longer.blue

Dear group members, Every day, there is something new and outrageous we have to deal with. Today is no different. Under the Clean Air Act, California can ask the EPA for a waiver to pass stricter air and climate pollution rules than the federal government. California got this permission from Joe Biden and put tough new protections on auto emissions into place. Now, Republicans are attempting to use the Congressional Review Act to roll them back, which allows them to force a simple majority vote that can’t be filibustered. The CRA is not written to target these sorts of executive actions, but MAGA is trying to go for it anyway. This would be a devastating blow to state-level efforts against climate change – stopping California and the dozen states that adopted their standards from pushing zero-emission trucks (H.Res. 87), blocking them from phasing out gasoline-powered cars (H. Res. 88) and forbidding them from tightening emission standards on nitrous oxide (H.Res. 89). It’s also a clear abuse of the law and a radical undermining of Senate rules that were seen as sacred when Democrats held the majority. The House Republicans + 36 democrats have already voted YES on the resolution. 36 Democrats, including two California Democrats (Lou Correa and George Whitesides), voted YES with Republicans, YES for at least one of the three proposals. Why? You can go to this website to see how your rep. voted. Call or email him/her and ask why they voted for blocking the phasing out of gasoline-powered cars (H. Res. 88) My email to my Senators: Dear Senator Durbin, Under the Clean Air Act, California can ask the EPA for a waiver to pass stricter air and climate pollution rules than the federal government. California got this permission from Joe Biden and put tough new protections on auto emissions into place. Now, Republicans are attempting to use the Congressional Review Act to roll them back, which allows them to force a simple majority vote that can’t be filibustered. The CRA is not written to target these sorts of executive actions, but MAGA is trying to go for it anyway . This would be a devastating blow to state-level efforts against climate change – stopping California and the dozen states that adopted their standards from pushing zero-emission trucks (H.Res. 87), blocking them from phasing out gasoline-powered cars (H. Res. 88) and forbidding them from tightening emission standards on nitrous oxide (H.Res. 89). It’s also a clear abuse of the law and a radical undermining of Senate rules that were seen as sacred when Democrats held the majority. The House Republicans + 36 democrats have already voted YES on the resolution. 36 Democrats, including two California Democrats (Lou Correa and George Whitesides), voted YES with Republicans YES for at least one of the three proposals. Why? You can go to this website to see how your rep. voted. Call or email him/her and ask why they voted for blocking the phasing out of gasoline-powered cars (H. Res. 88) I expect that most Senate Democrats will stand up for clean air, though some of them may need reminders. And forcing Republicans to vote for dirty air gives us a chance to convince the convinceable moderates, and make the true MAGA minions look cruel and foolish. The rule-breaking part: even though the Senate parliamentarian has already ruled that these resolutions cannot be brought under the Congressional Review Act, Senate Republicans like Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia want to overrule their own parliamentarian. Speak to your Republican colleagues and convince them to vote NO. Respectfully, David Piekarczyk If you care about clean air, write an email to your Senator(s).