined together to oppose Pruitt’s nomination to head EPA. In a letter to supporters, the media and Congress, here’s what they conclude about his nomination:

President-elect Trump’s nominee to head the EPA, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, has actively worked against the mission of the agency
he has been nominated to lead.

He should be rejected by the Senate.

Scott Pruitt’s views and actions run counter to the EPA’s critical mission
to protect our health and the environment.

He is unfit to administer the laws he would be entrusted to enforce.

The Senate should reject his nomination.

Write to your Senator today to urge NO on Pruitt! It’s easy to do on the Moms Clean Air Force website.

The post 12 Best Reasons To Tell Your Senator to Vote NO on Scott Pruitt for EPA appeared first on Big Green Purse.

On Friday, November 4, the Paris Agreement on climate change is set to formally go into effect. It aims to stop climate change in its tracks by significantly reducing the emissions that cause global warming while increasing the amount of energy we get from clean solar and wind power.

Whether those goals are achieved depends  on who the people of the United States elect to be their next president four days later.

Hillary Clinton favors the Paris Agreement and will help America lead the effort to replace climate changing coal and oil with clean, healthy, jobs-producing renewable fuels.

Donald Trump wants to reopen coal mines and actually increase America’s use of the fossil fuels that pollute our air, make us and our kids sick, and perpetuate the natural disasters climate change has been fueling since Hurricane Katrina.

There is no doubt in my mind that all the progress we’ve made on climate change over the last eight years will come to a screeching halt if Trump prevails.

But he won’t – not if we all get out and vote, and get our friends, family and neighbors to do the same.

Facts to Keep In Mind

√ We just wrapped up the hottest summer since global record-keeping began in 1880.

√ Arctic sea ice, a key indicator of long-term climate change, fell to 28 percent below the 40-year average in September, tying 2007 figures for the lowest levels in the 47-year satellite record, reports the Natural Resources Defense Council.

√ Last year was the hottest year ever recorded. The first nine months of this year have been even hotter, a record 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th Century average.

√ Nineteen of the hottest years on record have all occurred in the past 20 years.

How does that actually affect us?

⇒  Sea level is rising, swamping our homes and neighborhoods and threatening hundreds of billions of dollars worth of property, roads and favorite vacation spots, from New Orleans to Boston, from Florida to Texas, and even along the Great Lakes

⇒ Storms are drenching us. Flooded communities in North and South Carolina are still trying to recover from Hurricane Mathew, even while neighborhoods in Louisiana still struggle from the effects of Hurricane Katrina

⇒ Drought is stretching our drinking water supplies to the limit and creating so much parched land that some of our most beautiful heritage forests are catching fire and going up in smoke.

⇒ Poison ivy is getting worse as it thrives in the hothouse conditions that global warming is causing.

⇒ Mosquitoes are posting a bigger threat, too, as they spread farther north, live longer as the seasons extend, and spread diseases that used to be restricted to a narrow band in the tropics.

The threat is clear. So is our choice on Election Day.

Vote to Stop Climate Change

Hillary Clinton has been a strong proponent of stopping climate change since the first day of her campaign.

She has vowed to clean up dirty power plants and switch to solar and wind.

She supports building the next generation of energy-efficient cars, homes and workplaces.

And she knows that we can create millions of good-paying American jobs by becoming the clean energy superpower of the 21st Century.

Donald Trump is one of those people who has been discredited by over 99% of the scientific community: a climate “denier.”

He’s called climate change a “hoax” and is eager to roll back decades’ worth of climate progress.

He would squash President Obama’s signature climate change program, the 2015 Clean Power Plan. The Plan will reduce the carbon pollution from the dirty power plants that account for 40 percent of our nation’s carbon footprint.

He wants to “cancel” the Paris climate accord, which would not only be a set back for our own country, but would seriously tarnish our standing on the world stage, too.

He would actually try to accelerate how much coal and oil we burn. It would be HUUUUUGE.

You can stop climate change – by stopping Trump.

If you can still vote early, do it (here I am about 5 minutes after I voted!)

If you can volunteer, sign up here. You can help by canvassing, phone banking, and otherwise working to get people to the polls.

If you plan to vote on election day, know where your polling place is. You can plug in your zip code here to find the right location.

If you have friends, neighbors or family who need help getting to the polls, offer to drive them or get them a ride.

If you’re a lawyer, get trained in voter protection and staff a polling place to prevent voter intimidation.

If you’re active on Facebook and Twitter, encourage your communities to vote.

In other words, whatever you can do, do it.

But first and foremost, vote.

The post On Nov. 8, Vote to Stop Climate Change appeared first on Big Green Purse.