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For Immediate Release
April, 19 2018, 12:00am EDT
Contact:
Steve Blackledge 916-952-3224, SBlackledge@environmentamerica.org
Christy Leavitt, 202-683-1250 x313, Christyl@environmentamerica.org
Trump Administration Lays Groundwork For Arctic Refuge Drilling Plan
WASHINGTON
The Trump administration has started the process to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling. Tomorrow, the Department of Interior notice, detailing the Bureau of Land Management's plan to implement an oil and gas leasing program, will be posted in the Federal Register, beginning a 60-day public comment period.
Steve Blackledge, Conservation Program Director for Environment America, issued the following statement:
"Opening the Arctic Refuge for drilling is a foolish move, and Americans will need to stand up in opposition. Drilling will damage habitats important to polar bears, caribou and other wildlife, all for oil, a dirty product that we must continue to move away from. The administration is proposing this at a time when we're seeing remarkable growth in solar and wind power, and major automakers such as GM are talking about the end of the combustion engine. We can do much better than this."
With Environment America, you protect the places that all of us love and promote core environmental values, such as clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and clean energy to power our lives. We're a national network of 29 state environmental groups with members and supporters in every state. Together, we focus on timely, targeted action that wins tangible improvements in the quality of our environment and our lives.
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Trump Cabinet of Villains Grows With Gabbard for DNI, Gaetz for AG
"The most adept satirist could not create a more shameful lineup of Cabinet secretaries," said one critic.
Nov 13, 2024
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump continued to stoke global fears for the future on Wednesday by announcing more picks for top leadership positions in his next administration: former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and Republican Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general.
The president-elect also confirmed his widely reported plan to name Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as secretary of state. The Associated Pressnoted that "the choices continued a pattern of Trump stocking his Cabinet with loyalists he believes he can trust to execute his agenda rather than longtime officials with experience in their fields."
The announcements have provoked comparisons to blockbuster villains. One social media user quipped that "Trump's Cabinet is shaping up like Dr. Evil's collection of henchmen," while Justin Jones—a Tennessee Democrat expelled from the state Legislature over a gun violence protest but then reinstated last year—pointed to Voldemort, the leading antagonist in the Harry Potter book and film series.
Gabbard was deployed to Kuwait and Iraq as a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard. She represented the state as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2013 to 2021. During the 2020 cycle, Gabbard launched a longshot presidential bid but ultimately backed President Joe Biden. The "dark horse" ditched the Democratic Party in 2022 and, as Politicoput it, "became a fixture in conservative media." After endorsing Trump in August, she hit the campaign trail.
The ex-congresswoman, who officially joined the Republican Party last month, has been a longtime critic of U.S. foreign policy. Opponents of her selection on Wednesday highlighted her history of being "extremely sympathetic" to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen called her forthcoming nomination "a coup for the Kremlin."
Paul Eaton, a retired U.S. Army major general and a senior adviser to VoteVets, said in a statement that "putting Tulsi Gabbard in charge of our intelligence, which keeps Americans safe here and abroad, is dangerous and reckless. In Gabbard, Trump has a complete and total loyalist who will use and wield our intelligence to Trump's benefit, not to protect America and our Constitution."
"In combination with many of Trump's other appointments and nominations, we see a picture coming together of an administration made up of unqualified, marginal zealots who will constantly be trying to please their leader rather than fulfill their oath to put the Constitution and the safety of the American people above the president's ego," he added. "Many warned that Trump would dispense of all guardrails in a second term, so every whim of his would be carried out without question or protest. We are now seeing exactly what that looks like."
Journalists and other political observers were quick to note that Gabbard and Gaetz would be "tough" nominees to get even a Republican-controlled Senate to confirm.
"Oh, for f*ck's sake," Food & Water Watch managing director of policy and litigation Mitch Jones said of Gaetz's selection. "The Senate should overwhelmingly reject this nomination."
However, there are mounting fears Trump will try to force through his most controversial picks—including Pete Hegseth, the Army veteran, lobbyist for war criminals, and "Fox & Friends" host set to lead the Pentagon—with recess appointments.
Economics reporter Joseph Zeballos-Roig wrote on social media Wednesday that "Trump nominating Gaetz, Gabbard, and Hegseth in a 24-hour period for key government posts suggests he doesn't see limits for what a GOP Senate will swallow."
Recalling a historic lie from one of Trump's former press secretaries, New York Times opinion columnist Ezra Klein said: "Demanding Senate Republicans back Gaetz as attorney general and Hegseth as defense secretary is the 2024 version of forcing Sean Spicer to say it was the largest inauguration crowd ever. These aren't just appointments. They're loyalty tests. The absurdity is the point."
"It also reflects a difference between Trump in 2020 and Trump in 2024: In 2020, Trump didn't have the pull with Senate Republicans... to impose this kind of loyalty test," Klein added. "He didn't even have it with many of his own appointees. Now, well, we'll see."
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) declared that "Matt Gaetz is unconfirmable, he is the canary in the recess appointment coal mine."
Gaetz is a Trump loyalist known for ousting former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last year. Some of his critics on Wednesday directed attention to an ongoing House Ethics Committee probe into allegations of sex trafficking. A U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation ended with no charges and the congressman has denied any wrongdoing.
The president-elect is particularly hostile toward the Department of Justice, due to the two federal cases he faced for trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden and taking classified materials to Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resident.
"Trump's desire to nominate Gaetz for attorney general marks an effort to simultaneously degrade and weaponize the DOJ, subverting its mission of principled, nonpartisan law enforcement while punishing those who pursued charges against Trump (and, perhaps, against Gaetz himself)," wroteSlate's Mark Joseph Stern.
"It is a shocking choice, surely by design, that reflects an obvious desire to corrupt the agency from the top down," he added. "If Gaetz is confirmed, it's no exaggeration to say that the Justice Department will be permanently damaged, as civil servants flee (or face termination), partisan loyalists take their place, and the entire agency reorients around settling old scores against Trump's perceived enemies."
Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, similarly warned in a Wednesday statement that the graduate of William & Mary Law School "would lead a vengeful, authoritarian, and lawless Department of Justice."
"As a member of Congress, Gaetz has demonstrated contempt for the rule of law, truth, and decency," Weissman asserted. "He is singularly unqualified to lead an agency that enforces civil rights laws and environmental protection statutes. Under Gaetz, we'd have every reason to expect an America where corporate criminals walk free but immigrants and people of color are harassed or rounded up with minimal pretext."
Drop Site News' Ryan Grim acknowledged that Gaetz is "good" on some issues—like press freedom and surveillance—but critics like Common Cause President & CEO Virginia Kase Solomón stressed that he "has consistently worked against democracy and accountability."
On January 6, 2021, Gaetz "supported efforts to overturn the 2020 election and has since continued to shield those who attempted to subvert our democratic processes," Kase Solomón said. "His anti-voter agenda includes pushing legislation that would strip eligible voters from the rolls, even threatening government shutdowns to enforce voter suppression. Beyond that, his rhetoric and actions reveal a troubling history of encouraging violence against racial justice protesters and promoting dangerous white supremacist ideologies. This is not a candidate who values equality, justice, or the rights of all Americans."
In addition to Gaetz, Gabbard, Hegseth, and Rubio, Trump has chosen GOP South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem for homeland security secretary, former Congressman John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) for Central Intelligence Agency director, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) for United Nations ambassador, and ex-Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) for Environmental Protection Agency administrator.
Trump has also selected multiple people whose posts don't require Senate confirmation: former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan for "border czar," first-term adviser Stephen Miller for deputy chief of staff for policy, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) for national security adviser, and longtime GOP strategist Susie Wiles for White House chief of staff.
The president-elect further announced Tuesday that billionaire campaign surrogates Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the yet-to-be-created Department of Government Efficiency to gut regulations and federal agencies.
Meanwhile, to track and challenge the incoming administration's attacks, the watchdog Accountable.US on Wednesday announced the Trump Accountability War Room and two Democrats launched Governors Safeguarding Democracy.
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Cori Bush Calls On Biden to Protect Reproductive Rights With ERA
"President Biden has two months," said the congresswoman.
Nov 13, 2024
With just over two months to go until U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to take all the action he can to protect reproductive rights from Republican leader who has bragged about his role in ensuring Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Biden "must immediately direct the archivist of the United States to certify and publish the Equal Rights Amendment which can protect access to abortion care and contraception," said the Missouri Democrat, who co-chairs the Congressional Caucus for the Equal Rights Amendment.
Bush's call comes more than a year after the congresswoman and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) introduced the ERA Now Resolution, urging Colleen Shogan, the archivist of the United States, to certify state ratifications of the amendment and publish it in the Federal Register, which would formally cement it as part of the U.S. Constitution.
First introduced 101 years ago, the ERA would guarantee legal equality for women and men in the U.S. It could push judges to overturn anti-abortion rights laws on the basis that they violate a constitutional right to gender equality. In Utah, a state-level ERA has successfully blocked an abortion ban.
Since first being proposed, the ERA was passed by Congress in 1972 and sent to the states for ratification. Virginia became the 38th state to ratify it in 2020, meeting the threshold for it to become law.
"Today the ERA has met all the constitutional requirements to become the 28th Amendment—all that's standing in the way is some paperwork," said Bush in July on the anniversary of the ERA's introduction. "As Republicans and the Supreme Court's extremist majority continue to attack access to abortion care, contraception, and LGBTQ+ rights, the ERA is needed now more than ever to protect our communities. I'm urging the archivist to fulfill her ministerial duty by certifying and publishing the Equal Rights Amendment and affirming it as the 28th Amendment."
The overturning of Roe in 2022 paved the way for at least 21 states to ban or restrict abortion care. Republicans in Congress have proposed a nationwide 15-week abortion ban. Trump has claimed he would not sign a national ban but Vice President-elect JD Vance has expressed support for one.
"There is always the possibility of a national ban," Brittany Fonteno, president of the National Abortion Federation, toldThe Cut on Wednesday.
In her July statement, Bush said that "one hundred and one years of advocacy have brought us to this moment, and we refuse to wait a minute longer to cement constitutional gender equality as the law of the land in St. Louis, Missouri, and across the nation."
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US Labor Board Bans Captive Audience Meetings to Ensure 'Truly Free' Worker Choice
"Today's decision better protects workers' freedom to make their own choices in exercising their rights," said the chair of the National Labor Relations Board.
Nov 13, 2024
In a decision that advocates say will likely be reversed during the second administration of Republican U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday ruled that employers cannot force workers to attend anti-union speeches.
The NLRB's 3-1 decision in Amazon.com Services, LLCmeans that workers will no longer have to take part in so-called "captive audience meetings," which employers often use as a union-busting tool and a form of coercion. The agency explained that such meetings violate Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act "because they have a reasonable tendency to interfere with and coerce employees."
"However, the board made clear that an employer may lawfully hold meetings with workers to express its views on unionization so long as workers are provided reasonable advance notice of: the subject of any such meeting, that attendance is voluntary with no adverse consequences for failure to attend, and that no attendance records of the meeting will be kept," the NLRB added.
NLRB Chairperson Lauren McFerran, a Democrat, said in a statement that "ensuring that workers can make a truly free choice about whether they want union representation is one of the fundamental goals of the National Labor Relations Act."
"Captive audience meetings—which give employers near-unfettered freedom to force their message about unionization on workers under threat of discipline or discharge—undermine this important goal," McFerran added. "Today's decision better protects workers' freedom to make their own choices in exercising their rights under the act, while ensuring that employers can convey their views about unionization in a noncoercive manner."
In April 2022, the NLRB's general counsel office issued a memo asserting that captive audience meetings are illegal. At least 11 states have banned such meetings. Other states are in various stages of considering or enacting bans or restrictions on them.
Workers' rights advocates hailed Wednesday's decision, although labor journalist Hamilton Nolan quipped on social media that employees should "enjoy this brief shining period before the Trump NLRB reverses this decision."
However, More Perfect Union producer Jordan Zakarin argued that Democrats can protect this "monumental win for labor" for "the next few years" if "they finally confirm" President Joe Biden's nomination of Joshua Ditelberg—a Republican lawyer who has represented companies including Amazon, Airbnb, and UnitedHealth—to fill the fifth NLRB seat.
According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI)—a Washington, D.C.-based, pro-union think tank—U.S. employers spend an estimated $433 million per year on union-busting consultants.
"This reality makes it harder for workers to fight for their collective bargaining rights because they do not know the extent of their companies' investments in union-busting, a figure that could empower them at the negotiating table when employers claim they can't afford to increase pay and benefits," EPI said last year.
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