©2024 League of Conservation Voters
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Your weekly resource to learn what the environmental movement is saying about the news of the day and the political fight of our generation. Be sure to follow LCV on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
“The only existential threat to humanity is climate change.”
— President Biden during the first presidential debate on CNN.
“None of this happens without the IRA. Period.”
— Bob Blake, a Tribal citizen of the Red Lake Nation and Founder and CEO of Solar Bear, on how the Inflation Reduction Act has enabled him to expand his solar company.
“In one fell swoop, the majority today gives itself exclusive power over every open issue—no matter how expertise-driven or policy-laden—involving the meaning of regulatory law.”
— Justice Elena Kagan in her dissenting opinion on the Supreme Court’s decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Dept of Commerce which weakened agency power and threatened public protections by overturning the Chevron doctrine, a 40 year old legal precedent that helped scientists and experts protect the people from corporate abuses.
DOI ANNOUNCES OFFSHORE WIND LEASE SALE IN CENTRAL ATLANTIC: The Department of the Interior announced that it will hold an offshore wind energy lease sale in the Central Atlantic. The areas to be auctioned could generate up to 6.3 gigawatts of clean, renewable energy, or enough to power up to 2.2 million homes.
OUR TAKE: LCV Vice President of Government Affairs Sara Chieffo said, “Offshore wind plays a vital role in creating good-paying union jobs building clean, reliable energy for millions across the country. Today’s announcement is yet another step in President Biden’s Affordable Clean Energy Plan that’s delivering the climate action he promised.”
MDLCV TAKE: Maryland LCV Executive Director Kim Coble said, “Today’s announcement is a major step toward Maryland reaching our state’s goal of 8.5 GW of offshore wind energy. Our clean energy future provides good-paying union jobs and economic opportunities across the state. Additionally, by reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and the associated air pollution, we anticipate health savings in the hundreds of millions of dollars. We also believe there is even greater potential for expansion in the Central Atlantic and look forward to continuing to work with federal and state agencies to invest in our state’s economic and environmental benefits.”
VLCV TAKE: Virginia LCV Deputy Director Lee Francis said, “Further offshore wind deployment off our coast means more good-paying jobs in Virginia, more investment in local communities, and more clean energy powering our daily lives – all of which results in a healthy economy and a healthy environment. With the nation’s largest offshore wind project currently in development off our coast, and already creating good-paying jobs here in the Commonwealth, Virginia’s solidified its place as an offshore wind leader on the East Coast. This lease sale will allow us to go even further as we continue working toward 100 percent clean energy.”
DOI ANNOUNCES PROTECTIONS FOR 28 MILLION ACRES OF LANDS IN ALASKA: The Department of the Interior has announced protections for 28 million acres of lands in Alaska, building on the Biden-Harris administration’s incredible conservation legacy of protecting over 41 million acres of public lands.
OUR TAKE: LCV Conservation Program Director America Fitzpatrick said, “LCV applauds President Biden and Secretary Haaland for heeding the calls of Alaska Native communities to retain protections for 28 million acres of public lands that are essential for their traditional subsistence. These lands, known as D-1 lands, are some of the largest intact landscapes left in the country that includes wildlife habitat, watersheds and river systems that sustain salmon populations and provide resilience to the impacts of climate change. These protections expand on President Biden’s outstanding conservation record of protecting over 41 million acres during his administration, including the recent historic action to protect 13 million acres of the Western Arctic, and further cements his legacy of putting people, our places, and our climate first.”
HUD ANNOUNCES FUNDING FOR CLIMATE RESILIENT, ENERGY EFFICIENT RENOVATIONS: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it will invest an additional $142 million in the Green and Resilient Retrofit program to fund climate resilient and energy efficient renovation projects for over 2,200 low-income households. These investments will help reduce climate pollution and improve quality of life for low-income households that receive funding by making their homes more resilient to the impacts of the climate crisis, such as extreme heat, and improving indoor air quality.
BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES $850 MILLION TO REDUCE METHANE POLLUTION FROM OIL AND GAS SECTOR: EPA and DOE announced that applications are open for $850 million in federal funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for projects to monitor and reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. This builds on the nearly 100 additional actions that federal agencies took to cut methane pollution last year.
EPA AWARDS NEARLY $9 MILLION TO REDUCE AIR POLLUTION FROM WOOD HEATERS: EPA awarded an $8,804,000 grant under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) and its partner air agencies to support the reduction of air pollution from wood heaters. The grant will support emissions testing and other activities that can determine which wood heaters are better for public health and the environment.
BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES $22.4 MILLION TO PROTECT AND RESTORE CHESAPEAKE BAY: EPA announced grants of $22.4 million to 13 selectees through the Innovative Nutrient & Sediment Reduction grant program, which focuses on water quality restoration and protection in the Chesapeake Bay. The selectees will additionally leverage $35.3 million in matching contributions to generate a total conservation impact of $57.7 million.
BIDEN, TRUMP FACE OFF IN FIRST PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: On Thursday night, President Biden and former President Donald Trump faced off in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle.
OUR TAKE: LCV Senior Vice President of Campaigns Pete Maysmith said, “Tonight’s debate showed that the choice could not be clearer come November. One candidate, a convicted felon, is willing to do or say anything because he is in it for himself. The other is the president who has made more progress on fighting the climate crisis while creating jobs and lowering costs than any other administration ever. Unsurprisingly, Trump continued to rattle off unhinged and false claims about climate and clean energy, even inexplicably stating ‘we had H2O’ when he was president. The truth is he has vowed to roll back the historic progress made by the Biden Administration, with an oil executive’s wish list that will raise costs for families and jeopardize the health of our communities. Trump has openly and repeatedly put special interests before the people of this country by cozying up to Big Oil CEOs who are looking to increase their profit margin by keeping costs high for consumers. Meanwhile, Joe Biden demonstrated once again he is committed to combating the climate crisis, building a clean energy future, making clean energy affordable and providing good-paying, family sustaining jobs. Biden understands that combating the climate crisis is good for consumers’ wallets and that the current extreme weather is not natural.”
LCV VICTORY FUND RUNS TV AD BEFORE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: Ahead of Thursday’s presidential debate, LCV Victory Fund ran a new TV ad highlighting Trump’s attempt to strike a corrupt deal with Big Oil, showing that he prioritizes personal gain and the interests of Big Oil over the health and safety of people.
LCVVF TAKE: LCV Victory Fund Senior Vice President of Campaigns Pete Maysmith said, “As extreme weather conditions intensify across the country, the choice could not be clearer this November. Over the past four years in office, President Biden has passed more than 300 environmental actions supporting environmental justice, conservation, and clean energy efforts solidifying him as the president who has made more climate progress than any other president. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump has made it clear both during his time in office and on the 2024 campaign trail that he intends to reverse the climate progress achieved by the Biden Administration, rolling back 100 environmental protections as President, calling global warming a ‘hoax’, and stating he would be a dictator on day one to ‘drill, drill, drill.’”
FERC APPROVES CP2: FERC approved a permit to construct Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2), a massive liquefied methane gas export facility, in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. If constructed, CP2 would have disastrous effects on the surrounding communities. FERC’s approval underscores why the Department of Energy’s role reviewing LNG exports, and the Biden-Harris DOE’s reconsideration of CP2’s public interest review, are essential.
OUR TAKE: LCV Senior Federal Advocacy Campaigns Director Leah Donahey said, “FERC’s decision today is the wrong call. CP2 is the most dangerous and controversial LNG export project ever proposed in the U.S. and, if built, will devastate local communities, drive up energy prices, and increase the pollution causing climate change. We stand with President Biden and the Department of Energy for its common sense decision to pause the development of new methane gas export facilities while they conduct a thorough and much-needed analysis of these projects’ health, economic, climate, and environmental justice impacts. An updated and thorough determination process by DOE must lead to an eventual rejection of CP2 given that the facility’s harmful economic and environmental impacts are clearly not in the public interest.”
SCOTUS BLOCKS “GOOD NEIGHBOR” RULE: In their decision on Ohio v. EPA, SCOTUS’ MAGA Justices blocked EPA’s “Good Neighbor” rule, staying the program that is designed to regulate interstate smog-forming air pollution in the U.S. This was the first of several attacks this week by the MAGA Justices on public agencies that protect the people from Big Polluters and other powerful corporate interests.
OUR TAKE: LCV Vice President of Federal Policy and former EPA scientist Matthew Davis said, “Today’s ruling from extreme MAGA Supreme Court justices showed they are once again putting Big Polluters over people, our planet, and future generations. Despite the risk that it poses to our children’s lungs and agricultural crops, the Supreme Court has decided to gamble with the lives and health of communities by freezing the EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan smog limits, which will worsen air quality in urban and rural communities across the country and benefit polluters who damage the integrity of our fight for clean air and environmental justice for all.
“Our communities deserve to live without the fear that the air they breathe damages their health. We need judges who will enforce environmental laws instead of dismantling them. These MAGA Justices have proven time and again that they will twist the law to serve the fossil fuel industry’s bottom line — including Justices with shady ties to Big Polluters. Congress must pass a binding code of ethics for Supreme Court Justices as well as the Judiciary Act to expand and rebalance the Supreme Court with justices who will protect our rights and follow the law.”
SCOTUS LIMITS AGENCY POWER TO ENFORCE PUBLIC PROTECTIONS: In another attack on public agencies, MAGA Justices ruled against the SEC in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, limiting the tools public agencies have for enforcing public protections established by Congress.
OUR TAKE: LCV Senior Director of Judiciary & Democracy Doug Lindner said, “Justice Sotomayor is right to say that today’s decision is a power grab. Extreme MAGA Supreme Court justices are once again grabbing power from the public agencies that protect our rights to health, safety, clean air, and clean water, and protect us from powerful corporate interests like Big Polluters. Today’s decision makes it harder for public agencies to enforce critical protections, subverts the will of the people, undermines the Congress and the President the people vote for, and could impact every area of public policy including the environment, our democracy, healthcare, reproductive rights, workers’ rights, immigrants’ rights, education, and so much more.
“Today’s power grab by the MAGA Justices is only the latest in their reckless, dangerous pattern of twisting the law to serve big business and MAGA extremists. We need Congress to expand and rebalance the Supreme Court with four new justices who will defend our rights, protections for our communities, and our democracy instead of rolling them back. And we need Supreme Court ethics legislation to stop the nation’s highest court from operating with the lowest ethical standards.”
SCOTUS OVERTURNS CHEVRON DOCTRINE: Finally, in a 6-2 ruling this morning, the Supreme Court’s MAGA Justices overturned the bedrock Chevron doctrine, a 40 year old legal principle that has been cited more than 18,000 times–more than almost any other precedent in American history. This decision may weaken agency power, giving that power instead to the Supreme Court’s MAGA justices and their extremist friends on the lower courts. Learn more about the case and the importance of the Chevron doctrine on the Power Source Blog.
OUR TAKE: LCV Senior Director of Judiciary & Democracy Doug Lindner said, “Today’s decision is yet another relentless power grab by MAGA Supreme Court justices trying to make it harder for public agencies to protect our communities, our democracy, health, clean air, and clean water. The Chevron Doctrine is one of the most fundamental principles in American law, and overturning this critical precedent shifts power away from the public agency experts who understand the science and the issues, and from the voters who elect the Congress and the President responsible for protecting us.
“This ruling serves no one but Big Polluters and corporate interests, especially the Big Oil mega donors like Charles Koch who funds the lawyers who brought this case, joins Justice Clarence Thomas on lavish vacations, and hosts Thomas at political fundraisers. MAGA Justices continue to attempt to gut climate action and protections for our communities, our rights to a free and fair democracy, our right to accessible abortions, and so many other critical rights and protections that impact the lives of every person across the country. We need Congress to hold the Supreme Court accountable by stopping our nation’s highest court from operating with the lowest ethical standards. And we need Congress to pass the Judiciary Act to expand and rebalance the Court with four new seats for Justices who respect the people’s rights and protections, instead of stripping them away.”
HOUSE REPUBLICANS RELEASE INTERIOR, ENERGY AND WATER APPROPRIATIONS BILLS: House Republicans released their Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies and Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Acts, which include provisions for mandatory oil and gas leasing, zeroing out funding for environmental justice and climate initiatives, blocking improvements in public engagement and input for federal projects, implementing a 20% cut to EPA’s budget, and more.
OUR TAKE: LCV Senior Government Affairs Advocate David Shadburn said, “The climate-denying House Republican majority has introduced some of the worst anti-environmental funding bills ever proposed by Congress on the heels of a record-breaking heatwave. Extreme MAGA Republicans have shown time and time again that they are doing the bidding of Big Oil by attacking all of the historic climate progress the Biden-Harris administration has made, from attempting to roll back the historic climate progress in the Inflation Reduction Act to attacking landmark climate and public health rulemakings. Despite Congress rejecting these same poison pill provisions just a few short months ago, extreme House Republicans continue to force issues that will further harm communities through riders attacking racial justice, the LGBTQIA+ community, humane immigration policies, access to abortion, and more. We urge Congress to stop wasting time, reject these draconian spending cuts and outlandish poison pill riders, and get serious about protecting our communities and adequately funding government programs.”
HOUSE PASSES FY25 APPROPRIATIONS BILLS: The House of Representatives passed H.R. 8752, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act; H.R. 8771, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act; and H.R. 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act largely along party lines.
Earlier this week, LCV led coalitions in sending letters to members of the House urging them to oppose H.R. 8752, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, and H.R. 8771, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, as well as anti-environmental provisions of H.R. 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act.
COALITION TAKE ON H.R. 8752: From the letter in which 30 environmental groups urged members to oppose H.R. 8752, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act: “We urge you to REJECT H.R. 8752, the FY 2025 Homeland Security appropriations bill, which would perpetuate damages and further harm to indigenous peoples, communities, and the sensitive environment along our southern border, while promoting a hateful and dangerous agenda to ostracize many in our communities and drive further division in our society.”
COALITION TAKE ON H.R. 8771: From the letter in which 19 environmental groups urged members to oppose H.R. 8771 the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act: “As another summer of extreme heat across the nation begins, H.R. 8771 seeks to undermine global climate efforts and compromise the United States’ global leadership in this fight, while neglecting the profound connections between climate change and the mounting development, humanitarian, and security concerns facing communities here at home and around the world. The steep funding cuts in this bill will undermine our international commitments on climate change and environmental protection, and are just the latest example of how these harmful spending caps, which this bill is painfully far under, result in spending cuts across all twelve appropriations bills. We urge Congress to reject these draconian limits and fully fund environmental programs in SFOPs and across the board.”
COALITION TAKE ON ANTI-ENVIRONMENTAL PROVISIONS IN H.R. 8774: From the letter in which 19 environmental groups urged members to remove anti-environmental provisions from H.R. 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, and vote against it if those were not removed: “H.R. 8774 includes several harmful poison pill riders that are unrelated to the funding focus of the bill. This bill blocks funding for a variety of executive orders on climate change that help reduce harmful pollution, advance environmental justice, jumpstart clean energy innovation and deployment, and accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. The damaging effects of these riders would include hobbling our government’s ability to mitigate, prepare for, and respond to the threats posed by climate change.”
LCV also led coalitions in sending letters to the House of Representatives making vote recommendations on amendments to each of the three appropriations bills.
COALITION TAKE ON AMENDMENT TO HR. 8752: From the letter issuing vote recommendations on amendments to H.R. 8752, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act: “This amendment would block efforts to advance environmental justice, particularly needed in communities on the front lines of climate change impacts and dangerous legacy environmental and health hazards. For too long, communities of color, Indigenous tribes, low income communities and other historically underserved groups have been forced to bear the brunt of climatic hazards, land annexation, and pollution and have rarely had adequate access to the benefits of our coasts, oceans and other natural spaces.”
COALITION TAKE ON AMENDMENT TO H.R 8771: From the letter urging members to oppose amendments to H.R. 8771, the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act: “This amendment would cut all US contributions to the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which is one of the longest lived multilateral environmental funds with an established record of confronting global challenges including biodiversity loss and wildlife trafficking, land degradation, toxic chemicals and plastic pollution.”
COALITION TAKE ON AMENDMENT TO H.R. 8774: From the letter urging members to oppose amendments to H.R. 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act: “President Biden’s Executive Order on Access to Voting is a critical effort to increase nonpartisan voter registration and participation when people interact with government agencies. This amendment would thwart common-sense, good-government innovations to better serve voters of all stripes, frustrating the goals of the decades-old, bipartisan National Voter Registration Act.”
LCV ACTION FUND ENDORSES CAROLINE GLEICH FOR SENATE: LCV Action Fund announced the endorsement of Caroline Gleich for election to the U.S. Senate representing Utah.
OUR TAKE: LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld said, “We need climate champions who will fight to protect communities, clean air and water, our public lands, and our future generations, which is why LCVAF is thrilled to endorse Caroline Gleich for U.S. Senate. Utahns are experiencing the devastating impacts of increasing extreme heat, and Caroline Gleich’s advocacy for people and the planet will help us fight against the climate crisis and build a more sustainable future for all.”
GLEICH TAKE: Caroline Gleich said, “I’m extremely proud to be endorsed by the LCV Action Fund in my campaign to represent Utah in the United States Senate. As a professional ski mountaineer, I understand the urgent need for taking climate action and investing in the clean energy economy of the future. That’s why I have spent a decade and a half advocating for clean air, clean water, and protected public lands on the local, state, and federal levels, and why preserving Utah’s health and environment is at the center of my campaign. Our health and planet can’t endure further delay in reducing carbon pollution. There is so much at stake for our climate in this election, and we simply can’t afford another Senator funded by big oil and other corporate special interests.”
LCV ACTION FUND ENDORSES KRISTEN MCDONALD RIVET FOR U.S. HOUSE SEAT: LCV Action Fund also announced the endorsement of State Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet for election to the U.S. House of Representatives representing Michigan’s 8th district.
OUR TAKE: LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld said, “Kristen McDonald Rivet has been a fighter in the Michigan Senate for clean water and air, clean energy jobs, our communities, and our future generations. Children and families in mid-Michigan have experienced some of the worst pollution and environmental injustice in the country, and LCVAF is all-in to support candidates like Kristen McDonald Rivet who will put people over polluters and protect all Michiganders’ rights to clean air and water and a clean energy future.”
MLCV TAKE: Michigan LCV Executive Director Lisa Wozniak said, “We have a responsibility to protect our air and water for future generations. Michigan’s lakes, rivers, and streams are some of our most vital resources, and we thank elected officials like Kristen McDonald Rivet who fight to protect them and fight against toxic pollution in our communities.”
MCDONALD RIVET TAKE: State Senator Kristen McDonald Rivet said, “I’m honored to have the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund in my corner as we fight to win MI-08. Together, we will continue the essential work of bringing good-paying clean energy jobs, pollution-free communities, and more reliable and lower cost energy sources to mid-Michigan.”
MASS LEGISLATORS SEEK $1.4 BILLION IN LIFE SCIENCES, CLIMATE TECH INVESTMENTS: Massachusetts legislators unveiled an economic development package that would dedicate $1.4 billion to the life sciences and climate tech sector. The proposals would allow the state to borrow $500 million for life sciences and $400 million for climate tech initiatives over 10 years, while also implementing tax incentives for life sciences companies and tax credits for climate tech investments.
ELM TAKE: Environmental League of Massachusetts President Elizabeth Turnbull Henry said, “Our state is poised to capitalize on historic levels of federal resources and interested investors looking for signals that we are serious about this sector. Gov. Healey has set the plan in motion, but it’s up to the Legislature to make this a reality. Between now and July 31, they have the power to shape this package and drive a transformative bill across the finish line.”
TAKE 2: Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund Executive Director Casey Bowers said, “We’re looking to ensure that climate tech goes statewide. It’s a bit of a new area for us to be working on, when you’re talking about an economic development bond bill. But we know we have a lot to do to reach our climate goals.”
WISCONSIN IS TELLING THE PUBLIC ABOUT IRA SAVINGS: The city of Green Bay is joining a statewide effort to inform Wisconsinites about incentives in the federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that’ll help them save money and protect the environment. Wisconsin Conservation Voters (WCV), alongside Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes announced a door-to-door canvassing campaign on Tuesday to help local residents, businesses and nonprofits leverage opportunities in the federal law. Together with other state organizations, WCV plans to knock on roughly 76,000 doors across the state to inform locals about the savings available to them from the IRA.
WCV TAKE: Wisconsin Conservation Voters Deputy Director Seth Hoffmeister said, “Through all of these conversations, we’re able to connect people with home or apartment upgrades that can make their daily lives more comfortable, help them save money on upfront costs of already planned purchases, reduce monthly utility bills and protect our environment for future generations.”
ON THE BLOG: June’s Top 5 blog is live, featuring stories on pro-environmental judges and President Biden’s latest milestone, a $900 million investment in clean school buses, Colorado’s actions to protect communities, land, and air, states advancing clean energy, and LCV endorsed candidates who won their respective primary elections. And, don’t forget to check out this week’s Good Climate News on the Power Source Blog for your weekly dose of optimism!
ON OUR SOCIALS: We’re passing the phone to someone who is bringing federal climate investments to his district, and a fan of President Biden’s actions to protect 13 million acres in the Western Arctic. We’re also checking the facts on the candidate’s environmental records (and calling out the lies) from last night’s presidential debate.
JULY 4: Independence Day.
JULY 11: Donald Trump sentencing in federal election interference case.
JULY 15-18: Republican National Convention.
AUGUST 1: National Poll Worker Recruitment Day.
©2024 League of Conservation Voters