EPA – R&R – Reachout and Rebuild

Zeldin’s complete Environmental Record

David Posnett — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 18:37:54 +0000

Latest update of Zeldin’s environmental voting record below.
The spreadsheet itself (all 193 bills since Zeldin was first elected) is linked in Excel format: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19e5j3Z3xupufWNReLsO-P69eL316sJDLBbf8EZDFklg/edit?usp=sharing

This is our last update before the November 3rd election. It covers the 21 bills tracked by the League of Conservation Scorecard so far in 2020.So far in 2020, Lee Zeldin has voted against the environment in 14 of these bills and for the environment in 7, for a year-to-date score of 33%. Zeldin’s lifetime score (to date) is 15%. Although Zeldin’s lifetime score has crept up by a few percentage points over the last 2 years, it remains embarrassingly low when viewed in context: the average LCV score of a Member of Congress last year was 59%. Some highlights of Zeldin’s environmental voting record so far in 2020: He voted to permit Trump’s EPA to issue weak standards on soot pollution. He voted against more federal infrastructure funding for clean energy, clean water and mass transportation. He voted not to restrict funding for resumption of nuclear testing. He voted against increases in funding for climate, oceans, coastal science, energy efficiency and renewable energy. He voted against increases in federal funding for the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds. And he voted against funding for replacing lead service lines providing drinking water to predominately minority and low income neighborhoods. On the plus side, Zeldin voted for full and permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program he has long supported. LWCF funds are used to protect and enhance public lands and to provide community recreational facilities. This bill passed the Senate and was signed into law. Finally, and in seemingly contradictory fashion, on the same day Zeldin voted for greater regulation of PFAS chemicals, which are suspected carcinogens, but against a bill to close a loophole in the Clean Water Act that permits PFAS to be discharged into waterways. Details can be found in the linked spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19e5j3Z3xupufWNReLsO-P69eL316sJDLBbf8EZDFklg/edit?usp=sharing

To sum it up, he has voted the wrong way on bills to mitigate climate change 92% of the time, to be exact, despite the double talk, evasions & obfuscation he dished out in his video presentation at the NYLCV climate change forum a few days ago.

Best, Marc Rauch and Suzi Kondic

Lee Zeldin: We call BS when we see BS!

David Posnett — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 22:41:49 +0000

By Marc Rauch

To the editor of the Long Island Advance:

NY-01 Representative Lee Zeldin has tried to portray himself as an environmentalist in a recent TV campaign ad, in press releases and in letters to constituents. However, a new report released last week by the Environmental Working Group Action Fund, a Washington, D.C. based group that seeks to protect people, communities and natural resources from the health and environmental consequences of toxic chemicals, suggests just the opposite.

EWG rated all 435 Members of the House on 17 recent House votes impacting toxic chemicals safeguards. Mr. Zeldin voted to weaken safeguards against these poisons, not to strengthen them, all 17 times. Mr. Zeldin’s “0” rating tied him with Claudia Tenney, an upstate Republican, for dead last in the 27-member New York House delegation. The full report can be found at https://www.ewgaction.org/protectyourhealth/billsummaries.html.

Adding this new report on toxic chemicals to Zeldin’s consistently rock-bottom across-the-board ratings from the national League of Conservation Voters, NY-01 voters should treat Zeldin’s claims to have their health and environmental concerns at heart with the deepest of skepticism.

Yours truly,

Marc Rauch
Bellport

Don’t Make Me Laugh

David Posnett — Thu, 13 Sep 2018 14:41:01 +0000

By Perry Gershon:

Lee Zeldin wants you to think he’s an environmentalist. He’s spending big bucks blasting that absurd idea across Long Island television.

Don’t make me laugh.

In his four years in Congress, Lee has voted against the environment over and over again. He’s taken tens of thousands of dollars from the oil and gas industry to prop up his campaign.

It’s no wonder Lee opposed protecting the environment on 21 out of 22 votes.

Lee opposed seven bills on air quality protections.

He opposed protections for clean water 19 different times.

He opposed protecting wildlife eight times.

And he continues to stand by a president who insists climate change is a Chinese hoax.

Get the idea? Lee Zeldin is no friend of the environment, of clear air and water, or protecting our planet for future generations.

Long Island voters have a clear choice in November.

I promise to work tirelessly to protect the environment – whether that be our clear air, clean water, clean energy production, or protecting wildlife.

Lee’s record is clear, and that’s just another reason why he has to go.

Donate $5 right now. Let’s show Zeldin we won’t stand for his hypocrisy on the environment.

Posts on R&R (since July 2018) related to Zeldin’s environmental record:

Zeldin’s Environmental Voting Record Goes from Bad to Worse

Posted on August 28, 2018 by D. Posnett MD

Lee Zeldin wants to Drill in the Ironwood Forest National Monument By Marc Rauch: Latest update: Zeldin’s Environmental Voting Record Goes from Bad to Worse in 2018 In the first 3 years of Lee Zeldin’s congressional term (2015-2017), he earned … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, Environment, EPA, Executive Order, GOP, National Parks & Monuments, Trump, Uncategorized, water quality, Zeldin | Tagged Environment, lee zeldin, voting record | 2 Comments | Edit

Zeldin’s War on the Environment

Posted on August 20, 2018 by D. Posnett MD

By Perry Gershon: (Source: https://www.facebook.com/pg/perry4congress/posts/?ref=page_internal) Lee Zeldin continues to support the Trump Administration’s destruction of our environmental protections. The new “plan” for coal represents one more example of the total disregard for the serious health effects of air pollution. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Pollution, Environment, Trump, Uncategorized, water quality, Zeldin | Tagged car emission, clean air, clean water, pollution | 2 Comments | Edit

Is Lee Zeldin Really “Good On The Environment”?

Posted on January 19, 2018 by francescarh

A slickly produced mailer from Lee Zeldin appeared in my mailbox this week. It touted our Congressman’s supposed record in “safeguarding our environment.” Mr. Zeldin has been very adept in pulling the wool over voters’ eyes about his actual environmental … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment | Edit

Zeldin Boasting about Environment Record?

Posted on January 2, 2018 by maidstonejewelry

Posted in climate change, Environment, EPA, Paris Climate Accord, Uncategorized, Zeldin | 4 Comments | Edit

More Bad Zeldin Environmental Votes

Posted on October 12, 2017 by D. Posnett MD

By Marc Rauch and Chelsea Estevez Since our last update in late August, fourteen bills impacting the environment have come before the House of Representatives. Lee Zeldin took the anti-environment position on 12 out of 14 of these recent bills. … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, Environment, EPA, Paris Climate Accord, Trump, Uncategorized, Zeldin | Tagged environmental justice, EPA, fracking, methane, ocean, public land | Leave a comment | Edit

Complete Lee Zeldin Environmental Voting Record

Posted on July 2, 2017 by D. Posnett MD

A great resource! D Posnett Marc Rauch·Friday, June 23, 2017 Complete Lee Zeldin Environmental Voting Record (Last Updated 6/29/17) Introduction Linked here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19e5j3Z3xupufWNReLsO-P69eL316sJDLBbf8EZDFklg/edit?usp=sharing is an easy-to-use Excel spreadsheet summarizing Lee Zeldin’s complete environmental voting record in Congress. Purpose This spreadsheet … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Pollution, climate change, Environment, EPA, National Parks & Monuments, Offshore Drilling, Uncategorized, Zeldin | Tagged energy, Environment, record, wind, Zeldin | 2 Comments | Edit

Lee Zeldin’s Duplicity on Environmental Issues

Posted on March 7, 2017 by D. Posnett MD

Marc Rauch, from Bellport, New York. had the following letter in the March 2, 2017 edition of the Long Island Advance: I was taken aback by Rep. Lee Zeldin’s “official positions” on protection of the environment, as reported last week … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Uncategorized, Zeldin | Tagged duplicity, Environment, pollution, Zeldin | 1 Comment | Edit

Zeldin & Environment?

Posted on February 19, 2017 by D. Posnett MD

My letter to editor of LI Advance was published this week- 2/16/2017 Voting to loosen standards on oil and gas industries Where is Congressman Zeldin on the environment? Two weeks ago I visited Congressman Zeldin’s office to talk with a … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Uncategorized | Tagged Environment, Zeldin | 5 Comments | Edit

Flip the House — Defeat Zeldin!

Posted on August 4, 2018 by amyturner2000

By Jacquelyn Gavron & Amy Turner, July 19, 2018 New York’s First Congressional District (NY-1), historically a swing district, is represented by Lee Zeldin (R). He was initially elected with Tea Party support and is an unwavering Trump loyalist with … Continue reading →

Posted in ACA, AHCA, economy, Environment, Guns, Health Care, Politics, Tax Reform, Uncategorized, Women, Zeldin | 3 Comments | Edit

Moral Obligation to send Zeldin packing

Posted on July 19, 2018 by D. Posnett MD

Published in the East Hampton Star – the July 10, 2018 To the Editor: Offered less than 10 days into our district’s 133-day congressional race, The Star’s advice to local Democrats (“First District Dilemma”) is not only premature, but also … Continue reading →

Posted in perry gershon, Uncategorized, Zeldin | Tagged David Rattray, democratic, gershon, Star, turnout | Leave a comment | Edit

Zeldin’s Environmental Voting Record Goes from Bad to Worse

David Posnett — Tue, 28 Aug 2018 14:21:58 +0000

Lee Zeldin wants to Drill in the Ironwood Forest National Monument

By Marc Rauch:

Latest update:

Zeldin’s Environmental Voting Record Goes from Bad to Worse in 2018

In the first 3 years of Lee Zeldin’s congressional term (2015-2017), he earned a 10% scorecard rating from the League of Conservation Voters (LCV). This means that he voted against the environment 90% of the time.

So far in 2018, LCV has scored 22 House votes related to the environment. Zeldin has voted against the environment 21 out of 22 times, or 95% of the time.

Since our last update on July 5, 2018, Zeldin has voted:

— to undermine fisheries management tools that are essential to prevent overfishing

— to prevent implementation of vital safeguards that protect communities from exposure to toxins in the fish they eat

— to prevent EPA from implementing its standards to reduce methane pollution in the oil and gas industry

— to prevent Congress from considering the economic costs of climate change

— to undermine the EPA’s ability to protect the 64,000 square mile Chesapeake Bay watershed

— to block federal funding for the New Mexico Meadow Jumping Mouse under the Endangered Species Act

— to support Republican Congressman Steve Scalise’s House Resolution declaring that a carbon tax to fight climate change would harm the U.S. economy

— to prevent the EPA from using funds for an environmental justice grants program

— to deeply cut funding for the EPA and cut $65 million from the budget for the Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF)

— to cut funding for the Department of the Interior’s Inspector General’s Office

— to open the Ironwood Forest National Monument to mining and drilling

On the “bright” side, to the extent that there is one, Zeldin in his only pro-environment vote so far this year voted against a bill that would allow LWCF funding to be redirected to park maintenance.

Details can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19e5j3Z3xupufWNReLsO-P69eL316sJDLBbf8EZDFklg/edit#gid=1927606526

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19e5j3Z3xupufWNReLsO-P69eL316sJDLBbf8EZDFklg/edit#gid=1309884550

Money Cannot be Eaten

David Posnett — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 22:53:25 +0000

Pronounced extinct in 1979, a small colony of black-footed ferrets was found in the wild near Meeteesee, WY, in 1981. Animals from this colony were used to start a captive breeding program, which has since released hundreds of animals back into the wild across the western states and Mexico. Hopefully these colonies will help to re-establish the species in the wild.

By James Ewing:

Trump’s Republican administration has been carrying out an unprecedented attack on our bedrock environmental laws, from the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, to the National Environmental Policy Act, to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

“Save EPA”, a volunteer organization made up of retired and former employees of the Environmental Protection Agency says, the Trump administration is changing their mission from protecting human health and the environment to protecting industry.

On July 19th, the administration proposed the most sweeping set of changes in decades to the Endangered Species Act.

Although 90% of voters support the ESA the Interior Department has proposed new provisions rendering it ineffective.These include a provision that, for the first time, “allows” economic consequences of protecting plants or animals to be considered when deciding whether or not they face extinction.

As originally written an endangered species is listed “solely on the basis of the best scientific and commercial data available without reference to possible economic or other impacts of such determination.” The new proposal eliminates the latter phrase, thereby exposing a listing decision to cost-benefit analysis.

Another change requires considering economic factors when deciding whether or not a species should be protected at all.

Environmentalists are concerned the changes will remove protections for the country’s most threatened species. (Including Polar bear, Texas ocelot, Florida panther, Woodland caribou, Leatherback turtle, Southern Blue Fin Tuna, Red wolf.)

The changes are part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to dismantle ecosystem protections and disregard science when making decisions about the environment.

In its 40-year existence, the ESA “has successfully protected 99% of all listed species” said Christy Goldfuss, at the liberal Center for American Progress, “this administration is working to further imperil the more than 1,600 threatened and endangered species.”

“This is the first time that we’ve seen an orchestrated effort by the president and Republican congress, the industry and the Interior Department all working together in a concentrated effort to eviscerate the act,” said Bruce Babbitt former Secretary of the Interior (1993-2001).

Our voice endorsing this myopic, appalling gutting of environmental protections is our current house representative Lee Zeldin (R-CD1) and this voice cannot stand.

“Only after the last tree has been cut down,

Only after the last river has been poisoned,

Only after the last fish has been caught,

Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.”

– Native American prophecy

Talk is Cheap Mr. Zeldin

David Posnett — Wed, 28 Feb 2018 02:01:56 +0000

From James Ewing: A reminder of where Lee Zeldin stands on the environment. The Scorecard as per the League of Conservation Voters. To get the specifics on each vote go their website and click on the “vote name”: http://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/lee-zeldin

Green check = pro-environment Red X = anti-environment

Zeldin’s (Dismal) Voting Record—At a Glance

David Posnett — Sun, 28 Jan 2018 21:21:37 +0000

by A.Turner and J.Gavron

To defeat Zeldin, we need to understand his voting record and dispel the perception that he’s pro-environment and a moderate Republican. His record reveals his extremist views on issues such as gun ownership and women’s rights. Below is just a sampling of his votes. Other important issues will be covered in the next “LZ at a Glance.”

Environment

The misconception that Zeldin is an environmentalist stems from his votes on LOCAL issues. He’s voted to prevent Plum Island from being sold to the highest bidder and to safeguard the Long Island Sound. But his voting record on NATIONAL environmental issues makes it clear he is anti-regulation, particularly as regards environmental controls of the fossil fuel industry which he has lobbied against for decades.

For example, Zeldin voted to gut EPA funding and rescind regulations that protect our air, land and water, all of which endanger our local (NY01) environment, and earned him a League of Conservation Voters rating as among the worst environmental legislators for three consecutive years (2015-2017). Zeldin voted to:

Let coal mining companies dump toxic waste in streams H.J.Res.38 (2/1/2017)
Slash funding for key environmental programs and agencies, such as the
EPA and the Land and Water Conservation fund H.R.3354 (9/14/2017)
Block the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers’ Clean Water Rule, which protects the small streams and wetlands that feed into drinking water of 1 in 3 people, in the U.S Beyer Amendment to H.R.5538 (7/14/16)
End significant Clean Air Act health standards and allow corporations to pollute at unsafe levels H.R.4775 (6/8/16)

Lee Zeldin: Environmental Scorecard

Climate Change

Zeldin pays lip service to global warming. He voted against bills to address it 88.2% of the time; claims he’s an environmentalist based on his membership on the Bipartisan Climate Caucus BUT FAILED to support the Republican Climate Resolution (H.Res.195), which calls for government action on climate change, and to sign the Caucus’s 1/11/18 letter urging Trump to recognize, as part of his “National Strategy,” climate change as a national threat. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16012018/military-climate-change-bipartisan-congress-letter-national-defense-strategy

Gun Control

“Mr. Zeldin has accepted $14,850 from the NRA since his first congressional run, the most of any sitting NY representative, and has earned its A rating as a solidly pro-gun candidate who has reliably supported NRA positions on key votes.” –Editorial, East Hampton Star, 10/05/17

Co-sponsored Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which compels states with strict concealed carry requirements to allow individuals from states with no or lax permit requirements to carry a concealed weapon. (H.R. 38) Opposed by police commissioners and District Attorneys across the country. (12/6/2017)
Voted in favor of H.R. 3354, which among other harmful provisions prohibits federal funding of CDC research on gun violence. (9/14/17)
Voted to end federal checks that prevented 167,000+ veterans deemed “mentally incompetent” from owning or buying firearms. H.R.1181 (3/16/2017)
Voted to prohibit bans of firearms in airports and other public transportation facilities. Griffith Amendment to H.R.2406 (2/26/2016)
Voted to restrict the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms from regulating the sale of ammunition for semi-automatic weapons. H.R.2578 (6/1/2015)

Tax Bill

Although Zeldin touts his vote against the House tax bill (H.R.1), don’t let him fool you.

In 2017, 68 House members, including some from NY and NJ, signed a bipartisan letter protesting Mnuchin’s plan to eliminate SALT deductions. ZELDIN DID NOT SIGN THE LETTER. His opposition began only when it looked like his job might be at stake.
Zeldin focuses only on SALT and has said little about other damaging provisions including huge tax breaks for corporations and the wealthiest Americans; repeal of the estate tax; elimination of tax deductions for veterans, teachers, and those with student loans; increased taxes on many middle class families.
Plus he voted for the budget that paved the way for these tax cuts. That budget included $500 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid and was opposed by every other member of the LI congressional delegation, including Peter King. H.Con.Res. 71 (10/5/2017)

Health Care

Voted for the AHCA, which would result in 14M losing health care and included (among other terrible provisions): gigantic tax cuts for wealthy; huge Medicaid cuts; reinstatement of pre-existing condition exclusions and lifetime and annual caps; and defunded Planned Parenthood H.R.1628 (5/7/17)

Reproductive Rights

Voted to ban abortion at 20 weeks with only two extremely narrow exceptions, directly challenging the Roe v. Wade finding that abortion is legal until fetus is viable outside the womb, generally considered to be about 24 weeks. H.R. 36 (10/7/17). This bill was opposed by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists as a serious threat to women’s health and not based on sound science.
Voted to defund Planned Parenthood (as part of the AHCA).

Immigration/DACA

Voted to require state and local governments to comply with ICE requests to detain undocumented immigrants, including those arrested for nonviolent conduct, until ICE can take custody. Non-complying governments would be blocked from receiving certain DHS and DOJ grants. H.R. 3003 (6/29/17)
Voted to make it more difficult for green card holders to obtain ACA subsidies. H.R. 2581 (6/13/17)
Supported Trump’s DACA rescission. Although open to debating the issue in Congress, he said, “My priority will always unapologetically remain with fighting for the people following the laws rather than the ones breaking them.” Press Release (9/5/17)

Track Zeldin’s Votes

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/lee_zeldin/412646.

Special thanks to David Friedman and Marc Rauch, who have made their valuable and comprehensive research available as a “file” on the “Let’s Visit Lee Zeldin” FB page.

Zeldin Boasting about Environment Record?

David Posnett — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 18:19:39 +0000

Recently Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), co-chair of the Long Island Sound Caucus and founding member of the “Congressional Estuary Caucus”, was joined by EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Regional Director Carrie Meek Gallagher, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Northeast Regional Director Amanda Bassow, and others, to announce 31 grants, totaling $2.04 million, that will be awarded to local governments and community groups. The grants will support projects that will continue to improve water quality, restore natural habitats, enhance living resources, and educate and involve the public in protecting and restoring the Long Island Sound.

“The Long Island Sound is a precious feature of our life, culture, and economy, one that affects the livelihoods of all Long Islanders, as well as our local recreation and tourism industries,” Congressman Zeldin said…

Wow – that sounds great!? But here is the thing:

From Marc Rauch:

Last I checked Long Island Sound was still connected to the Atlantic Ocean.

Lifetime, Zeldin has voted against measures in Congress to mitigate climate change 85% of the time, with 17 anti-env. votes on climate change and 3 pro-env. votes. See complete Zeldin Enviro voting record here and here.

Climate change has a number of deleterious effects on oceans, including warmer ocean temperatures and acidification. Long-term, the disruptive effects of climate change on ocean ecosystems will be profound and in bodies of water like Long Island Sound that are basically extensions of oceans, these adverse effects will overwhelm any benefits that can be gained from efforts to limit runoff, waste disposal, and the like. So Zeldin is touting his advocacy for applying bandaids while repeatedly voting against efforts to cure the underlying serious illness.

From David Friedman:

I see that Zeldin in his press release about the $2.04 million brags about being “a founding member of the Congressional Estuary Caucus” (whatever that is). Based on his record, he will cheerfully vote to damage any estuary outside CD1:

9/7/2017 Voted in favor of Goodlatte Amendment #50 (roll 479) to HR 3354. This amendment reduces the ability of the EPA to enforce standards of the Clean Water Act in cleaning up Chesapeake Bay. It limits EPA’s key authority to protect clean water in the 64,000 square mile Chesapeake Bay watershed which spans 6 states and the District of Columbia. 13 Republicans voted against this amendment.

7/13/2017 Voted in favor of H.R. 23. This is a companion bill to H.R. 1654 (see below) which bypasses environmental and other regulatory reviews for the construction of new dams in California, overrides California state law, and enacts a number of other provisions favorable to agribusiness interests in the San Joaquin valley. It weakens protections for endangered species of fish and for commercial fisheries along the West Coast in order to redistribute limited water supplies, primarily to large industrial farming operations in one area of California. It preempts California and federal laws that mandate restoration of the San Joaquin River and its native salmon runs, effectively stopping restoration. The result could be to permanently dry up this river, the second longest within California. It overturns recent court decisions protecting the Trinity river and its Salmon runs. It mandates quantified water delivery for a small set of specified agribusiness users at the expense of everybody else. It truncates the environmental review process for new dam construction. It prevents federal agencies from placing any limits on water use when issuing federal permits (if the use is recognized under state law), which would allow water users to leave streams and rivers on public land dry. This bill would destroy thousands of fishery jobs, do serious damage to the Bay-Delta estuary and possibly cause the extinction of native fish species. It is opposed by the American Sportfishing Association, Golden Gate Salmon Association, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, and Cal Trout. It is also opposed by the Governor of California, both California Senators, and a majority of its Congressional delegation. It is another example of Republicans’ convenient disregard of “states rights” when it comes to favoring big business interests, since it overrides California state law. And it is also an example of “picking winners and losers” in spite of the professed GOP horror of doing that.

6/22/2017 Voted in favor of H.R. 1654. This act establishes the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as the lead agency for the purposes of coordinating all reviews, analyses, opinions, statements, permits, licenses, or other approvals or decisions required under federal law for new construction or expansions of dams, and above-ground water storage on federal land in 17 Western states. In effect it fast-tracks the construction of new dams by by-passing rules currently in effect to assess the environmental and other impacts of such dam construction. It guts the National Environmental Policy Act by limiting the “Environmental Impact Statement” (EIS) process to “1 year and 30 days”. Although this may sound reasonable on its face, this time frame is actually grossly inadequate in many cases to properly and correctly assess the impact a proposed new dam would have on a river. Proponents of the bill argue that “streamlining” the permitting process for new dams will help to create jobs and grow the economy. In reality, the high cost of building a dam, coupled with the limited available funds and permitting issues on the state level, are the primary impediments to building new dams, not federal environmental laws or delays in the federal permitting process. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, not a single dam has been denied construction because of a lack of coordination between Reclamation and other agencies or because of delays associated with environmental review and permitting. The bill is supported by down-river agricultural interests which stand to benefit from the rapid construction of new dams to facilitate mass irrigation of arid land. Downstream fisheries, obliterated by new dams and reservoirs, will pay the price. The breeding grounds of salmon and other commercially important fish will be cut off or degraded, both upstream and down, as a result of the restricted flow of water. An amendment to H.R. 1654 was introduced by Rep. Alan Lowenthal who represents a downstream California district. This amendment exempts any dam projects from being fast-tracked by the bill if it could harm commercial fisheries. Zeldin voted against this amendment.

We Can Reverse Climate Change

David Posnett — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 17:32:13 +0000

By Cate Rogers, East Hampton, NY

(Copyright: Peter Weber Shutterstock)

I was thrilled to participate in a free showing at my local library of the film “An Inconvenient Truth”, being a new pinned Climate Leader of The Climate Reality Project, and having just completed training led by The Climate Reality Project’s Founder and Charman, Mr. Al Gore.

Then I was surprised to hear an opinion from members of a sponsoring group that perhaps there are other films to consider. Mr. Gore may be an “icon to us” in the movement, but, as they stated, he is a “lightning rod” to others. This was a political statement and I was saddened to see that colleagues in the effort let politics come into play regarding the science of climate reality. However, this is now common in our daily discourse. We attack the messenger and ignore the message. This is also a form of climate change denier tactics. We could be having a much better conversation.

It is ironic, because that is the exact message of The Climate Reality Project. There are simply three questions to be considered when discussing climate reality:

Must we change? Can we change? Will we change?

Mr. Gore’s work and his decades long dedication to acknowledging and adapting to climate change reality go as far back as his natural curiosity of his world. I think that feeling is one to which we all can relate. He was inspired by a science teacher, like many of us, in college who happened to be keeping his own climate record by hand and doing his own historical research with other scientists. The result was defined by the scientific method and it were clear. Our climate has changed since the Industrial Revolution as our worldwide dependence on fossil fuels began in earnest. We are heating up our atmosphere by the release of CO2. This was shown to Mr. Gore and others in the 1970’s and even earlier, and this research has been borne out over the decades.

After decades of speaking on Global Warming, Mr. Gore has become a world leader in the effort to acknowledge the scientific facts and adapt our ways for our own future. Climate Change is not simply a political issue. It is important for our survival that we do not give in to the current trends of discourse and that we remove distortion and manipulation from our discussion. There will always be a great effort to silence the truth tellers.

The fact is that The Climate Reality Project organization is one of the best collections of the top climatologists and top scientists in all fields sharing without boundaries the most up to date scientific research. The effects are happening globally and are often not shown in the media. These scientists are presenting solutions that are available and being implemented throughout the world regarding our climate. It is about the work of hundreds of scientists, world leaders, business leaders, and people who share a commitment to sustaining our planet…and us.

Locally in East Hampton, NY, there is a discussion about a Wind Farm. Many groups are coming to the table. I hope folks can get past partisan politics to come together to work to sustain the fisheries which might be affected by the wind farm.

Must we change? Can we change? Will we change? The very good news is that the answers are Yes. Yes. Yes.

Find out more information here: www.climaterealityproject.org. Please contact me for a free presentation to your group, class, club, and office at rogerscate@gmail.com or my fellow Climate Leader Afton DiSunno at aftondis26@optonline.net

(All photos are used by permission of the Climate Reality Project)

Sincerely and respectfully, Cate Rogers

Miami under Water – for Good!

David Posnett — Sat, 04 Nov 2017 13:24:16 +0000

Just heard from a friend regarding United Nations conference in Geneva (Switzerland).

Pretty devastating UN report. Even action on climate change NOW will not prevent the predicted devastation as the lag time is too great. Here is the link. You can download the entire report if you are interested. It is actually a periodic report put out by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that checks the gap between commitments and actual implementation! The “Emissions, Gap Report”.

In the meantime, Trump is going his merry way, doing the very opposite of what is recommended, drilling on protected land, giving incentives to fossil fuel companies, devastating the EPA and trying to place the least qualified people in critical technical and scientific posts.

Take a look at the “three-degree world”: the numerous large cities that will be drowned by global warming, including Miami, Alexndria in Egypt, Rio in Brazil, Osaka in Japan and Shanghai in China:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2017/nov/03/three-degree-world-cities-drowned-global-warming?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Miami post “three-degree world” Miami pre “three-degree world”

Bottom graph: predictions of global temperature change by 2100.

Shame on duplicitous Lee Zeldin for not standing up against this!