Tell Interior Sec. Zinke: No coal exports from military bases

Interior Ryan Zinke is considering using West Coast military bases to ship coal and natural gas overseas.

The petition to Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke reads: "Using military bases to ship coal and natural gas overseas would fuel climate change and undermine national security. I urge you not to move forward with this dangerous and misguided proposal." Add your name:

Trump's scandal-plagued Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke is considering a dangerously misguided proposal to use West Coast military bases to ship coal and natural gas overseas.1 This short-sighted proposal would help supercharge climate change, endanger the public and could undermine our national security. As Washington Governor Jay Inslee put it, "the men and women who serve at our military bases are there to keep our country safe, not to service an export facility for private fossil fuel companies."2 We must create a massive public outcry in opposition right now before this scheme moves forward. Tell Sec. Zinke: No fossil fuel exports from military bases. Click here to sign the petition. The fossil fuel industry and Republican politicians have been scheming for years to ship millions of tons of dirty coal from Wyoming and Montana to overseas markets. Local communities and environmentalists in the Pacific Northwest have fought back and successfully blocked every single one of these proposals due to their consequences for the climate and public health.3 Now the Trump administration wants to ignore the will of the local communities that have unequivocally said that they do not want to become a hub for shipping fossil fuels overseas. Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden pointed out that the Trump administration is "not only disregarding the realities around climate change, it’s trampling on local communities that have already rejected such proposals."4 Grassroots opposition has stopped countless fossil fuel export proposals, and it can do so again. That starts today as we work to build widespread public opposition to the fossil fuel industry's latest attempt to ship dirty fossil fuels overseas. Tell Sec. Zinke: No fossil fuel exports from military bases. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/coal_export_bases?t=7&akid=30408%2E3130208%2Eq5FZSI - Josh Nelson, CREDO Action Add your name: References Matthew Brown, "West Coast military installations eyed for US fuel exports," Associated Press, Oct. 15, 2018. Jennifer A Dlouhy, "Trump Plan to Export Coal From Military Ports Draws Condemnation," Bloomberg, Oct. 16, 2018. Mary Anne Hitt, "Major Grassroots Victory: Last Coal Export Terminal Goes Down in the Northwest," Sept. 27, 2017. Niclas Rolander, Jesper Starn and Elisabeth Behrmann, "The Dirt on Clean Electric Cars," Bloomberg, Oct. 15, 2018.

Sign this petition: Demand Congress hold Secretary Ryan Zinke accountable for working to destroy our public lands and waters

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Every day Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is in office, he works to destroy our public lands and waters at the expense of our communities.  He proposed gutting Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. He wants to massively ramp up oil and gas drilling off our coasts. And he’s trying to slash protections for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

All this begs the question: What is Ryan Zinke getting out of destroying our last remaining wild places and the people who depend on them?

There are 14 federal investigations into Zinke’s decision-making, misuse of funds, and potential corruption. We can’t continue to allow him to destroy our wild places and communities for the benefit of his friends – from private developers to the fossil fuel industry. This makes Zinke just as corrupt as former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. We need Congress to kick him out of office before he can do any more harm!

Click here to sign the petition asking Congress to fire Zinke.

- Daily Kos

Participating partners:

198 Methods
Beyond Extreme Energy
Campaign for America's Future
Climate Hawks Vote
Daily Kos
Earthworks
Food & Water Action
Fossil Free California
Franciscan Action Network
Friends of the Earth
People Demanding Action
People for the American Way
Power Shift Network
Progress America
Progressive Democrats of America
Stand.earth

Click here to sign the following petition to Congress.

(It is always best to add a personal comment if you can.)

Our Message to Congress:

We, the undersigned, call on you as elected members of Congress to do everything in your power to hold Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke accountable for his potential ethics violations, including calling for him to be fired.

Zinke has an extensive track record of acting to gut protections for our public lands and waters. He proposed gutting Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments so the fossil fuel industry could drill and mine there – with devastating impacts on local communities. He released a plan to massively ramp up oil and gas drilling off our coasts. And he wants to slash protections for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This could lead to Big Oil wiping out the porcupine caribou herd, which Alaska’s Gwich’in community has relied on for millennia.

Additionally, Zinke is trying to disregard the input of communities impacted by fossil fuel development. For example, his department is limiting tribal involvement in decisions about Bears Ears -- despite the fact that mining there would have catastrophic impacts on their lands.

Meanwhile, a foundation established by Zinke and chaired by his wife engaged in a real estate deal with the chairman of dirty energy giant Halliburton – which is already benefitting from Zinke’s attacks on our public lands and waters. Zinke has been wasting taxpayer money on chartered flights and helicopter trips. And 14 federal investigations have already been initiated to look into his actions.

We call on you to stop Zinke from using his position as Secretary of the Interior to destroy our public lands and waters and harm the communities who depend on them while his friends in the oil industry benefit. Please publicly call for Zinke’s removal immediately.

TAKE ACTION: Stop the attack on endangered wildlife

The grizzly bear, the gray whale, and the bald eagle all faced extinction until the Endangered Species Act saved them. Now that same law is facing its own extinction, thanks to the Trump administration.

Speak up now to stop the Trump administration’s rollback of the Endangered Species Act.

Putting the interests of extractive industries over imperiled wildlife, Trump-appointed Interior Secretary Zinke has proposed a disastrous set of regulatory changes—best characterized as an “Extinction Plan”—that would severely undermine the Act and make it easier for destructive corporations such as oil and gas and mining companies to push through their projects.

For nearly 45 years the Endangered Species Act has been a vital last line of defense for plants and animals on the verge of extinction. And just as our planet is experiencing what scientists call a sixth mass extinction period, the Trump-Zinke Extinction Plan would take us in exactly the wrong direction.

For the sake of our planet and all the generations still to come, we must stop the Trump-Zinke Extinction Plan in its tracks. Take action today to protect the Endangered Species Act and the animals and plants under its care.

Take action now and stop the attack on endangered wildlife.

- Earth Justice

CELEBRATE National Public Lands Day - STAND UP to Zinke

This Saturday, September 22, is National Public Lands Day, a time to celebrate the bond between people and green space in their communities.

Find a National Public Lands Day event in your community >>

In its 25-year history, National Public Lands Day has become the nation’s largest single-day volunteer effort. Tens of thousands of Americans will spend this Saturday enjoying public lands and renewing their commitment to restore our open spaces.

Our public lands are among America’s monumental treasures. Their presence is a constant reminder of our responsibility to preserve and protect this American birthright for future generations.

But this national heritage is under attack. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is ignoring the American public and using his office to blatantly benefit corporate special interests, at the expense of public lands. Millions of acres of public lands are at risk.

In honor of National Public Lands Day, sign this petition and tell Secretary Zinke to keep corporate hands off public lands >>


This Saturday, go outside. Enjoy our public lands. Celebrate them and the benefits they bring with your friends and family. Give back by volunteering at a public lands project near you. 

But whatever you do, remember at no time in recent history have our public lands been as threatened as they are now under Secretary Zinke.

So as you enjoy the beauty of our public lands this weekend, please take time to add your name to our petition. Demand Secretary Zinke and the Interior Department stop their attacks on our natural birthright >>

- Western Values Project

Tell Secretary Zinke: Honor Tribal sovereignty, stop the trophy hunts!

The decision to remove Endangered Species protections from Greater Yellowstone grizzlies was clearly a bad one -- based on bad science, and shortsightedness about the continued challenges the bears face.

Hundreds of thousands of emails and phone calls from scientists, wildlife photographers, conservationists and wildlife lovers have been ignored. Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, three states notoriously hostile to carnivores, now control their future -- Wyoming and Idaho have trophy hunts scheduled to start on September 1.

And perhaps worst of all, the Department of Interior has never honored Tribal Nations’ call for consultation on management of the Greater Yellowstone grizzly -- a process required by federal law.

Sec. Zinke is certainly aware of this responsibility. He even committed, in Congressional testimony, to consult with Tribes before the delisting, citing a moral and legal responsibility to do so -- only to delist the bears literally hours later.

Demand respect for Tribal sovereignty and wildlife! Tell Zinke: Reinstate grizzly protections, stop the trophy hunt and consult with Tribes now!

- Sierra Club 

Urge Pres.Trump and Secr. Zinke to stop attacks on our beloved national monuments

Along with his Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke, President Trump is dismantling two of our country's most spectacular national monuments — Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante — so the land can be opened up to drilling, mining, and other exploitation.

Make no mistake: an attack on any national monument is an attack on all of them. We must speak up in defense of these priceless treasures before it's too late.

That's why I've recorded this new short video. Please, watch my video now — then join me in calling on President Trump and Secretary Zinke to stop their dangerous, destructive attacks on our beloved national monuments.

The threat this administration poses to our national monuments extends far beyond those found in Utah — Secretary Zinke has also recommended that President Trump downsize two monuments in Oregon and Nevada, and throw open six more to industrialization, including our nation's first marine monument off the coast of New England.

These are natural treasures that have been handed down to us from generation to generation. And it's on us — all of us — to ensure they are protected for future generations to enjoy.

Thank you for joining me in standing up for our natural heritage, our national monuments, and our shared environmental future.

Sincerely,
 
Robert Redford
Trustee, NRDC

Click here to send the following message to President Trump and Secretary Zinke:
 (Consider personalizing your message for even more impact.) 

Your message will be sent to:

President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke

Subject line: Stop attacks on our beloved national monuments

Dear President Trump and Secretary Zinke:

I am outraged that you are working to dismantle some of our priceless national monuments. I call on you to rescind these attacks immediately and honor the legacy of Teddy Roosevelt by protecting our monuments from industrial exploitation. 

Your proclamations stripping protections from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments are simply unlawful. Presidents have the authority to create national monuments under the Antiquities Act, but only Congress can revoke or shrink them. 

The proposal to downsize and allow logging, mining, drilling, and commercial fishing in six other national monuments, including Gold Butte and Cascade Siskiyou, is reckless and shortsighted. These sites have irreplaceable historic and cultural value, and once they are lost to industrial ruin, there is no bringing them back.  

Our national monuments are a cherished part of our natural heritage as Americans -- and it's our responsibility to protect them for future generations, not open them up to be plundered for coal, oil, gas, and uranium profits. Please reverse your decision to roll back national monument protections and instead fulfill your duty as public officials to protect our treasured national monuments and public lands.

Thank you.

TAKE ACTION: TELL SECRETARY ZINKE UPHOLD THE METHANE WASTE RULE

Last month we won a major victory for the climate, clean air and taxpayers. A federal court rejected the Trump Administration’s attempt to suspend a commonsense rule requiring oil and gas operators who drill on public lands to capture their methane waste and air toxics instead of pumping them into surrounding communities.

But on the same day the court issued the ruling, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke launched his third attack on this safeguard, this time proposing to scrap the rule’s protections for good.

Earthjustice is still fighting to protect the rule, and we need your help again. Last month’s court decision was in part because the Bureau of Land Management did not provide for a meaningful opportunity for you—the public—to comment on suspending the rule.

Tell Secretary Zinke that we need strong protections from methane waste right now.

This rollback takes direct aim at the health and safety of tens of thousands of Americans living near oil and gas operations. In their communities, natural gas is leaked and vented into the air, causing smog and asthma attacks and releasing toxic air pollutants like formaldehyde and benzene. Gas flares rumble like jet engines and make the nighttime look like bright summer days.

Repealing this commonsense protection is another shameless giveaway of taxpayer resources and an assault on the air and health of communities just to appease the Trump administration’s corporate fossil fuel donors.

The BLM’s current Methane Waste Prevention Rule puts millions of dollars into the public coffers. When oil and gas companies leak, vent or flare publicly-owned gas on public lands, the rule requires companies to pay back the public for their wasteful practices. Without the rule in place, BLM’s own analysis shows that oil and gas companies will waste 180,000 tons of methane each year—deliberately venting, leaking, or flaring $824 million worth of publicly-owned natural gas into the air over the next decade.

Methane waste is a simple problem to solve. The Waste Prevention Rule requires drillers to use proven, low-cost solutions to capture publicly-owned natural gas that otherwise would be flared, vented, or leaked into the air.

Americans have fought for years to protect these vital clean air protections and we won’t back down now. Tell Secretary Zinke to keep the methane waste rule and protect our health and clean air.

- Earth Justice

READ MORE: Trump Admin Just Lost Another Attempt to Nix Commonsense Rules on Methane