Let’s make this Earth Day count
Happy Earth Day! Fifty-three years ago today, twenty million Americans showed up to demand action against pollution, and it worked! That original march led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act.
Earth Day shows the power of democracy for good.
But sometimes, it feels like we're taking two steps forward and twenty steps back, thanks to the elephant in the room - my Republican colleagues, who couldn't care less about the environment or democracy, for that matter.
Last month they passed an energy bill that's basically a gift basket to their oil and gas buddies while simultaneously screwing over any chance we have of transitioning to a clean energy economy. Nothing screams "I care about the planet," like lining the pockets of billionaires.
I was proud to vote hell no on that love letter to Big Oil.
Republicans are so out of touch with reality that they only recently started "believing" in climate change, despite the fact that scientists have been warning us about it for decades.
And instead of doing something to address the climate crisis, the GOP's solution is to throw billions of taxpayer dollars at coping with climate-related disasters caused by big polluters.
We can't sit back and watch as the GOP destroys our planet and our future. We need to fight back, and we need to do it now. So, let's make this Earth Day count and show these Republicans what real democracy looks like.
Chip in now and fuel the fight for our planet.
Happy Earth Day,
Jim