UPDATE: We are one step closer to protecting the Tongass National Forest!

 

We are one step closer to reinstating the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest! LEARN MORE   Thanks to you, we are one step closer to protecting the Tongass National Forest. Scientists call the Tongass National Forest in Alaska the “lungs of our country” because it can store over 3 billion tons of climate–warming carbon which keeps it from being released into the atmosphere. Under the Trump administration, the Forest Service withdrew protections for the Tongass established under the national Roadless Rule. The Roadless Rule prevents clearcutting and roadbuilding across nine million acres in the Tongass and in about 60 million acres of national forests in total. Last year, we shared the good news that the Biden administration announced it would reinstate the Roadless Rule on the Tongass National Forest, affording protections we have fought for in the courts and Congress time and again. But the Forest Service needed to hear from you to ensure they follow through on their announcement. Learn about the impact of the Roadless Rule and the people fighting to protect the Tongass. The comment period to the Forest Service to reinstate the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest recently ended. A coalition of more than 175,000 supporters, including 18,831 Earthjustice advocates like you spoke up for this commonsense reinstatement of the Roadless Rule. This was likely the last step in the process, and we hope that in the next few months, the Roadless Rule will be reinstated. Our next goal is to end large–scale old–growth logging throughout federal forests nationwide. Thank you for holding the Biden administration and the Forest Service's feet to the fire. We'll see you for the next round, and we hope to have your support in protecting our climate forests nationwide!   . Sincerely, Blaine Miller-McFeeley Senior Legislative Representative

Earthjustice, 50 California Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94111 Delivered to you by Earthjustice. Your support makes the difference. Photo Credits: The old-growth trees of the Tongass National Forest provide a major buffer against climate change. (John Hyde / Wild Things Photography)

Manatees are wasting away at unprecedented rates

 

Manatees are STARVING to death in record numbers in Florida. Just last year, 1,110 of these gentle creatures were found dead. The cause? Seagrass die-off due, in part, to cruise ship pollution from the likes of cruise giant Carnival Corp. Help us fight Big Cruise corporations to protect manatees and our planet: Make your contribution of $15 or more today!

Manatees rely on seagrass as their main source of food. But when cruise ships dump polluted wastewater and churn up sand and contaminants when sailing close to our coasts, they are contributing to the destruction of this vital manatee food source.

Unless we stop Big Cruise corporations from wreaking havoc on manatee habitats, things will only get worse. We could see an even greater number of manatees die this year as they continue to waste away from starvation. We must act quickly to protect the remaining manatees -- will you help?

Big Cruise corporations are recklessly polluting manatee habitats, contributing to the starvation and death of these gentle creatures. Take a stand for manatees and our planet with your $15 contribution today.

The worst part is that these cruise companies know they are doing an incredible amount of harm to habitats and threatened species, but they continue to do nothing about it. Carnival Corp. has even been fined TWICE in the last 5 years for illegal wastewater dumping, clearly showing its irresponsible attitude towards the waters they travel in.

Big Cruise corporations only care about the profits they are making, regardless of the DISASTROUS impacts they have on wildlife like manatees and their ecosystems. You see, the dumping of polluted wastewater is causing algal blooms that block sunlight to seagrass. Without sunlight, seagrass cannot grow, leaving manatees without their primary food source. In some Florida habitats, more than half of the seagrass has died in recent years, dealing a huge blow to the gentle creatures.

Manatees help keep vegetation in check by preventing it from overgrowing while also consuming invasive species. They are also crucial for the overall fertilization of underwater vegetation, making the entire ecosystem run smoothly for other sea life. The loss of manatees would be devastating to the overall health of the habitats they roam.

But as more manatees continue to die, the delicate balance within these ecological communities starts to crumble, meaning that we are on the brink of losing many of these essential habitats, as well as the sea life that depends on them.

1,110 Florida manatees died in a single year. This trend cannot continue if we want the species to survive. Fight against corporate interests to protect manatees and our planet with your $15 contribution today.

The reality is that the depleted seagrass creates a problem for people as well. Seagrass beds store about 18 percent of the world’s oceanic carbon, helping in the fight against climate change. They also provide coastal communities with protection from storm surges, which is especially significant as we see sea levels rise globally. Yet, cruise companies like Carnival Corp. have deemed its business more important than the survival of threatened species and our planet.

We cannot sit by as Big Cruise companies continue to decimate manatee populations and pollute our oceans. This blatant disregard for our ecosystems is, unfortunately, in character for these corporations, but Friends of the Earth Action continues to fight against the industry's irresponsible practices.

Your membership gift of $15 or more to Friends of the Earth Action today can help us step up our fight to protect at-risk manatees, endangered species, and our planet from corporate greed. Please make your contribution today -- before more manatees suffer cruel, preventable deaths.

Big Cruise corporations like Carnival Corp. continue to dump polluted wastewater into manatee habitats, contributing to the death of their primary food source. Help us fight to save starving manatees, endangered species, and the planet with your $15 contribution today.

Standing with you,
Marcie Keever,
Oceans & vessels program director,
Friends of the Earth Action

Contact Us: Friends of the Earth Action Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA 1-877-843-8687

Over 1,000 Florida manatees died last year as pollution-fueled algal outbreaks killed the marine mammal’s main food source, seagrass, in the Indian River Lagoon. Mass starvation resulted in the highest number of manatee deaths ever recorded in the state. Earthjustice is pursuing legal action to stop this pollution — and today, we’re asking for your help. Our Biodiversity Defense Program is providing legal representation to conservation groups working to stop the pollution of critical habitats and restore the food sources that manatees rely on to survive. Cases like this can last for years. We need reliable monthly supporters to help us protect manatees and countless other species with the full power of the law. To support this effort, a generous donor has agreed to contribute $50,000 to Earthjustice if we can bring on 150 new monthly donors by the end of January. We only have until midnight tonight, and we still need 35 more monthly donors to come on board. Will you make a monthly gift to help our lawyers see this case through to the very end and save Florida’s manatees from starvation? It is painfully clear that Florida isn’t doing what’s necessary to control the sewage and fertilizer pollution that’s wrecking the Indian River Lagoon. It’s time for EPA to step in and enforce the Clean Water Act for the sake of the manatees and all the other creatures and people that rely on Florida’s waterways.   You can be a part of this fight. Please make a monthly gift before midnight tonight to fund this legal battle, and many more, as Earthjustice stands up for plants and animals under threat.   . Sincerely, Elizabeth Forsyth Senior Attorney Biodiversity Defense Program P.S. While giving monthly is one of the best ways you can support Earthjustice, we are grateful for the support from all our donors and know that not everyone is able to make that commitment. If that’s the case for you, please consider making a one-time donation that is personally significant to you.

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Here's what's in the Build Back Better Act

 

For many months, our staff and leaders across the entire progressive community have been working tirelessly to push for bold legislation that is urgently needed to address our climate emergency, advance environmental justice, and invest in the health and prosperity of millions of people living in the U.S. The passage of the Build Back Better Act (BBBA) in the House was a watershed moment for our country, but the bill’s path through the Senate is now uncertain. If we miss this moment, we will all be losing out in ways that will matter very much in our daily lives. Tell your senators to vote for the Build Back Better Act. As we start 2022, let’s be clear about the solutions that we can and must demand from Congress and the White House. Here are just a few of the programs that Congress can deliver for you and for all of us: If you live near a busy road, highway, warehouse district, or port, or if you or someone you love suffers from asthma, the BBBA is a breath of fresh air. It invests directly in communities that have long borne the brunt of pollution and provides a jolt of funds for the transition to zero-emissions buses and trucks, air monitoring equipment, and actual pollution clean-up. If you rely on a car to get around, the BBBA gives tax credits for purchasing electric vehicles (EVs) — up to $12,500 for new cars and up to $4,000 for used ones. If access to charging has been a barrier for you, the act will build out a nationwide network of EV chargers, and address longstanding inequities by ensuring disadvantaged communities and rural areas get EV charging stations. If you’re looking to replace harmful gas appliances with safer electric appliances, the BBBA allocates $18 billion in consumer rebates to upgrade your appliances with specific funds allotted for low- and moderate-income families and tribal communities. If your drinking water passes through lead pipes, the BBBA includes $9 billion in grants to the EPA to replace lead service lines as well as funding the installation of lead filtration systems in schools and childcare facilities. These grants could be life-saving for the many people who can’t afford upgrades to keep their families safe from toxins in their drinking water. If you live in a community with broken sewage infrastructure, the BBBA allocates $150 million for the repair and replacement of sewage systems in rural and low-income counties. This could end the deplorable situation where Americans are contending with sewage flooding in their homes and testing positive for hookworm, a parasite long-thought eradicated. If you are among the growing number of Americans living in regions at risk for extreme climate-related weather events, the BBBA creates a new climate conservation corps of workers, who would be deployed nationwide to clean up pollution, protect public lands, strengthen community resilience, and aid in recovery from climate disasters. If extreme weather brought on by climate change is adding to your anxiety, the BBBA includes billions in restoration, adaptation and resilience investments to prepare for and mitigate the disasters to come, including wildfires, droughts, and hurricanes. There is so much more to Build Back Better, and I encourage you to dig in to better understand the true magnitude of what is possible and what is at stake. As a whole, the climate package passed by the House will make it possible to achieve a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas pollution by 2030, putting us on track to meet our climate deadlines while making our lives so much better. We need a serious collective investment of our taxpayer dollars to address the climate crisis that threatens all of us. For the first time in our history, we could see climate action at a truly meaningful speed and scale. Don’t let this moment pass without understanding everything you have to gain from building back better — and everything we all stand to lose if we fail to act on climate now. Tell your senators it’s time to act.   . Sincerely, Abigail Dillen President, Earthjustice

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© 2022

Biden: Stop letting the fossil fuel industry off the hook

 

This month marked the end of the Biden administration’s first year. We’ve seen incredible progress so far — hard fought wins that materialized only because of the persistent activism of people like you. We’ve protected the Tongass National Forest, restored Bears Ears National Monument, banned chlorpyrifos, and so much more. We’ve had remarkable success in court, including a victory on Thursday that vacated the leases from the Biden administration’s unprecedented offshore drilling lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico. Despite this progress, we still have a long way to go in the fight against climate change. Global emissions jumped up last year after a pandemic-induced drop and extreme weather increasingly threatens every region in the country. We need action, now. Our leaders are not meeting the moment — largely due to the fossil fuel industry’s delay tactics. President Biden has not yet made it clear that he understands we have a choice to make between the continued existence of the fossil fuel industry and a livable climate. While the Biden administration has acted on some important issues — like setting precedents for coal ash cleanup and supporting desperately needed investments in renewable energy — polluters are still largely getting what they want. Here’s how the Biden administration has let the fossil fuel industry off the hook. It has: Attempted the largest offshore oil and gas lease sale in history, selling off the Gulf of Mexico to Big Oil. This would’ve locked us into decades of fossil fuel use if not for the successful Earthjustice lawsuit that vacated the leases. Allowed the Dakota Access Pipeline to operate without a permit — endangering the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and threatening their water. Allowed construction of the Line 3 Pipeline without adequate environmental review or consent of the Anishinaabe people of northern Minnesota. Refused to restore the Obama-era moratorium on new coal leases. Undoing the toxic legacy of fossil fuels requires ambitious, large-scale efforts, and the administration’s encouragement of increased fossil fuel extraction is only creating more harm to undo. We must change course. Although it’s possible he hasn’t fully come to terms with his place in history, President Biden must be the president who ends the fossil fuel era. From extraction to transport to combustion to disposal, fossil fuels poison our communities and our future, and it’s beyond time for them to go. President Biden has the means to get the job done, but we’ll have to use our collective power to compel him to do it. Join us in calling on President Biden to act with the conviction that this crisis requires. Click here to fight fossil fuels by taking all the actions below on one page.     Protect our public lands and waters from fossil fuels Thanks to an Earthjustice lawsuit, the biggest offshore oil and gas lease sale was deemed illegal, but the fight's not over. The federal government still leases vast swathes of public lands and waters to private corporations to drill for oil and gas and to mine for coal. As a result, nearly 25% of climate-cooking emissions from the United States come from fossil fuels pumped or mined from lands and waters that belong to the public. It doesn’t have to be this way. The federal oil, gas, and coal leasing program is broken and reforming it is crucial to meaningfully address climate change. TAKE ACTION     Tell the EPA to cut methane emissions Methane is the second largest contributor to the climate crisis after carbon dioxide. On a pound-for-pound basis, methane traps 86 times more heat than carbon dioxide, making it far more potent and dangerous to our climate. Fortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency just released its first draft for new regulations to tackle methane and associated pollution from new and existing oil and gas operations, and it is taking feedback from the public. The draft is a good start, but there’s room for improvement — and we need you to push for even stronger protections. Take action before tomorrow’s deadline. TAKE ACTION     Tell Biden to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline ­­­­­The Biden administration has said it will not take immediate action to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline while the government conducts a court-ordered environmental review of the pipeline, therefore allowing oil to continue flowing through the Tribe’s ancestral land and water supply. The fight is not over. Urge the Biden administration to do the right thing and permanently shut the pipeline down after the environmental review is completed. TAKE ACTION     Shut down the Line 3 pipeline ­­­­­Anishinaabe people of northern Minnesota have waged a seven-year effort to stop the Line 3 pipeline from being built in the heart of territory where they retain the rights to hunt, fish, and harvest wild rice and other plants. When fully operational, the pipeline will carry 760,000 barrels of oil per day, including dirty tar sands oil, threatening sacred places and locking in decades of climate pollution at a time when we cannot afford anymore. Tell the Biden administration to support the people, not the polluters, and stop the Line 3 pipeline. TAKE ACTION   The issues above need your support. Click here to take all the actions on one page. We’ll need your voice in the fights that lie ahead. The best way to stay engaged is to sign up for text messages from Earthjustice by clicking here or texting JUSTICE to 43428. Thank you for your advocacy and commitment to protecting people and the planet. Sincerely, Kyle Berquist Digital Advocacy Specialist

DONATE NOW   Earthjustice, 50 California Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94111 Photo Credits: A tension-leg oil production platform burns off unrecoverable gas and leaves a plume of smoke in the Gulf of Mexico. (Land by Sea / Getty Images)