Environment/ global warming

[mrsnorris]

One of my biggest fears about both the incoming administration and full GOP control in Washington in general is the irreversible impact on the environment. I've already bumped up my monthly donations to environmental organizations and I'll contact my reps as specific issues arise but does anyone have any other thoughts about concrete action we could take to try and minimize damage? I'm really losing sleep over this.

[AmazingTulip]

I was reading about the court case with children suing the government over climate change. Maybe there's a way to support that moving forward:

Juliana v. United States

[mrsnorris]

Nov 15, 2016 9:17:24 GMT -5 AmazingTulip said:

I was reading about the court case with children suing the government over climate change. Maybe there's a way to support that moving forward:

Juliana v. United States

I know there is a push for Obama to settle the case now (presumably by giving the kids what they want) so if can't be fought by the trump administration or end up in the Supreme Court with trump appointees. I signed a petition about it yesterday. I'll try to find a link.

[mrsnorris]

Here's the link:

www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/797/652/222/

[bocaburger]

I'm super stressed about the appointment of Myron Ebell (a climate change denier) to head the EPA. I just called my senators and congressman to ask them to come out against this appointment.

[Deleted]

I mentioned this in the thread on Parenting, but one thing you can do to help locally is volunteer at a park or natural area. They usually are understaffed and rely on volunteers to help remove invasive species, pick up trash, maintain trails, and serve as docents. Look for local beach and creek or river cleanup events too.
If you live near the coast, there might be more specific actions you could take related to readying the community for sea level rise. Look into your local governing bodies and find out which are concerned with adaptation to climate change. If anybody wants me to try to find something for a specific area, just let me know!

[Deleted]

Another way to get involved is the environmental review process. The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to study the potential environmental effects of their actions (with some exceptions), and disclose that to the public and allow a comment period. There are comparable state laws and if state or local agencies use federal money or need federal approval for their project, they have to undergo the NEPA process too. I can talk all day about this stuff so let me know if anyone is interested in hearing more.

[mrsnorris]

Nov 15, 2016 20:45:22 GMT -5 @rocknrollfriend said:

Another way to get involved is the environmental review process. The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to study the potential environmental effects of their actions (with some exceptions), and disclose that to the public and allow a comment period. There are comparable state laws and if state or local agencies use federal money or need federal approval for their project, they have to undergo the NEPA process too. I can talk all day about this stuff so let me know if anyone is interested in hearing more.

[/b]

Yes please!

[Deleted]

Nov 15, 2016 21:06:04 GMT -5 mrsnorris said:

Nov 15, 2016 20:45:22 GMT -5 @rocknrollfriend said:

Another way to get involved is the environmental review process. The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to study the potential environmental effects of their actions (with some exceptions), and disclose that to the public and allow a comment period. There are comparable state laws and if state or local agencies use federal money or need federal approval for their project, they have to undergo the NEPA process too. I can talk all day about this stuff so let me know if anyone is interested in hearing more.

[/b]

Yes please! [/quote]

So the NEPA environmental affects document is usually called an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement (EIS). The agency has to make the document available to the public and make an announcement that it's available and how long the comment period is, where to send comments, etc. Sometimes there are also public meetings, and there is also usually an announcement when the analysis process begins and you can sometimes request to be added to a mailing list for future announcements. Otherwise, I think they're just required to put an ad in the newspaper of the region potentially affected by the project, though usually there's also a website or email announcement too.

The types of environmental effects studied include biological resources, air quality, greenhouse gas/climate change, water quality, historical/archaeological resources, transportation, and environmental justice [ETA: to name a few, it depends on the resources potentially affected]. The types of projects that have to be studied vary widely. The Keystone XL Pipeline project is a well-known project that has an EIS associated with it - in fact the EIS came into play when Obama decided to halt the project - he determined the EIS did not adequately assess certain environmental impacts due to the project.

I think the best way to start getting plugged in is to find some local environmental activism groups, local "friends" groups of resources you care about, and getting on mailing lists from The Nature Conservancy, League of Conservation Voters, World Wildlife Foundation, etc. Those ones will let you know about the big-scale, high-profile projects like Keystone. But commenting on local projects can make a big impact too. Agencies have to respond to every comment - they don't necessarily need to consider the comment valid or change the project due to comments, but if enough people are speaking up and pointing out omissions or flaws in the environmental impact analysis, the agency will usually be compelled to due something to correct that, or risk a lawsuit [ETA again: or a national protest demonstration/occupation like Standing Rock].

I think that's a lot to start, let me know if you have any follow up questions or want to know more.

[mrsnorris]

I think that's a lot to start, let me know if you have any follow up questions or want to know more.

Thanks so much! am already on a few of those mailing lists but I'll go and look up the others now and look up whether there are projects in my area where this is applicable right now!