Watching the government shutdown over partisan bickering is frustrating.
But it's also really bad for our planet. While national parks and forests are closed to visitors, they're open for fracking, mining and logging to continue.
What's worse, almost the entire EPA has been sent home, meaning there are no cops on the beat to stop polluters from poisoning our air, water and land.
Well we've got a modest solution that John Boehner should consider: Fossil fuel subsidies, by far the worst example of climate-destroying government waste, add up to about $10 billion every year. That's almost the exact same amount it costs to fund the EPA for an entire year. But Congress it too busy crying about Obamacare to notice that the things we need, like clean air and water, actually cost less than the things we hate, like giving our hard earned tax dollars to the richest, most polluting industry on the planet. Click here to tell your member of Congress to cut Big Oil and fund the EPA instead. Sign today and we'll deliver your name right away along with this charming, snarky pacifier to remind the speaker to quit being a cry-baby and do his job.
We know this fight isn't about oil subsidies and the EPA, but previous House spending bills have demanded, among other things, that the president approve the Keystone XL oil pipeline and repeal the EPA's recent work to crack down on global warming pollution from power plants. Just before the shutdown, House Republicans said they were willing to fund some parts of government -- like museums and veterans affairs -- during the shutdown, as long as that funding was balanced by reasonable budget cuts. So if John Boehner is going to pick winners and losers when it comes to government, we need to show him that we know what should stay and what should go. Or he could just drop this whole thing and let the government, including the EPA, get back to work.
Our elected leaders are hearing a lot about the government shutdown, but our message can stand out. We're offering a real solution that adds up, according to budget experts. And if anybody wants to cry about it, well that's what the pacifiers are for. The House Republicans act like infants all the time when they ignore the reality of climate change and demand to get their way or shut down important work the planet and the country need. Click here to start treating them like the cry-babies they are by signing on and we'll send a pacifier to John Boehner in your name.
At a time when the latest IPCC report showed our climate may heading to a point of no return, shutting down the EPA is the last thing we need. Click here to tell John Boehner to quit crying about Obamacare and fund the government, starting by paying the EPA instead of big Oil.
They can't shut us down,
Drew Hudson, Director
Environmental Action