TAKE ACTION: Help us plug dangerous pipeline leaks

 

Methane leaks from pipelines are a huge problem. Urge the Department of Transportation to put a stop to gas pipeline leaks TAKE ACTION   Studies show that U.S. gas pipelines leak as much as 2.7 million tons of methane into our atmosphere each year. That’s the same impact as roughly 50 million passenger cars. It’s unacceptable. But it’s also a problem we can fix. The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has a proposal that will help find and fix more leaks — but it’s already well behind schedule. That’s why we need to act fast and urge PHMSA to put their plan into action.  U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and PHMSA can lead and deliver on this win for climate and safety by directing his agency to finalize the rule this spring. Send a letter and show your support for stronger community safety and climate protections! Gas pipelines are a significant source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas more than 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Methane fuels extreme weather across the country by immediately trapping heat in the atmosphere. It’s a big problem, but also a big opportunity. Cutting methane emissions now is the best, most cost-effective way to slow the rate of climate change happening now. That’s why we need to act fast. With protective standards for leak detection and repair, we can hold gas companies responsible, improve community safety and curb climate emissions at the same time. And PHMSA’s proposal is a big step in the right direction. If adopted, the Advanced Leak Detection & Repair Rule will require regular surveys for repairing pipelines, ensure more detailed reporting, incorporate modern technology into leak detection programs that will find and fix more leaks, and extend these protective standards to cover an additional 70,000 miles of pipelines. To meet our nation’s climate goals, and protect the health and safety of our communities, we need to put a stop to gasline leaks. Tell DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg and PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tristan Brown to swiftly adopt this proposal. TAKE ACTION     . Sincerely, Hana Vizcarra Senior Attorney

DONATE NOW   Earthjustice, 50 California Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94111 About Us   This email was delivered to you by Earthjustice. Photo Credits: Three pipelines reflecting the blue sky. (Image credit: zorazhuang for Getty Images) © 2024

Florida manatees are counting on your help to survive

 

This is sickening. The cruise industry’s endless pollution is harming gentle manatees! Now we have a choice: We can stand up to the greedy companies whose actions are STARVING this precious species, or we can let them get away with destroying our oceans and our planet for profits. Right now, we’re falling short of our urgent World Wildlife Day goal, and we’re running out of time to close the gap before our midn‌ight deadline! We’re counting on supporters like you who care about our ocean life, our communities and our planet to come through now.  2022 was one of the DEADLIEST on record for Florida’s manatees – with ONE SIXTH of this manatee population LOST to agonizing starvation! Then just last year, more than 500 more manatees were DECIMATED by corporate-driven hunger and pollution. Here’s one of the problems: Cruise companies are spewing massive quantities of TOXIC wastewater into our oceans and harming the habitat where manatees live! The combination of the acidic wastewater from ships’ exhaust cleaning systems and other polluted waste (including human sewage!) is feeding devastating algae blooms. The algae KILLS the shallow-water seagrass that provides manatees’ primary food source! With seagrass beds withering from endless pollution, our dwindling manatee populations could reach the point of no return. Worse, so much of this destructive pollution is COMPLETELY LEGAL. What’s more, cruise ships are pumping ocean-warming, climate-destroying CO2 emissions all throughout the fragile coastlines where manatees make their home. While docked in coastal communities, even ONE mid-sized cruise ship can spew as much particulate pollution as ONE MILLION cars! Coastal communities are TRAPPED, breathing in this hazardous waste and can suffer higher rates of respiratory disease like asthma as a result. We MUST hold Big Cruise accountable for the damage they are causing to our ocean ecosystems and the communities that rely on them the most. That’s why hitting our World Wildlife Day goal is so critical.  No corporation should be above the law. But the cruise industry is growing so fast that governments have struggled to regulate it. That means cruise corporations are getting away with even more reckless dumping! Worse, these companies are using their financial might to suppress our efforts to fight back. They’ve lobbied to BLOCK coastal communities from demanding better protections! We can’t afford to stay quiet while these greedy companies attack our right to clean air and water and sacrifice our oceans for profits. Friends of the Earth Action is determined to fight back for as long as it takes to hold Big Cruise accountable. We’re demanding proper regulations for massive cruise ships and fighting to see them enforced – so megapolluters don’t get away with barely a slap on the wrist. But we urgently need your help to hit our goal before World Wildlife Day ends. Thank you for your urgent support, Marcie Keever Oceans & Vessels Program Director Friends of the Earth Action Contact Us Friends of the Earth Action Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA 1-877-843-8687 Contact Us Learn more foeaction.org

Informed Comment daily updates (03/03/2024)

 

War, Trauma, and Forgetting Orono, Maine (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Our memories are often suppressed by trauma, a word derived from “Traumatiko”, a wound or mental shock. Examples of traumatic events are people being compelled to leave their homes due to war, disease, drought, famine or similar events. Recent sociological studies on the after-effects of war reveal […]

Palestinians of Gaza are Starving: Don’t Cut Aid By Phyllis Bennis | ( Otherwords.org ) – Earlier this year, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s actions in Gaza plausibly constitute genocide. The world’s most influential judicial body ordered Israel to stop killing civilians and to admit more humanitarian aid. Unfortunately, Israel was having none of it. Israel’s killings have continued, with […]

My Malaysia Ordeal shows how Religion can Fuse with Nationalism to Silence Dissent By Ahmet T. Kuru, San Diego State University | – (The Conversation) – I hadn’t expected my book tour in Malaysia to end with a confrontation with men who identified themselves as police in a Kuala Lumpur airport. I arrived in the Muslim-majority country in early January 2024 to promote the Malay translation of my […]

Old posts you may have missed

Aaron Bushnell Sacrificed himself to Stop Gaza Genocide: “I won’t be Complicit” Islamophobia: Defending Rutgers’ Center for Security, Race and Rights from Senate Judiciary Committee How Climate Change is Messing up the Ocean’s Biological Clock, a Potential Catastrophe Black Thursday: Israel’s Great Flour Massacre in Gaza kills over 100 Civilians, wounds Hundreds Israel Not Complying with World Court Order in Genocide Case When it Comes to Trump, Justice Delayed is Democracy Denied. Half a Million People in Gaza face Starvation, as 1 in 6 Children are Wasting Away

RE: Our better angels.

 

WE SUPPORT CONGRESSMAN MCGOVERN! 
WE HOPE YOU WILL AS WELL....

IT'S TIME TO GOVERN - STOP THE MAGA EXTREMISM 
STOP THE HYSTERIA & DISINFORMATION...WORK FOR ALL AMERICANS!

I wanted to make sure you saw my message below about what's at stake in this election. Americans are sick and tired of the bitter politics of resentment practiced by MAGA extremists. We deserve better. I know it and you know it. We have an incredible opportunity this year to right the ship and get back to government of, by, and for the people. It's going to be tough, but I believe in the strength of our movement. Will you join the fight and donate $16 to take back our country? Donate Now If you've stored your info with ActBlue Express, we'll process your contribution instantly:   $5 $15 $25 $50 OTHER AMOUNT   More soon, Jim ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Jim McGovern <info@jimmcgovern.com> Date: Wednesday, Jan 31, 2024 at 5:01 PM Subject: Our better angels I don't know what will happen this year. With the Senate, House, and Presidency all up for grabs, the range of possibilities is endless. What I do know is this: we are entering one of the most important elections in my lifetime. As Americans, and as people who care for each other, we have a duty to fight back against the politics of hatred, division, and vitriol. Our fundraising deadline is fast approaching. Will you make a $16 donation by midnight to help us get off to a running start this year to make sure we win in November? DONATE NOW It's not going to be easy. Many days it seems like the weight of the world is against us, but I have hope. I believe that our better angels will prevail in this fight. Proud to stand together, Jim

Paid for and authorized by the Re-Elect McGovern Committee.     This email was sent by Jim McGovern Jim McGovern for Congress PO Box 60405 Worcester, MA 01606 United States

COMMON DREAMS: Weekend Edition: 'Engineered Famine' Ravages Gaza

 

Sunday, March 3, 2024 ■ Today's Top News  'The Child Deaths We Feared Are Here,' Says UNICEF The United Nations Children's Fund said at least 10 kids in a northern Gaza hospital have died of malnutrition and dehydration—and many more are "fighting for their lives." By Jake Johnson Biden Admin Airdrops 38,000 Meals Into Gaza as US-Armed Israeli Military Starves Millions "Biden is airdropping food (expensive, inefficient, potentially dangerous) because he won't condition massive U.S. military aid and arms sales on Israel ending its obstruction of most ground aid deliveries." By Jake Johnson Casar Leads Call for Probe of Election 'Rigging' as Pakistani Lawmakers Choose New PM "We do not want the United States taxpayer dollars to go to militaries that then use that money to incarcerate journalists or suppress free speech or suppress political parties," said Rep. Greg Casar. By Jake Johnson At Rallies Nationwide, Low-Wage Workers Tell Political Leaders: 'Our Votes Are Demands' "Our government's refusal to fully address poverty and low wages even after the worst days of Covid is not only killing our brothers and sisters," said Rev. Dr. William Barber. "It's killing our public conscience." By Jake Johnson Republican Who Once Proposed Sunsetting Social Security Floats Leadership Bid Scott, the richest member of the U.S. Senate, also proposed hiking taxes on low-income Americans. By Jake Johnson Just Two US Lawmakers Sign International Statement Demanding Arms Embargo on Israel "We will not be complicit in Israel's grave violation of international law," reads a statement backed by more than 200 legislators from 13 countries. By Jake Johnson ■ More News Biden EPA Accused of 'Caving' to Industry Pressure on Gas-Fired Power Plants Florida House Republicans Advance Bill to 'Deny the Legal Existence' of Trans People Nicaragua Hits Germany With ICJ Case for Aiding Israel in Gaza Genocide Sanders Says US Gaza Aid Airdrops 'No Substitute for Sustained Ground Deliveries' VIEW ALL NEWS SUPPORT COMMON DREAMS TODAY Independent news is more important than ever. DONATE TODAY ■ Opinion Architects of the Disastrous Iraq War Want a Do-Over in Gaza In an echo of Washington's disastrous de-Baathification campaign in occupied Iraq, a new report puts special stress on "deradicalization" efforts in the Gaza Strip. By Jim Lobe 4 Ways Biden Can Protect Food, Water, and Climate From a Second Trump Term Biden has made important progress; now, he needs to continue this progress and finalize vital rules in the next several months. By Mia Difelice Netanyahu Was Right: Israel Acts Like a US Aircraft Carrier That is how Israel, as a military colony, serves its imperial master. By Alan Wagman VIEW ALL OPINION

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