Public Comment to DHS: Don't Rescind Immigrant Entrepreneur Rule

Late last week, news broke that the Department of Homeland Security plans to rescind the Obama-era rule allowing certain immigrants to move to America in order to start businesses here. This means we’ll be literally turning away immigrants who want to bring money and jobs into our communities.

DHS must accept public comments until June 28,2018 – meaning that by submitting a comment now, you can guarantee that your voice is heard. Our friends at FWD.us created a portal to help you submit your comments easily. Visit the portal now to submit a public comment asking DHS to reinstate the Immigrant Entrepreneur Rule.

Why is the International Entrepreneur Rule important?

1. Immigrants have helped start as many as 25% of all small businesses and high-tech startups across America.
2. More than 40% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.
3. Over half of the most successful private companies in America (“unicorns” valued at over $1 billion) have an immigrant founder.
4. A study from New American Economy estimates that the International Entrepreneur Rule could create over 300,000 new American jobs over the next ten years.

Immigrant entrepreneurs are key drivers of our economy – and those covered under this rule already have a solid business plan and financial backing. That means they’re ready to start contributing to their communities on day one. Turning down qualified, ambitious business-owners who want to build companies in our country is counterproductive and makes zero economic sense. Submit your comment today.

- Jeremy Robbins, New American Economy

TAKE ACTION: Urge your Reps to support Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2018!

Urge Your Representatives to Support Legislation That Combats Wildlife Trafficking!

On May 8, 2018, Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) and Rep. Don Young (R-AK), leading members of the House Natural Resources Committee, introduced a groundbreaking anti-wildlife trafficking bill which will revolutionize the ability of law enforcement to prosecute traffickers. This is the most powerful anti-wildlife trafficking bill of our generation.

Landmark legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives that will radically increase law enforcement capacity and strengthen regulations to combat wildlife trafficking. This bipartisan legislation is a game-changer for wildlife whistleblowers.

Here are three reasons why this is such a powerful piece of legislation:

1. It provides mandatory rewards to wildlife whistleblowers. 
2. It makes wildlife trafficking an offense under powerful, federal organized crime statutes. 
3. It mandates that monies recovered from successful prosecutions go directly into wildlife conservation. 

TAKE ACTION: Urge your Representatives to support the Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2018! 

Click here to find out your Representative. 

Click here for a directory of Representatives. 

Watch a short video about this bill featuring National Whistleblower Center executive director, Stephen M. Kohn.

Learn more about the bill on the National Whistleblower Center website.

Please continue your support through taking action, and sharing this with a friend.

- The NWC Team

Tell DHS: Stop separating families at the border

The petition to Department of Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen: “Separating families at the border is inhumane and unnecessary. Stop this cruel practice immediately.” Add your name:

Donald Trump and the racists who are implementing his dangerous immigration agenda are doing everything they can to instill fear in immigrant communities. Right now, they are ramping up their attacks on families by ripping children from their parents at the border. This cruel and inhumane policy is a choice, one made by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen with back-up from Trump's notoriously anti-immigrant Attorney General Jeff Sessions.1 Tell Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen: Stop separating families at the border. Click here to sign the petition. Ripping children away from their parents in extremely stressful and traumatic circumstances can cause lifelong damage to a person’s health and well-being. But since October of last year, Nielsen's DHS has separated more than 700 children, including at least 100 under the age of four, from their parents.2 The ACLU recently obtained nearly 30,000 pages of records from DHS and Customs and Border Protection that document systemic neglect and abuse of migrant children during President Obama's administration.3 Emboldened by Trump's racism and xenophobia, Nielsen and Sessions have given CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents even more permission to terrorize immigrants. We have to push back now or there will be more and more cases like these where deportation agents have separated: A Honduran mother from her 18-month-old child for more than 3 months after they presented themselves as asylum seekers to CBP.4 Mother and daughter asylum seekers fleeing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. For months, ICE held the 7-year-old daughter in a youth shelter more than 2,000 miles away from where it detained her mother.5 A mother and her two children fleeing gang violence in El Salvador. ICE jailed the 11-year-old and 3-year-old children in a facility built to house unaccompanied minors. Immigration enforcement refused to give the mother any information about her children’s whereabouts for more than a month.6 A father and infant son asylum seekers from El Salvador. ICE claimed that the family lacked identifying documents establishing their relationship even though the father showed agents his passport and son’s birth certificate.7 Tell Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen: Stop separating families at the border. Click here to sign the petition. The news of the increased cruelty of family separation is compounded by recent reports that Trump officials have lost track of 1,500 unaccompanied minors who entered the country without adult family members and by CBP's recent murder of Claudia Gonzalez, an immigrant from Guatemala. That's why we're joining with our friends at the National Domestic Workers Alliance, MomsRising, United We Dream, the ACLU and MoveOn for a massive day of action this Friday, June 1, in support of immigrant families. The more voices we have on this campaign, the more powerful our message will be. Click the link below to sign the petition demanding that Nielsen stop separating families at the border: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/no_family_separation?t=8&akid=28727%2E3130208%2EjRqpVz - Heidi Hess, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Aric Jenkins, "Jeff Sessions: Parents and Children Illegally Crossing the Border Will Be Separated," TIME, May 7, 2018. Caitlin Dickerson, "Hundreds of Immigrant Children Have Been Taken From Parents at U.S. Border," The New York Times, April 20, 2018. CBS News, "ACLU report: Records claim border agents neglected, abused migrant kids," May 25, 2018. Jamil Smith, "Trump's Separation of Children and Families Is What You Voted For," Rolling Stone, May 29, 2018. Ibid. Michael E. Miller and Jon Gerberg, "'Where’s Mommy?': A family fled death threats, only to face separation at the border." The Washington Post, March 18, 2018. Kate Morrissey, "Asylum-seeking fathers separated from children by ICE," San Diego Union Tribune, Dec. 4, 2017.

EPA inspector general: Investigate Scott Pruitt for hiding toxic water contamination

The petition to Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General Arthur A. Elkins, Jr. reads: "Investigate Scott Pruitt's systematic actions to withhold information from the public about water contamination by not releasing research and banning journalists." Add your name:

Get rid of that one!  Last week, the EPA forcibly removed an Associated Press reporter from a national summit on water contamination. The EPA had selectively banned several journalists from the event, holding a CNN reporter and others at a security checkpoint.1 When the AP reporter asked to speak to someone from the EPA's public affairs office, security guards grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her out of the building.2 The week before, news broke that EPA chief Scott Pruitt had quietly buried an EPA study on a nationwide water contamination crisis.3 The study found that a class of chemicals contaminating water supplies across a large region endangers human health when present at far lower levels than the EPA has previously called safe.4 Pruitt's efforts to keep the public in the dark about serious health risks are unethical, authoritarian and dangerous. The AP's executive editor called the selective banning of journalists “a direct threat to the public’s right to know about what is happening inside their government.”5 We must respond to that threat. Tell the EPA inspector general: Investigate Scott Pruitt for hiding research and banning journalists. Click here to sign the petition. This is not normal – but it is frighteningly easy to see how we got here. Trump's contempt for journalists and his shameless disregard for democratic norms have made his top officials feel free to conduct what should be public business without the pesky eyes of the public watching them. When the government hides environmental risks, our communities are less safe. And when public officials get to pick and choose which journalists are allowed to cover them, our democracy is less safe too. The only way to check the Trump regime's authoritarian advances is to resist them at every turn. The independent EPA inspector general has the authority to investigate Pruitt's actions. If we are loud enough in our demands, we can persuade the inspector general to investigate and build political pressure for Pruitt to be more transparent or to heed the growing calls for him to resign. Tell the EPA inspector general: Investigate Scott Pruitt for hiding research and banning journalists. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/investigate-pruitt?t=7&akid=28703%2E3130208%2ELO8OWr - Brandy Doyle, CREDO Add your name: References: Joanna Walters and agencies, Journalists barred from EPA summit on harmful water contaminants," The Guardian, May 22, 2018. Ibid. Annie Snider, White House, EPA headed off chemical pollution study," POLITICO, May 14, 2018. Ibid. Associated Press, "Pruitt bars AP, CNN from EPA summit on contaminants, guards push reporter out of building," NBC News, May 22, 2018.

Tell Senate Republicans: Demand that Mitch McConnell bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to a vote

Tell Senate Republicans: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is blocking a vote on the bipartisan legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. It’s time to put country over party and publicly call on him to hold a fair up-or-down vote for the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act." Add your name:

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has yielded multiple indictments of high-level Trump associates.1 But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continues his dangerous agenda of putting his party over democracy. He is trying to kill the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act, the bipartisan bill that would stop Trump from sabotaging Mueller. Trump has constantly threatened to fire Mueller – and many have speculated that Trump has come very close to firing Mueller's supervisor Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.2,3 McConnell will continue to be complicit in Trump’s lawlessness unless he lets Congress do its job and protect Mueller’s investigation into Trump. There are enough votes to pass this bill in the Senate – but only if McConnell allows it come to the floor.  Tell Senate Republicans: Demand that Mitch McConnell bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to the Senate floor for a fair up or down vote. Click here to sign the petition. McConnell says he will not allow a Senate vote on the bipartisan legislation because he doesn’t think the president will try to fire Mueller.4 But Trump already tried fire to Mueller back in June and only backed down when White House staff threatened to quit.5 Trump is doing everything he can to undermine Mueller's investigation. On Sunday, he tweeted that the FBI had placed a "spy" on his campaign – an attempt to weaken public confidence in the Department of Justice – and demanded that the DOJ open an investigation. 6 On Monday, he met with Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray. After the meeting, Rosenstein announced that the DOJ would turn over highly classified information from Mueller's investigation to congressional Republicans. This is an unprecedented breach of protocol and capitulation to partisan politics and Trump lapdog Devin Nunes, who has been making that demand for months in his role as House Intelligence Committee Chair.7 The vast majority of Americans think Mueller should conduct his investigation without presidential interference.8 That fact isn’t lost on the many GOP senators who’ve said they agree with the American people that Trump would be crossing a red line by disrupting the investigation now. A vote on this bill would send a strong message to Trump that the Senate will no longer be complicit in his attempts to undermine the investigation. Congress has a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check on the executive branch. With an illegitimate autocrat occupying the White House, our system of laws needs the strongest possible defense – no White House is above the law. Congress must step up now to make sure we have a truly independent investigation of Trump. Tell Senate Republicans: Demand that Mitch McConnell bring the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act to the Senate floor for a fair up or down vote. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/mcconnell_covering_for_Trump?t=7&akid=28674%2E3130208%2EuPFzj0 - Kaili Lambe, CREDO Action Add your name: Carl Hulse "Push for Special Counsel Bill Shows G.O.P.’s Rising Fear Mueller Will Be Fired," The New York Times, April 19, 2018. Chris Cillizza, "Donald Trump has never been more likely to fire Robert Mueller than he is right now," CNN, April 10, 2018. Cristiano Lima, "Trump on whether he'll fire Mueller: 'We'll see what happens,'" POLITICO, April 9, 2018. Lauren Gambino, "McConnell says he will not allow vote on bill protecting Mueller from firing," The Guardian, April 17, 2018. Michael Schmidt and Maggie Haberman, "Trump Ordered Mueller Fired, but Backed Off When White House Counsel Threatened to Quit," New York Times, Jan. 25, 2018. Adam Edelman, "DOJ seeks probe of FBI conduct in 2016 campaign after Trump 'spy' claim," NBC News, May 21, 2018. Justin Sink, "Rosenstein Will Let Congress See ‘Highly Classified’ Information, White House Says," Bloomberg, May 21, 2018. Scott Clement and Emily Guskin, "https://act.credoaction.com/go/22537?t=18&akid=28674%2E3130208%2EuPFzj0," The Washington Post, April 13, 2018.

PUBLIC COMMENT TIME: Stop Pruitt from limiting the use of science at the EPA.

Under Scott Pruitt’s proposed rule, the EPA would rely on limited information and develop weaker protections.

Everyone depends on the science used by the Environmental Protection Agency. Because of it, we breathe healthier air, eat less-toxic food and drink safer water.

But now the Trump administration has proposed another rule that would upend the use of science at the EPA and could gut air pollution standards, limits on pesticides in food, protections from lead and more.

We need you to tell EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt not to restrict the science the agency considers when it adopts standards that are supposed to protect our families and communities.

Administrator Pruitt and his cronies want to rewrite the rules so the EPA can ignore peer-reviewed health studies that rely on confidential information, such as study participants’ identifying characteristics and personal medical histories, and medical providers’ reports on how chemicals in our air, water or food harm these individuals.

If Pruitt gets his way, polluting industries could use confidential data to intimidate people. In North Carolina, the powerful Pork Council tried to bully researchers into providing data that could reveal the identities of people who participated in a study of the health effects of living near industrial hog operations. Releasing that information would have destroyed the trust vital to public health research. But Pruitt wants to force researchers to choose between breaking promises made to study participants and conducting research that supports public health.

To make matters worse, the proposal would give Pruitt full control to decide what scientific findings the EPA can rely on and what well-supported findings the agency will ignore.

Tell Scott Pruitt to stop the EPA attack on science and our public health.

Pruitt knows that his proposal would make a mockery of the EPA’s duty to protect public health, so he’s trying to ram it through. He gave the public just 30 days to comment—and time’s up on May 30. Pruitt knows that purposely ignoring crucial science cannot stand up to public scrutiny.

Make your voice heard. Tell Scott Pruitt to stop ignoring the science and let him know why public health protections matter TO YOU.  (Please, consider personalizing the comment below to keep Pruitt from throwing it out as form letter.)

-Tyler Smith, Staff Scientist at EARTH JUSTICE


Read more: 

E.P.A. Announces a New Rule. One Likely Effect: Less Science in Policymaking

If the EPA doesn't believe in science, what is it good for?

Submit your revised version of PUBLIC COMMENT (below) 

Like all Americans, I depend on the science the Environmental Protection Agency uses to protect my health and the health of my family and community. Science supports limits on air pollution, pesticides in food and more.

Your proposed rule, which would place unprecedented limits on the use of science at the EPA, would prevent the agency from using the best science. The EPA should not create a false conflict between violating the privacy of the people who participate in research studies and protecting the public’s health.

Furthermore, you have provided just 30 days for the public to comment on the rule. This is highly inappropriate for a radical proposal that would upend the agency’s use of science.

I urge you to abandon the proposal. Our country deserves to have air that is clean for all, water that is safe for all, and food that is free of toxic chemicals.

Tell Congress: Bring back overtime pay.

Petition to Congress: "Expand overtime pay and restore overtime protections to the millions of workers hurt by the Trump administration and conservative business lawsuits. Support the Restoring Overtime Pay Act." Add your name:

Donald Trump and his big business cronies have cost American workers more than $646 million in overtime pay.1 One of the biggest achievements of the Obama administration was new, modernized overtime rules that would have produced new eligibility for overtime or more take-home pay for 12.5 million Americans. But conservative business interests sued to stop the rule and the Trump administration has abandoned the fight – costing workers more than $3 million in wages each and every day since last summer.2 Progressive champion Rep. Mark Takano and Sens. Sherrod Brown and Patty Murray have introduced a bill that would give legislative force to the Obama administration rules.3 Every bit of support for this fix exposes Trump's hypocrisy and shines a spotlight on the way he is hurting working people. Tell Congress: Trump is costing workers overtime pay. Pass legislation to expand overtime. Click here to sign the petition. Donald Trump's Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta made the Trump position very clear: he said paying people for their labor would “create a stress on the system.”4 No wonder the Trump administration quit when conservative business interests won a stay in the rule from a federal judge who is now considering proposing a far weaker version. Between 1975 and today the number of salaried employees who received overtime pay for working 40+ hours a week dropped from 65 percent to 11 percent.5 If the threshold had risen with inflation it would be around $58,000 today, and a threshold that once more covered 65 percent of the workforce would have to be $69,000.6 The old overtime pay threshold, $23,660, in contrast, is below the poverty level for a family of four.7 On top of it all, businesses routinely use loopholes to deny employees pay: Some fast food companies call workers 'managers' to exempt them from overtime pay even while they work 60 or more hours a week and spend 95 percent of their time at the register or sweeping floors.8 The Restoring Overtime Pay Act would take the carefully constructed Obama overtime rule and make it law – closing loopholes and setting an overtime threshold of $47,476. It's such a measured step that opposing it openly exposes Trump and Republicans as the party of greedy executives. We need to make sure Congress knows how much Trump has already cost us. Tell Congress: Trump is costing workers overtime pay. Pass legislation to expand overtime. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/restoring_overtime_act?t=7&akid=28646%2E3130208%2ER9wLa4 - Josh Nelson, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Center for American Progress, "Tracking the Cost of Trump’s Overtime Pay Cut," Dec. 20, 2017. Ibid. Sen. Sherrod Brown, "Brown, Murray, Scott, Takano Introduce Bill to Expand Overtime Pay for Millions of Workers," Nov. 30, 2017. Amy Held, “Labor Department Rethinking Obama-Era Overtime Pay Rule,” NPR, June 27, 2017. Rep. Mark Takano, “Rep. Mark Takano and 31 House Democrats Call for Expanded Overtime Pay,” January 19, 2015. Dave Jamieson, “Obama Is Bringing Overtime Pay To Millions Of Workers,” HuffPost, May 17, 2016. Ross Eisenbrey, “Where Should the Overtime Salary Threshold Be Set? A Comparison of Four Proposals to Increase Overtime Coverage,” Economic Policy Institute, Dec. 23, 2014. Economic Policy Institute, “Why It’s Time to Update Overtime Pay Rules: Frequently Asked Questions,” Aug. 4, 2015.

Deeply flawed, partisan farm bill fails in the House, but we still need to stay on top of it.

Rep. McSally, explain why taking healthy food away from children is good.

We did it! The deeply flawed, partisan farm bill failed in the House!  Last week, in a 213-198 vote, the House of Representatives voted down a partisan farm bill that rejected the evidence on critical programs and failed to push our food system in the right direction. We still have the chance to build a food system that makes healthy food available to everyone.

The farm bill is our biggest legislative opportunity to build a food system, from farm to fork, that we can be proud of. But the House version would have made it harder for millions to feed their families by imposing misguided work requirements on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps). The bill also failed to support farmers working to protect our water, improve soil health, and build healthy local and regional food systems.

I'm sad to say that Representative McSally voted for this failed bill, rejecting all the evidence that, by lifting millions out of poverty in both rural and urban communities around the country, SNAP works.

Unfortunately, House Speaker Paul Ryan is not giving up yet. With some in Congress threatening to hold a revote on this partisan farm bill by Tuesday, we can't back down. Members of Congress must recommit to writing a better, bipartisan bill—one that makes healthy food available to everyone, gives farmers the tools they need, and protects public health and the environment.

Call Representative McSally today and urge them to send the farm bill back to the drawing board and craft a bipartisan bill that works for farmers, eaters, and all communities.

Call her Tucson office: (520) 881-3588

Or dial (202) 224-3121, and a switchboard operator will connect you directly to your representative’s office. You can use the talking points below.

Defeating this House farm bill is a major victory—and it’s thanks to you. But we have to keep pushing to get a smart, science-based farm bill that works for everyone. Call Representative McSally today!

-Tali Robbins, Union of Concerned Scientists

TALKING POINTS TO GUIDE YOUR CALL

• Hello, my name is [YOUR FULL NAME] and I live in [CITY, STATE]. My zip code is [ZIP CODE].
• I’m calling about the farm bill, H.R. 2. I’m disappointed that Representative McSally voted for this deeply flawed bill, which would have hurt families in our district trying to put food on the table.
• Farmers, eaters, and communities across the country need a smart, science-based farm bill that works for everyone. I urge Representative McSally to go back to the drawing board and write a better, bipartisan farm bill.
• Thanks for your time.

Tell the House: Save net neutrality

click to enlarge

The petition to the House of Representatives reads: "Save net neutrality. Support the Joint Resolution of Disapproval overturning the Federal Communications Commission's reversal of the 2015 Open Internet rules." Add your name:

Last week, the Senate voted to protect net neutrality. Now it's all up to the House. Rep. Mike Doyle has filed a petition calling for a vote to overrule Trump's FCC and save net neutrality.1 But we need a majority of our representatives in the House to join him – or the vote won't ever happen. Big Telecom lobbyists think their grip on our political system is so strong that we can't win, but this movement keeps surprising them. With enough pressure, we can do it again. Tell the House of Representatives: Save net neutrality. Click here to sign the petition. When Trump's FCC voted to kill the open internet, they ignored millions of Americans to give Big Telecom control of what we say and do online. But this fight isn't over. Thanks to the Congressional Review Act, Congress can review new regulations and overrule them by passing a joint resolution of disapproval. The Senate passed that resolution last week. So far, 90 House representatives have already signed on to call for a vote on the resolution – and more than 160 have indicated their support.2,3 Trump's FCC chairman has shown that he is in the pocket of big telecom companies. But unlike the FCC, members of Congress are elected and they must answer to us. More than 80 percent of Americans support net neutrality, Republicans and Democrats alike.4 We can win this if enough of us demand that our representatives stand up for our rights online. Tell the House of Representatives: Save net neutrality Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/house-netneutrality?t=7&akid=28622%2E3130208%2EfWgnJP -Brandy Doyle, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Russell Brandom, "House Democrats are collecting signatures to force a vote on net neutrality," The Verge, May 18, 2018. Ibid. Ernesto Falcon, "The Path to Victory on Net Neutrality in the House of Representatives and How You Can Help," Electronic Frontier Foundation, May 18, 2018. Harper Neidig, "Poll: 83 percent of voters support keeping FCC's net neutrality rules," The Hill, Dec. 12, 2017.

Add your name and help us #BootPruitt

Scott Pruitt has one job to do: protect public health and the environment, literally the mission statement of the US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Instead, he has been hard at work rolling back critical health protections like the Clean Power Plan, refusing to ban dangerous pesticides, and attacking clean cars standards.

On Wednesday, Pruitt appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee to try to justify his support for defunding critical environmental programs that keep our air, water, and soil safe.

Enough is enough. It’s time to stop Pruitt’s pro-pollution agenda.

Can you take two seconds to sign this petition calling for Scott Pruitt to resign?

ADD YOUR NAME

Since becoming EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt has come under fire for his dirty dealings, abuse of taxpayer dollars, and efforts to undermine science and public health. Pruitt is under multiple investigations for a growing list of ethics violations.

Now is the time to fight back.

More than 170 Democratic members of Congress have called for Pruitt’s resignation. Civil rights groups like the NAACP and dozens of environmental groups have joined the fight.

And now, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa has threatened to join if Scott Pruitt doesn’t stop approving waivers for oil companies, allowing them to bypass the ethanol mandate in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). (Iowa produces much of the corn for biofuel, so Pruitt’s waivers for oil companies hurt corn growers too).

Americans deserve an EPA administrator who upholds the mission of the EPA. Will you add your name and help us #BootPruitt?

Not on our watch will we let Scott Pruitt dismantle our clean energy progress while threatening the health and well-being of our kids and communities.

-The Green For All team

TAKE ACTION: Urge your Reps to support Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2018!

Landmark legislation has just been introduced in the House of Representatives that will radically increase law enforcement capacity and strengthen regulations to combat wildlife trafficking. This bipartisan legislation is a game-changer for wildlife whistleblowers.

TAKE ACTION: Urge your Representatives to support the Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Trafficking Act of 2018!

Here are three reasons why this is such a powerful piece of legislation:

1) It provides mandatory rewards to wildlife whistleblowers.
2) It makes wildlife trafficking an offense under powerful, federal organized crime statutes.
3) It mandates that monies recovered from successful prosecutions go directly into wildlife conservation.

Watch a short video about this bill featuring National Whistleblower Center.

Learn more about the bill on the National Whistleblower Center website.

Please continue your support through taking action and sharing this with a friend.

-  The NWC Team

Stop Big Pharma from buying our health care system

The petition to Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan reads: "Buying Trump's favor to keep drug prices sky high is unacceptable. Stop blocking Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices or resign from your position as Novartis CEO." Add your name:

In 2016, Donald Trump proposed letting Medicare negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs and said that anyone who opposed the idea was in Big Pharma's pocket. In 2017, pharmaceutical giant Novartis paid Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen $1.2 million. Now, Trump has reportedly decided not to let Medicare negotiate lower prices – a huge gift to the pharmaceutical industry.1 Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan is facing tough questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and calls to resign from progressive groups over his secretive and inappropriate payments to Trump's attorney.2 Sign our petition now to put a massive spotlight on Trump's phony populism and hold Big Pharma executives accountable for taking advantage of American consumers. Tell Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan: Resign from your position and stop blocking Medicare from negotiating lower prescription drug prices. Click here to sign the petition. In a letter to Narasimhan sent by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal on Monday, the senators pointed out that "the unusual series of payments by Novartis to the President's personal attorney raise obvious questions about corruption and whether Novartis and the Trump administration were engaged in a pay-for-play operation." This isn’t how our country should work. Drug prices are already too high – and Medicare negotiation is one of the best tools we have to lower them. Narasimhan and other key Novartis employees are feeling the pressure. On Monday, Narasimhan held a conference call with 5,000 of his top managers focused on regaining the public's trust.3 Then on Wednesday, the company's top lawyer resigned as a result of his role in the payments to Trump's attorney.4 Now it's up to us to make sure Narasimhan and all other Big Pharma CEOs know that price-gouging American consumers on life-saving prescription drugs – whether through outright corruption or otherwise – is completely unacceptable. Tell Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan: Resign from your position and stop blocking Medicare from negotiating lower prescription drug prices. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/novartis-trump?t=7&akid=28581%2E3130208%2EMM19sk - Josh Nelson, CREDO Action Add your name: Adam Feuerstein and Damian Garde, "Trump promised to bring pharma to justice. His speech sent drug stocks soaring," Stat, May 11, 2018. James Paton, "Novartis CEO Dials Up 5,000 Managers After Cohen Furor," Bloomberg, May 15, 2018. Kate Riga, "More Senate Dems Call For Cohen Payment Info From AT&T, Novartis," TPM, May 15, 2018. Ivana Kottasová, "Novartis top lawyer quits over Cohen payments," CNN, May 16, 2018.

No more excuses: Time for Scott Pruitt to go!

Scott Pruitt has no business leading the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and it’s time for him to resign or be fired. The shocking ethics violations now making headlines are just the latest in a long string of unacceptable behavior from this fossil-fuel funded climate denier.

We've known for a long time that Scott Pruitt needs to go, but now we may actually be able to get rid of him. It’s hard to keep up with EPA administrator Scott Pruitt’s mounting scandals. Now, four top aides of Pruitt’s have resigned, and many wonder when Pruitt will follow their lead.

Scott Pruitt is facing over a dozen ethics investigations and the drumbeat of voices calling on him to leave his post is growing by the day — including at least 190 members of Congress who have now publicly called for Pruitt to resign or be fired and hundreds of thousands of petition signers across the nation.

We must keep the pressure on: Add your voice to the growing calls for EPA administrator Scott Pruitt to resign or be fired — immediately.

Pruitt could very soon be added to the growing list of ousted Trump administration officials, but that will only happen if we keep making noise and don't let up.

We know that Pruitt got a sweetheart condo rental deal from an energy lobbyist, sidelined anyone who questioned his actions, and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on luxury travel, round-the-clock security, and unapproved raises for his favorite staff members. Yet, even with the scandals mounting, President Trump said Pruitt is doing "a great job."

That's because Pruitt is carrying out Trump's disastrous fossil fueled climate denier agenda. Pruitt has been working overtime to pad the pockets of fossil fuel executives: slashing regulations, rigging the system for polluters, rolling back climate protections, undermining science, and promoting the toxic agenda of the fossil fuel industry.

Add your voice: Scott Pruitt’s extreme anti-science, anti-environment, climate-denier agenda is a danger to the American people — and his dirty dealings and unethical conduct are unacceptable. It's time for him to go.

-  ClimateTruth.org Action team

#stopPruitt, #noPruitt 

MORE INFORMATION:

"EPA Hid Scott Pruitt’s Dinner With Climate Denier Accused Of Child Sex Abuse," Huffington Post, 05-11-2018
“Trump's support for embattled Pruitt could be wavering,” CNN, 05-09-2018
“White House Aides are Urging President Trump to Fire Scott Pruitt, the E.P.A Chief,” The New York Times, 05-07-2018
"Pruitt loses his fourth EPA aide this week — and more might be on the way," Politico, 05-04-2018
“Oil and Coal Executives Clamored for Time With Pruitt, Records Show,” Bloomberg, 05-04-2018
“Scott Pruitt’s actions at the EPA have triggered nearly a dozen investigations,” Vox, 05-04-2018

Yosemite hotels belong to the American people, not a billionaire Trump donor

Tell Delaware North Chairman Jeremy Jacobs: "Yosemite's Wawona Hotel and Ahwahnee Hotel were built in the 1800s and 1920s, respectively, and belong to the American people, not a private corporation. Drop your frivolous lawsuit against the National Park Service." Add your name:

When you think of Yosemite, you might imagine majestic waterfalls, ancient Sequoias and stunning cliffs. But you might not think about a greedy Trump donor suing the National Park Service (NPS) for $51 million. That's exactly what Yosemite is facing.1 Billionaire Jeremy Jacobs, the chairman of the concessions company Delaware North that recently lost its $2 billion contract in Yosemite, is suing the NPS for tens of millions of dollars to turn over naming rights of two iconic and beloved landmarks in the park, the Wawona and Ahwahnee Hotels. These hotels and their historic names belong to the American people and should not be held hostage by a bitter billionaire. We must speak out now and stand up for Yosemite. Tell Delaware North Chairman Jeremy Jacobs: Drop your lawsuit against the National Park Service. For 20 years, Delaware North had a contract to run concessions, lodging and food in Yosemite but recently lost its bid to renew to a competitor. In an act of spite, Delaware North sued the government in federal court for $51.2 million for breach of contract and violations of its intellectual property pertaining to the Wawona and Ahwahnee Hotels, claiming it owns the rights to these names. The NPS has temporarily covered the names of the hotels as litigation continues. It's absolutely absurd, but it's not surprising: Delaware North's billionaire Chairman Jeremy Jacobs – who has been called a "bully and a jerk" – and his family have a long history of greed and shady dealings.2 They strong-arm lawmakers with political donations – including over $165,000 to Donald Trump – to benefit their bottom line, secure tax breaks and grease the political wheels where their companies operate.3,4,5,6 HuffPost reports that Jacobs could profit from the repeal of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement opened an office in the same building as Delaware North's headquarters and hired "a former US Attorney who had just led the largest workplace immigration raid during the Obama administration."7 And some are even speculating that Jacobs could use the millions from his Yosemite lawsuit to sign a new player for the Boston Bruins, the NHL hockey team that he owns.8 Suing the NPS for millions to profit off the names of these two historic and iconic hotels is just another example of Jacobs' greedy, out-of-touch ways. We must pressure him to drop this ridiculous lawsuit and give back to the American public what is rightfully theirs. Tell Delaware North Chairman Jeremy Jacobs: Drop your lawsuit against the National Park Service. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/yosemite_lawsuit?t=7&akid=28539%2E3130208%2ELKBHu4 -Josh Nelson, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Megan Woolhouse and Janelle Nanos, "Iconic names at Yosemite are subject of $51 million trademark battle," The Boston Globe, Jan. 16, 2016. Sean Gentille, "Jeremy Jacobs spent $625K on horse crusade before NHL lockout," Sporting News, March 26, 2013. Neil A. Lewis, "THE 1992 CAMPAIGN: Campaign Finances; Being Governor Helps Clinton Raise Money at Home," The New York Times, April 27, 1992. Frank Phillips, "Jacobs family, owner of TD Garden and Bruins, gives $13,000 to Walsh," The Boston Globe, April 26, 2017. Matt Ufford, "Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs is awful," SB Nation, March 26, 2013. Gin Armstrong and Derek Seidman, "Immigration Protest Targets Concessions Magnate & Trump Donor Jeremy Jacobs," LittleSis, Sept. 8, 2017. Donald Cohen, "Ending DACA Means More Profit For These Corporations," HuffPost, Sept. 13, 2017. Paul Altmeyer, "Boston Bruins Owner Jeremy Jacobs Suing Yosemite," Causeway Crowd, Jan. 15, 2016.