Wolves and Jaguars Are Already Threatened by Border Razor Wire As Trump Vetoes Bid to Block Emergency Wall Funding
18 March 2019
Popular
A metal fence marked with the U.S. Border Patrol sign prevents people to get close to the barbed/concertina wire covering the U.S./Mexico border fence, in Nogales, Arizona, on Feb. 9. ARIANA DREHSLER / AFP / Getty Images
President Donald Trump issued the first veto of his presidency Friday, overturning Congress' vote to block his national emergency declaration to fund a border wall that environmental advocates say would put 93 endangered species at risk. However, the president's decision came the same day as an in-depth report from UPI revealing how razor wire placed at the border in the last four months already threatens wildlife.
<p>Trump's veto follows votes by both the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/national-emergency-border-wall-congress-2630150725.html" target="_self">House</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/border-wall-senate-vote-2631704902.html" target="_self">Senate</a> to overturn his national emergency to access military funding for the wall after Congress refused to grant him the $5.7 billion in wall funding he requested, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47591552" target="_blank">BBC News explained</a>. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would vote on overriding his veto March 26; however, it is unlikely the Senate will muster the two-thirds majority necessary to override the veto, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-congress-emergency/trump-likely-to-sign-veto-against-border-wall-rebuke-friday-afternoon-sources-idUSKCN1QW2AK" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. Meanwhile, there are several lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the emergency declaration, including one brought by the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a>. </p>
<p>"The Sierra Club is committed to fighting these border walls and this abuse of communities, immigrants, and our natural environment through every step of Trump's backwards, cruel agenda," Sierra Club Director of Federal Policy Melinda Pierce said in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2019/03/trump-abuses-power-again-vetoing-resolution-terminate-bogus-national" target="_blank">statement</a>. "We will continue to challenge this fake national emergency and share the real stories and voices of border communities who know the only crisis is the one the Trump administration is creating."</p>
<div id="12d8b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="JM6RTJ1576662822"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1106658072511037445" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Trump Abuses Power-- Again-- in Vetoing Resolution to Terminate Bogus National Emergency https://t.co/zesTrGJ380 #FakeTrumpEmergency</div> — Sierra Club (@Sierra Club)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/statuses/1106658072511037445">1552682819.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>However, while the fight continues surrounding future border wall construction, barriers already in place are causing harm. Since November, troops have laid 210 miles of razor wire along the border to deter people from crossing, UPI reported Friday. Wildlife advocates say this poses a risk to endangered Mexican gray wolves and jaguars who need to cross freely in order to hunt and mate.</p><p>"It's a decidedly effective barrier. The wire has razor sharp edges. It would stop people and animals. It's ugly that we have gotten to this point," Montana Democratic State Sen. Mike Phillips, who is also a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservation</a> scientist and director of the <a href="http://tesf.org/" target="_blank">Turner Endangered Species Fund</a>, told UPI.</p><p>Phillips said he had worked to save the Mexican gray wolf for 30 years. There are only 114 of them left in northern Mexico and the southwestern U.S., which means it is very important that they can cross the border to find mates and maintain genetic diversity.</p><p>"When species numbers are so low, that's when connectivity becomes really important," Phillips explained.</p><p>The wire also impedes jaguars, which are also extremely rare. Only 80 to 120 of them live along the Arizona border, according to <a href="https://defenders.org/" target="_blank">Defenders of Wildlife</a>, and the health of that population is essential if they are to recover in the U.S.</p><p>"Any border barrier creates a death zone around it and poses a danger to people and wildlife," Defenders of Wildlife Southwest Program Director Bryan Bird said. "Wildlife are going to end up entangled in the wire, meaning more deaths. In the case of endangered wildlife, we don't have the luxury of losing even one."</p>
<div id="fbe25" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="AL7A6Y1576662822"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1107340841310392322" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">ICYMI: "If we are ever going to see this population recover in the United States, where they are extremely rare now… https://t.co/OzesV0OkJC</div> — Defenders of Wildlife (@Defenders of Wildlife)<a href="https://twitter.com/Defenders/statuses/1107340841310392322">1552845604.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Environmentalists and local officials said that the wire had been installed without any public impact.</p><p>"The U.S. government has a way of doing things without letting locals know," Santa Cruz County, Arizona Sheriff Tony Estrada, who had wire placed in his jurisdiction without prior approval, told UPI. "They don't consider touching base. They don't ask for opinions. They are afraid to hear we won't want wire. So they just go ahead and do it."<br></p><p>U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has also proven unresponsive to requests to remove the wire, such as one issued by Texas Democratic Representative Vicente Gonzalez in December of 2018.</p><p>"There are currently no plans to remove the concertina wire," CBP said, according to UPI.</p>
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Senate Votes to Overturn Trump’s Emergency Declaration to Fund Wildlife-Harming Border Wall
15 March 2019
Politics
The fence along the U.S. / Mexican border near Douglass, Arizona. jeff foott / Getty Images
The U.S. Senate voted 59 to 41 Thursday to overturn President Donald Trump's emergency declaration to fund a border wall that would threaten 93 endangered species and devastate the environment and communities of the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
The Senate vote comes a little over two weeks after a similar vote by the House of Representatives. Trump announced his intention to "VETO!" the resolution on Twitter Thursday, and Congress needs a two-thirds majority to override a veto, which is seen as unlikely. Nevertheless, the Senate vote will be seen as an embarrassment for the president, BBC News reported.
<div id="b15b1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="K9DM7G1576662823"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1106272915488686080" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">VETO!</div> — Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump)<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/statuses/1106272915488686080">1552590991.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Twelve Republicans broke ranks to vote with Senate Democrats against the emergency declaration. They were Mitt Romney and Mike Lee of Utah, Marco Rubio of Florida, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Rob Portman of Ohio, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.<br></p><p>The <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a>, which has filed a lawsuit against the emergency declaration, celebrated the Senate's bipartisan rebuke.</p><p>"Today, 59 Senators put party aside, and put our democracy first. Senators on both sides of the aisle rejected the President Trump's attempt to violate the Constitution and circumvent Congress in order to drive his unpopular, hateful agenda," Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce said in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2019/03/sierra-club-applauds-senate-s-bipartisan-vote-terminate-trump-s-fake-national" target="_blank">statement</a>. "Sierra Club applauds the Senate for pushing back against the militarization of safe towns and more destructive border walls in communities."</p>
<div id="9566c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="L3IRMN1576662823"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1106324123729313794" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Big results in the U.S. Senate vote today to end the bogus 'emergency' on the border! #NoBorderWall It's doomed to… https://t.co/R9dt4bG0kY</div> — Sierra Club Borderlands (@Sierra Club Borderlands)<a href="https://twitter.com/SC_Borderlands/statuses/1106324123729313794">1552603200.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>However, many of the Republican rebels were not motivated by opposition to the border wall itself. Rather, they expressed concerns about what a future Democratic president would do with a precedent that allows the president to declare emergencies to fund favored political projects. Portman voiced fears similar methods would be used to take future environmental actions in particular, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/14/politics/senate-vote-trump-national-emergency-declaration-resolution/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p><p>"[A] future President may well say that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> is a national emergency and use emergency authorities to implement the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/green-new-deal" target="_self">Green New Deal</a>," Portman said, referring to a 10-year plan championed by progressive Democrats and climate activists to transition the U.S. away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> while creating jobs and tackling inequality.</p>
<p>Trump issued the emergency declaration <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-national-emergency-border-wall-2629034603.html" target="_self">last month</a> after Congress refused to authorize $5.7 billion in funding for the wall during a standoff that led to the longest <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/government-shutdown" target="_self">government shutdown</a> in U.S. history. However, the <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> noted that the bipartisan bill that eventually funded the government did include almost $1.4 billion for around 55 miles of fencing in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, which will damage ecosystems and communities there. Trump has asked for $8.6 billion in wall funding in his 2020 budget.</p>
<div id="18cbe" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1TARPB1576662823"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1096040473242886144" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">In a rare bipartisan push, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of a major public lands package on Tuesday… https://t.co/r7qYOSF7DH</div> — John Lundin 🌊 (@John Lundin 🌊)<a href="https://twitter.com/johnlundin/statuses/1096040473242886144">1550151386.0</a></blockquote></div>
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House Passes Resolution Against Trump's 'National Emergency' to Fund Border Wall That Endangers 90+ Species
27 February 2019
Politics
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds a press conference about a resolution to override Trump's national emergency declaration. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution Tuesday to overturn President Donald Trump's emergency declaration to fund the construction of a border wall that would put 93 endangered species at risk. Trump issued the declaration to secure around $8 billion in funding for the wall after a bipartisan spending bill passed by Congress Feb. 15 allocated only $1.375 billion to border security. Trump had originally requested $5.7 billion for the wall during a stand-off with Congress that resulted in the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.
<p>The resolution against the national emergency passed the House 245 to 182, with 13 Republicans breaking ranks to join with Democrats to pass the measure, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/26/politics/house-vote-trump-national-emergency/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. </p><p>The <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> celebrated the news in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2019/02/sierra-club-applauds-house-vote-halt-trump-s-fake-national-emergency" target="_blank">press release Tuesday</a>.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="703b2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="W16QSF1576662813"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1100557016093712385" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#BreakingNews: House of Representatives passed a resolution to overturn Trump’s emergency declaration that would mo… https://t.co/oErfc3yxGz</div> — Sierra Club (@Sierra Club)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/statuses/1100557016093712385">1551228214.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>"Today, the House showed Donald Trump that Americans will not sit idly by as he steals taxpayer money, claims our country is in a non-existent emergency, and manufactures a humanitarian crisis on the border. All of these actions are the Trump administration's efforts to advance a twisted, racist, and cruel agenda built on inhumane deportations and a divisive, environmentally destructive, congressionally rejected border wall," Sierra Club federal policy director Melinda Pierce said in a statement.<br></p><p>The fight over the national emergency now moves to the Senate, where the passage of a resolution blocking it is less certain. Four Republican senators would need to vote with every Democratic senator to pass the resolution. So far, three Republicans have indicated they will support the measure: Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. </p><p>Tillis wrote a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/25/i-support-trumps-vision-border-security-i-would-vote-against-emergency/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5a96bea737b5" target="_blank">Washington Post op-ed</a> Monday announcing his decision, in which he said he supported Trump's desire to increase border security, but was worried about the precedent he was setting. Part of what concerned him was whether a future Democratic president would declare a national emergency to pursue sweeping action on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>. </p><p>"[Conservatives] should be thinking about whether they would accept the prospect of a President Bernie Sanders declaring a national emergency to implement parts of the radical Green New Deal," he wrote. </p><p>Environmental groups have been at the forefront of the fight against the border wall and the emergency declaration. The <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> (CBD) tweeted urging followers to call their senators and encourage them to vote for the resolution against the declaration.</p><p>CBD has also joined with <a href="https://defenders.org/" target="_blank">Defenders of Wildlife</a> and <a href="https://aldf.org/" target="_blank">Animal Legal Defense Fund</a> to sue the Trump administration, arguing its use of an emergency declaration to divert funds for wall construction was not legal, as <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/430455-environment-groups-launch-lawsuit-against-trumps-border-wall" target="_blank">The Hill reported Feb. 18</a>.<br></p><p>"Separation of powers is at the heart of our democracy and the power of the purse is a critical check on the president. Trump's authoritarian attempt to build his destructive border wall is a flagrant abuse of that constitutional structure. If he gets his way, it'll be a disaster for communities and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_blank">wildlife</a> along the border, including some of our country's most endangered species," CBD senior attorney Brian Segee said in a statement reported by The Hill.</p><p>It is likely the issue will ultimately be decided in the courts, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47379991" target="_blank">BBC News</a> reported. That is because, even if the Senate passes the resolution, Trump has promised to veto it. At that point, a two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate would be required to override the veto.</p><p>Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that the Senate would vote on the resolution before its next recess the week of March 18, CNN reported.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="41004" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="V1SZRX1576662813"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="830536970677972992" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">A Guide on How to Call Congress https://t.co/j0gFCO4QfF @foe_us @Earthjustice</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/830536970677972992">1486850419.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Trump to Declare 'National Emergency' to Fund Wall Threatening Borderland Communities and Wildlife
15 February 2019
Politics
Donald Trump delivers a national address on a border wall on Jan. 8. SAUL LOEB / AFP / Getty Images
President Donald Trump will declare a national emergency to fund his proposed border wall, which one study found would put 93 endangered species at risk.
Trump made the announcement minutes before the House and Senate began voting on a bipartisan spending package that would keep the federal government open without allocating money for the wall, avoiding another government shutdown. The measure passed both houses, and Trump said he would sign it, but not without also declaring an emergency to secure around $8 billion in wall funding, something he could do as early as Friday, The New York Times reported.
<p>
"President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take other executive action—including a national emergency—to ensure we stop the national security and humanitarian crisis at the border," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, according to The New York Times.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="35a4b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="HW7Y4Q1576662814"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1096148250665644034" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">.@PressSec: President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated before, he will also take o… https://t.co/N0Bx1LZnOQ</div> — The White House (@The White House)<a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/statuses/1096148250665644034">1550177083.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Trump plans to make the declaration at 10 a.m. Friday. Since it would reallocate money already earmarked by Congress for other purposes, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/15/politics/donald-trump-national-emergency-immigration-republicans/index.html" target="_blank">CNN's Stephen Collinson</a> called it "Trump's most striking assault yet on the system of constitutional order that he is sworn to preserve, protect and defend." If the emergency declaration is not blocked by the courts, it would also establish a precedent by which future presidents could bypass Congress. The move could backfire on Republicans, granting a future Democratic president the ability to run around Congress on issues like gun control or <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_blank">climate change</a>, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned.<br>
</p><p>
"If the President can declare an emergency on something that he has created as an emergency, an illusion that he wants to convey, just think of what a president with different values can present to the American people," she said Thursday, as CNN reported.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="28115" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9Y4U1U1576662814"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1096173818454761472" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">🔥👇🔥👇@speakerpelosi says that if Trump declares a national emergency over a manufactured crisis imagine what a futur… https://t.co/0nBaZsyaEr</div> — Clara Jeffery (@Clara Jeffery)<a href="https://twitter.com/ClaraJeffery/statuses/1096173818454761472">1550183178.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Democrats, some Republicans and leading environmental groups have criticized the president's decision and promised legislative and legal opposition.<br>
</p><p>
"Donald Trump's illegal national emergency declaration is one of the most shocking, dangerous, and damaging abuses of power by any president in our country's history," <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> Executive Director Michael Brune said in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2019/02/trump-s-illegal-emergency-declaration-dangerous-low-point-us-presidential" target="_blank">statement</a>. "It's a blatant violation of the Constitution's separation of powers—and all for an unnecessary, unwanted, and racially motivated border wall. This is one of the lowest lows for the institution of the presidency. The Sierra Club will take swift legal action against Trump's declaration."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="57976" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SHRH7W1576662814"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1096186199805325312" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Tonight, Trump will declare an unlawful state of emergency, as well as signing a budget that includes more than 55… https://t.co/td0AYZThxA</div> — Sierra Club (@Sierra Club)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/statuses/1096186199805325312">1550186130.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Environmental organizations also criticized the bipartisan spending package, which does allocate around $1.4 billion for around 55 miles of fencing in Texas' Rio Grande Valley, the <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a> (CBD) <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2019/border-wall-02-14-2019.php" target="_blank">reported</a>. While this falls far short of the $5.7 Trump sought for a barrier, it still puts borderland <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> and communities at risk.<br>
</p><p>
"This despicable deal will wall off the Rio Grande Valley. It will permanently destroy spectacular ecosystems and wildlife habitat, and seize private land from Texas families," CBD public lands policy specialist Paulo Lopes said. "Trump and Republicans have doubled down on their racist agenda to build a monument to hate and fear. Anyone who votes for this is voting for Trump's border wall, no matter what euphemism they try to hide behind. This is an enormous waste of taxpayer money that will do nothing to stop illegal drugs or human trafficking."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="a09af" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="J25RW71576662814"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1096242729225465856" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Trump just announced he's planning to declare a national emergency to build his border wall. Share to say… https://t.co/AmhAGLZOnL</div> — Center for Bio Div (@Center for Bio Div)<a href="https://twitter.com/CenterForBioDiv/statuses/1096242729225465856">1550199608.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The emphasis on a border wall also sets a troubling precedent in an era of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a>, which will likely force more and more people in the global South to migrate north as conditions deteriorate. Many of the immigrants traveling from Central America towards the U.S. border are driven partially by a prolonged <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drought" target="_self">drought</a> that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-implications-migrant-caravan-2616282125.html" target="_self">could be related to climate change</a>, and the region is expected to suffer increased climate impacts in future years.
</p><p>"A quasi-fascist policy of fear-mongering about immigration and corresponding militarization of the border is clearly the major thrust of Trump's response to the mounting impacts of climate chaos," Ashley Dawson, <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2558-extreme-cities" target="_blank">author</a> of<em> Extreme Cities: The Peril and Promise of Urban Life in the Age of Climate Change, </em>told the <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/trump-migrant-caravan-climate-change_us_5bd3374ee4b0d38b5882f000" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a> in October 2018.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="ddcef" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="WPPXS81576662815"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1086379746638917635" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The Pentagon has stated that #climatechange is real and is a national security issue. @repadamsmith https://t.co/raOF17aOuC</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1086379746638917635">1547848090.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Trending
Caribou grazing on the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. USFWS
A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced a bill on Monday would block oil and gas drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Reps. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) aim to repeal a little-known Arctic drilling provision that was quietly snuck into the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
<p>
The new bill—called the "Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act"—states that "oil and gas activities are not compatible with the protection of this national treasure." <span></span>
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="27310" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="88M7EQ1576662558"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1095038994277117952" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Thank you @RepHuffman @RepLowenthal @RepBrianFitz for introducing the "Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection… https://t.co/o8mZBX0bDa</div> — Alaska Wilderness League Action (@Alaska Wilderness League Action)<a href="https://twitter.com/AlaskaWildAct/statuses/1095038994277117952">1549912615.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
Inclusion of the drilling measure in the 2017 tax bill helped Republicans secure the vote of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/arctic-drilling-alaska-murkowski-2508047461.html" target="_self">Sen. Lisa Murkowski</a> of Alaska, who has long sought to open part of ANWR for oil and gas development.
</p><p>
Even though <a href="http://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/americans-oppose-drilling-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge/?utm_source=Yale+Program+on+Climate+Change+Communication&utm_campaign=2418476467-20171204_anwr&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_de6cdfce82-2418476467-326520565" target="_blank">the majority of voters</a> across the political spectrum oppose ANWR exploitation and the area was kept off-limits <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/obama-seeks-wilderness-designation-for-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-1882002415.html" target="_self">thanks to Obama-era policies</a>, the tax law, which passed with only GOP support, allowed drilling for the first time the refuge's coastal plain.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="702f4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="I2PA9R1576662558"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1095022133300862980" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">.@RepHuffman announces introduction of the Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act, bipartisan legislation… https://t.co/dUBsxypXDy</div> — Sierra Club Live (@Sierra Club Live)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClubLive/statuses/1095022133300862980">1549908595.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
The 1.5-million-acre coastal plain, also known as the 1002 Area, is believed to hold a vast and untapped trove of oil. Debate over opening the area for fossil fuel exploration has been at the center of political debate for decades.
</p><p>
Environmentalists worry that drilling would harm native wildlife. An <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2017/12/11/443964/measuring-loss-american-wildlife-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-drilled/" target="_blank">analysis</a> from the <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/" target="_blank">Center for American Progress</a> and <a href="http://www.csp-inc.org/" target="_blank">Conservation Science Partners</a> describes the coastal plain as the "biological heart" of the Arctic refuge that hosts one-third of all polar bear denning habitat in the U.S. and one-third of the migratory birds that come to the Arctic Refuge.
</p><p>
Fossil fuel development would also further stress a region that's already impacted by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/arctic-refuge-drilling-2517635533.html" target="_self">climate change</a>.
</p><p>
<span></span>"The Arctic is being impacted by climate change at unprecedented levels," the bill states. "Temperatures are rising at twice the rate of the rest of the country, and wildlife and habitat that depend on the Arctic are being detrimentally impacted."
</p><p>
The area is also considered sacred to the indigenous Gwich'in people, who sustain themselves from the caribou that migrate there.
</p><p>
Repealing the drilling provision in the tax law "would best protect the unspoiled ecosystem of the Coastal Plain, the human rights of the Gwich'in, and the integrity of the National Wildlife Refuge System," the bill states.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTE4NDk5OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMTU3NDIzNH0.yp8QKgzcERceRE1yM8aRtUruOoU8K1ZeGo23pmCHPpM/img.jpg?width=980" id="9d02c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7fd118f028a5937605b039a0bb9c8d04" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Northern Alaska National Wildlife Range (ANWR), Coastal Plain 1002 Area</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eiagov/" target="_blank" title="Go to U.S. Energy Information Administration's photostream">USEIA</a></small>
</p><p>
Last year, the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trump" target="_self">Trump</a> administration <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/arctic-oil-drilling-trump-2615086605.html" target="_self">approved the first</a> offshore oil drilling development in federal Arctic waters even though rising global temperatures have <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/arctic-climate-change-2539897203.html">dramatically reduced</a> the extent of sea ice.
</p><p>
Case in point, <a href="http://www.hilcorp.com/" target="_blank">Hilcorp Alaska</a>'s <a href="http://libertyenergyproject.com/faq/" target="_blank">Liberty Energy Project</a>—which involves building a 9-acre artificial drilling island in the shallow waters of the Beaufort Sea—was delayed because <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-arctic-offshore-drilling-2619918075.html?share_id=4170830" target="_blank">there was not enough sea ice</a> to build a foundation for the artificial island.
</p><p>
The <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> praised the new bill and noted that even major financial institutions, including Barclays, National Australia Bank, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hsbc-strategy-fossil-fuels/hsbc-to-stop-financing-most-new-coal-plants-oil-sands-arctic-drilling-idUSKBN1HR1NR" target="_blank">HSBC</a>, <a href="https://www.upi.com/BNP-Paribas-says-it-will-no-longer-back-oil/4921507715402/" target="_blank">BNP Paribas,</a> <a href="https://www.scotsman.com/news/rbs-bans-funding-of-arctic-oil-and-coal-projects-1-4746517" target="_blank">Royal Bank of Scotland</a> and <a href="https://www.societegenerale.com/en/measuring-our-performance/csr/environment" target="_blank">Societe General</a> are rejecting financing for drilling or exploration in the Arctic refuge.
</p><p>
"Drilling in the Arctic Refuge would threaten the food security and human rights of the Gwich'in people and permanently destroy one of the world's last wild places, all to dig up more oil that would worsen the climate crisis," Sierra Club lands protection program director Athan Manuel said in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2019/02/legislation-would-block-destructive-arctic-refuge-drilling" target="_blank">press release</a>. "That's why the overwhelming majority of Americans oppose drilling there, as do a growing number of investors and financial institutions."
</p><p>
Manuel added, "Now Congress has a chance to undo the dangerous and short-sighted decision to sell off this special place to corporate polluters. We applaud Representative Huffman and the bill's co-sponsors for their leadership in protecting America's Refuge."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="15b88" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="QBT5Z31576662559"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1088164551835684864" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#Arctic Refuge Oil Surveys Put #PolarBears in the Crosshairs https://t.co/mhJ6QlwAo0 @CenterForBioDiv @SavetheArctic</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1088164551835684864">1548273620.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
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'As Trumpian As it Gets': Coal Lobbyist Andrew Wheeler Moves Closer to Full-Time EPA Spot
05 February 2019
Insights + Opinion
Win McNamee / Getty Images
Acting Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Andrew Wheeler is one step closer to deregulating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The former coal lobbyist, who critics say is even worse for the environment than his scandal-plagued predecessor Scott Pruitt, secured a key approval by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Tuesday, sending President Trump's nominee to the full Senate for approval.
<p>
The committee voted
<a href="https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases-republican?ID=2A9ECE67-F5C9-4EE9-801C-04E0A852E2AF" target="_blank">11-10</a> along party lines to advance the nomination.
</p><p>
"Mr. Wheeler has done an outstanding job leading the Environmental Protection Agency these past six months," Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works,
<a href="https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases-republican?ID=2A9ECE67-F5C9-4EE9-801C-04E0A852E2AF" target="_blank">remarked today</a>. "I urge my colleagues to vote in support of his nomination to be the administrator."
</p><p>
Wheeler has been at the post since Pruitt resigned amid a
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scott-pruitt-resigning-scandals-2584354558.html">flurry of alleged ethical breaches</a> in July. But unlike Pruitt, whose tenure was sullied by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-epa-communications-2490136462.html">sketchy use of taxpayer money</a> on 'round-the-clock security, a soundproof phone booth and premium flights, the consummate Washington insider has advanced the interests of the fossil fuel industry and other corporate polluters by quietly weakening or rolling back federal regulations.</p><p>Civil fines charged to polluters under the Trump EPA fell 85 percent during the last fiscal year when compared to the average annual amount charged over the past two decades, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/civil-penalties-for-polluters-dropped-dramatically-in-trumps-first-two-years-analysis-shows/2019/01/24/7384d168-1a82-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html?utm_term=.fba827ddbf9a" target="_blank">The Washington Post recently reported</a>. That makes last year the lowest average year for penalties since 1994.</p><p><span></span>At his Senate Environment and Public Works Committee confirmation hearing last month, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) asked if Wheeler agreed with the scientific community's belief that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate change</a> is "one of the great crises facing our planet." </p><p><span></span>"I would not call it the greatest crisis, no sir," Wheeler responded. "I consider it a huge issue that has to be addressed globally." </p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="132fd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="W4C0OM1576662185"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1092826151809093637" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Wheeler has relentlessly pushed to advance the pro-polluter agenda launched by Scott Pruitt, the worst administrato… https://t.co/t49nvNXStX</div> — NRDC 🌎 (@NRDC 🌎)<a href="https://twitter.com/NRDC/statuses/1092826151809093637">1549385032.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Wheeler previously worked as a lobbyist for the coal mining conglomerate Murray Energy Corporation. His other previous clients include natural gas firms Xcel Energy and Bear Head LNG, uranium mining company Energy Fuels Resources and the Nuclear Energy Institute, according to <a href="https://www.bna.com/new-epa-chief-n73014477151/" target="_blank">Bloomberg BNA</a>.</p><p><span></span>As acting EPA administrator, Wheeler has not grasped "that saving coal is not part of that mission and not his job," said Sen. Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, as quoted by the
<a href="https://www.apnews.com/9ae7c505e3c240ffbfa7225133a6a84b" target="_blank">Associated Press</a>.<br></p><p>Environmental groups are in vehement opposition the nomination.<br></p><p>
"Putting a coal lobbyist in charge of the EPA is about as Trumpian as it gets," Paulo Lopes, public lands policy specialist at the
<a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a>, told EcoWatch in a statement after the vote. "This isn't just the fox guarding the henhouse. This is unlocking the door, opening the cages and letting the fox waltz right in to have his way. It's going to be a disaster."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="07275" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="IO9A6F1576662185"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1092809160599584768" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Key Senate Panel Approves Andrew Wheeler, Former Coal Lobbyist, To Be EPA Chief. "The man who recently said he’d ha… https://t.co/bz5VdVKYS7</div> — Ken Cook (@Ken Cook)<a href="https://twitter.com/EWGPrez/statuses/1092809160599584768">1549380981.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
A report from
<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-wheeler-meetings/like-predecessor-trumps-new-epa-pick-packs-schedule-with-industry-meetings-idUSKCN1PQ5SR" target="_blank">Reuters</a> revealed that Wheeler has held nearly 20 times more meetings with companies or industry groups than with conservationists during his first two months on the job.
</p><p>
The
<a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> is urging the full Senate to reject Wheeler's nomination.
</p><p>
<span></span><i>"</i>The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee should have voted unanimously to reject the nomination of a fossil fuel lobbyist who has spent his career undermining the vital safeguards that keep our air and water clean," Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2019/02/sierra-club-senate-must-reject-dangerous-wheeler-nomination" target="_blank">press release</a>. "As his nomination moves to the Senate floor, we urge Senators to consider the clean air and water protections their constituents rely on, among them safeguards from toxic mercury, PFAS pollution, and emissions from cars and trucks, and vote no on this dangerous nomination."<span></span>
</p>
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Trump Nominates ‘Walking Conflict of Interest’ David Bernhardt to Permanently Replace Zinke as Interior Secretary
05 February 2019
Politics
Donald Trump, Mike Pence and acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt in Washington, DC on Jan. 21. MANDEL NGAN / AFP / Getty Images
President Donald Trump officially nominated David Bernhardt—a former energy lobbyist environmental groups have described as a "walking conflict of interest"—to officially take over as interior secretary after Ryan Zinke stepped down in December 2018 following various scandals.
<p>"It's a humbling privilege to be nominated to lead a Department whose mission I love, to accomplish the balanced, common sense vision of our President," Bernhardt wrote in a tweet responding to the president's announcement, also made on Twitter Monday.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="39d91" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3TVJOG1576663068"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1092521879569686534" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">It’s a humbling privilege to be nominated to lead a Department whose mission I love, to accomplish the balanced, co… https://t.co/VHhYLGlHwN</div> — Secretary David Bernhardt (@Secretary David Bernhardt)<a href="https://twitter.com/SecBernhardt/statuses/1092521879569686534">1549312488.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>As deputy secretary, Bernhardt played an active role in the Trump administration's push to open <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-lands" target="_self">public lands</a> to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> and mining interests, and he is expected to continue this work if he is confirmed to permanently take over the department he has been running as acting secretary following Zinke's departure, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-interior-bernhardt/trump-to-nominate-ex-energy-lobbyist-bernhardt-to-head-interior-idUSKCN1PT24V" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTE0Njk2Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTU1NTI0MH0.9dcWNf8UtANYy5EW-CcyWXTtLNYHdB16rvGXHZEMxz4/img.jpg?width=980" id="d441c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aedd65a177628837fd156c858675040e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt at a meeting of International Boundary and Water Commission officials from the U.S. and Mexico on Sept. 27, 2017</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usbr/37326894776/" target="_blank">Bureau of Reclamation</a></small></p>
<p>In 2017, around 150 environmental groups wrote a letter to the Senate urging it to block his nomination to the position of deputy secretary, arguing that his work as a lawyer and lobbyist for oil and water interests at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck gave him too much past history with entities that could stand to benefit from Interior Department decisions. Despite this, he was confirmed 53 to 43, and now famously carries around a list of all his potential conflicts of interest, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-man-behind-the-curtain-interiors-no-2-helps-drive-trumps-agenda/2018/11/18/6403eb4c-e9ff-11e8-b8dc-66cca409c180_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.ac58511cf14d" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a> in November of 2018.<br></p><p>"David Bernhardt is a walking conflict of interest who has no business overseeing America's public lands," <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> Executive Director Michael Brune said in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2019/02/trump-nominates-walking-conflict-interest-david-bernhardt-be-interior" target="_blank">statement</a> opposing his permanent installation. "The Secretary of the Interior should be someone who respects the mission of the department and sees the value in our public lands and waters beyond their capacity to be drilled, mined, or fracked."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="0e7dc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ZVZ93Z1576663068"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1092531631917883392" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">David Bernhardt is a walking conflict of interest who has no business overseeing America’s public lands. https://t.co/jCJgnnDOPQ</div> — Sierra Club (@Sierra Club)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/statuses/1092531631917883392">1549314813.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>More recently, Bernhardt has come under fire for decisions made after he took over for Zinke as acting interior secretary. He was responsible for keeping <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/national-parks" target="_self">national parks</a> open to the public but understaffed during the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/government-shutdown" target="_self">government shutdown</a>, a move that put <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/government-shutdown-national-parks-2624954748.html" target="_self">both wildlife and visitors</a> at risk.<br></p><p>"Our National Park System is more expansive, diverse and reflective of the American story than ever before. But it's also a system facing many challenges, including threats from climate change, overcrowding, encroaching development and billions of dollars in needed repairs. And now, after the longest shutdown in US history, parks are dealing with a massive cleanup due to acting Interior Secretary Bernhardt's irresponsible decision to keep parks open with minimal staff," <a href="https://www.npca.org/" target="_blank">National Parks Conservation Association</a> President and CEO Theresa Pierno wrote in a statement opposing his nomination.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="ad23e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ARYRSC1576663068"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1092532572817629187" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: "We have serious concerns with the nomination of David Bernhardt for Interior Secretary and cannot suppor… https://t.co/xsxdk99reX</div> — National Parks Conservation Association (@National Parks Conservation Association)<a href="https://twitter.com/NPCA/statuses/1092532572817629187">1549315038.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Bernhardt also signed a memorandum <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/shutdown-national-parks-entrance-fees-2625335019.html" target="_self">authorizing parks to use visitor fees</a> to cover maintenance costs and day-to-day operations during the shutdown, a move that some Congressional Democrats said was illegal.<br></p><p>As deputy secretary, Bernhardt also <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/zinke-bernhardt-interior-environment-2625021502.html" target="_self">promoted efforts</a> to weaken the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">Endangered Species</a> Act and open the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/arctic" target="_self">Arctic</a> National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="00bbd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6ZIGBB1576663068"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1092524470730919936" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Trump has selected yet another unqualified nominee to head the Department of the Interior. https://t.co/QUmDvPEed1</div> — Center for Bio Div (@Center for Bio Div)<a href="https://twitter.com/CenterForBioDiv/statuses/1092524470730919936">1549313106.0</a></blockquote></div>
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The San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area in Arizona is a biodiversity hotspot. Bureau of Land Management
Conservation groups filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' approval of a permit that allows a huge master-planned sprawl development project near Benson, Arizona to proceed. The Villages at Vigneto would transform 12,167 acres of largely undeveloped habitat into 28,000 residences, 3 million square feet of commercial space, four golf courses, fountains, lakes and a resort.
<p>The development would rely solely on groundwater, draining the San Pedro River and harming millions of migratory birds, including threatened and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species">endangered species</a>. Yet the Corps refused to analyze these staggering impacts, confining its analysis to a small fraction of the development.</p><p>The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson, says the Corps failed to prepare a comprehensive environmental analysis of the entire development in violation of the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The groups are asking the court to invalidate the permit and order the Corps to complete the necessary environmental analysis.</p><p>"The San Pedro River is the last remaining intact natural river ecosystem in southern Arizona—an oasis in the desert that supports a rich array of species, including millions of migratory songbirds," said Peter Else, chair of the <a href="http://www.lowersanpedro.org" target="_blank">Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance</a>, a landowner-based conservation association. "It is essential that we take every step to preserve this critical resource, protect <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife">wildlife</a> habitat and migration corridors, sustainable rural lifestyles, and valuable recreation opportunities."</p><p>The proposed development would depend solely on groundwater to satisfy the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/water">water</a> needs of approximately 70,000 people. That would dramatically increase demand on groundwater resources from approximately 800 acre-feet per year to a projected 8,427 acre-feet per year. </p><p>This magnitude of pumping would deplete surface flows along the San Pedro River and at the St. David Cienega, a groundwater-fed marsh within the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. The development would also transform thousands of acres of upland habitat into impervious surfaces, increasing storm-water runoff, flooding and destructive sediment accumulation in the river.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTEzOTI0MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDA2MDQyMn0.Jwitufd-LWfEBjCptCNFa_016d_vH2k7Jdxyj9Llkys/img.jpg?width=980" id="4be5c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a06b5354a200c3406247b2e8c2a79b5c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The San Pedro riparian area contains about 40 miles of the upper San Pedro River.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit..."><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/blmaz/26699461675/in/album-72157665367858893/" target="_blank">Bureau of Land Management</a></small></p>
<p>"Hydrology studies show that this development would suck the St. David Cienega dry and have a devastating impact on wildlife that depend on it for their survival," said Robin Silver, cofounder of the <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a>. "The science is clear that this level of water pumping would irreversibly degrade the riparian habitat and harm migratory birds, including multiple endangered and listed species. The Corps has abdicated its responsibility to consider these significant impacts."<br></p><p>The San Pedro River depends on groundwater contributions from the regional aquifer, especially during the driest times of the year. In 1988 Congress expressly reserved water rights for the conservation area to protect the river's aquatic and riparian resources, including the St. David Cienega.</p><p>Reports already show that groundwater pumping is depleting the aquifer at an unsustainable rate, threatening the future of the river and riparian habitat that is essential to wildlife.</p>
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<p>"What is most alarming about this proposal for those along the Lower San Pedro River is that a new upstream city of 70,000 people will be pulling water from the ground in an unsustainable way. Most of that water will never be replaced. It's a potential death sentence for the Lower San Pedro," said Pearl Mast, board member of the <a href="https://cascabelconservation.org" target="_blank">Cascabel Conservation Association</a>.<br></p><p>The Corps did not analyze the potential harm to the river or the conservation area caused by the development, claiming they are outside its "scope of analysis." The Corps confined its analysis to 1,919 acres, a small fraction of the proposed development. </p><p>"There is no rational basis for the Corps' refusal to consider the full impacts of the Vigneto development on these unique and critical resources," said Stu Gillespie, a staff attorney with <a href="https://earthjustice.org" target="_blank">Earthjustice</a>. "This is a clear example of the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> administration trying to game the system and shirk its duty to consider and disclose the impacts of its decisions."</p><p>"The San Pedro River is this incredible asset to our state, providing habitat for a diversity of species, a flyway for migratory birds and a wildlife viewing paradise for people from around the world," said Sandy Bahr, director of <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a>'s Grand Canyon Chapter. "Several species that are dependent on the river are also threatened or endangered due to habitat loss. Arizona has allowed development and other diversions to dry up and destroy several important rivers. We cannot, we must not, allow the San Pedro to join that list."</p><p>"The San Pedro River was the first Global Important Bird Area for the United States and both birds and birders continue to flock to the critical and unique habitat the river provides," said Nicole Gillett, a conservation advocate with <a href="http://tucsonaudubon.org" target="_blank">Tucson Audubon</a>. "A development of this scale and design is unsustainable and will damage not only the environment but the economy built around it." </p><p>The lawsuit was filed by the Lower San Pedro Watershed Alliance, Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, Tucson Audubon Society, <a href="https://www.maricopaaudubon.org" target="_blank">Maricopa Audubon Society</a> and Cascabel Conservation Association. The groups are represented by Earthjustice.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="25e7f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="WYRAWX1576662461"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="998951355200008192" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Trump Opens Door to Dangerous Fracking in Northern Arizona https://t.co/TOV5ngCmu9 #fracking #Arizona #publiclands… https://t.co/xPu1aUGS8G</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/998951355200008192">1527003537.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Andrew Wheeler testifies Wednesday at a Senate confirmation hearing on his nomination to officially head the EPA. Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Acting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator and former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler downplayed the threat of climate change and defended his deregulatory record at the first Senate confirmation hearing on his nomination to officially run the agency Wednesday. It was a hearing that some activists and Democrats did not even think should take place, given that business as usual at the EPA has been hampered by the ongoing government shutdown.
<p>"I do not believe that giving the acting administrator a speedy promotion is more urgent and more important than protecting the public from contamination to our air and water and lands," Delaware Senator Thomas R. Carper, the leading Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, said, as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2019/01/16/confirmation-hearing-trumps-epa-pick-vows-advance-deregulatory-agenda/?utm_term=.5a9e9bad7e3b" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>. </p><p>Demonstrators also interrupted the hearing when Wheeler began speaking, with one shouting, "Shut down Wheeler, not the EPA!"</p><p>Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders pressed Wheeler on the urgency of climate action. Referencing the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (<a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">IPCC</a>) report that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-ipcc-report-2610866229.html" target="_self">says humans have 12 years</a> to transition away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuels</a> in order to stave off dangerous climate change, Sanders asked Wheeler if he agreed with the scientific consensus that climate change is "one of the great crises facing our planet."</p><p>"I would not call it the greatest crisis, no sir," Wheeler answered. "I consider it a huge issue that has to be addressed globally."</p><p>You can watch the full exchange 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="b6a9bb9e0ed9b9237ae5de6e91772d0c"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rCdolCz4RTs?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...">WATCH: EPA nominee Wheeler tells Bernie Sanders climate change 'not the greatest crisis'</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://youtu.be/rCdolCz4RTs" target="_blank">youtu.be</a>
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</p><p>Wheeler also confused the IPCC report and <a href="https://nca2018.globalchange.gov/" target="_blank">Volume II of the Fourth National Climate Assessment</a>, released by the U.S. government <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-report-takeaways-2621535494.html" target="_self">Thanksgiving weekend</a>, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/epa-andrew-wheeler-climate-change_us_5c3f5a1ce4b0922a21db1c11?guccounter=1" target="_blank">The Huffington Post reported</a>. Senators criticized Wheeler for not having yet reviewed the latter.<br></p><p>"That's unacceptable," Democratic Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey said, as <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/685825449/republicans-praise-democrats-grill-andrew-wheeler-in-epa-chief-confirmation-hear" target="_blank">NPR reported</a>. "We're having a hearing on your worthiness for this job and you very conveniently haven't had enough time yet to review whether or not there's an extra level of urgency to this problem."</p><p>Wheeler also cited misleading numbers about his replacement for the Obama-era <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/clean-power-plan" target="_self">Clean Power Plan</a>, as The Huffington Post explained:</p><blockquote>When pressed about the need to cut emissions, Wheeler returned to a certain statistic over and over again, stating that the Affordable Clean Energy rule he proposed in August would deliver carbon dioxide reductions 34 percent below 2005 levels, compared to the 33 to 35 percent the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan would have provided.<br><i><br></i>This is a fudged statistic, however. The EPA's own analysis shows the so-called ACE rule would actually increase CO2 emissions by 20 to 61 million tons, nitrous oxide by 14,000 to 43,000 tons and sulfur dioxide by 29,000 to 53,000 tons. Those increases are expected to cause up to 1,400 premature deaths per year by 2030.</blockquote><p>Senate Democrats also questioned Wheeler on other issues, including his <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-mercury-air-toxics-standards-2624797110.html" target="_self">rollback</a> of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mercury" target="_self">mercury</a> emissions standards from coal-fired plants and the fact that the agency has not yet released a plan for combating the frequency of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/cancer" target="_self">cancer</a>-linked PFAS in <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water" target="_self">drinking water.</a></p><p>Overall, Wheeler defended his role in carrying out President <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a>'s deregulatory agenda since replacing scandal-plagued former Administrator <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" target="_self">Scott Pruitt</a>. </p><p>"Through our deregulatory actions, the Trump administration has proven that burdensome federal regulations are not necessary to drive environmental progress," Wheeler said, according to The Washington Post. "Certainty, and the innovation that thrives in a climate of certainty, are key to progress."</p><p>Many Republicans, including panel Chairman Republican John Barrasso of Wyoming, agreed. </p><p>"Under acting administrator Wheeler's leadership, the agency has taken a number of significant actions to protect our nation's environment while also supporting economic growth," Barrasso said.</p><p>Environmental groups, on the other hand, are united in opposing Wheeler's nomination.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="f5edd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SDU9FX1576662188"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1085562179783278593" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">THREAD: Trump’s nominee, Andrew Wheeler, is completely unfit to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Here’s wh… https://t.co/Amgz64EMit</div> — Center for Bio Div (@Center for Bio Div)<a href="https://twitter.com/CenterForBioDiv/statuses/1085562179783278593">1547653167.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p>"Andrew Wheeler today showed that he is nothing more than Scott Pruitt with a new coat of lead paint," <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> Executive Director Michael Brune said in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2019/01/sierra-club-statement-wheeler-nothing-more-scott-pruitt-new-coat-lead-paint" target="_blank">press release</a>. "Like Pruitt, he took every opportunity today to distort the truth to Senators about his record of trying to dismantle every clean air, clean water and climate safeguard he could get his hands on."<br></p><p>Despite opposition, Wheeler is likely to be confirmed, The Washington Post reported.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="8f00b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="TKKL841576662188"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1084866896703430656" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Acting EPA Adm @EPAAWheeler has his confirmation hearing Wednesday. Let's look back at his worst hits: "Court Rule… https://t.co/zHVxb7VyES</div> — Sierra Club (@Sierra Club)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/statuses/1084866896703430656">1547487398.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
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Residents watch the motorcade pass during President Donald Trump visit of the Camp Fire in Chico, California on November 17, 2018. Paul Kitagaki Jr.-Pool / Getty Images
What does Trump have against California? Without prompting or explanation, the president tweeted Wednesday that he ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to halt funding for its wildfire relief unless "they get their act together."
"Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forest fires that, with proper Forest Management, would never happen," he wrote. "Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives & money!" An earlier tweet that misspelled the word "forest" was replaced with the one that's up now.
<p>
This isn't the first time the president pointed the finger at California's forest management. Last year, Trump threatened to withhold relief funds and incorrectly
<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1061168803218948096" target="_blank">blamed</a> its infernos on the state's "gross mismanagement of the forests" even though most of the fires burned on federal land.
</p><p>
Trump has also
<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/17/politics/donald-trump-climate-change-wildfire/index.html" target="_blank">brushed aside</a> the role of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change">climate change</a> making the fires worse, saying "a lot of factors" contributed to the fires. He even suggested that California's problem was it <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/zinke-blames-environmentalists-california-wildfires-2620849190.html" target="_blank">didn't rake its forests enough</a>, a comment that was widely ridiculed.
</p><p>
Firefighters associations blasted the president's latest missive, calling them particularly insensitive after the deadly and overwhelming destruction caused by the 2018 blazes.
</p><p>
For one, Northern California's record-breaking
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/camp-fire">Camp Fire</a> that ignited in early November killed 86 people, incinerated thousands of buildings and destroyed the town of Paradise. (Trump <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1062153051459469312" target="_blank">ultimately approved</a> a disaster declaration for the state on Nov. 12 to unlock federal funds.)</p><p>
<a href="http://www.cpf.org/go/cpf/" target="_blank">California Professional Firefighters</a> president Brian Rice
<a href="http://www.cpf.org/go/cpf/news-and-events/news/cpf-president-responds-to-presidents-threat-to-cut-off-fema-aid/" target="_blank">called</a> Trump's comments "deplorable" and "flat wrong" as nearly 60 percent of the state's forests are controlled by the federal government.
</p><p>
Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, had similar sentiments.
</p><p>
"This is yet another unimaginable attack on the dedicated professionals who put everything on the line, including their own homes, to protect their neighborhoods," he said in a <a href="https://client.prod.iaff.org/#contentid=84984" target="_blank">news release</a>. "While our president is tweeting on the sidelines in DC, our fellow Americans 3,000 miles to the west are mourning loved ones, entire communities have been wiped off the map and thousands of people are still trying to figure out where they are going to call home."
</p><p>
Democratic lawmakers in California also sharply rebuked the president.
</p><p>
"Californians endured the deadliest wildfire in our state's history last year. We should work together to mitigate these fires by combating climate change, not play politics by threatening to withhold money from survivors of a deadly natural disaster," Senator Kamala Harris tweeted.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="4a3ef" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9KAUUH1576683774"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1083022784895303680" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Californians endured the deadliest wildfire in our state’s history last year. We should work together to mitigate t… https://t.co/ni9zzpaqte</div> — Kamala Harris (@Kamala Harris)<a href="https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/statuses/1083022784895303680">1547047728.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
California's new Gov. Gavin Newsom—who on Tuesday pledged $105 million in new spending to prevent, fight and escape wildfires—also responded to the president.
</p><p>
Newsom tweeted that he and the governors of Oregon and Washington sent a letter asking the federal government "to work with us in taking on these unprecedented wildfires."
</p><p>
"Disasters and recovery are no time for politics," Newsom said.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="d0004" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="63366G1576683774"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1083026830817353728" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Disasters and recovery are no time for politics. I’m already taking action to modernize and manage our forests and… https://t.co/0s48GfwbtF</div> — Gavin Newsom (@Gavin Newsom)<a href="https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/statuses/1083026830817353728">1547048692.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of San Francisco, tweeted that Trump's comments "insults the memory of scores of Americans who perished in wildfires last year & thousands more who lost their homes."
</p><p>
She also urged House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, California to "condemn & and call on POTUS."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="10964" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SI2K7P1576683774"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1083030331798757382" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">.@realDonaldTrump’s threat insults the memory of scores of Americans who perished in wildfires last year & thousand… https://t.co/U7OMx9PghN</div> — Nancy Pelosi (@Nancy Pelosi)<a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerPelosi/statuses/1083030331798757382">1547049527.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
FEMA news desk manager Michael Hart told
<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/09/trump-treatens-fema-funds-california-1090253" target="_blank">POLITICO</a> he was unclear about what Trump's orders would entail, but added that a follow-up on Trump's tweet would be released soon.
</p><p>
<span></span>The agency does not have funding due to the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/government-shutdown-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-drilling-2625539238.html">ongoing government shutdown</a>, now in its third week. However, according to a <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/DHS%20Procedure%20Related%20to%20a%20Lapse%20in%20Appropriations%20%2812-20-2018%29%20-%20FINAL%20..._0.pdf" target="_blank">Department of Homeland Security shutdown plan</a>, of FEMA's 19,631 employees, 15,208 are considered essential and are working through the shutdown.
</p><p>
Its
<a href="https://www.fema.gov/" target="_blank">website</a> currently says it is "actively contacting <a href="https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4407" target="_blank">California Wildfire</a> survivors to determine their housing needs and working diligently to identify additional short-term and long-term housing options."
</p><p>
<span></span>Just yesterday, the reinsurance firm Munich Re listed the Camp Fire as the
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/camp-fire-cost-paradise-california-2625457443.html">world's costliest natural disaster</a> of 2018, racking up $16.5 billion in damages.
</p><p>
We'll leave you with this amazing
<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1083009519503003648" target="_blank">clapback</a> from the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a>:
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="91f3c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="38KJ721576683774"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1083019755647307778" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">OH NO, HOW WILL WE BUY RAKES TO CLEAN UP THE FORESTS?! https://t.co/uuBMG0FYGW</div> — Sierra Club (@Sierra Club)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/statuses/1083019755647307778">1547047005.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
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Court Rules EPA Must Release 20,000 Emails Between Wheeler, Other Top Officials and Polluting Industries
08 January 2019
Politics
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler prepares to speak to employees at the EPA headquarters in Washington, DC on July 11, 2018. Mark Wilson / Getty Images
A federal court has ordered that top officials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—including Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler—must release about 20,000 emails exchanged with industry groups, The Washington Post reported Monday.
The December 26 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California was the result of a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club after the EPA missed its deadline in responding to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The environmental group had sought the emails to see how industry contacts might be influencing decisions by officials like Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, to roll back Obama-era regulations on climate-change causing emissions and other pollutants.
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="2cfac" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="N0D5N21576662191"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1082419241859600385" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: Court Rules EPA Must Turn Over Tens of Thousands of Wheeler, Wherum Emails & Calendars https://t.co/57S7BUv2sd</div> — Sierra Club (@Sierra Club)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/statuses/1082419241859600385">1546903832.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>"The law is clear: the EPA must produce these documents, it must do so quickly, and if necessary it must re-allocate staff to speed things up and lift the curtain on the toxic relationship between Trump's appointees and the polluters they are supposed to be protecting us from," Senior Sierra Club Attorney Elena Saxonhouse, who helped argue the case, said in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2019/01/news-court-rules-epa-must-turn-over-tens-thousands-wheeler-wherum-emails" target="_blank">press release</a>.<br></p><p>The court mandated a 10 month timeline for the release of the documents, which will begin as soon as the federal government fully reopens pending the end of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-government-shutdown-2624595019.html" target="_self">ongoing shutdown</a>. The FOIA request targeted 25 Trump administration officials at the EPA including Wheeler, Office of Air and Radiation head and former corporate lawyer Bill Wehrum, top Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention official and former <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chemicals" target="_blank">chemical</a> industry lobbyist Nancy Beck and Albert "Kell" Kelly, who was formerly in charge of a task force on improving the way the EPA cleans toxic sites and has a lifetime ban from working in banking, The Washington Post reported.</p><p>The EPA had said it was so inundated with FOIA requests that it needed until 2022 to release the documents, but the Sierra Club argued successfully that the release could not wait that long, in part because President <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-wheeler-epa-permanently-2620669300.html" target="_blank">has indicated</a> he will nominate Wheeler to officially replace former Administrator <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" target="_self">Scott Pruitt</a>, who resigned in part because of scandals revealed through previous Sierra Club FOIA requests. </p><p>"The Senate should not act on Wheeler's expected nomination until we know exactly what he is up to behind the scenes. The revelations which FOIA'd emails uncovered about Scott Pruitt were unprecedented, shocking, and helped bring about his rapid downfall," Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in the press release. "Now, we await tens of thousands of emails between Andrew Wheeler, his industry-conflicted deputies, and the polluters they are supposed to be protecting us from. Given Wheeler and Wherum's history of exclusively protecting polluter profits, we can only imagine what abuses these documents are likely to uncover."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="891d9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="NXU68R1576662191"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1080699039727976449" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">In its latest attack on clean air protections, Trump's @EPA released its new proposal to weaken the Obama-era Mercu… https://t.co/eDysFSPSwW</div> — Moms Clean Air Force #ClimateAction 🆘 (@Moms Clean Air Force #ClimateAction 🆘)<a href="https://twitter.com/CleanAirMoms/statuses/1080699039727976449">1546493704.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
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Court Tosses Controversial Pipeline Permits, Rules Forest Service Failed to ‘Speak for the Trees’
14 December 2018
Energy
McAfee Knob along the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. Appalachian Trail Conservancy / NPS
The Lorax would not approve of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline—the controversial pipeline intended to carry fracked natural gas through 600 miles in Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. That's the sentiment behind a ruling by a Virginia appeals court Thursday tossing out a U.S. Forest Service permit for the pipeline to cross 21 miles of national forest in Virginia, including a part of the Appalachian Trail, The News & Observer reported.
<p>"We trust the United States Forest Service to 'speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues,'" the Richmond, Virginia U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit wrote in its ruling, quoting the Dr. Seuss classic. "A thorough review of the record leads to the necessary conclusion that the Forest Service abdicated its responsibility to preserve national forest resources. This conclusion is particularly informed by the Forest Service's serious environmental concerns that were suddenly, and mysteriously, assuaged in time to meet a private pipeline company's deadlines."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="c7405" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="L4J53E1576662505"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1073302531101655041" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Federal court on Atlantic Coast Pipeline permit: "The Forest Service abdicated its responsibility to preserve natio… https://t.co/5Gru1LfyIS</div> — The Virginia Mercury (@The Virginia Mercury)<a href="https://twitter.com/MercuryVirginia/statuses/1073302531101655041">1544730239.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and the Southern Company, the companies behind the pipeline, had sought permission to cross the George Washington National Forest and the Monongahela National Forest. Work would have required clearing a 125-foot path for construction through the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/forests" target="_blank">forests</a> and leaving a 50 foot path around the pipeline for maintenance. <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> lawyer Nathan Matthews told The News & Observer that the companies would have to build 50 to 100 more miles to navigate around the forests.<br></p><p>"This is a really consequential decision for this project," Greg Buppert, an attorney with the <a href="https://www.southernenvironment.org/" target="_blank">Southern Environmental Law Center</a>, which brought the lawsuit against the permit on behalf of several environmental groups including the Sierra Club, told <a href="https://www.virginiamercury.com/2018/12/13/if-were-dominion-id-be-panicked-federal-court-vacates-another-atlantic-coast-pipeline-permit/" target="_blank">The Virginia Mercury</a>. "If I were Dominion I would be panicked."</p><p>The court's decision comes <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/atlantic-coast-pipeline-endangered-species-2623037745.html" target="_self">nearly a week</a> after the same court halted construction on the pipeline until it can rule on permits granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service allowing the pipeline to build in the habitat of four <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered species</a>. Thursday's decision introduces yet another setback to the project.</p><p>"This decision reinforces that the tide has turned against fracked gas pipelines," Matthews said in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2018/12/federal-court-throws-out-approval-acp-through-national-forests" target="_blank">Sierra Club statement</a>. These dirty and destructive projects are no longer a done deal. It's simple, there is no right way to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline—or any fracked gas pipeline. For the sake of our health, climate, communities, and its own ratepayers, Dominion should abandon this dirty, dangerous project once and for all."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="16e0c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="OHFXGE1576662505"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1073300919712997377" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">"There is no right way to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline -- or any fracked gas pipeline. For the sake of our hea… https://t.co/62THRGu3aq</div> — Sierra Club (@Sierra Club)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/statuses/1073300919712997377">1544729854.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Dominion Energy is reportedly planning to ask Congress for a workaround to the decision, according to The Virginia Mercury.<br></p><p>"If allowed to stand, this decision will severely harm consumers and do great damage to our economy and energy security," pipeline spokesman Aaron Ruby wrote in an email to The News & Observer. "Public utilities are depending on this infrastructure to meet the basic energy needs of millions of people and businesses in our region."</p><p>The court, on the other hand, suggested that the pipeline could severely harm the forests. It found that the Forest Service had raised concerns about the impact construction would have on erosion, sedimentation, increased landslide risk and the habitat of the little brown bat, which <a href="https://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/virginia-threatened-endangered-species.pdf" target="_blank">is endangered in Virginia</a>. But it then dismissed those concerns when it approved permits in November 2017 and January 2018. </p><p>The court also ruled that the Forest Service could not authorize the pipeline to cross the Appalachian Trail, which is under the management of the National Park System, The Virginia Mercury reported.</p><p>"At the very least this sends Dominion back to the drawing board," Buppert told The Virginia Mercury. "And at some point, the costs of this project get too outrageous."</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="a29ed" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="X3TJ5V1576662505"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="988534265657876480" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">With Treetop Protest, 61-Year-Old Red Terry Leads Fight Against Mountain Valley Pipeline https://t.co/kvIkoZQL7k… https://t.co/BVNFojO1fv</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/988534265657876480">1524519909.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
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Court Orders Atlantic Coast Pipeline Work Stoppage Over Impact on Endangered Species
11 December 2018
Energy
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would cross the Greenbrier River in West Virginia. West Virginia Rivers Coalition / YouTube screenshot
Work on the controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would carry fracked natural gas along a 600 mile route through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, has been halted by court order and may not resume for several months, The News & Observer reported Monday.
A federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia ruled on Friday that work must stop on the pipeline until March, when courts are set to review federal permits that allow the pipeline to operate in the habitat of four endangered species, which wildlife advocates say were rushed.
<p>"When we said we won't stop fighting this dirty, dangerous, unnecessary pipeline, we meant it. Every day that this pipeline isn't operating is a day that it's not hurting our health, water, climate and communities," <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign director Kelly Martin <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2018/12/atlantic-coast-pipeline-halts-all-construction" target="_blank">said in a statement</a>.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="4b7e3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="W6OD301576662506"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1071175719533862912" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">BREAKING: Fracked gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline Halts All Construction.
“This latest setback casts serious doubts on… https://t.co/LUuM75AGJB</div> — Sierra Club (@Sierra Club)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/statuses/1071175719533862912">1544223167.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>The Sierra Club has joined with other environmental groups including the <a href="http://www.vawilderness.org/" target="_blank">Virginia Wilderness Committee</a> to sue to stop the pipeline through the <a href="https://www.southernenvironment.org/" target="_blank">Southern Environmental Law Center</a> (SELC). A case brought by these groups led the courts to vacate <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/second-controversial-fracked-gas-pipeline-runs-into-legal-trouble-2593893066.html" target="_self">two key permits for the project in August</a>. But work resumed when federal agencies issued <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/atlantic-coast-pipeline-construction-2606259760.html" target="_self">revised permits in September</a>. It is the revised permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond has once again put on hold until a full legal challenge can be considered.</p><p>"The Fish and Wildlife Service scrambled to reissue this permit and its haste is evident in its analysis," SELC attorney Patrick Hunter told <a href="http://www.wfae.org/post/atlantic-coast-pipeline-work-halted-after-court-stays-key-permit#stream/0" target="_blank">WFAE</a>. "This is yet another instance of government agencies rushing out ill-considered permits for this project."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="16991" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7IP6GB1576662506"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1071163315039162370" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Breaking news: Atlantic Coast Pipeline construction halted after court determines U.S. Fish and Wildlife permit is… https://t.co/sG2tBVe99w</div> — SELC (Environmental Law) (@SELC (Environmental Law))<a href="https://twitter.com/selc_org/statuses/1071163315039162370">1544220210.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Dominion Energy, which is building the pipeline with Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and the Southern Company, announced Friday it was stopping construction.<br></p><p>"Dominion Energy, on behalf of Atlantic and itself, has stopped construction on the entire project, except for stand-down activities needed for safety and that are necessary to prevent detriment to the environment," it wrote in a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reported by WFAE.</p><p>However, the pipeline's builders are also challenging the work stoppage, arguing that the habitat of the species in question only covers 100 miles of the route in Virginia and West Virginia, and that they should be able to continue construction in other areas. </p><p>Here are the species at the heart of the dispute, and how pipeline construction could impact them, according to The News & Observer.</p><p><strong>1. Indiana Bat</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODk5MzA0MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzOTkzODU0Mn0.qUa2Ymb1hHYOzCjAAJ6eUiaEWAk_HUnh_rAtX0H2XKU/img.jpg?width=980" id="b39db" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="135b445031c0b7a97650f3d53870642a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">An Indiana bat</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Andrew King, USFWS</small></p><p>The Indiana bat lives along most of the pipeline's route in Virginia and West Virginia. The clearing of trees for the pipeline would compel pregnant female bats to change their flight patterns and make them more vulnerable to predators.<br></p><p><strong>2. Clubshell Mussel</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODk5MzA0My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMTAzODQ5NH0.8r-83IvsteGTZWrMG1XsCKdqbfeuzkb-_DLVEDNX7c0/img.jpg?width=980" id="b7bdd" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1163311879a3f3295f20ad7949ee8323" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Clubshell mussels </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">USFWS</small></p><p>This freshwater mussel could be buried alive by the dredging and grading required to build the pipeline.</p><p><strong>3. Madison Cave Isopod</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODk5MzA0NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjgwMjU3N30.o5aBXF7N7GV8PUG-TBRlQTluOtjH4pzRL_IwoN0YEVo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b1558" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3584ce72c270fab869594313b2778d74" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">A Madison cave isopod </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">USFWS Northeast Region / <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en" target="_blank">CC BY 2.0</a></small></p><p>A type of freshwater crustacean, this tiny isopod could be crushed or trapped by digging or blasting by the pipeline builders.<br></p><p><strong>4. Rusty-Patched Bumblebee</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODk5MzA0NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyODQyMzQyMn0.1aPb2XKmNlEoi_MBJlpIhuHdEBAarb8L5wo542DH1cw/img.jpg?width=980" id="f5e6a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7a40c465a2c092dffe9f118723723280" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">A rusty-patched bumblebee</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Kim Mitchell, USFWS</small></p><p>The rusty patched bumblebee could be hurt or killed by falling of trees cleared to make way for the pipeline.</p><p>.</p>
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