demand Republicans reject repeal and #ProtectOurCare: Do not take away our care. Stop trying to repeal the Affordable Care ActProtect our Care is hosting a nationwide day of action, Wednesday, April 19 to Protect Our Care. Below are key resources shared from them and other organizations critical to the healthcare fight. Key Questions to Ask Members of CongressMembers need to keep hearing from their constituents so they understand that it's time to give up on repealing the health care law. Remember: Keep it personal. The best and most impactful questions are ones where someone shares their story about what the Affordable Care Act has meant to them or their family. Do you agree with Speaker of the House Paul Ryan that you should not work with Democrats to fix the Affordable Care Act and work together to bring costs down? Will you give up on repealing and replacing the law with anything that results in people losing their health coverage and increasing costs? Choose your own issue: It'...

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Deeper Cuts at EPA. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) developed a detailed plan to achieve a 31 percent budget cut, as outlined by President Trump's budget blueprint. EPA plans to lay off 25 percent of its workforce and scrap 56 programs, including those related to pesticide safety, water runoff control, and climate protection programs. The Administration defended the cuts, noting they are devolving authority to the states, localities, and in some cases, corporations. But with many states dependent upon federal programs and grants, their elimination could create a situation where no one is protecting our environment.Fox News pushes Pruitt on climate science. During an interview with Chris Wallace, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt walked back his claims last month that carbon dioxide is not a primary driver of climate change, and said, "human activity contributes to the change in some measures. The real issue is how much we contribute to it and measuring that with precisio...

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As part of his America First Energy Plan, this week, President Trump signed an Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth aimed at increasing domestic fossil-fuel production while attacking Obama-era climate actions. This broad executive order:Directs federal agencies to to begin review discretionary actions (i.e, those not required by statute) that "potentially burden" domestic energy production, and to submit their draft findings within 120 days and finalized within 180 days. The OMB Director (Mick Mulvaney), in consultation with the Assistant to the President for Economic Policy (Ashley Hickey Marquis), will oversee this process.Repeals climate- and energy-related presidential and regulatory actions issued by President Obama:Executive Order 13653, Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change (2013)Power Sector Carbon Pollution Standards (2013)Mitigating Impacts on Natural Resources from Development and Encouraging Related Private Investm...

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THE PAST TWO WEEKS: "BUY AMERICAN" CONTROVERSYThe Administration, some congressional leaders, and a few states have begun pushing for more "Buy American" provisions in state and federal spending. However, our treaty obligations require that the US not apply any sort of preference for domestic firms in any federal contracts over $10.1 million (the amount varies, but most of our treaties use this number). They also prevent those other governments from preventing US firms from competing for their business, something American companies do quite frequently.Were we to violate those treaty obligations (or withdraw from those treaties), we'd lose the ability to compete for business with foreign governments. We'd also end up paying higher prices (if the domestic firms' goods and services were cheaper, they'd have won the contracts in the first place). That extra spending has real cost; we have to raise taxes higher for the same public services, if we have these restrictions.These treaties do...

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Republican Attacks on the EPA and the Environment ContinueLast week was a tough one for science and the environment. The House passed two bills that will make it more difficult for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to incorporate good science in its rulemaking:The Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment ("HONEST") Act (passed March 29) would prevent the EPA from proposing, finalizing, or disseminating any guidance or regulation unless all of the underlying technical data is publicly available and reproducible--a standard that is crafted to sound reasonable but is designed to place an undue burden on scientists and the EPA to slow down the regulatory process. The EPA Science Advisory Board Reform Act (passed March 30) would allow industry representatives--even those with financial conflicts of interest--to serve on the body that provides scientific advice to the EPA, but would prevent non-industry scientists (i.e. academic researchers) from serving if they have a grant from...

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HB 142 is the newest compromise in the attempt by Democrats to repeal North Carolina's controversial "bathroom bill," HB 2, which was passed last year. HB 2 made it illegal for a person to go into a multi-stall bathroom in a school or public agency facility if that person's biological sex was different than the gender allowed in the particular bathroom. It was a bill targeted against the trans community and caused public outcry.The NCAA threatened to not schedule any of its championship games in North Carolina from 2018-2022 if HB 2 was not repealed. As the deadline for the NCAA's decisions on state bids looms (some reports indicate that NCAA gave North Carolina a 48-hour deadline yesterday to repeal HB 2), state Republicans and Democratic Governor Roy Cooper introduce HB 142 today. HB 142 repeals HB 2 but continues to leave the state legislature in charge of bathrooms, showers, and changing facilities in schools and public agencies. Additionally, it explicitly bans local government...

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Budgets. An analysis released this week shows that spending on federal contracts related to the environment in fiscal year 2016 reached 423 congressional districts. Almost half of the $5.9 billion went to districts represented by Republicans, which may present challenges when the Administration tries to pursue major spending cuts that affect these districts.Permits. Friday, the Trump administration approved a permit authorizing construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. This doesn't yet clear the path for TransCanada's $8 billion project, which still requires regulatory approval from the Nebraska Public Service Commission. That decision won't likely come until fall 2017. The State Department approved the project with an environmental impact assessment (EIA) conducted in 2014 and opponents argue both the project and energy markets have changed so much since then that a new EIA is needed. The Nebraska State government and organizations like the NRDC and Sierra Club are ready to challen...

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Senate Republicans Vote to Eliminate ISP Privacy RulesOn Thursday, March 23, the Senate voted along party lines to eliminate Obama-era privacy rules meant to protect Americans from invasive surveillance by internet service providers (ISPs), such as Comcast and Time-Warner. Republicans voted to apply the Congressional Review Act to eliminate FCC rules that required meaningful notice and opt-in consent from consumers before sharing or selling their data. These rules had also created stricter requirements for cyber security and notification in the event of a data breach. The Senate's action would take these types of privacy related issues out of the hands of the FCC, requiring congressional action to reinstate them in the future. This vote is a blow to consumer privacy and demonstrates how Republicans have aligned themselves with business interests over consumers. As privacy comes under attack from all quarters, lawmakers should be strengthening our rights, not weakening them. The Hous...

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How HUD Budget Cuts Affect Local CommunitiesAs we reported in last week's report, according to preliminary budget documents for fiscal year 2018 that were leaked, the Trump administration has considered more than $6 billion in cuts at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). We know that Trump's HUD budget cuts would disproportionately impact cities' poorest residents. Cities and counties are not taking this news lightly: CHICAGO: Eight Arrested at Downtown Protest Against Trump's Budget Cut: "Eight people were arrested on Tuesday during the eighth #ResistTrumpTuesday protest, which focused on President Donald Trump's proposed budget cuts to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. 'For us here in Illinois it means less direct rental assistance payments including section 8 housing, housing vouchers for homeless veterans would be cut by at least $300 million,' said one organizer." ChicagoistNEW ORLEANS: New Orleans Braces for Deep Cuts in Trump's Spending Plan: ...

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President's Budget ProposalOn Thursday, March 16th, the Trump Administration introduced its initial budget proposal for FY2018, proposing a $54-billion hike in defense spending, while gutting domestic discretionary spending, including scientific programs. The budget landed with a thud on Capitol Hill, and elicited deep concerns from the scientific community. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) warned that "The Trump Administration's proposed budget would cripple the science and technology enterprise through short-sighted cuts to discovery science programs and critical mission agencies alike." Although ultimately Congress sets the federal budget, and much of this proposal stands little chance of being enacted as is, this budget outline provides a clear illustration of the Administration's priorities--and science is apparently not one of them.This so-called "skinny budget" is an initial outline of the President's proposed budget, and a full proposal is expec...

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