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.

The kids who founded GreenMyParents sure think so!

This youth-led movement is officially launching on Earth Day with a plan to inspire peers, parents and millions of American families to go green.

In the process, they aim to save $100 Million by this time next year. How? It will start with 100 “youth champions.” Each of them plans to recruit 100 more kids, then train them to promote easy, everyday steps that protect the environment and save money, too, at least $100 per family. It’s hoped each of those kids will recruit another 100, and another 100, and another 100, until tens of thousands or even millions are involved.

The program kicks off April 22 at 1 p.m. EST with a youth-led webinar  via The National Wildlife Federation’s SchoolTube.com, plus the downloadable publication of the Green Your Parents book.

But don’t wait until then to learn more about the amazing kids behind this initiative. They include:

•   Adora Svitak, a 12-year-old who is a published author and was the youngest speaker at the TED 2010 conference.
•   Jordan Howard, 17, a senior at Environmental Charter High in LA, Green Ambassador Youth leader, and prolific speaker and blogger who inspires at her blog jordaninspires.com;
•   Alec Loorz, a 14-year-old who founded Kids Against Global Warming as a 12-year-old. He is  the youngest trained presenter with The Climate Project.
•   Ally Maize, who three years ago, as a 15-year-old started the Green Youth Movement and
•   Erin Schrode, a freshman at Columbia University and founder of Teens Turning Green

Said Adora at the TED conference recently, “We kids still dream about perfection. Our audacity to imagine helps push the boundaries of reality.” Adora, could you deliver that message to members of Congress, please?!!!

Though GreenMyParents begins on Earth Day, it doesn’t end there. The group’s organizers plan to run the program for at least a year with the hopes of creating chapters in every school in America.

Here’s how you can learn more or get on their mailing list.

The post Kids Launch “Green My Parents” to Save the World appeared first on Big Green Purse.

* I signed up to attend a climate change rally in Washington, D.C. on October 24, Climate Action Day. Want to do the same? Visit 350.org for details.

* I wrote a letter to Wal-Mart encouraging the company to involve consumers in the new initiative it’s launched to establish sustainability standards for manufacturers and vendors it does business with. It matters, because as Wal-Mart goes, so goes the world. Learn more here – and get the link so you can write a letter yourself.

*  I donated to Alaska Wilderness League, a highly effective non-profit organization working to prevent oil drilling in America’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. They need your money. Can you donate, too?

* I’m tweeting all day about the need to act now to reduce climate change. If I’m not following you, let me know at www.twitter.com/dianemaceachern and www.twitter.com/biggreenpurse.

What are you doing to take action and make a difference? Let us know!

The post It’s Blog Action Day – So Get a Move On! appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Just scan the front pages of this week’s New York Times if you need to be convinced. “Health Ills Abound as Farm Runoff Fouls Wells,” documents instances of children contracting serious ear infections, some requiring surgery, from bathing in polluted water.  “Toxic Waters: Clean Water Laws Are Neglected at a Cost in Suffering” focuses on scabs and rashes being inflicted on children because their tap water contains barium, lead, arsenic and many other toxins that cause cancer and damage the kidneys and nervous system. A Fight Grows Over Labeling on Cleaning Products addresses consumer concerns that the chemicals in common household cleansers are giving people asthma, acne, nervous disorders, and more.

Maybe it’s time fror Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson to put their heads together and realize that America could reduce health care costs significantly if we focused on cleaning up the planet. And get some of those polluters to help foot the bill. The cleaning products industry alone is a $14 billion/yr enterprise.

The post Protecting the Environment is a Health Care Issue appeared first on Big Green Purse.

The Wilderness Act, signed by President Lyndon Johnson on September 3, 1964, created a National Wilderness Preservation System so that wild lands, including national parks, national forests, and lands overseen by the federal Bureau of Land Management, would be managed “for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness…”

Today, 45 years later, this prescient legislation seems more essential than ever. Though 109 million acres of land in Alaska and the lower 48 have been protected under the Act, many exquisite regions of forests, prairies, coastlines, mountains, and wetlands remain threatened simply because they haven’t yet been classified as federal wilderness.

Fortunately, citizens and concerned members of Congress are working to protect as much of America’s remaining wild lands as possible. The Alaska Wilderness League (on whose board I served for six years) is striving to secure federal wildernesss status for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Campaign for America’s Wilderness is spearheading wilderness protection campaigns in a dozen states. President Obama recently declared September 2009 “National Wilderness Month” and signed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, which designated over 2 million acres of wilderness from coast to coast.

But that is not enough. Wild lands clean our air and filter our water. They protect open space from sprawl, and provide much needed wildlife habitat, especially for endangered species.  And increasingly in this shell-shocked, post 9/11 era, people are using wilderness to escape the stress of modern-day life.

Americans are losing 6,000 acres of open space every day, acreage we can ill afford to lose. If we want to protect the environment and the lands that restore our bodies and souls, we need to legislate more land as wilderness, and the sooner the better.

You can help.

* Make time to explore the nation’s wild lands. Become a strong advocate for the untamed nooks and crannies of our country that have helped define our natural heritage for centuries.

* All wilderness must be created by an act of Congress. Tell your local official to vote for wilderness legislation being proposed by the Campaign for America’s Wilderness, the Alaska Wilderness League, and other environmental and consumer groups.

*  Use your purse. Donate to local and national organizations like the Campaign for America’s Wilderness and Alaska Wilderness League that are working on your behalf to protect America’s wilderness.

For more essays on the importance of conserving our natural resources, read this month’s Green Moms Carnival conservation posts; you’ll find a directory to them at Mindful Momma.

The post “In Wildness is the Preservation of the World” appeared first on Big Green Purse.