Tom Steyer speaks during the C40 Cities For Climate: The Future Is Us event in San Francisco, California on Sept. 12, 2018. JOSH EDELSON / AFP / Getty Images
By Jon Queally
Despite repeated assurances he would not do so, billionaire philanthropist and activist Tom Steyer — who has previously pledged his vast fortune to such causes as defeating the Keystone XL pipeline and mounting a national campaign demanding the impeachment of President Donald Trump — officially announced on Tuesday the launch of a 2020 campaign for the Democratic Party presidential nomination.
<p>"It's true," Steyer said in a post on Twitter along with a kick-off campaign video. "I'm running for president."</p><p><span></span>Watch:</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e834a682ed1cf59f9b7b3a7073c49072"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q0pFvLtryd0?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>Tom Steyer Announces Candidacy for President: “I am running to end corruption of our democracy by corporations and give more power to the American people. Jo...
<p>While Steyer's work as a hedge fund manager and financier has resulted in what Forbes <a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-steyer/#1f1ca07f73f5" target="_blank">estimates</a> is a $1.6 billion fortune, the newly-announced candidate states in his launch video that, unlike Trump, he is acutely aware of the injustice of a society in which some are able to hold enormous riches while others struggle to put food on the table.</p><p>"We have a society that's very unequal and it's really important for people to understand this society is connected," says Steyer in the video. "If this is a banana republic with a few very, very rich people and everybody else living in misery — that's a failure."</p><p>Another Democratic candidate at this point in the primary race — especially one with Steyer's outward pedigree and despite whatever bona fides or unique skills he brings to the table — was quick to draw ridicule and derision from progressive critics who said that his resources and the political machine he has built in recent years could be put to better use than by engaging in what is perceived as vanity project by many.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We need to stop the practice of billionaires trying to buy elections. <a href="https://twitter.com/TomSteyer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TomSteyer</a>, think of all the good your $100 million could do for the environment, rather than trying to muscle your way into an already over-crowded and very promising presidential field. <a href="https://t.co/83e3pb2GEB">https://t.co/83e3pb2GEB</a></p>— Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) <a href="https://twitter.com/CynthiaNixon/status/1148625866504790017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Steyer could be choosing to fund popular initiatives to implement automatic voter registration, restrict disenfranchisement, raise the minimum wage, counter right-to-work. But why do that when you could try to buy yourself the White House instead? <a href="https://t.co/CT1YGfhvTt">https://t.co/CT1YGfhvTt</a></p>— Taniel (@Taniel) <a href="https://twitter.com/Taniel/status/1148579705521659904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The Greenlining Institute's Bruce Mirken, <a href="https://twitter.com/BruceMirken/status/1148591435156869120" target="_blank">writing</a> on his personal Twitter account, put it this way: "It's pretty clear <a href="https://twitter.com/TomSteyer" target="_blank">@TomSteyer</a> is the answer to a question no one is asking."</p><p>As writer Anand Giridharadas <a href="https://twitter.com/AnandWrites/status/1148590676617113603" target="_blank">suggested</a>, the very rich — whatever their intentions — cannot save us:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A PSA for <a href="https://twitter.com/TomSteyer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TomSteyer</a> and anyone else who thinks billionaire saviors will rescue us from the billionaire demagogue who rose to power because of what billionaires have done to our economy and politics. <a href="https://t.co/o2XFYHljr3">pic.twitter.com/o2XFYHljr3</a></p>— Anand Giridharadas (@AnandWrites) <a href="https://twitter.com/AnandWrites/status/1148590676617113603?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/09/us/politics/tom-steyer-president.html" target="_blank">According</a> to The New York Times:</p><blockquote>Mr. Steyer may be a questionable vessel for a populist message, as a billionaire financier in a party increasingly defined by concern for economic inequality, and as a 62-year-old white man courting an audience of liberals in a Democratic Party preoccupied with racial diversity and gender equality.<br>Yet his candidacy instantly transformed the financial shape of the race; he vowed to spend an enormous sum of his personal fortune on his campaign.<br>"Tom has committed to spending at least $100 million on this campaign," said Alberto Lammers, a spokesman for Mr. Steyer.<br>That figure exceeds the total <a title="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/08/us/politics/elizabeth-warren-fundraising.html?module=inline" target="_blank">fund-raising over the last three months</a> by Joseph R. Biden Jr., Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris — combined. A $100 million budget would represent <a title="" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/election-2016-campaign-money-race.html?module=inline" target="_blank">about half the cost</a> of Hillary Clinton's 2016 primary campaign; most candidates who run for president spend a fraction of that sum.</blockquote><p>While Steyer does not explicitly mention impeaching Trump in his campaign rollout, Salon's Sophia Tesfaye <a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/07/09/tom-steyer-is-back-in-the-2020-race-will-that-shame-nancy-pelosi-into-action/" target="_blank">suggests</a> his presidential bid could be enough to "shame" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other top Democrats into taking more forceful action on the issue.</p><p>"Steyer's public case for impeachment stalled out after he initially bowed out of the presidential race six months ago," writes Tesfaye, "but his group, Need to Impeach, recently released a $1 million ad buy for national networks in New Hampshire and Iowa, criticizing Democratic Party leaders for doing nothing."</p><p>Over at Splinter, journalist and commentator Libby Watson was having none of it in her column "<a href="https://splinternews.com/tom-steyer-thinks-youre-stupid-1836211622" target="_blank">Tom Steyer Thinks You're Stupid</a>." Of course, Steyer has every right to run for president if he wants to, argues Watson, but that's not the point. She writes:</p><blockquote>It's not that Tom Steyer is cheating. It's that his obscene wealth and the accordant ability to buy his way into the political system is exactly what's wrong with America. It's that the existence of Tom Steyer, billionaire, is cheating. <a href="https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/06/its-basically-just-immoral-to-be-rich" target="_blank">And it's wrong</a>.<br><br>Steyer's campaign launch video proved he does not understand this at all. Throughout, he railed against big money in politics and corporate interests swaying the political system in their favor — while running a campaign for president that's only made possible by the billions he amassed at his hedge fund. He doesn't understand that this isn't a good thing even if the billionaire with outsized influence happens to be a nice old California hippie type who just loves the environment and says the right things about the rest of the rich guys.<br><br>A quixotic billionaire campaign from the older brother from <em>Succession </em>might be better than, say, Exxon Mobil personified running (hey, corporations are people, right?). But Steyer doesn't realize that he does not have the moral authority to rail against the system that created him just because he is One of the Good Billionaires. The point of democracy is representation by the people, not representation by an uber-wealthy guy who promises real hard to figure out what real people need.</blockquote><p>Steyer, however, made it clear he thinks he has a message worth sharing and — like other billionaire candidates before him — has the resources to fund his own campaign.</p><p>"Let's take our democracy back from corporations and special interests," Steyer added, "and give it to the people — the way it was always intended."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">RETWEET: Tom Steyer’s Response to the Keystone XL Final Environmental Impact Statement <a href="http://t.co/ksrIu7W4PS">http://t.co/ksrIu7W4PS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ecowatch</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/kxlblockade?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kxlblockade</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@350</a></p>— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) <a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/status/430053343642132480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/07/09/answer-question-no-one-asking-billionaire-philanthropist-tom-steyer-announces-2020" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br/></p>
Read More
Show Less
A Greenpeace rally to call for a presidential climate debate, in front of the DNC headquarters in Washington, DC on June 12. Sarah Silbiger / Getty Images
Confronting the climate crisis is the No. 1 issue for 96 percent of Democratic voters, but it clocked only around seven minutes of airtime at the first Democratic Presidential debate Wednesday, Vox reported.
<p>The small amount of time spent on climate change, and the fact that the first climate-centered questions came an hour and 22 minutes into the debate itself, as the <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/democratic-debate-2020-climate-change_n_5d143a8de4b0e45560375f92" target="_blank">Huffington Post reported</a>, emphasized the need for a debate exclusively dedicated to the issue, something the Democratic National Committee (DNC) <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/dnc-climate-debate-2020-2638802753.html" target="_self">has so far refused</a>.</p><p>"It's absurd to host a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/democrats-debate-miami-climate-crisis-2638979655.html" target="_self">debate in Miami</a> — a city where millions of people could lose their homes due to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a> that's also only 20 miles from the Everglades where massive fires are out of control — and spend only a few minutes on the climate crisis," <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement</a> Executive Director Varshini Prakash said in a post-debate statement. "Only four candidates had the opportunity to discuss it at all. This is downright irresponsible and shameful."</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our statement responding to tonight's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DemDebate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DemDebate</a>.<br><br>Our generation's survival is worth more than a few crappy questions. <br><br>This is why we need a <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ClimateDebate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ClimateDebate</a>. <a href="https://t.co/CWifXK5Te9">pic.twitter.com/CWifXK5Te9</a></p>— Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@sunrisemvmt) <a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/status/1144110620125618177?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>The group has been camping out in front of DNC headquarters since Tuesday to demand a climate debate. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/governor-jay-inslee-presidential-bid-2630642720.html" target="_self">Climate-focused candidate</a> Washington Governor Jay Inslee also repeated his call for a debate centered on the issue.</p><p>"It is clear that this deserves more debate and a much more intensive focus," Inslee told the Huffington Post. "And we do need a separate debate."</p><p>So what did the candidates get a chance to say about the issue?</p><p>Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren mentioned it in her opening remarks, as the Huffington Post reported, when she said that the economy was "doing great for giant oil companies that want to drill everywhere, just not for the rest of us who are watching climate change bear down upon us."</p><p>She also answered an economy-focused question by mentioning a "worldwide need for green technology," according to <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/154334/first-democratic-debate-failed-planet" target="_blank">The New Republic</a>.</p><p>Hawaii Representative Tulsi Gabbard mentioned the importance of environmental protection, and Inslee answered a jobs question with his $9 trillion plan to cut most emissions by 2030, as the Huffington Post reported.</p><p>"The next thing I'll do is put people to work in the jobs of the present and the future," Inslee said. "<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> is simply wrong. He says wind turbines cause cancer. We know they cause jobs."</p><p>The first actual question on the issue came three-quarters into the debate from moderator Rachel Maddow and focused on the debate's host city of Miami.</p><p>"We are here in Miami experiencing serious flooding on sunny days as a result of sea level rise and parts of Miami Beach and the Keys could be underwater in our lifetimes. Does your plan save Miami?" Maddow asked Inslee, as Vox reported.</p><p>Inslee responded with his plan to end the Senate filibuster so that climate legislation could actually pass the chamber.</p><p>Former Texas Representative Beto O'Rourke spoke about how to balance fighting climate change with respecting people's desire not to be ordered around by the government.</p><p>"You have to bring everybody into the challenges we face," he said, according to Vox. "That's why we are traveling everywhere, listening to everyone."</p><p>Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro was asked who should provide funds for people whose homes are impacted by <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/extreme-weather" target="_self">extreme weather</a> events, but Castro objected to the question's framing, arguing that the focus should be on rebuilding resilient communities.</p><p>Ohio Representative Tim Ryan was asked how to fund climate policy if a carbon tax was not politically possible, and emphasized the importance of economic growth.</p><p>Four candidates — O'Rourke, Booker, Warren and Castro — later listed climate change as the greatest geopolitical threat faced by the U.S., the Huffington Post reported.</p><p>Overall, the issue got more focus than it had in the entire 2016 debate cycle between Trump and Hilary Clinton, but not enough time to really compare the candidates' stances, Vox concluded.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">7 minutes on the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/climate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#climate</a> crisis is 7 more than we had in 2016, but it’s not even close to enough time to cover the gravest existential threat we face. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DemDebate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#DemDebate</a> <a href="https://t.co/NUC7Z6rVO9">https://t.co/NUC7Z6rVO9</a></p>— Sierra Club (@SierraClub) <a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/status/1144071537819029504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<p>Wednesday's debate featured 10 of more than 20 candidates vying for the Democratic nomination, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/26/politics/nbc-democratic-primary-debate/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. A second slate of candidates, including <a href="https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-primaries/democratic/national/" target="_blank">overall front-runner</a> and former Vice President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/joe-biden" target="_self">Joe Biden</a>, will face off Thursday.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">'This Is an Emergency. We Need the Democrats to Act Like It': Outrage as DNC Says It Won't Host a 2020 Debate on Climate Crisis - <a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EcoWatch</a> <a href="https://t.co/kWOM0kSNf0">https://t.co/kWOM0kSNf0</a></p>— John R. Platt (@johnrplatt) <a href="https://twitter.com/johnrplatt/status/1136636285613772800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 6, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro Will No Longer Be Honored at American Natural History Museum
16 April 2019
Politics
The American Museum of Natural History's Hall of Ocean Life will not serve as the venue for a dinner honoring far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Jason Kempin / Getty Images for Turner
The American Museum of Natural History will no longer host a gala intended to honor controversial Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose plans to open the Amazon rainforest to industry were seen by many as incompatible with the museum's mission, Reuters reported Monday.
<p>
The museum <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/bolsonaro-natural-history-museum-2634684993.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">faced criticism</a> after it was discovered Bolsonaro would be honored at a Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce gala to present its "Person of the Year" award. The museum said the group had booked it as a venue before Bolsonaro was announced as the award's recipient.
</p>
<p>"With mutual respect for the work & goals of our individual organizations, we jointly agreed that the Museum is not the optimal location for the Brazilian-Am. Chamber of Commerce gala dinner. This traditional event will go forward at another location on the original date & time," the museum tweeted Monday.</p>
<div id="8227e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="YSEH201576661742"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1117889750105354240" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">With mutual respect for the work & goals of our individual organizations, we jointly agreed that the Museum is not… https://t.co/tY5rJ3FUHX</div> — American Museum of Natural History (@American Museum of Natural History)<a href="https://twitter.com/AMNH/statuses/1117889750105354240">1555360660.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The gala was originally slated to take place in May in the museum's Hall of Ocean Life. The museum had hosted the gala in previous years, in which awards were given to figures like former U.S. President Bill Clinton and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/arts/design/natural-history-museum-will-not-host-gala-for-brazils-president.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>.</p><p>The Chamber of Commerce, which works to promote the cultural and economic relationship between the U.S. and Brazil, had chosen to honor Bolsonaro in "recognition of his strongly stated intention of fostering closer commercial and diplomatic ties between Brazil and the United States and his firm commitment to building a strong and durable partnership between the two nations," according to The New York Times.</p><p>However, many felt that the far-right Brazilian president's domestic policies made him a poor fit for the museum.</p><p>"My jaw dropped when I found out," museum curator and microbiology professor Dr. Susan Perkins told <a href="http://gothamist.com/2019/04/12/amnh_employees_revolt_over_appallin.php" target="_blank">Gothamist</a>. "Anything that happens in the museum reflects on us, and Bolsonaro represents just about everything we oppose: His treatment of indigenous people, his disrespect for the environment, his views and recent actions to defund scientific research. We find it appalling that he would be in our space."</p><p>More than 500 people signed an open letter written by museum employees to museum president Ellen Futter urging her not to host the event, <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/natural-history-museum-employees-protest-bolsonaro-1517281" target="_blank">ArtNet reported</a>. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio also urged the museum to reconsider, calling Bolsonaro a "very dangerous human being."</p>
<div id="dd9f4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="FYXSA11576661742"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1117899512402436096" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Well done @AMNH staff! #FightHate #Resista
American Museum of Natural History Staffers Band Together to Urge the C… https://t.co/8nLMMA1W12</div> — AMAZON WATCH (@AMAZON WATCH)<a href="https://twitter.com/AmazonWatch/statuses/1117899512402436096">1555362987.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Hours after taking office in January, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/jair-bolsonaro-deforestation-amazon-indigenous-2625049379.html" target="_self">Bolsonaro transferred the power</a> to recognize indigenous lands to the ministry of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture" target="_self">agriculture</a>, which has strong ties to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agribusiness" target="_self">agribusiness</a>. Indigenous and environmental advocates said the move would pave the way for greater deforestation and violations of indigenous rights. Just last week, Bolsonaro said his government could open up an Amazon reserve slightly larger than Denmark to mining, <a href="https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-amazon-mining/bolsonaro-says-brazil-rainforest-reserve-may-be-opened-to-mining-idUKKCN1RO29H" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p>He has also appointed a minister who called <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> a "Marxist plot," <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/bolsonaro-natural-history-museum-new-york-amazon_n_5cb4f6dce4b082aab08aa9ba" target="_blank">The Huffington Post reported</a>.</p>
Read More
Show Less
Pexels
By John R. Platt
If you're looking for some inspiration, you're in luck. Booksellers will soon see a massive influx of powerful and informative new environmental books. They cover everything from pollinators to animal cognition and predator coexistence to the morality of environmental protection.
<p>We've picked the 17 best eco-books of April 2019, including titles for activists, scientists and eco-friendly kids. Links are to publishers' websites, and you can also find any of these books at your favorite store or library. Pick the ones that are best for you and then put this new inspiration and information to good use saving the planet.</p>
<p>That's our list for this month, but there's plenty more to add to your reading lists. For dozens of additional recent eco-books, <a href="https://therevelator.org/tag/revelator-reads/" target="_blank">check out the "Revelator Reads" archive</a> — and come back in just a few weeks for next month's inspiring list.</p><p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://therevelator.org/environmental-books-april-2019/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em><em></em></p>
Wildlife and Endangered Species
<p><u><em style=""><a href="https://islandpress.org/books/protecting-pollinators" target="_blank" style="">Protecting Pollinators: How to Save the Creatures That Feed Our World</a> </em>by Jodi Helmer — An in-depth look at the pollinator crisis (which is affecting bees, as well as bats, birds and other pollen-spreaders) and what people around the world are doing to reverse the declines. A buzz-worthy book.</u></p><p><a href="https://www.hmhco.com/shop/books/Down-from-the-Mountain/9781328972453" target="_blank"><em>Down From the Mountain: The Life and Death of a Grizzly Bear</em></a> by Bryce Andrews — A cautionary tale of human-grizzly coexistence (or lack thereof). The book helps to illustrate the broader issues affecting grizzlies as their populations grow, pushing them closer and closer to humans (and, sadly, their guns).</p><p><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250144638" target="_blank"><em>Beyond Words: What Elephants and Whales Think and Feel</em></a> by Carl Safina — A new version of Safina's bestselling book about the inner lives of animals, adapted for young-adult readers.</p><p><a href="https://islandpress.org/books/corridor-ecology-second-edition" target="_blank"><em>Corridor Ecology: Linking Landscapes for Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Adaptation</em></a> — The second edition of this important book discusses the latest science about wildlife corridors and how to restore them. (Read our interview with co-editor Jody Hilty <a href="https://therevelator.org/hilty-wildlife-corridors/" target="_blank">here</a>.)</p><p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/567189/our-planet-by-alastair-fothergill-and-keith-scholey-with-fred-pearce-foreword-by-david-attenborough/" target="_blank"><em>Our Planet</em></a> by Alastair Fothergill, Keith Scholey and Fred Pearce — The directors of the BBC's <em>Planet Earth</em> and <em>Blue Planet</em> have brought their talents to Netflix for a new documentary series about conservation. This gorgeously photographed coffee-table book expands upon the documentary itself and gives us the chance to slow down and absorb every detail. David Attenborough, who narrates the TV series, provides the foreword.</p><p><a href="https://www.boxcarchildren.com/book/the-sea-turtle-mystery/" target="_blank"><em>The Sea Turtle Mystery</em></a> — The famous "Boxcar Children Mysteries" series tackles the thorny issue of sea turtle egg poaching, a major threat to the survival of all sea turtle species. Can the kids solve the crime and save an endangered species? Geez, I sure hope so.</p><p><a href="https://upcolorado.com/university-press-of-colorado/item/3547-yellowstone-cougars" target="_blank"><em>Yellowstone Cougars: Ecology Before and During Wolf Restoration</em></a> by Toni K. Ruth, Polly C. Buotte and Maurice G. Hornocker — This massive book (525 pages, weighing 1.7 pounds!) is the result of years of fieldwork by the authors. It reveals how wolves and cougars compete with each other and sets the stage for what may be the next era of carnivore conservation and management in the West.</p><p><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/563903/dont-let-them-disappear-by-chelsea-clinton-illustrated-by-gianna-marino/9780525514329" target="_blank"><em>Don't Let Them Disappear</em></a> by Chelsea Clinton and Gianna Marino — A delightful kids' book about why tigers, elephants, rhinos and other species are at risk and what we can do to help. Also available in Spanish.</p><p><a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520296978/ocean-outbreak" target="_blank" style=""><em>Ocean Outbreak: Confronting the Rising Tide of Marine Disease</em></a> by Drew Harvell — If you want to know more about diseases affecting marine wildlife, there's no better person to turn to than Harvell, the scientist who led recent research into the starfish wasting epidemic affecting the west coast. Her new book examines starfish, as well as corals, abalone and salmon to define both the problem and the necessary solutions.</p>History Lessons for the Future
<p><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250159069" target="_blank" style=""><em style="">Republic of Lies: American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power</em></a> by Anna Merlan — This isn't strictly an environmental book, but you want to better understand why some people (and certain presidents) keep insisting that climate change is a hoax, then you need this on your nightstand. Prozac not included.</p><p><a href="http://osupress.oregonstate.edu/book/same-river-twice" target="_blank"><em>Same River Twice: The Politics of Dam Removal and River Restoration</em></a> by Peter Brewitt — A profile of three dam-removal projects in the Pacific Northwest with lessons for advocates throughout the world.</p><p><a href="http://www.beacon.org/As-Long-as-Grass-Grows-P1445.aspx" target="_blank"><em>As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock</em></a> by Dina Gilio-Whitaker — The history of indigenous resistance may offer all of us the strength we need to keep fighting, from the co-author of <em>"All the Real Indians Died Off" And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans</em>.</p><p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/morality-and-the-environmental-crisis/CDA836B60C5844C294B5DED17415D34F" target="_blank" style=""><em>Morality and the Environmental Crisis</em></a> by Roger S. Gottlieb — How can we be good people when so many of our individual and collective actions contribute to the destruction of the planet? This major new academic book explores the philosophical, religious, political, societal and ethical challenges and opportunities of living in a time of crisis. (Or you can just watch <a href="https://www.nbc.com/the-good-place/video/dont-let-the-good-life-pass-you-by/3826680" target="_blank" style="">this episode</a> of "The Good Place.")</p>Pollution and Climate Change
<p><a href="https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo27863392.html" target="_blank" style=""><em style="">Choked: Life and Breath in the Age of Air Pollution</em></a> by Beth Gardiner — My lungs hurt just reading the description of this book. Gardiner traveled the world to find out how pollution clogs our cities, hearts and politics. Along the way she uncovers the solutions that just may help us all breathe a little easier.</p><p><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374721138" target="_blank"><em>Losing Earth: A Recent History</em></a> by Nathaniel Rich — A book-length expansion of Rich's widely shared <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/01/magazine/climate-change-losing-earth.html" target="_blank"><em>New York Times Magazine</em> article</a> about how we could have solved the climate crisis in the 1980s — and maybe how we can put those lessons to better use today.</p><p><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250257604" target="_blank"><em>Science Comics: Wild Weather</em></a> by MK Reed and Jonathan Hill — The science of storms, meteorology and climate change in a fun, easy-to-read graphic format. Like everything in the "Science Comics" series, this is sure to entertain while it educates, no matter what your age.</p><p><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250178275" target="_blank"><em>Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?</em></a> by Bill McKibben — Be strong. No, seriously, that's the ultimate message of this latest book by the acclaimed environmental activist.</p>From Your Site Articles
- 18 Great New Books About Climate Change, Sustainability and ... ›
- Trashing the Planet: 15 New Books About Garbage, Climate ... ›
- The Four Most Thought-Provoking Environmental Books Coming in ... ›
- 19 Books to Take the Food System Back - EcoWatch ›
- New Year, New Books: The 14 Best Environmental Books of January ›
Read More
Show Less
Bernie Sanders Becomes First 2020 Primary Candidate to Promise Carbon Neutral Campaign
21 March 2019
Popular
Bernie Sanders holds his first presidential campaign rally at Brooklyn College on March 02 in Brooklyn, New York. Kena Betancur / VIEWpress / Corbis. Getty Images
Bernie Sanders has become the first contender in the crowded 2020 Democratic presidential primary field to pledge to offset all of the greenhouse gas emissions released by campaign travel, The Huffington Post reported Thursday.
<p>His move comes as Democratic candidates vie to distinguish themselves on the issue of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/governor-jay-inslee-presidential-bid-2630642720.html">Washington Gov. Jay Inslee</a> has made it the NO. 1 focus of his run, and several including Sanders have backed the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/green-new-deal" target="_self">Green New Deal</a> to transition the U.S. away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> while creating green jobs and promoting greater equality.</p>
<div id="efa16" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="Y387O81568219069"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1108711883169644544" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Bernie2020 Becomes 2020’s First To Promise To Offset Carbon Emissions! https://t.co/SkuEKXk8up</div> — People for Bernie (@People for Bernie)<a href="https://twitter.com/People4Bernie/statuses/1108711883169644544">1553172486.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><br>"Bernie Sanders is a champion in the fight for climate justice and, like him, we know we need to address our emissions through action, not just rhetoric," campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement reported in full by <a href="https://eu.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/elections/2019/03/21/bernie-sanders-2020-presidential-campaign-pledges-offset-all-carbon-emissions-green-new-deal-climate/3231895002/" target="_blank">The Burlington Free Press</a>. "We are proud to lead the way in the fight against climate change by acting boldly to move our energy system away from fossil fuels and towards sustainable energy sources."<br></p><p>The campaign said that it would partner with the Vermont-based <a href="https://nativeenergy.com/" target="_blank">NativeEnergy</a> to offset the costs of travel for Sanders and his staff, as well as the emissions generated by venues and attendees at campaign events. NativeEnergy works to invest in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> and carbon reduction projects.</p><p>Sanders also offset the emissions generated by his 2016 primary run, as well as his 2018 run for Senate during the midterm elections. However, he was criticized in 2018 for spending almost $300,000 on private flights to support Democrats in the 2018 midterms. His campaign said it paid $5,000 in offsets last year.</p><p>Sanders isn't the only candidate to have gone carbon neutral in the past. Hilary Clinton also worked with NativeEnergy to offset her presidential campaign in 2016, The Huffington Post reported. But the history of carbon neutral campaigning goes back more than 10 years, as The Huffington Post explained:</p><blockquote>Carbon emissions from campaign travel first became an issue during the 2004 election, when the NRDC Action Fund, an affiliate of the Natural Resources Defense Council, began raising concerns about the huge amount of fuel candidates burned crisscrossing the country.<br><br>In 2007, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack became the first presidential contender to go carbon neutral. John Edwards followed soon after. By 2008, both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain "rushed to put themselves on a carbon diet," according to MSNBC.</blockquote><p>Sanders is also one of the 2020 contenders, along with Inslee, Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and activist Marianne Williamson to sign the <a href="http://nofossilfuelmoney.org/" target="_blank">No Fossil Fuel Money</a> pledge to refuse campaign donations from the oil, gas or coal industries. </p>
From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Beto O'Rourke speaks at a protest against President Donald Trump in El Paso in February. Christ Chavez / Getty Images
Beto O'Rourke announced he would run for President in 2020 Thursday, making the Texas Democrat the latest primary contender to list combating climate change as a major priority.
<p>"This is a defining moment of truth for this country and for every single one of us," O'Rourke said in a video announcing his campaign. "The challenges that we face right now, the interconnected crises in our economy, our democracy and our climate have never been greater. And they will either consume us, or they will afford us the greatest opportunity to unleash the genius of the United States of America."</p>
<div id="d916f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="CQ2SK51576662638"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1106155281845760000" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">I am running to serve you as the next president. The challenges we face are the greatest in living memory. No one p… https://t.co/U6csWjQo3Y</div> — Beto O'Rourke (@Beto O'Rourke)<a href="https://twitter.com/BetoORourke/statuses/1106155281845760000">1552562945.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>A native of El Paso, Texas, O'Rourke served three terms in the House of Representatives before rising to national prominence in 2018 when he almost unseated Ted Cruz in the race to represent Texas in the Senate, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/14/politics/beto-orourke-announces-2020-campaign/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. It was the closest Senate race in Texas history since 1978, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/3/14/18212358/beto-orourke-2020-democrat-running-president" target="_blank">according to Vox</a>. In recent months, he has actively campaigned against President Donald Trump's proposed <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/border-wall" target="_self">border wall</a>, holding a counter-rally in El Paso when the president spoke there in February to promote his barrier. </p><p>In his announcement video, O'Rourke mentions many key priorities, including workers' rights, expanding access to healthcare, improving legal pathways to immigration, criminal justice reform, racial justice and ending ongoing wars. But he closed his list of issues with a call for climate action.</p><p>"Perhaps most importantly of all, because our very existence depends on it, we can unleash the ingenuity and creativity of millions of Americans who want to ensure that we squarely confront the challenge of climate change before it's too late," he said.</p><p>Climate is shaping up to be a major issue on the 2020 campaign trail, a big change from the 2016 presidential election, during which a total of five minutes and twenty-seven seconds were spent discussing global warming and other environmental issues during the three debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, <a href="https://grist.org/election-2016/climate-airtime-presidential-debate/" target="_blank">according to Grist</a>. This time around, one Democratic candidate, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/governor-jay-inslee-presidential-bid-2630642720.html" target="_self">Washington Gov. Jay Inslee</a>, is making climate change the central issue of his campaign. At least five others have endorsed the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/green-new-deal" target="_self">Green New Deal</a>, a 10-year plan championed by freshman Congresswoman <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_self">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> to transition to 100 percent <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> while creating jobs and supporting frontline communities.</p><p>O'Rourke has spoken positively of the Green New Deal, but, as Vox pointed out, his style is less to endorse specific policies than to debate solutions and listen to ideas with the goal of promoting general liberal values. His voting record is more conservative than the average Democrat's, however, and he has been criticized for taking campaign donations from oil companies.</p><p>In a <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/03/beto-orourke-cover-story?verso=true" target="_blank">Vanity Fair profile published Wednesday</a>, he praised both the ambition of the Green New Deal and the idea of pricing carbon and "allowing the market to respond to that."</p><p>He also linked policies designed to address income inequality, such as Ocasio-Cortez' call for a higher marginal tax rate, with a push to mobilize the nation on climate issues.</p><p>"If you're trying to mobilize this country to meet an existential threat, as we did against the Nazis in World War II, then you're going to have to ask everyone to sacrifice," he said. "If you don't see a shared interest or shared opportunity to advance, then we'll no longer see ourselves in this together and this country will truly break apart. This level of gross income inequality cannot persist, and if there's a better way to get there, I'm open to it. But it's definitely going to involve higher marginal rates on the very wealthiest in this country."</p>
<p><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Tidal flooding in Florida; despite voting for Trump in 2016, the state leads the nation in likely economic losses from climate change. B137 / CC BY-SA 4.0
U.S. opinion on climate change is still highly polarized, with 82 percent of Democrats and only around 25 percent of Republicans ranking it a "very serious" problem, according to a November poll from Monmouth University. However, that divide is weakening. The same poll found that 64 percent of Republicans now acknowledge that it is happening, compared to 49 percent three years ago.
<p>Now, a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/how-the-geography-of-climate-damage-could-make-the-politics-less-polarizing/" target="_blank">report released Tuesday</a> explains that Republican attitudes have good reason to shift. The Brookings Institution's Metropolitan Policy Program looked at the data and found that many Republican-leaning states and districts are actually more likely to suffer the impacts of climate change than many so-called blue states.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f2ba5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4DZYRP1576663278"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1090417064395919363" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Many of the states with the most to lose from climate change voted heavily for Donald Trump in 2016.… https://t.co/18Kyov8zIc</div> — Brookings (@Brookings)<a href="https://twitter.com/BrookingsInst/statuses/1090417064395919363">1548810661.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>"Drill down on the political geography of climate damage and it becomes clear that in much of the country Republicans are voting for people who are opposed to climate policy even as they are most exposed to climate impacts," report authors David G. Victor, Mark Muro and Jacob Whiton wrote.<br></p><p>The report relied on data from the <a href="http://www.impactlab.org/research/estimating-economic-damage-from-climate-change-in-the-united-states/" target="_blank">Climate Impact Lab</a> predicting the county-by-county economic costs of climate change in the U.S. through the end of the 21st Century. It found that many traditionally red states would be disproportionately impacted. Part of this is because <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a> and more extreme coastal storms like <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricanes" target="_self">hurricanes</a> will cause especial damage to the Southeast and Florida. States like Texas and Arizona also stand to see heavy losses. Overall, Republican-leaning counties could see their income fall by as much as 28 percent by 2100 if no action is taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="b0001" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="R6VNGQ1576663278"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1090252724577411072" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The climate harms map makes clear that in much of the country Republicans are voting for people who oppose policies… https://t.co/StSr5EPrZP</div> — Mark Muro (@Mark Muro)<a href="https://twitter.com/MarkMuro1/statuses/1090252724577411072">1548771480.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>On the other hand, many Democratic-leaning regions like the Pacific Northwest, the upper Midwest, the Interior West and New England could actually see economic gains by the end of the century.<br></p><p>Looking specifically at the 2016 Presidential election, the report authors found that nine of 10 states that stand to lose the most from climate change voted for Trump, while nine of 17 states that could benefit from climate change voted for Hillary Clinton.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="054c4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="NAPKVH1576663278"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1090269137505378304" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">New @BrookingsMetro study: 16 / 20 states that face greatest economic losses from #climatechange voted for Trump, o… https://t.co/8MX7AO6l8p</div> — Mark Muro (@Mark Muro)<a href="https://twitter.com/MarkMuro1/statuses/1090269137505378304">1548775393.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>A similar discrepancy was apparent at the county level during both the 2016 Presidential and 2018 Congressional elections:<br></p><blockquote>Along these lines, we estimate that counties that voted for President Trump in 2016 will experience on average a nearly 5-percent loss of GDP compared to the smaller 3.3 percent loss borne by counties that voted for Hillary Clinton. Similarly, congressional districts that in November voted Republican face a 4.4 percent GDP tax from climate change compared to the smaller 2.7 percent loss projected for districts that voted Democratic.</blockquote><p>Muro, Victor and Whiton used their findings to recommend a new strategy to environmental activists looking to convince Republican voters.</p><p>"Activists who want to change the political equation can derive a clear strategy from the harm data: Work in the reddish swing states by focusing spotlights and cost accounting on the severe economic effect wrought by climate change," they advised. "Party attitudes on climate change could shift quickly there as people are confronted with climate reality. That's exactly what happened in other areas—for example, gays serving in the military or state-sanctioned gay marriage—when political attitudes were forced to confront new realities around the Thanksgiving dinner table and on television."</p><p><em>Correction: This post has been revised to correct a misspelling in the name of author Jacob Whiton.</em></p>
From Your Site Articles
- NBC's Meet the Press Devotes Entire Show to Climate Change With ... ›
- Pentagon: Climate Change Is Real and a 'National Security Issue ... ›
- Winter Storm Jayden, the Polar Vortex and Climate Change: 3 ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event in South Carolina on Jan. 21. Sean Rayford / Getty Images
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Tuesday that he will run for president in 2020, becoming the latest candidate in a crowded Democratic primary field to promise a Green New Deal if elected, The Washington Post reported.
<p>"I'm running for president because we need to make policy decisions based on science, not politics," Sanders wrote in an email to supporters announcing his decision. "We need a president who understands that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> is real, is an existential threat to our country and the entire planet, and that we can generate massive job creation by transforming our energy system away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> to energy efficiency and sustainable energy."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1e60dafadc13bb7a6f6531fe5fbe1197"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s7DRwz0cAt0?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">I'm Running For President</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7DRwz0cAt0" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>In addition to a Green New Deal, Sanders is also running on a platform of Medicare for All, a $15-an-hour minimum wage, tuition-free college and university, criminal justice reform, paid family leave and gender pay equity and breaking up the largest Wall Street banks, among other proposals, aides to the senator told The Washington Post.<br></p><p>Sanders brought many of these ideas, including more aggressive climate action, to national attention when he ran against Hillary Clinton in the 2016 primary. However, since his first run, the ideas he championed have gained steam and many other 2020 Democratic candidates have embraced them, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/feb/19/bernie-sanders-announces-2020-run-presidency" target="_blank">The Guardian noted</a>.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="09a17" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="RXS6151578068161"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1097870478293766145" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">2015: Bernie Sanders policy platform is naive, idealistic, not pragmatic, not realistic.
2019: Bernie Sanders poli… https://t.co/wLTputpma8</div> — Waleed Shahid (@Waleed Shahid)<a href="https://twitter.com/_waleedshahid/statuses/1097870478293766145">1550587694.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>His success may therefore hinge on whether or not he is still the best mouthpiece for the ideas he helped popularize, as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/19/us/politics/bernie-sanders-2020.html" target="_blank">The New York Times explained</a>:<br></p><blockquote>Victories in the 2018 midterm election by women, minorities and first-time candidates also suggest that many Democrats may prefer fresh energy, something that skeptics believe Mr. Sanders could struggle to deliver. A 77-year-old whose left-wing message has remained largely unchanged in his decades-long career, Mr. Sanders will also need to improve his support from black voters and quell the unease about his campaign's treatment of women that has been disclosed in recent news accounts, and that has prompted two public apologies.</blockquote><p>When it comes to the environment specifically, 2020 contenders California Sen. Kamala Harris, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro have voiced support for a Green New Deal.<br></p><p>However, Sanders' proposal will be slightly different from the Green New Deal resolution developed by Democratic Representative <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_self">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a>, who <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/06/27/politics/who-is-alexandria-ocasio-cortez/index.html" target="_blank">worked as an organizer</a> for Sanders' 2016 primary campaign. Sanders' full plan should be released in the next few months, The Washington Post reported, explaining the difference between the two: </p><blockquote>The upcoming Sanders plan is expected to contain significantly more details on how a Green New Deal would move America's economy to one that zeroes out carbon emissions, according to aides to the Senator, while the Ocasio-Cortez resolution supported by the other 2020 candidates mostly laid out ambitious targets for carbon reduction.</blockquote><p>In 2016, Sanders promoted a carbon tax and a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/07/bernie-sanders-urges-carbon-tax-and-deeper-emissions-cuts-in-climate-plan" target="_blank">The Guardian reported at the time</a>. </p><p>The re-election campaign for President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> is already planning to use the popularity of Sanders' democratic socialist platform as a rallying point, The Guardian reported.</p><p>"Bernie Sanders has already won the debate in the Democrat primary, because every candidate is embracing his brand of socialism," Trump 2020 campaign spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said in a statement reported by The Guardian. "But the American people will reject an agenda of sky-high tax rates, government-run health care and coddling dictators like those in Venezuela. Only President Trump will keep America free, prosperous and safe."</p><p>Sanders, for his part, roundly criticized Trump in his announcement, calling him the "most dangerous president in modern history." However, Sanders also noted that his campaign was larger than defeating one person. </p><p>"Our campaign is about transforming our country and creating a government based on the principles of economic, social, racial and environmental justice," he wrote.</p>
From Your Site Articles
Read More
Show Less
Trending
‘It’s Not Going to Get Turned Around in 10 Years’: Sen. Feinstein Criticized for Dismissive Attitude to Young Climate Activists
25 February 2019
Popular
Watch Feinstein's tense exchange with children over climate
An encounter between 15 San Francisco middle and high school students and California Senator Dianne Feinstein on Friday revealed a generational divide within the Democratic party when it comes to acting on climate change.
<p>The children arrived to ask Feinstein to support the Green New Deal resolution proposed by Democratic New York Representative <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/alexandria-ocasio-cortez" target="_self">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> and Democratic Massachusetts Senator Edward J. Markey, which calls for a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/green-new-deal-ocasio-cortez-2628265318.html" target="_self">10-year plan</a> to shift the U.S. away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> and towards 100 percent <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> while providing green jobs. They were met with a refusal that the <a href="https://www.sunrisemovement.org/sunrise-hubs/ca/bay-area" target="_blank">Sunrise Movement Bay Area</a> called "condescending" in a Facebook post sharing the video.</p><p>"That resolution will not pass the Senate, and you can take that back to whoever sent you here and tell them," Feinstein said at one point, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/climate/feinstein-sunrise-green-new-deal.html" target="_blank">The New York Times reported</a>. "I've been in the Senate for over a quarter of a century and I know what can pass and I know what can't pass."</p><p>You can watch the full video here:</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="80e34efb3ca3ca7ab669deef9a0e2c34"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/BayAreaSunrise/videos/2101109139978731/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p>Feinstein countered the children's request by sharing a <a href="https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/_cache/files/b/5/b54a564f-f750-48b4-99fe-3608d626a1bc/19EB91A5CF1C8211EF585179F7BB0E73.2019.02.22-climate-change-resolution.pdf" target="_blank">draft</a> of an alternative proposal that she told them was both more affordable and more likely to pass the Senate. However, environmentalist critics like <a href="https://350.org/" target="_blank">350.org</a> founder Bill McKibben pointed out that Feinstein's proposal—which calls for zero carbon emissions by 2050—simply does not move fast enough for scientific reality. He explained in <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-hard-lessons-of-dianne-feinsteins-encounter-with-the-young-green-new-deal-activists-video?utm_brand=tny&mbid=social_twitter&utm_source=twitter&utm_social-type=owned&utm_medium=social" target="_blank">The New Yorker</a>:<br></p><blockquote>The irony is that, when Feinstein said she's been "doing this for thirty years," she described the precise time period during which we could have acted. James Hansen brought the climate question to widespread attention with his congressional testimony in 1988. If we'd moved thirty years ago, moderate steps of the kind that Feinstein proposes would have been enough to change our trajectory. But that didn't get done, in large part because oil and gas companies that have successfully gamed our political system didn't want it to get done. And the legislators didn't do anywhere near enough to fight them.</blockquote><p>The video revealed this tension between political and physical reality. One of the children referenced the most recent <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> (IPCC) report that says greenhouse gas emissions <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-ipcc-report-2610866229.html" target="_self">must rapidly fall within 12 years</a> in order for warming to stay at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. </p><p>"Some scientists have said that we have 12 years to turn this around," the child said.</p><p>"Well, it's not going to get turned around in 10 years," Feinstein responded.</p><p>The video also exemplifies a rift between more seasoned legislatures who are used to how Washington works and younger Americans who are afraid for what climate change could mean for their futures. </p><p>"The divide in today's Democratic party is not left vs center/left, it is generational," Brian Fallon, a former aide to top Democrats Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, said in a Tweet quoted by The New York Times.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="4d6fc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SI2AD81576661753"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1099086106132443136" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The divide in today's Democratic party is not left vs center/left, it is generational.
https://t.co/vvcKoHcH1K</div> — Brian Fallon (@Brian Fallon)<a href="https://twitter.com/brianefallon/statuses/1099086106132443136">1550877522.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Some commentators criticized the targeting of Feinstein, who is still working on the issue. when Republicans including President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> engage in out right climate denial. They also questioned whether the children were acting entirely on their own behalf.<br></p><p>"[W]hy didn't they go after someone who's against climate change?" NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell asked on <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-february-24-2019-n975036" target="_blank">Meet the Press Sunday</a>. "She has legislation. She's saying, 'I don't want to sign on to the Green New Deal because it's aspirational. It's not legislation. I'm working on something that's real.' Also, who are the adults who bring their kids who don't understand this stuff?"</p><p>The children featured in the video have pushed back against the idea that their actions were directed by adults. </p><p>"We are the young people in this video. We have heard claims that we are being used as props or prepped by the adults in the room," they wrote on their Twitter account Youth Vs. Apocalypse. "That's just not true. We write our own petitions, deliver our own speeches, and organize our own events. It's our future at stake."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="e0a73" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="DX1ZI71576661753"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1099498541586632704" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We are the young people in this video. We have heard claims that we are being used as props or prepped by the adult… https://t.co/BbnidD8OIy</div> — Youth Vs. Apocalypse (@Youth Vs. Apocalypse)<a href="https://twitter.com/Y_Vs_A/statuses/1099498541586632704">1550975854.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Young climate activists aren't just targeting Democrats. Thirty-nine young people were arrested at Republican Senator Mitch McConnell's D.C. office during a Green New Deal protest Monday, the Sunrise Movement tweeted.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="76414" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="OENGJF1576661754"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1100094559286149120" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">UPDATE: 39 young people were arrested at #OilMoneyMitch's DC office today. All were fighting for #GreenNewDeal and… https://t.co/vJRC1Wn4Dw</div> — Sunrise Movement 🌅 (@Sunrise Movement 🌅)<a href="https://twitter.com/sunrisemvmt/statuses/1100094559286149120">1551117956.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>But that doesn't mean Fensteinn is off the hook, either. The Youth Vs. Apocalypse activists returned to her San Francisco office Monday with a letter in hopes of explaining their objections to her alternative Green New Deal proposal. Feinstein was not in her office, but no one else from her team would accept the letter, and the children had to leave the it outside the door when the office responded with a lock and extra security, according to a series of videos shared on Twitter.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="33d2f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="L2SHHO1576661754"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1100093109533171715" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">They’re putting in extra security now... https://t.co/D2xJxHrrdo</div> — Youth Vs. Apocalypse (@Youth Vs. Apocalypse)<a href="https://twitter.com/Y_Vs_A/statuses/1100093109533171715">1551117610.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p> <em>Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the young activists who confronted Dianne Feinstein are not affiliated with the Sunrise Movement, while they support its work. The language in this article has been clarified to reflect this.</em></p>
Read More
Show Less
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was one of the shows that poked fun at Trump's climate denying tweet Tuesday night. Ray Tamarra / WireImage / Getty Images
The hosts of three major late night talk shows found President Donald Trump's most recent tweet on climate change so laughable that they devoted bits to it on their shows Tuesday night.
With temperatures in the Midwest predicted to plunge to life-threatening lows, Trump repeated his favorite cold-weather tradition early Tuesday morning by tweeting climate denial.
<p>"What the hell is going on with Global Waming? Please come back fast, we need you!" he wrote.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f498a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="O3RE7B1576662432"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1090074254010404864" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded. In comin… https://t.co/FnaCaBA5Nz</div> — Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/statuses/1090074254010404864">1548728929.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>While scientists and journalists jumped in to point out his mistake, Trump also got a schooling from a less traditional group: comedians. On Jimmy Kimmel Live! Tuesday, the talk show host invited two children to explain the basics of climate science to the president.<br></p><p>Eight-year old Apollo and ten-year-old Kaitlynn broke down the workings of the greenhouse effect with helpful illustrations. </p><p>"And even though it's cold where you are, that doesn't mean the globe isn't heating up," Apollo said. "What you are experiencing is weather. Weather is what happens today. Climate is what happens over the long run."</p><p>You can watch the full segment here:</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3b2fb73cd4a91713a4434bd44c3dd685"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0sdqNR_s6LQ?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Kids Explain Climate Change to Donald Trump</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sdqNR_s6LQ" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>Not to be left out, Seth Meyers also addressed the president's remarks on the Late Night with Seth Meyers by using Trump's confrontational temperament as an object lesson in the difference between weather and climate, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/seth-meyers-donald-trump-climate-change_us_5c515539e4b0d9f9be6a80a8" target="_blank">The Huffington Post reported</a>.<br></p><p>To demonstrate weather, he showed a one-off clip of Trump saying he respected Hillary Clinton, his opponent in the 2016 election, for her persistence. </p><p>"See that was weather. A quick, one-time thing," Meyers said. </p><p>"Now this is climate," Meyers continued, introducing a montage of some of Trump's most offensive remarks. "And that's what's going to get us all killed," the comedian concluded.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="b51e3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="I9KIHS1576662432"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1090419447955972096" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">From tonight’s #LNSM: Seth explains global warming in terms Trump can understand. https://t.co/YZRNLc9hW5</div> — Late Night with Seth Meyers (@Late Night with Seth Meyers)<a href="https://twitter.com/LateNightSeth/statuses/1090419447955972096">1548811230.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Stephen Colbert, meanwhile, addressed the fact that climate change might actually be the cause of the extreme cold threatening the Midwest this week.<br></p><p>"These temperatures are actually caused by 'global waming,' sir," the host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert said in his opening monologue, mocking the president's typo. "Polar vortex breaks up and dips south, it's all predicted."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="46c33511fbf98c6d9513e635739208b8"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wY185b-XGAk?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">What The Hell Is Going On With 'Global Waming?'</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY185b-XGAk" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>Indeed, the <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-extreme-weather-ucs-2627433861.html" target="_self">explained</a> that a weaker polar vortex, the name for the cold air that usually circulates around the poles, means colder temperatures in Northern Eurasia and the Eastern U.S. That vortex has been weakened by accelerated <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic" target="_self">Arctic</a> warming and the melting of Arctic sea ice. Temperatures in some Midwest cities are colder now than parts of Antarctica, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/29/us/homeless-midwest-polar-vortex.html?emc=edit_mbe_20190130&nl=morning-briefing-europe&nlid=8863129420190130&te=1" target="_blank">The New York Times reported Tuesday.</a><br></p><p>But perhaps the most elegant, though unintentional, takedown of the president's climate ignorance came earlier in the day from the <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/" target="_blank">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> (NOAA). On Tuesday morning, NOAA Climate.gov tweeted a cartoon showing how warmer oceans can add more moisture to the atmosphere, actually increasing snowfall. </p><p>"Winter storms don't prove that global warming isn't happening," the tweet read.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="113a8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="PGXZQZ1576662432"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1090263390503596032" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Winter storms don't prove that global warming isn't happening.
https://t.co/LDqfq4JH9n https://t.co/ndmLD637Cb</div> — NOAA Climate.gov (@NOAA Climate.gov)<a href="https://twitter.com/NOAAClimate/statuses/1090263390503596032">1548774023.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>NOAA spokeswoman Monica Allen told <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/427467-federal-agency-says-winter-storms-dont-disprove-climate-change" target="_blank">The Hill</a> that the tweet was not a veiled dig at the president.<br></p><p>"With the blast of severe winter weather affecting the US, we often get asked about the relationship between cold weather and climate change. We routinely put this story out at these times," Allen said. "Our scientists weren't responding to a tweet."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="b8e05" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="APM5861576662432"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="877172712858198019" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Colbert: Trump Should Get the Ocean to Pay for Wall to Save Tangier Island https://t.co/fP8eGeCFBL #renewable… https://t.co/BXrdN5K9OS</div> — Renewable Search (@Renewable Search)<a href="https://twitter.com/RenewableSearch/statuses/877172712858198019">1497969246.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
From Your Site Articles
- Blind, Burrowing, Thin-Skinned Worm Named After Climate-Denier ... ›
- Michael Mann Fights Climate Denial With Comedy - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Ruby Mountains: A Push to Drill, a Failure to Consult Native Peoples
03 April 2019
Insights + Opinion
Tom Hilton / CC BY 2.0
By Tiffany Higgins
It's a frigid December morning when I meet Chairman Joseph Holley at the Te-Moak tribal headquarters in Elko, Nevada, seven hours north of Las Vegas. Holley, tall and round-faced, offers me a cup of coffee. He has the burly build of a man who worked 37 years in the area's gold mines, drilling aboveground and digging below the surface.
<p>Holley's a relatively new tribal chairman, having served since November 2018. "I'm still catching up with a lot of things," he tells me. He's following in the footsteps of father, activist Glenn Holley, Sr., who fought for aboriginal title to restore Te-Moak lands starting in the 1970s.</p><p>That heritage of activism may need to be invoked for the struggle that Chairman Holley and the Te-Moak now face. A major plan to lease drilling rights near the Ruby Mountains, including land bordering the Ruby Lake Wildlife Refuge, threatens not just the local ecosystem but the tribe's very existence.</p>
<p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://therevelator.org/ruby-mountains-consult-native-peoples/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em><em></em></p>
Mining the Mountains
<p>The Ruby Mountains are a prime summertime destination for anglers and hikers, but for the Te-Moak Tribe of the Western Shoshone, who have called the area home for tens of thousands of years, these are the <em>Duka-Doya </em>mountains. Here are pronghorn and bighorn sheep, mule deer and greater sage-grouse. The rivers run with mountain whitefish and native rainbow trout, while endangered Lahontan cutthroat trout swim in the lakes. Here the Te-Moak have gathered nuts and branches and tracked the pathways of wildlife, in tune with the changing seasons. Over millennia, the Te-Moak learned what plants grow where and when, and which animals come to drink in certain springs.</p><p>These are watering holes that — if oil and gas companies get their way — might dry up forever, bringing the Te-Moak cultural history to a close.</p><p>This June the Nevada Bureau of Land Management plans to auction oil and gas leasing rights on 934,244 acres of public lands in the Ruby Mountains area. Long in the works, the lease parcels were formally announced on Feb. 19. In Elko the BLM will offer 49 parcels, comprising 75,005 acres. In the nearby Battle Mountain district, it will lease 123 parcels, amounting to 264,075 acres. The Ely district will see the largest amount leased: 291 parcels totaling 604,164 acres.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTMzNTY1NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTk5MjM4OH0.jQfgAU_UFM7sTFhGWfsdB1nT-UWEKvXAqLytVpLltt8/img.jpg?width=980" id="d0484" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="517a3a63bb46614ae6510222cffe1371" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" /><p>According to Holley, lands included for possible leasing are both within and adjoining the South Fork Band reservation at the foothills of the Ruby Mountains. (The Te-Moak have four bands: the South Fork, Wells, Battle Mountain and Elko colonies.)</p><p>Another 52,533 acres in the nearby Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest were expected to be similarly auctioned, but the U.S. Forest Service <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/USDAFSR4/2019/03/13/file_attachments/1172765/19_0314%20NR%20Humboldt-Toiyabe%20National%20Forest%20Issues%20Draft%20Decision%20on%20Oil%20and%20Gas%20Leasing%20in%20the%20Ruby%20Mountains.pdf" target="_blank">denied that lease request</a> on March 14 following months of public outcry and data that showed the land had little drilling value.<span></span></p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTMzNTY2MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNzE4NzA2MX0.HUs-1geFU2X-SbzBm8IZp598DdHp6HHs6MeP3eKeWVE/img.jpg?width=980" id="a8b2f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4189d4881362f7a8a7fcacaab615c353" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Thunderstorms near the Ruby Mountains near Elko, Nevada, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
Michael Balen / U.S. Forest Service
<p>When I visited Elko to talk with Chairman Holley and other residents, I found that many people were still unaware of the ongoing BLM leasing plans. Those who heard feared they would have devastating effects on the local land and peoples and expressed outrage at how little the tribe was consulted.</p>Polluted Medicines
<p>I meet Fermina Stevens in an Elko hotel/casino. Stevens served as chairperson representing the Elko Band on the Te-Moak tribal council from 2000-2003 and since 2012 has worked as a legal assistant for the Cavanaugh-Bill Law office, where she's assisted on cases of the Western Shoshone Defense Project.</p><p>As we sit at the casino bar, Stevens tells me she's concerned about public access. Specifically, tribal access.</p><p>Historically the Western Shoshone used a wide swath of land, traveling to seasonal camps and trekking to different sites to gather various foods and medicinal plants. That traditional land is now federally owned "public" land, with highly restricted access. Only 14,005 acres have been accorded to the tribal reservations.</p><p>"We have to go to public lands to gather," Stevens explains. "We gather willow across a wide area, which means we need wide access."</p><p>Red and green willow, which are used to create cradleboards and baskets, have particularly important cultural significance, she tells me.</p><p>"Our culture is our gathering, our willow, our prayer. We come from the land." Other important plants include cedar, sage, and the doza root that grows close to sagebrush. In early fall, from September to October, the Te-Moak gather pine nuts.</p><p>And the Te-Moak's limited acreage doesn't protect many sites of spiritual and cultural significance. If tribal members wish to conduct a ceremony on BLM land — for example, at the summer and fall solstices, the points of the year of highest cultural significance — they must submit a request to the agency, including a map of the area to be entered.</p><p>Holley later tells me this raises a particularly difficult dilemma: How do they protect these areas of sacred significance without announcing them to the outside world?</p><p>He asks, what will happen when those sites the Te-Moak have been utilizing for centuries end up in private hands? How will the continuity of their culture be affected?</p><p>Stevens says she also worries about how the land itself will be affected by oil and gas development, particularly fracking.</p><p>"Fracking pollutes our medicines, the water, the animals who are drinking the water," she says. Leasing the land, including fracking, "affects us spiritually. It's a big loss. We need clean water and plants to conduct our ceremony."</p>Lost Lands
<p>For the Western Shoshone, these lands have always been theirs.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/shoshone/ruby_valley.html" target="_blank">1863 Treaty of Peace and Friendship at Ruby Valley</a> acknowledged as Shoshone lands a wide swath from the Shoshone River Valley in the north, to the Smith Creek Mountains in the west, to the Colorado Desert in the south to the Great Salt Lake Valley in the east.</p><p>Holley asks: How will fracking affect those never-ceded lands, now held by BLM "as a trustee" of public lands?</p><p>If the piñon trees dry up because water-intensive fracking sucks springs dry, then how can the Western Shoshone teach their children about the history that happened at that spring?</p><p>"Kids will lose their culture, tradition and history."</p><p>Holley has seen the pattern before with past mining projects. For example, the Newmont Mining Company's open-pit Lone Tree gold mine notoriously <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2005/06/07/the-high-cost-of-gold/" target="_blank">polluted the local water with arsenic, boron and other contaminants</a>. BLM promised the Te-Moak that water sources would remain unaffected. However, according to Holley, "the mine drew water down to where springs don't flow any more. It changes the whole landscape, everything that depends on the water, the grasses, the trees, the animals that drink from the springs."</p><p>More recently, Holley says, BLM permitted Newmont to dry up 63 springs near its Long Canyon Mine in Wells.</p><p>"BLM assures us that it will be fine, that the water will be healthy," Holley says. "It never is fine."</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTMzNTY3Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjM2MDE5MX0.-WXgHPPQhHoyo5I6yvjKyfFX7isIyDsE_TeTiZVLnS8/img.jpg?width=980" id="5b268" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="691082b5e82f3ff39431e1e0b148e52c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Chairman Joseph Holley.
Tiffany Higgins
<p>Kyle Hendrix, public affairs specialist for the Battle Mountain BLM district, later tells me that cleanup of mining waste by companies such as Newmont is "voluntary."</p><p>In Elko Holley's jaw is set, eyes registering the memory of failed promises.</p>Contradictory Stories About Consultation
<p>During and after my visit to Elko, I'm told conflicting stories about whether and how tribes had been consulted on this leasing of public lands.</p><p>The Nevada BLM's Environmental Assessment <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/projects/nepa/119664/166434/202820/20190212_June2019_Oil+GasLeaseSale_EA.pdf" target="_blank">report</a>, dated Feb. 13, states that consultation included "letters, phone calls, e-mails, and visits with individual tribal/band Environmental Coordinators or other representatives."</p><p>Chairman Holley denies that, stating that aside from a Feb. 4 letter informing the tribe of the June auction, the Te-Moak have not been contacted in other manners. According to Holley, authentic consultation has not happened.</p><p>Letters, he says, show little understanding of his people's culture or policies. BLM and Forest Service consultation-request letters require a reply within 30 days, but the Te-Moak Council, which makes all decisions collectively, meets only once a month. Ironically, the very letter to invite consultation from the tribes imposes a timeline that ignores the tribal calendar.</p><p>When I contact all three BLM relevant districts (Ely, Battle Mountain and Elko), the claim to have visited tribal members appears to be more aspirational than accurate. Greg Deimel, public affairs specialist for the Elko district, says their district's tribal liaison Native American coordinator would have met with tribal councils in January were it not for the government shutdown.</p><p>Kyle Hendrix, public affairs specialist for the Battle Mountain district, tells me that the letters sent on Feb. 4 are "the only formal letter on consultation for the upcoming June sale."</p><p>Hendrix says the BLM's goal "is to provide government-to-government consultation with the sovereign tribes, which is a little bit elevated and happens earlier than the more standard public scoping processes. We're looking to get early issues and concerns. If they've got an area of tribal significance, cultural significance, within some of these areas that we're looking at doing that, it's the opportunity to say 'These are our concerns,' and what can be done to include the removal of that parcel in that sale."</p><p>He adds, "We've got a great working relationship with the tribes. It's really a high priority for the Battle Mountain district."</p><p>But Holley objects to smaller BLM districts sending letters to the tribe, arguing that it doesn't constitute actual government-to-government consultation, which would be "President-to-president, country-to-country. Get us to the top, somebody that can make changes, make adjustments." Meeting with his counterpart in the Nevada BLM at the state level, he says, would fulfill government-to-government consultation.</p>Federal Declarations on Consultation
<p>What's legally and culturally expected in tribal consultation?</p><p>International declarations require more than just consultation, says Matthew Campbell, attorney for the Native American Rights Fund. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Article 32, states that indigenous peoples must give "free, prior, and informed consent" to projects that will affect them.</p><p>In U.S. law, Campbell explains, "the federal government has an obligation to consult with Indian tribes on matters that will have an impact on the tribes, their resources, whether it's water resources or land, their traditional resources, cultural resources, within their traditional areas." He mentions directives issued by Presidents Clinton and Obama stating that the government needs to take its obligation to tribes very seriously.</p><p>Campbell says the federal government's responsibility to tribes is "separate and apart from any obligation that it might have to the public. Tribes are not just mere stakeholders. Because they have the unique government-to-government relationship, the feds have a unique obligation to reach out, take affirmative steps to ensure the tribes understand what it intends to do and get the tribes' position."</p><p>I mention Chairman Holley's contention that he's only received a letter from BLM, but no contact beyond that.</p><p>Campbell declined to comment on the specific case, but says "in general, form letters should not be sufficient. They need to reach out to the tribes and ensure that they really understand what is taking place."</p>How Are Cultural Resources Assessed? The Story Between the Stones
<p>If the June auction goes through, any oil and gas companies winning leases would have to spell out their plans for the land. It's only at this point that the BLM would hire an archaeologist to survey the "cultural resources" on those particular parcels.</p><p>Holley objects to this process, saying an archaeologist's assessment can't be called a "cultural survey" if the tribe isn't asked to consult on it.</p><p>The problem, Holley says, is that an archaeologist may identify art on stones and determine those areas to be worthy of protection. But without the storied past of the Te-Moak culture, the expert might be ignorant of a spring or other natural features of cultural significance, where the Te-Moak have passed on teachings through the generations.</p><p>"They label archaeological surveys as cultural surveys, but they won't pay or invite us to be on site," he says. "So it's not a cultural survey. This happens quite regularly, all the time." Holley maintains that such surveys turn out to be rubber stamping what the company already intends to do.</p><p>"We're much more than stones. Tell me what happened <em>in between</em> the stones," Holley insists. It is a declaration that resists the historical tendency of anthropology and archaeology to see native peoples as physical artefacts rather than living cultures whose oral histories are embedded in the land.</p><p>Holley prods, "Who better to do such an assessment than the ones who live the story between the stones?" To his mind the Te-Moak should be integrated into the beginning of any cultural surveys. And be paid for it.</p><p>Although Hendrix of the BLM Battle Mountain district later notes hypothetical instances where tribes might be paid for consultation services, he doesn't furnish any examples.</p><p>Holley also suggests that conducting an official ethnography — a scientific study of the customs of peoples and cultures — would go a long way toward recording, and perhaps protecting, traditionally used gathering sites. However, Holley describes struggling with BLM over who conducts the ethnography.</p><p>"Ethnography should be part of the process of reviewing a plan — for example, for oil and gas leasing or mining," he says. "But they always want to choose the ethnographer," which he says leads such reports to be biased. He'd like to raise funds to hire a non-BLM ethnographer, but so far the tribe hasn't found the money to do so.</p>Past Experience
<p>I ask Chairman Holley if he has faith that BLM would, if properly informed, indeed remove places of tribal concern from the parcels to be leased in June?</p><p>"No. I don't trust how they do business," he says. The tribe's past experience has taught them differently.</p><p>"When you come face to face with BLM, they don't hear a thing you're saying," he says. "It's just frustrating." He mentions BLM district administrators who "don't do what they say they're going to do," and instead "go just the opposite direction."</p><p>He challenges the BLM representatives to "tell us where the cultural side, the medicinal side is," but despairs that they lack such knowledge and don't seem interested in learning.</p><p>His tone turns urgent, the buildup of decades of not having the Te-Moak cosmology and cultural practices truly heard or respected: "We're a part of the land, we hunt, we gather medicinal herbs, we pray. This is what's required of us as human beings to give back to what's provided to us to live by."</p><p>He describes a relationship with the land and its denizens that is mutual. The land, which they call <em>Newe Sogobia</em>, requires humans' humble tending. It's a worldview distinct from the Western view of land as the deliverer of economic resources — oil, gas, and minerals for companies to exploit.</p><p>So will the tribe answer the February letters from the BLM districts, particularly the inquiry regarding identification of places of tribal concern?</p><p>"Yes," Holley replies; they'll answer the letters.</p><p>But in doing that, he says, they want the locations of their most significant places "under lock and key." That hasn't happened in the past. Before development of the Tosawihi Quarries within the Waterton Mining Company's Hollister Mines, the Te-Moak identified and notified Elko BLM of ancient rock shelters that Holley says were used as blinds when gathering or hunting. Despite this notification, "these cairns got kicked over by the mining company."</p><p>Another project saw workers drive right through a sacred site, which BLM reportedly blamed on its archaeologists' GPS not synching up with the mining company's maps.</p><p>"If BLM can't even ensure that their own people will protect our sacred locations, then how can they keep others from destroying them?" Holley asks.</p><p>They're hoping that this time, history won't repeat itself.</p>Holding Out Hope for Consultation
<p>On March 26, according to Holley, the tribe received a phone call from Elko District BLM Native American consultation coordinator/tribal liaison Jessica Montcalm. They've agreed that Montcalm, whose background is in industrial archaeology, will come to the April 3 tribal council meeting. Holley stresses that this classifies as information-gathering, not consultation. "She's not the boss, so she can't make the decision" about parcels to be leased for oil and gas uses.</p><p>"We always request to talk with the lead person in the agency." He acknowledges that, in the past, the BLM-Elko district has sent its district manager, Jill Silvey. But in general he hasn't seen the agency take steps allowing the Te-Moak to talk "with someone who can make laws and regulations."</p><p>So far, he stresses, there has been no consultation. To begin true consultation, he'd like to see BLM approach the tribe to propose adequate dates to meet with the Te-Moak tribal council — and then not just give information, but listen.</p><p>I ask him if he thinks the BLM and the Te-Moak tribe will actually get to that phase of consultation. "Honestly, probably not. They're too overworked, they're too busy, they have no time. But, let's see where it goes. Maybe they will."</p><p>As time winds down before the June lease auction, Holley holds out that slim hope.</p>
Read More
Show Less