More action for our environment in Washington, D.C.

Whenever decisions that affect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the places we love are being made in Washington, our advocates are there to speak and act on your behalf and on behalf of the environment we all share.

Whenever decisions that affect the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the places we love are being made in Washington, our advocates are there to speak and act on your behalf and on behalf of the environment we all share. Our top federal priorities include:

  • Restoring protections to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge;

  • Extending clean energy tax credits;

  • Making all our waterways safe for swimming; and 

  • Creating a national network of electric vehicle charging stations.

You can read more about our top federal campaigns here. Our national lobbying team is also pursuing the following actions and reporting back to our members and the public on whether decisionmakers are doing right by our environment.

 

CONSERVATION

We live in a world of incredible material abundance, but we’re running short on nature. To protect the wild places we love, our national conservation team is working to protect the Arctic, our national monuments and the Tongass

More action for conservation:

  • Support a national goal of conserving 30 percent of our land and ocean by 2030.

  • Support a 21st-century version of the New Deal to create a Civilian Conservation Corps, putting Americans to work restoring parks, wetlands and more.

  • Get the EPA to ban neonicotinoid pesticides and support better management of bee and pollinator habitat on federal lands.

  • Get Congress to pass the bipartisan Wildlife Corridors Act.

  • Get Congress or the U.S. Forest Service to support a bill or enact a rule to keep roadless national forests wild.

  • Get Congress to pass the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act.

  • Get Congress to pass the SAVE Right Whales Act, and urge the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to support the strongest possible protections for North Atlantic right whales.

  • Support adding the monarch butterfly to the endangered species list.

  • Oppose weakening the Antiquities Act.

  • Oppose a proposed mine near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota.

  • Oppose the proposed Pebble Mine near Alaska’s Bristol Bay.

  • Support the declaration of new national marine sanctuaries via Congress or executive action.

  • Oppose weakening the Endangered Species Act.

  • End new oil and gas leasing in the Arctic and the Gulf of Mexico.

 

CLEAN ENERGY

In a greener, healthier world, we would rely only on sources of energy that are clean and renewable, and that leave less environmental damage in their wake. To harness energy from the wind and the sun, we’re campaigning in Washington, D.C. for clean energy tax credits and urging the Biden administration to go big on offshore wind.

More action for clean energy:

  • Get the Department of Energy to set strong appliance efficiency standards.

  • Get the Biden administration to expand clean energy leases on federal lands.

 

GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTIONS

We’re working to give our children and grandchildren a safer, healthier future by going fossil fuel free, promoting carbon-free transportation, reducing power plant pollution, preserving tropical forests and more. Our top federal priority is to decarbonize the sector most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions in the United States — transportation — by electrifying cars, electrifying buses, and promoting walking, biking and transit.

More action on global warming:

  • Support enacting an updated version of the Obama administration’s Clean Car standards.

  • Support restoring the Obama administration’s methane pollution limits.

  • Support closing loopholes for the fracking industry in our nation’s environmental laws.

  • Get the EPA to enact an updated version of the Clean Power Plan.

  • Get Congress to pass a bill to put solar and battery backup on every fire station in the country.

  • Support ending subsidies for the oil, gas and coal industries.

 

CLEAN WATER

Decades ago, some people thought polluted rivers and streams were the price we had to pay for progress. That’s not the world we live in anymore, nor is it the future our children deserve. We’re advocating for federal legislation and funding to make all our waterways safe for swimming and get the lead out of our drinking water by removing and replacing all lead service lines.

More action for clean water:

  • Get the EPA to repeal and replace the “Dirty Water Rule.”

  • Get the EPA to issue a strong Lead and Copper Rule.

  • Get the EPA to issue tough new standards to reduce water pollution from agribusiness processing plants.

  • Get Congress to set clean water standards for agriculture.

  • Keep PFAS out of our rivers.

 

CLEAN AIR

Air pollution kills more than 100,000 Americans every year and can worsen the effects of COVID-19. We’re pursuing the following actions to clean up our air and protect our health:

  • Get the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set strong, health-based standards on ozone.

  • Get the EPA to set strong, health-based standards on mercury.

  • Get the EPA to set strong, health-based soot and particulate matter standards.

To stay informed and active on the environmental issues being decided by your elected officials in Washington, sign up for our email list, follow us on Facebook or connect with us on Twitter.

 

Photo Credit: Environment America staff

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Authors

Lisa Frank

Executive Director, Washington Legislative Office, Environment America; Vice President and D.C. Director, The Public Interest Network

Lisa directs strategy and staff for Environment America's federal campaigns. She also oversees The Public Interest Network's Washington, D.C., office and operations. She has won millions of dollars in investments in walking, biking and transit, and has helped develop strategic campaigns to protect America's oceans, forests and public lands from drilling, logging and road-building. Lisa is an Oregonian transplant in Washington, D.C., where she loves hiking, running, biking, and cooking for friends and family.

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