22 Sept: Bloomberg: EPA Leaders of the Past Endorse Biden, Denounce Trump’s Impact
By Leslie Kaufman; With assistance by Mario Parker
At an event Monday that was part of Climate Week New York, four prior EPA administrators (who served) under Republican and Democratic presidents endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, denounced Trump’s approach to the agency, and said the upcoming election is critical for the environment...
Rebuilding scientific staff at the EPA will take years. “We didn’t just lose four year of the ability of career people to do their jobs,” said (Carol) Browner, “but those career people are being robbed of resources and support they need to do their work. We need to overcome what we have lost in these four year.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-21/epa-leaders-of-the-past-endorse-biden-denounce-trump-s-impact
it’s all part of the attempted coup. don’t let them succeed.
24 Sept: Guardian: Kentucky’s climate is suffering. Can the state slip the industry ties that prevent change?
Mitch McConnell has long resisted climate action even as the farm and coal sectors suffer, but a growing movement could bring change
by Andrew McCormick in Louisville
Article supported by We Are Still In (a joint declaration of support for climate action, signed by more than 3,800 CEOs, mayors, governors, college presidents, and others), and
We Mean Business (a global coalition, brings together seven organizations: BSR, CDP, Ceres, The B Team, The Climate Group, The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development)
McGrath trails McConnell in the polls – but not by so much, state politicos say, that she should be counted out. A retired Marine fighter pilot, McGrath calls climate change “intricately tied to our national security”, a position that syncs with the US defense department...
Local races also suggest that environmental politics may be shifting in Kentucky. Sarah Lynn Cunningham, director of the Kentucky chapter of the Sierra Club, was struck this spring when a Republican running for state Senate in a competitive district near Louisville sought the group’s endorsement...
“I’ve never had a Republican say they would like to compete for our endorsement,” Cunningham said. “That was a first.” (In the end, the Sierra Club endorsed the Democrat, who won, flipping a seat held by Republicans since 1995.)...
Perhaps the biggest harbinger of change in Kentucky is the youth vote, with even young conservatives in the state worried about the climate crisis. The question, Voss said, is whether young people will show up to vote this fall...
Fernanda Scharfenberger, an 18-year-old climate activist at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, is optimistic...
That December, Scharfenberger traveled with young people from across the country to Washington to lobby for a Green New Deal...
Back home, Scharfenberger co-founded a Louisville hub for the ***Sunrise Movement, which has made headlines taking McConnell to task for his ties to the fossil fuel industry and mocking approach to the Green New Deal. Sunrise hubs later formed in Lexington, Bowling Green, and far-western Murray...
In June, Sunrise members from across the state led a dawn protest outside McConnell’s home in Louisville demanding justice for Breonna Taylor, who was killed there by police in March. The ongoing Black Lives Matter Protests, Scharfenberg said, have kept young activists engaged in community organizing and electoral work, stressing the intersection of environmental and social justice issues in the state...
The Guardian is the lead partner in Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/24/kentuckys-climate-is-suffering-can-the-state-slip-the-industry-ties-that-prevent-change