April 25, 2024
Declare a national climate emergency; credit-card consumer protection; work to win elections, and more!
Contact all members of Congress:
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: democracy.io
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By fax: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
DECLARE A NATIONAL CLIMATE EMERGENCY
It’s been a longstanding demand of climate activists for President Biden to declare a national climate emergency. This unprecedented move would allow the federal government to activate special powers under the National Emergencies Act that would let us reinstate the ban on crude oil exports, suspend offshore drilling on 11 million acres of federal waters, and put limits on the movement of oil and gas on pipelines, ships and trains. Further, the President could block U.S. investment in fossil fuel projects abroad, use the Defense Production Act to provide loans to bolster clean energy development, use the International Economic Emergency Protection Act to prohibit the import of products harmful to the climate, direct FEMA to construct renewable energy systems in vulnerable communities, use the Stafford Act to provide support for heat-stressed power grids, and even deploy military construction powers to build renewable energy projects near our bases. Recent leaks from the White House indicate the administration is once again considering moving forward with the initial step of an emergency declaration. Following Biden putting millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness off-limits to oil drilling and pausing permitting on new liquid methane gas export terminals, this step would be another building block for the kind of broad-based climate action we need, and could help address growing American concerns about climate change and the government not doing enough to address the threat. Let’s reach out to the White House and let them know it’s time to declare a climate emergency. We can also share this report from the Center for Biological Diversity on how emergency powers can be used for climate action to help earn more support for these moves.LIMIT CREDIT CARD LATE FEES
Last month, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued a final rule designed to limit the late fees charged by major credit card lenders to about $8, compared to the typical $32-$41. As predicted, the Senate and House Republicans are moving to block this. Last week, all Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) for a Congressional Review Act resolution to stop the rule. Big banks may line congressional pockets, but let’s tell our representative that we want the rule to stand; that we support legislation and rules to help regular Americans.
LET’S WIN IN NOVEMBER WITH MOBILIZE US
Political Charge says: whenever we have some time to dedicate to volunteering to help Democrats win, Mobilize Us is a great place to find opportunities that need our help. If we want, we can filter the search by where we live, or by a candidate we want to help. We can also find webinars to learn how to do things like phonebank, textbank, and canvass. Let’s check out Mobilize Us. And let’s consider subscribing to the Political Charge newsletter.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
STATES–(MOST): ENCOURAGE RESTORATION OF VOTING RIGHTS ACT PROVISIONS AT THE STATE LEVEL
Since the Supreme Court gutted Shelby vs. Holder, we’ve read about many states restricting voting rights, but many other states have passed legislation that expands voting rights, and six states have passed legislation to restore all the provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Legislation passed in New York has gone even further in paving the way for minorities to gain access to representation in the political system. Let’s review this information from the Brennan Center and The League of Women Voters on what individual states have been doing and then let’s push our state legislators to enact full Voting Rights Act provisions.