Date : Fri, 20 Jan 2017 13:06:11 -0500
For Immediate Release
January 20, 2017
Contact: Jeff Tittel, NJ Sierra Club, 609-558-9100
President Trump’s First Acts After Sworn In: Attack Environment and Climate Change
It was reported that President Trump’s has developed a list of executive actions and one of his first is to eliminate government metric measuring the climate impact of rules, as well as the authority to give the State Department power to permit pipelines that cross federal borders. These executive actions will help push through pipelines and dirty infrastructure like offshore drilling without public scrutiny or environmental reviews, especially on climate change. This will eliminate climate reviews when it comes to regulations and funding. The Trump Administration has clear plans to reverse the Obama Administration’s decision to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline as well as push through other pipelines throughout our state without any regard to their environmental impact. This alone will threaten green jobs, our economy, while putting more people at risk to climate change. Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club released the following statement:
“Actions speak louder than words, and one of President Trump’s first actions after taking office is to go after the environmental protections on climate change. What President Trump is doing is eliminate reviews onall rules, regulations, funding and on permits for dirty infrastructure like drilling onshore and offshore and to push through pipelines like Keystone XL. On his first day in office, instead of trying to deal with healthcare, re-build roads, or create jobs, he is actually going after climate change and the environment. These actions will actually hurt the economy by eliminating the creation of green jobs. Instead of protecting the people, he is actually putting more people at risk to climate impacts like sea level rise and flooding. The overwhelming majority of the people in United States want clean air, clean water, and action on climate change. Instead of bringing the people together, today President Trump is the 'Divider in Chief.' He is clearly selling out against climate change and the people of the United States.”
“Trump says he is here to transfer power to the people, but if you really look close he is transferring power from the people to Big Oil, Big Gas, and the billionaires. Even though 2016 has been the hottest year on record, Trump is going against climate scientists to eliminate consideration of climate impacts and public scrutiny so he can initiate a war on the environment. Trump said he plans to harness the new energies of tomorrow, while his plan is to do the opposite, hooking us on dirty fuels and continuing to promote fossil foolishness of the past. He not only believes climate change is a hoax invented in China, he is appointing people to his cabinet who are climate-deniers tied to the oil and gas industry. Now out of the 192 countries who signed the Paris Accords, Trump is the only world leader who is a climate-denier.Trump’s executive actions will expedite pipeline plans like Keystone XL that will cut American in half with a destructive pipeline carrying 800,000 barrels of petroleum. It will also help approvals for pipelines in New Jersey that will threaten water supplies, risk public safety, and caused more air pollution.”
“Instead of draining the swamp, Trump is going to fill it with pipeline and oil rigs. Trump’s Executive Actions means it would be easier to build pipelines and drill for gas and could impede our fights against projects such as Pilgrim and PennEast Pipeline. Donald Trump believes in eminent domain for private purposes and would expand it. DRBC also has a federal vote to approve permits for the PennEast Pipeline. People in Hunterdon County and Bucks County who had ‘No PennEast’ signs alongside ‘Trump’ signs show know that if it is up to Donald Trump, the pipeline will be pushed through. The South Jersey Gas pipeline through the Pinelands could also be at risk to Trump’s agenda given that the National Park Service has a vote in the decision. With this appointment, we’re concerned that the DRBC may lift the moratorium on drilling in the region, especially if he opens-up public lands in the area. Trump’s executive actions will expedite pipeline plans like Keystone XL that will cut American in half with a destructive pipeline carrying 800,000 barrels of petroleum. We are also concerned he will go after the Dakota Access pipeline next and try to push through and eliminate environmental reviews. This is all part of Trump’s anti-environmental agenda.”
“While his supporters are cheering him on, Trump’s biggest supporters, Big Oil and Gas companies will really celebrating because Trump is turning over the government to them. Trump’s Cabinet is stacked with gas and oil industry people like Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt who will do Trump's dirty work when it comes to promoting pipelines and rolling back important regulations. His appointment to Secretary of State Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson who will represent the interests of Big Oil over the people of the United States. Zinke’s nomination to lead the Department of Interior will mean that federal lands held in the public trust will be at increased risk from the privatization of our national parks. Instead of keeping fossil fuels in the ground, we will see more proposals for offshore drilling and fracking on public lands.”
“With Trump as President, forty five years of environmental progress could be rolled back, putting the health of our people and even the entire planet at risk. He will not only not look at climate impacts when approving pipelines and dirty infrastructure projects, but he will get rid of funding and programs to help protect us from climate change and sea level rise. This even includes re-building sewer plants in areas vulnerable to sea level rise that will get wiped out during the next storm. We are also concerned that Trump will undermine the state’s role on Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act. Trump says he wants to heal our country, but he cant when he wants to hurt the environment, economy, and public health.”
“ Now that Trump is planning executive actions to expedite pipelines and extracting dirty fuels, we must double down our efforts to fight these dangerous and destructive projects. When he says rollback, we say fight back. We can build a mass movement and work on strategies to protect our environment from attacks. Politically, we need to get our local and state officials more engaged in the political process in order to fight back against these environmental weakening. We need to channel all the groups working to protect the environment. In our state we have dozens of groups fighting pipelines and working to protect open space and we need to come together for a common purpose. Tomorrow, people will come out for the Women’s March and they must continue to march, rally, and organize against Trump. The people throughout the United States must stand untied to protect our air, water, and deal with climate impacts.”
--
Toni Granato Administrative Assistant New Jersey Sierra Club office:(609) 656-7612 https://www.facebook.com/NJSierraClub @NJSierraClub and @StopPilgrimNYNJ on Twitter
Received on 2017-01-20 10:06:11