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After Turmoil and No-Confidence Votes, Sierra Club Terminates Ben Jealous

BY LEE HEDGEPETH

The former NAACP president had a contentious tenure at one of the nation’s oldest environmental organizations.

3 25 sue doge ranger cuts

con call 2 26 25

Sierra Club’s Response to ExxonMobil’s Countersuit

January 7, 2025

Contact

Jonathon Berman, jonathon.berman@sierraclub.org

Beaumont, Texas – On Monday, ExxonMobil filed a countersuit against the Sierra Club, California Attorney General Robert Bonta, and others in the Eastern District of Texas. This comes in response to a lawsuit the groups filed in September against the company, which is the world’s largest producer of single-use plastic polymers. The original complaint, which was filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, alleges violations of California nuisance law and California unfair competition law and alleges ExxonMobil concealed the harms caused by plastics.

In response, Sierra Club spokesperson Jonathon Berman issued the following statement:

“Exxon is clearly confused about the difference between defamation and accountability. This lawsuit is a shameless attempt at intimidation by a multibillion dollar polluter corporation that covered up its climate change denial for decades. The Sierra Club will not sit back as ExxonMobil attempts to use their billions to bully those standing up for the health of working families.”

===

[### Profit Over Planet: Exxon Sued for Hiding the Truth About ...

Sierra Club

https://www.sierraclub.org › press-releases › 2024/09 › p...](https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2024/09/profit-over-planet-exxon-sued-hiding-truth-about-plastic-harms)

Sep 23, 2024 — ... Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay, and San Francisco Baykeeper, filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil (“Exxon”), the world's ...

Sierra Club's Response to ExxonMobil's Countersuit

Sierra Club

https://www.sierraclub.org › press-releases › 2025/01 › si...](https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2025/01/sierra-club-s-response-exxonmobil-s-countersuit)

Jan 7, 2025 — The Sierra Club will not sit back as ExxonMobil attempts to use their billions to bully those standing up for the health of working families.”.

[### ExxonMobil Lied About Plastics Recycling, Lawsuits Claim

Sierra Club

https://www.sierraclub.org › sierra › exxonmobil-lied-ab...](https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/exxonmobil-lied-about-plastics-recycling-lawsuits-california-sierra-club-claim)

Sep 24, 2024 — The State of California and environmental groups including the Sierra Club say the petrochemical giant always knew recycling wouldn't work.

[### Sierra Club v. ExxonMobil Corp.

Climate Change Litigation Databases

https://climatecasechart.com › Case Bundles](https://climatecasechart.com/case/sierra-club-v-exxon-mobil-corp/)

Environmental organizations filed a complaint against Exxon Mobil Corporation asserting nuisance and violation of California's Unfair Competition Law in ...

[### Surfrider, the Sierra Club, Heal the Bay, and San Francisco ...

Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP

https://www.cpmlegal.com › news-Surfrider-the-Sierra-...](https://www.cpmlegal.com/news-Surfrider-the-Sierra-Club-Heal-the-Bay-and-San-Francisco-Baykeeper-Sue-Exxon-for-Hiding-the-Truth-About-Plastic-Harms)

Sep 23, 2024 — Surfrider, the Sierra Club, Heal the Bay, and San Francisco Baykeeper Sue Exxon for Hiding the Truth About Plastic Harms.

[### Environment Texas, Sierra Club v. ExxonMobil

National Environmental Law Center

https://www.nelc.org › Cases](https://www.nelc.org/cases/environment-texas-sierra-club-v-exxonmobil/)

Following trial and appeal, ExxonMobil ordered to pay record $19.95 million civil penalty; penalty provisionally reduced to $14.25 million, pending final ...

[### CalPERS must hold ExxonMobil accountable

Sierra Club

https://www.sierraclub.org › articles › 2024/03 › calpers-...](https://www.sierraclub.org/articles/2024/03/calpers-must-hold-exxonmobil-accountable)

Mar 22, 2024 — Investors who want to preserve their shareholder rights must hold the oil major accountable. And we need CalPERS to lead the way.

---

https://www.mediamatters.org/joe-rogan-experience/already-embroiled-controversy-spotifys-joe-rogan-platforms-another-serial

Just weeks after broadcasting Jordan Peterson's bizarre climate views to his 11 million listeners, Joe Rogan hosted another climate change skeptic, Randall Carlson. Rogan has been at the center of climate-related controversies in recent years, and recently activists called on Spotify – which exclusively broadcasts Rogan’s podcast – to take action against his COVID-19 misinformation. Carlson’s main beat is lost civilizations, hidden mathematics, and a unique brand of climate conspiracy and skepticism.

Sierra Club, a national environmental organization, highlighted its concerns about Carlson’s frequent appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience in an article published last September. According to climate journalist and founder of the Critical Frequency podcast network Amy Westervelt:

The Joe Rogan Experience, with its millions of listeners, has hosted Randall Carlson more than once to talk for hours on end about how Earth's natural cycles (and sunspots, volcanoes, etc., etc.) are really to blame for climate change while "the so-called consensus view" on climate is driven by politics. Rather than press him for evidence, Rogan gifted Carlson with the quip "that's the real inconvenient truth."

Carlson has appeared at least six times on the podcast since 2014. In those appearances, he has asserted that and that . During his latest appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Carlson expressed skepticism about sea level rise and stated, “The sun was actually a much more important factor in climate change than had been acknowledged."

despite the tepid assurances of Rogan’s guest, in the last year alone, we’ve seen blistering heat waves that killed hundreds of people in the U.S. and Canada, destructive wildfires, droughts that triggered the first ever water shortage in the country’s largest reservoir, and Hurricane Ida, which pummeled the South and unleashed “catastrophic” rains across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic region.

Globally, the flooding that devastated Europe last summer was the most expensive disaster in the continent’s history. Summer flooding in China resulted in the third most expensive disaster in Asian history. 2021 was one of the seven hottest years on record, and “since the 1980s, each decade has been warmer than the previous one,” according to the World Meteorological Organization.

To make matters more urgent, the window for meaningful climate action is rapidly closing. The warming detailed in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report – and experienced by tens of millions of people in America alone – represents a “code red” for humanity, according to the United Nations. Each degree of additional warming poses increasingly existential risks for humanity in terms of public health, economic well-being, and social cohesion. Staving off climate change’s worst consequences will require rapid decarbonization and an immediate transition to renewable energy. Considering that the cost of inaction far outweighs the cost of action, the time to act is now.

Yet Rogan is providing a massive platform to climate deniers and skeptics during a time when meaningful climate action remains tenuous at best. Hosting these voices also aids the fossil fuel industry’s billion-dollar campaign to erode the public consensus on climate change and thwart basic climate action.

The majority of Americans, and likely many in Rogan's audience, want the government to take action on climate change. His insistence on hosting climate skeptics serves no one, except perhaps fossil fuel executives.

https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/theyre-crooks-coal-industry-aims-to-exploit-coronavirus-crisis-to-cut-payments-to-miners-with-black-lung

no lnx omg

‘They’re crooks’: Coal industry aims to exploit coronavirus crisis to cut payments to miners with black lung

Written by Jake Johnson / Common Dreams April 12, 2020

Some of the largest coal companies in the United States are using the coronavirus crisis to pressure Congress to slash the tax that finances the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, a lifeline for more than 20,000 miners whose lung disease makes them more vulnerable to COVID-19.

The Washington Post reported this week that the National Mining Association (NMA), a trade group that represents the biggest U.S. coal operators still standing,“asked Congress last month for a 55 percent cut in the excise tax for the trust fund, and a suspension of another fee that pays to clean up abandoned mines. Altogether the operators say they could save about $220 million.”

“While the level of taxation to back the fund has fluctuated sharply over the past two years,” the Post noted, “it currently stands at $1.10 for every ton of coal mined underground and 55 cents for surface coal.”

Harold Sturgill, a 60-year-old retired miner who was diagnosed with black lung in 1998, said in an interview with the Post that coal companies are “going to try to use this virus thing to stop paying benefits.”

“They’re crooks,” Sturgill said

Sierra Club

@SierraClub

“The burden should be on the coal operators,” Bounds said. “They come in our state, they mine our coal, they fill their pockets up, they declare bankruptcy. They leave with all the cash, and there’s no money to pay the miners.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/08/coal-black-lung-coronavirus/ … #blacklungkills #covid19

As covid-19 hits, coal companies aim to cut the tax they pay to support black lung miners

The nation’s coal companies, citing the economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic, want to roll back their payments to the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. That would leave the federal government to...

washingtonpost.com

10:29 AM - Apr 9, 2020

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The NMA explicitly pointed to the coronavirus crisis in its tax cut request to Congress (pdf)—which was not included in the stimulus package that Congress passed last month—and labeled the coal industry “essential” to energy production in the United States. A group of Republican senators is currently pressuring the Federal Reserve to allow coal companies to benefit from the multi-trillion-dollar CARES Act.

“As the country faces this unique and mounting challenge around the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. coal miners continue to work to provide the resources necessary to power America while bracing for the severe financial distress facing all sectors across the nation,” NMA wrote to congressional leaders. “To minimize the impact of this crisis on the coal industry, Congress should ensure all businesses have the financial resources necessary to ride out the pandemic.”

The group, according to the Post, intends to keep pushing for the tax cut in future stimulus legislation.

As EcoWatch reported earlier this week, “in some states like West Virginia, coal mines have been classified as essential services and are staying open during the COVID-19 pandemic, even though the close quarters miners work in and the known risks to respiratory health put miners in harm’s way during the spread of the coronavirus.”

“Nobody knows what this virus is going to do when it gets to this area,” Jimmy Moore, a 74-year-old black lung patient in Shelby Gap, Kentucky, told HuffPost. “It’s probably just going to wipe us out.”

Miners and advocates have long warned about the financial health of the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, which is deeply in debt, and repeatedly asked lawmakers to act to ensure that the program is sustainable over the long term. Last July, as Common Dreams reported, a group of around 120 retired miners traveled to Washington, D.C. to demand congressional action to secure the fund’s finances, only to be brushed aside by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican.

Lynda Glagola, chairwoman of the National Coalition of Black Lung and Respiratory Disease Clinics, told the Post that if Congress grants the coal industry its desired tax cut, “the fund will spiral deeper and deeper into debt causing it to become a red financial flag.”

“Especially at this time, as the economy is collapsing right before our eyes,” Glagola warned, “lawmakers will soon be looking for programs to cut to save money and reduce the national debt and deficit.”

In response to NMA’s request, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.)—chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee—and Rep. Matthew Cartwright (D-Pa.) wrote a letter (pdf) to congressional leaders last month urging them to reject the coal industry’s “wish-list” and “focus federal resources on the workers, families, and communities that are being hardest hit by this crisis.”

“The coal industry is taking advantage of the country’s current circumstances to advocate for policies that are completely unrelated to the current crisis, policies that would in fact set back efforts to improve the health and lives of people across the country,” the lawmakers wrote. “At a time when the country is facing a pandemic due to a respiratory illness, it is particularly egregious for the coal industry to advocate reducing the Black Lung Excise Tax.”

https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-wheeler-emails-polluting-industries-2625417216.html

many lnx

Court Rules EPA Must Release 20,000 Emails Between Wheeler, Other Top Officials and Polluting Industries

A federal court has ordered that top officials at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—including Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler—must release about 20,000 emails exchanged with industry groups, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The December 26 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California was the result of a lawsuit brought by the Sierra Club after the EPA missed its deadline in responding to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The environmental group had sought the emails to see how industry contacts might be influencing decisions by officials like Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, to roll back Obama-era regulations on climate-change causing emissions and other pollutants.

"The law is clear: the EPA must produce these documents, it must do so quickly, and if necessary it must re-allocate staff to speed things up and lift the curtain on the toxic relationship between Trump's appointees and the polluters they are supposed to be protecting us from," Senior Sierra Club Attorney Elena Saxonhouse, who helped argue the case, said in a press release.

The court mandated a 10 month timeline for the release of the documents, which will begin as soon as the federal government fully reopens pending the end of the ongoing shutdown. The FOIA request targeted 25 Trump administration officials at the EPA including Wheeler, Office of Air and Radiation head and former corporate lawyer Bill Wehrum, top Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention official and former chemical industry lobbyist Nancy Beck and Albert "Kell" Kelly, who was formerly in charge of a task force on improving the way the EPA cleans toxic sites and has a lifetime ban from working in banking, The Washington Post reported.

The EPA had said it was so inundated with FOIA requests that it needed until 2022 to release the documents, but the Sierra Club argued successfully that the release could not wait that long, in part because President Donald Trump has indicated he will nominate Wheeler to officially replace former Administrator Scott Pruitt, who resigned in part because of scandals revealed through previous Sierra Club FOIA requests.

"The Senate should not act on Wheeler's expected nomination until we know exactly what he is up to behind the scenes. The revelations which FOIA'd emails uncovered about Scott Pruitt were unprecedented, shocking, and helped bring about his rapid downfall," Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in the press release. "Now, we await tens of thousands of emails between Andrew Wheeler, his industry-conflicted deputies, and the polluters they are supposed to be protecting us from. Given Wheeler and Wherum's history of exclusively protecting polluter profits, we can only imagine what abuses these documents are likely to uncover."

Pruitt’s Attack on Science Continues to Undermine Integrity at EPA

By Elena Saxonhouse and Adam Beitman

Shortly after Scott Pruitt took over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Sierra Club filed a formal complaint with the agency's Inspector General demonstrating that he violated EPA's Scientific Integrity Policy in multiple ways. Our filing called for an investigation into and resolution of Pruitt's televised denial of established science: the fact that carbon pollution plays a strong role in fueling the climate crisis. Wednesday, we received a private letter in response from the EPA's Office of the Science Advisor. Unfortunately, the letter and the panel decision it describes provide a fundamentally flawed reading of the Scientific Integrity Policy. The decision fails to address many of the areas of the policy the Sierra Club had called attention to, relies on partial quotes from the policy, and provides Pruitt with special protections afforded to actual scientists working at the agency, although he is—quite obviously at this point—not a scientist. This erroneous and incomplete review led to a conclusion that Pruitt had not technically violated the policy because he was expressing an "opinion."

What's more, as a sign of Pruitt's desperation for good press, his spokespeople leaked an earlier version of the letter to fringe websites earlier this week in an end-run around established EPA procedures, and before it had even been provided to the Sierra Club employees to whom it was addressed....

http://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/sce/sierra-club-california/PDFs/FINAL%202016%20Score%20Card%2010-11-16.pdf

ASSEMBLY

REPORT CARD

VOTE

COUNT SCORE

SUPPORTED MEASURES

AB 1066

Farmworker

overtime

AB 1550

Greenhouse

gas funds

AB 2243

Marijuana tax

AB 2729

Idle oil &

gas wells

SB 32

Climate

change goals

SB 1000

Env. justice in

gen plans

SB 1190

Coastal commission

reform

SB 1263

Water system

permitting

SB 1279

Coal funds

SB 1387

Env. justice on

local air board

SB 1441

Leaked gas charges

Achadjian, Katcho (R-35) 2/11 18% - - + + - - - - - - -

Alejo, Luis (D-30) 8/11 73% + + + + + + NV- + + NV- NVAllen,

Travis (R-72) 0/11 0% - - - - - - - - - - -

Arambula, Joaquin (D-31) 8/11 73% + + + + + + - + + NV- -

Atkins, Toni G. (D-78) 10/11 91% + + + + + + + + + + NVBaker,

Catharine B. (R-16) 4/11 36% - - - + + - - - + - +

Bigelow, Frank (R-05) 0/11 0% - - NV- - - - - - - - -

Bloom, Richard H. (D-50) 10/11 91% + + + + + + NV- + + + +

Bonilla, Susan (D-14) 10/11 91% + + + + + + - + + + +

Bonta, Rob (D-18) 10/11 91% + + + + + + NV- + + + +

Brough, William P. (R-73) 0/11 0% - - - - - - - - - - -

Brown, Cheryl R. (D-47) 6/11 55% + + + + +** NV- - NV- + - NVBurke,

Autumn R. (D-62) 7/11 64% + + + + +** NV- NV- NV- + + NVCalderon,

Ian C. (D-57) 8/11 73% + + + + + + - + + NV- NVCampos,

Nora (D-27) 8/11 73% + + + + +** + - + + - NVChang,

Ling-Ling (R-55) 0/11 0% - - NV- NV- - - - - - - -

Chau, Ed (D-49) 10/11 91% + + + + + + NV- + + + +

Chávez, Rocky J. (R-76) 1/11 9% - - + - -** - - - - - -

Chiu, David S. (D-17) 11/11 100% + + + + + + + + + + +

Chu, Kansen (D-25) 8/11 73% + + + + + + - NV- + NV- +

Cooley, Ken (D-08) 8/11 73% - + + + + + - + + + -

Cooper, Jim (D-09) 4/11 36% - + + + -** NV- - NV- + - NVDababneh,

Matthew M. (D-45) 9/11 82% + + + + + + - + + - +

Dahle, Brian (R-01) 2/11 18% - + + - - - - - - - -

Daly, Tom F. (D-69) 4/11 36% + + + + NV- NV- - NV- NV- - -

Dodd, Bill (D-04) 8/11 73% - + + + + + - + + + NVEggman,

Susan Talamantes (D-13) 9/11 82% NV- + + + +** + NV- + + + +

Frazier, Jim L., Jr. (D-11) 4/11 36% - NV- + + - + - - + NV- -

Gaines, Beth (R-06) 0/11 0% - - NV- - - - - - - - -

Gallagher, James M. (R-03) 2/11 18% - + + - - - - - - - -

Garcia, Cristina (D-58) 9/11 82% + + + + + + NV- + + + NVGarcia,

Eduardo (D-56) 9/11 82% + + + + + + NV- + + NV- +

Gatto, Mike (D-43) 10/11 91% + + + + + + - + + + +

Gipson, Mike A. (D-64) 7/11 64% + + + NV- + + - + + NV- NVGomez,

Jimmy (D-51) 9/11 82% + + + + + + - + + + NVGonzalez,

Lorena S. (D-80) 10/11 91%

Gordon, Richard S. (D-24) 10/11 91% + + + + + + + + + NV- +

Gray, Adam C. (D-21) 3/7 43% - E + + - E E + - E -

Grove, Shannon L. (R-34) 0/11 0% - NV- - - - - - - - - -

Hadley, David (R-66) 3/11 27% - - + + - - - - + - NVHarper,

Matthew (R-74) 0/11 0% - - - - - - - - - - -

Hernández, Roger (D-48) 9/11 82% + + + + +** + - + + NV- +

Holden, Chris R. (D-41) 9/11 82% + + + + + + - + + NV- +

Irwin, Jacqui V. (D-44) 10/11 91% NV- + + + + + + + + + +

Jones, Brian W. (R-71) 0/11 0% - - NV- - - - - - - - -

Jones-Sawyer, Reginald B., Sr. (D-59) 10/11 91% + + + + + + NV- + + + +

Kim, Young O. (R-65) 0/11 0% - - NV- NV- - - - - - - -

Lackey, Tom W. (R-36) 1/11 9% - - - + - - - - - - -

Levine, Marc B. (D-10) 10/11 91% NV- + + + + + + + + + +

Linder, Eric F. (R-60) 2/11 18% + NV- - + - - - - - - -

López, Patty (D-39) 11/11 100% + + + + + + + + + + +

Low, Evan (D-28) 9/11 82% + + + + + + NV- + + + NVMaienschein,

Brian (R-77) 2/11 18% - - + + - - - - - - -

Mathis, Devon J. (R-26) 2/11 18% - + - + - - - - - - -

Mayes, Chad J. (R-42) 1/11 9% - - + - - - - - - - -

McCarty, Kevin (D-07) 11/11 100% + + + + + + + + + + +

Medina, Jose (D-61) 8/11 73% + + + + + + + + NV- - -

Melendez, Melissa A. (R-67) 0/10 0% - - - - - - - - E - NVMullin,

Kevin (D-22) 9/11 82% + + + + + + NV- + + NV- +

Nazarian, Adrin (D-46) 11/11 100% + + + + + + + + + + +

Obernolte, Jay P. (R-33) 0/11 0% - - NV- - - - - - - - -

O’Donnell, Patrick (D-70) 7/11 64% + + + + +** + + NV- NV- NV- NVOlsen,

Kristin M. (R-12) 1/11 9% - NV- + - - - - - - - -

Patterson, Jim (R-23) 1/11 9% - - + - - - - - - - -

Quirk, Bill (D-20) 9/11 82% + + - + + + NV- + + + +

Rendon, Anthony, Ph.D. (D-63) 11/11 100% + + + + + + + + + + +

Ridley-Thomas, Sebastian (D-54) 8/11 73% + + + + + + - NV- + + -

Rodriguez, Freddie (D-52) 8/11 73% + + + + + + NV- + + - NVSalas,

Rudy, Jr. (D-32) 6/11 55% + + + + - + - - + - -

Santiago, Miguel (D-53) 9/11 82% + + + + + + NV- + + + NVSteinorth,

Marc (R-40) 0/11 0% - - - - - - - - - - -

Stone, Mark (D-29) 11/11 100% + + + + + + + + + + +

Thurmond, Tony (D-15) 10/11 91% + + + + + + NV- + + + +

Ting, Philip Y. (D-19) 10/11 91% + + NV- + + + + + + + +

Wagner, Donald P. (R-68) 1/11 9% - - NV- + - - - - - - -

Waldron, Marie (R-75) 0/11 0% - - - - - - - - - - -

Weber, Shirley N. (D-79) 9/11 82% + + + + + + - + + NV- +

Wilk, Scott T. (R-38) 2/11 18% - - + + - - - - - - -

Williams, Das G. (D-37) 11/11 100% + + + + + + + + + + +

Wood, Jim (D-02) 9/11 82%

SENATE

REPORT CARD

VOTE

COUNT SCORE

SUPPORTED MEASURES OPPOSED

AB 1066

Farmworker

overtime

AB 1550

Greenhouse

gas funds

AB 2243

Marijuana

tax

AB 2729

Idle oil &

gas wells

SB 32

Climate

change goals

goals

SB 1000

Env. justice in

gen plans

SB 1190

Coastal commission

reform

SB 1263

Water system

permitting

SB 1279

Coal funds

SB 1282

Bee-killing

pesticides

SB 1387

Env. justice on

local air board

SB 1441

Leaked gas

charges

SB 1239

Smog

exemption

Allen, Benjamin (D-26) 12/12 100% + + + + + + + + + + + +

Anderson, Joel (R-38) 1/12 8% - - + - - - - - - - - -

Bates, Patricia C. (R-36) 1/12 8% - - + - - - - - - - - -

Beall, Jim (D-15) 13/13 100% + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Berryhill, Tom (R-08) 0/12 0% - - NV- - - - - - - - - -

Block, Marty (D-39) 12/12 100% + + + + + + + + + + + +

Cannella, Anthony J. (R-12) 2/12 17% - NV- + - - - - - - - + -

de León, Kevin (D-24) 12/12 100% + + + + + + + + + + + +

Fuller, Jean (R-16) 1/12 8% - - + - - - - - - - - -

Gaines, Ted (R-01) 0/12 0% - - NV- - - - - - - - - -

Galgiani, Cathleen (D-05) 5/12 42% NV- + + NV- + NV- NV- + - NV- + -

Glazer, Steven M. (D-07) 8/12 67% - + + + - + + + - NV- + +

Hall, Isadore, III (D-35) 12/12 100% + + + + + + + + + + + +

Hancock, Loni (D-09) 12/12 100% + + + + + + + + + + + +

Hernandez, Ed, O.D. (D-22) 11/13 85% + + + + + + NV- + + NV- + + NV+

Hertzberg, Robert M. (D-18) 13/13 100% + + + + + + + + + + + + NV+

Hill, Jerry (D-13) 12/12 100% + + + + + + + + + + + +

Hueso, Ben (D-40) 7/11 64% + + E + + NV- - + NV- + + -

Huff, Bob (R-29) 1/12 8% - - - - - - - - - - + -

Jackson, Hannah-Beth (D-19) 11/12 92% + + + + + + + + NV- + + +

Lara, Ricardo (D-33) 11/13 85% + + NV- + + + + + + NV- + + +

Leno, Mark (D-11) 12/12 100% + + + + + + + + + + + +

Leyva, Connie M. (D-20) 11/12 92% NV- + + + + + + + + + + +

Liu, Carol (D-25) 11/12 92% + + + + + + + + + + + -

McGuire, Mike (D-02) 11/12 92% NV- + + + + + + + + + + +

Mendoza, Tony (D-32) 10/12 83% + + + + + + + + NV- + + -

Mitchell, Holly J. (D-30) 11/12 92% + + + + + + + + + NV- + +

Monning, William W. (D-17) 11/12 92% + + + + + + + + - + + +

Moorlach, John M.W. (R-37) 1/13 8% - - + - - - - - - - - - -

Morrell, Mike L. (R-23) 1/12 8% - - + - - - - - - - - -

Nguyen, Janet (R-34) 0/13 0% - - - - - - NV- - - - - - -

Nielsen, Jim W. (R-04) 0/12 0% - - - - NV- - - - - - - -

Pan, Richard, M.D. (D-06) 11/12 92% + + + + + + + + NV- + + +

Pavley, Fran (D-27) 12/13 92% + + + + + + + + + - + + +

Roth, Richard D. (D-31) 8/12 67% NV- + + + + + + + - NV- + -

Stone, Jeff E. (R-28) 0/12 0% - - - - - - - - - - - -

Vidak, Andy (R-14) 0/12 0% - - - - - - - - - - - -

Wieckowski, Bob (D-10) 12/12 100% + + + + + + + + + + + +

Wolk, Lois (D-03) 12/12 100%

misfiled?

Breitbart.com -- the fake news site known for propelling Donald Trump and Steve Bannon into power -- posts and promotes a large swath of climate-denying content on its widely-read site.

To date, 2,100 companies have stopped advertising on Breitbart, but one major online retailer has not -- Amazon.¹

Tell Amazon to stop funding hate and climate change denial propaganda!

Last week, when Trump backed out of the Paris climate agreement, Amazon made the statement: "Amazon continues to support the Paris climate agreement and action on climate change. We believe that robust clean energy and climate policies can support American competitiveness, innovation, and job growth." ²

So why is Amazon still buying ads on Breitbart, which spreads the lie that climate change isn't real?

Fiegerman, S. (23 May 2017). "Amazon latest brand hit by protests over Breitbart ads." ABC 12 KSAT.com.
Leswing K. (1 June 2017). "Apr." Business Insider.
Cadwalladr, C. (26 February 2017). "Robert Mercer: the big data billionaire waging war on mainstream media." The Guardian.

ExxonMobil must pay $20 million for violating the Clean Air Act more than 16,000 times at a Texas plant, a district judge ruled this week.

The ruling against Exxon in a suit brought by Environment Texas and the Sierra Club found that the oil giant failed to update emissions-reductions technology at its Baytown, Texas refining and chemical plant.

In their suit, the groups alleged the plant illegally released more than 10 million pounds of pollutants between 2005 and 2013, while Exxon gained more than $14 million in economic benefits....

http://www.globalpossibilities.org/see-how-the-sierra-clubs-leader-is-trolling-republicans/

http://ecowatch.com/2016/06/29/oakland-bans-coal-exports/

The Oakland City Council took a strong stand against coal Monday night. Following a long and often emotional city council meeting—during which whistles and cheers were at times met with boos and yelling—the council passed an ordinance prohibiting the storage and handling of coal and petcoke at Oakland facilities and a resolution that would specifically apply the ordinance to the Oakland Bulk and Oversized Terminal (OBOT), which is being built on the old Oakland Army Base.:{ :(style="box-sizing:border-box;margin:0px;padding:0px;z-index:100;display:block;max-width:750px;max-height:465px"):}:The Oakland City Council voted 7-0 to ban coal storage and handling in Oakland.

The meeting drew hundreds of impassioned Oakland residents, including representatives from the labor, faith, environmental and health communities, as well as the terminal developers. Those speaking against the terminal emphasized that West Oakland already suffers the effects of disproportionate air pollution. They argued that added particulate pollution tied to the coal export terminal could elevate the risk of health problems like asthma, cancer and lung and heart disease.

Several speakers also pointed to climate change and it’s impact both globally and in Oakland.

“There is strong evidence that if coal is not shipped from OBOT, it will not be shipped and combusted at all,” Linda Rudolph, director of the Climate Change and Public Health Project at the Public Health Institute, said, speaking to the city council prior to the vote.

“If coal is shipped from OBOT, the greenhouse gas emissions from burning that coal will be greater than that from all five bay area oil refineries. It will contribute significantly to climate change and climate change is the defining health challenge of this century. It’s a serious threat to the health of Oakland residents.”

Those speaking on behalf of the project said that measures could be taken to mitigate the impacts from coal and emphasized the jobs associated with the terminal project.

“[The terminal] will be the source of generational prosperity for many of the … un- and underemployed residents and most important, it will be safe,” said Jerry Bridges, president and CEO of Terminal Logistics Solutions, which will operate OBOT. (Labor representatives, however, spoke out strongly against the use of the terminal for coal shipments, rejecting the idea that the issue is one of jobs versus community health or justice and pointing out that the terminal will create jobs regardless of the specific commodities shipped through it).

The buildup to the vote has been considerable. Oakland residents and activists have been advocating against coal exports since the spring of 2015, when plans to use OBOT for coal were first revealed. On Friday, they received a sign that their efforts might pay off when Oakland City staff released a report finding that the use of the terminal for coal exports would negatively impact the health, safety and general welfare of Oakland residents and recommending that the City Council pass both the ordinance and the resolution applying it to OBOT.

Furthermore, staff concluded that the city had legal authority to ban the export of coal through Oakland. (The original agreement between CCIG and the City of Oakland did not specify which commodities would be shipped through the terminal and prohibited modifications based on new laws. However, it included a caveat allowing for any modification that might be necessary to protect local health and safety).

The staff report itself was based in large part on a city-commissioned study on the impacts of the terminal prepared by Environmental Science Associates, that underscored the public health, safety and environmental impacts of transporting, storing and handling coal at the proposed shipping terminal. These include increased exposure to particulate pollution in communities already overburdened by pollutants, health and safety risks related to the spontaneous combustion of coal and increased global CO2 emissions associated with the burning of exported coal in power plants overseas.

The environmental consultancy’s report reinforced findings from two additional studies, one commissioned by city council member Daniel Kalb, released just a day earlier and a second by the Public Health Panel on Coal in Oakland.

Kalb was optimistic going into the city council meeting. “I’m confident we will take action that will protect the public health and minimize safety risks,” he said, speaking with Earth Island Journal by phone before the meeting. “I think there is plenty of analysis to suggest it is a serious health risk to a lot of people, especially workers and there are substantial safety risks.”

The Oakland coal issue has spurred action far beyond city limits as well. In February, California State Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Oakland, introduced four bills targeting coal exports in California generally and the OBOT site specifically. The State Senate passed two of the bills in June—one that would prohibit the State Transportation Committee from funding coal storage or transportation projects in or adjacent to disadvantaged communities and another that would require additional environmental review of the proposed Oakland project. The two bills are now under consideration by the State Assembly.

Environmental groups have also been focusing on Utah, where pro-coal actors have worked to secure funding for the Oakland project as a means of ensuring export capacity for Utah coal. Specifically, the state has pledged $53 million in taxpayer funds toward a loan for the OBOT project in exchange for shipping rights at the terminal.

The funds were initially provided through a loan by the Utah Community Impact Fund, using money that was supposed to go towards mitigating impacts of mineral extraction in Utah. When that usage of funds was called into question, the Utah legislature approved a bill essentially swapping out those funds for other money to get around the rules.

Last week, Earthjustice, Sierra Club and Heal Utah, among other groups, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior demanding an investigation of the loan on legal and ethical grounds.

“I think some people want to frame this as a story about liberal West Coasters who are worried about climate change in the abstract versus coal miners in Utah,” Ted Zukoski, an Earthjustice attorney who has been following the Utah developments, said. “This is about Utah and corporations they are working on behalf of, trying to offload the environmental damage to another community, cashing in while someone else suffers.”

Throughout the four-hour Monday night city council meeting, many anti-coal activists, as well as council members, made a point of emphasizing that they were not opposing the Oakland Army Base redevelopment project or OBOT more generally, but rather the use of the terminal to export coal.

Prior to the meeting, David Smith, an attorney representing the developer, California Capital Investment Group, told the East Bay Express that they would go to court to challenge a coal ban.

Gregory McConnell, representing CCIG, reiterated this sentiment at the council meeting. Speaking to the city council in reference to a letter the company sent the council earlier in the day, he said “the developer will have no choice but to pursue all legal remedies to protect their interests” if the council voted to ban coal. He suggested that the city could be liable for hundreds of millions of dollars for breaching the development agreement.

“So this is not going to end tonight even if the decision that you make tonight says that you ban coal,” McConnell said.

Environmental and community groups, however, praised the decision. “We stand with community groups and commend the City for taking a strong stance against coal and using its powers to protect its residents,” Irene Gutierrez, an attorney with Earthjustice, said in a statement.

“We are totally delighted everybody came through that was there tonight,” said Margaret Rossoff of No Coal in Oakland campaign, a grassroots organization campaigning to stop coal from being by rail through Oakland, right before joining a celebration with friends following the vote.

Both the ordinance and the resolution passed by 7 to 0 vote—one council member was excused from the meeting. The council will hold a second reading of the ordinance on July 19.

http://ecowatch.com/2016/06/09/sierra-club-endorses-hillary-clinton/

Win:

OR LNG sierra club

http://ecowatch.com/2016/03/12/ferc-denies-jordan-cove-lng/

https://kpfa.org/episode/letters-and-politics-january-20-2016/

With Douglas Brinkley, professor of history at Rice University and author of several books including The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America.

And Tom Turner. Turner has worked at the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, and Earthjustice. He is the author of the biography David Brower: The Making of the Environmental Movement.

About The Wilderness Warrior:

In this monumental biography, acclaimed historian Douglas Brinkley examines the life and achievements of Theodore Roosevelt, our “naturalist president,” and his tireless crusade for the American wilderness—a legacy now more important than ever.

About David Brower: The Making of the Environmental Movement

In this first comprehensive authorized biography of David Brower, a dynamic leader in the environmental movement over the last half of the twentieth century, Tom Turner explores Brower’s impact on the movement from its beginnings until his death in 2000.

Frequently compared to John Muir, David Brower was the first executive director of the Sierra Club, founded Friends of the Earth, and helped secure passage of the Wilderness Act, among other key achievements. Tapping his passion for wilderness and for the mountains he scaled in his youth, he was a central figure in the creation of the Point Reyes National Seashore and of the North Cascades and Redwood national parks. In addition, Brower worked tirelessly in successful efforts to keep dams from being built in Dinosaur National Monument and the Grand Canyon.

Tom Turner began working with David Brower in 1968 and remained close to him until Brower’s death. As an insider, Turner creates an intimate portrait of Brower the man and the decisive role he played in the development of the environmental movement. Culling material from Brower’s diaries, notebooks, articles, books, and published interviews, and conducting his own interviews with many of Brower’s admirers, opponents, and colleagues, Turner brings to life one of the movement’s most controversial and complex figures.

U.S. Forest Service is considering letting Arch Coal, the second biggest coal company in the country, bulldoze thousands of acres of publicly-owned roadless forest in order to mine more than 170 million tons of coal and create hundreds of methane well pads. 12/15