Saturday, 10 January 2015 00:00

For the Planet and Future Generations, New Congress May Be Most Dangerous Yet

Written by Wenonah Hauter | Food and Water Watch Blog
The longtime Oklahoma senator is Capitol Hill’s most flamboyant critic of climate research. But he's not alone. The longtime Oklahoma senator is Capitol Hill’s most flamboyant critic of climate research. But he's not alone. (Photo: Getty)

The swearing-in of the 114th Congress this week spells trouble for our food, water and environment, and for all those who seek to champion healthy, safe communities for our families. We may be looking at the most hostile Congress ever in terms of protecting the environment.

Here are a few examples of what we could face over the next few years:

James Inhofe (R-Okla.), a notorious climate change denier and an unabashed champion for the fossil fuel industry, will likely chair the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Expect the committee to intensify its bullying of environmentalists, especially in light of the game-changing decision by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to ban fracking.
We’ll also see attacks on the credibility of groups that do environmental work – in fact, we already have, and it will only get worse.

Last July, Inhofe released a report that targeted environmental groups and their funders in an attempt to silence groups working in the public interest. This should surprise no one, given that David Vitter (R-LA), who headed the minority staff at the time, receives a majority of his campaign cash from the oil and gas industry.

Then, in November 2014, a subcommittee released a report on fracking calling its opponents “extremists.” It’s chilling to see policymakers taking a page from industry-backed astroturf campaigns and front groups whose discredited attacks have no place in serious policy discussions.

Given the mounting evidence that fracking harms public health and the environment, we anticipate chilling attacks by the industry (via the politicians they support) on environmental advocates, academics and any other voice that raises concerns about fracking.

But we won’t be cowed by the bullying and McCarthy-like atmosphere. Environmental advocacy is not illegal.

Food & Water Watch will continue to support one good piece of legislation: the bill to ban fracking on public lands, introduced by Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). With the help of our supporters, we will continue to fight for our right to clean drinking water and safe food; for our right to know what ingredients are used in our food; for our right to preserve our health and our environment; for our right to create a better, healthier world for our children and future generations.

Read 30709 times

Latest Zero Climate Emissions News

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6

Latest News

  • Trump administration's voter suppression attempts ahead of midterms are not only 'morally wrong,' they're illegal +

    Trump administration's voter suppression attempts ahead of midterms are not only 'morally wrong,' they're illegal Imagine going to the polls on Election Day and discovering that your ballot could be collected and reviewed by the Read More
  • ACLU Blueprints Offer Vision to Cut US Incarceration Rate in Half by Prioritizing 'People Over Prisons' +

    ACLU Blueprints Offer Vision to Cut US Incarceration Rate in Half by Prioritizing 'People Over Prisons' ACLU Blueprints Offer Vision to Cut US Incarceration Rate in Half by Prioritizing 'People Over Prisons' Read More
  • As Florence Makes Landfall, Poorest Once More Likely to Suffer Most From Storm's Destruction +

    As Florence Makes Landfall, Poorest Once More Likely to Suffer Most From Storm's Destruction "These disasters drag into the light exactly who is already being thrown away," notes Naomi Klein Read More
  • How about some good news? Kansas Democratic Representative advances bill for Native Peoples. +

    How about some good news? Kansas Democratic Representative advances bill for Native Peoples. How about some good news? Kansas Democratic Representative advances bill for Native Peoples. Read More
  • How One Dying Man Changed The Debate About The Tax Bill +

    How One Dying Man Changed The Debate About The Tax Bill What mattered was that he showed up — that he put himself in front of the people whose opinions on Read More
  • Democrats Just Won a Major Victory in Virginia +

    Democrats Just Won a Major Victory in Virginia On a night of Democratic victories, one of the most significant wins came in Virginia, where the party held onto Read More
  • Repealing the Jim Crow law that keeps 1.5 million Floridians from voting. +

    Repealing the Jim Crow law that keeps 1.5 million Floridians from voting. A seismic political battle that could send shockwaves all the way to the White House was launched last week in Read More
  • Nuclear Weapons: Who Pays, Who Profits? +

    Nuclear Weapons: Who Pays, Who Profits? In an interview with Reuters conducted a month after he took office, Donald Trump asserted that the U.S. had “fallen Read More
  • Sessions issues sweeping new criminal charging policy +

    Sessions issues sweeping new criminal charging policy Attorney General Jeff Sessions overturned the sweeping criminal charging policy of former attorney general Eric H. Holder Jr. and directed Read More
  • 1
  • 2

Featured Zero Climate Emissions News

  • Kerry Would Sue Trump for 'the Lives That Will be Lost' Due to Climate Change +

    Kerry Would Sue Trump for 'the Lives That Will be Lost' Due to Climate Change Former Secretary of State John Kerry, author of Every Day is Extra, predicted that “lives will be lost” due to Read More
  • California to launch its 'own damn satellite' to track greenhouse gases +

    California to launch its 'own damn satellite' to track greenhouse gases Announcement at climate summit comes after former US secretary of state John Kerry warns that international action is slowing Read More
  • 'Major Victory': Landowner's Legal Challenge Halts Construction of Bayou Bridge Pipeline in Louisiana +

    'Major Victory': Landowner's Legal Challenge Halts Construction of Bayou Bridge Pipeline in Louisiana While celebrating the win, activists noted that "construction of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline continues in other parts of the Atchafalaya Read More
  • DAPL Investors Getting Antsy: If Pipeline Doesn’t Move Oil by January First the Contract EXPIRES +

    DAPL Investors Getting Antsy: If Pipeline Doesn’t Move Oil by January First the Contract EXPIRES Though water protectors have held their ground at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access pipeline for months now, they need Read More
  • WV Supreme Court: No Pipeline Surveys for Private Gain +

    WV Supreme Court: No Pipeline Surveys for Private Gain West Virginia property owners won an important case at the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals on Tuesday when that Read More
  • Report: Combat Vs. Climate +

    Report: Combat Vs. Climate Fifteen of the sixteen hottest years ever recorded have occurred during this new century, and the near-unanimous scientific consensus attributes Read More
  • Corporate Media Silent as States Declare Emergency In Aftermath Massive Pipeline Rupture +

    Corporate Media Silent as States Declare Emergency In Aftermath Massive Pipeline Rupture Since an Alabama mine worker first alerted Colonial Pipeline officials to a massive rupture, more than a quarter million gallons Read More
  • The Big Difference at Standing Rock Is Native Leadership All Around +

    The Big Difference at Standing Rock Is Native Leadership All Around This year’s massive buildup of resistance to the Dakota Access pipeline follows closely on the heels of the victory over Read More
  • Beyond Paris: Finding the Courage to Face the Climate Emergency +

    Beyond Paris: Finding the Courage to Face the Climate Emergency Last weekend in Orlando the platform committee of the Democratic Party added language into their platform acknowledging the official position Read More
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5