February, 02 2011, 12:14pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Elizabeth Heyd, NRDC, 202-289-2424, or eheyd@nrdc.org
Ailis Aaron Wolf, 703-276-3265, or aawolf@hastingsgroup.com
Survey: Americans Say "No" to Attacks on Pollution Safeguards, Gingrich Plan to Dismantle EPA
Americans Pick Health of Families Over More Pollution From Corporations: 77 Percent of Americans – Including 61 Percent of Republicans – Say: “Congress Should Let the EPA Do Its Job.”
WASHINGTON
More than three out of four Americans (77 percent) - including a clear
majority of Republicans (61 percent) - oppose efforts in Congress to
block Clean Air Act updates for carbon, smog and other pollution,
according to a national opinion survey by Opinion Research Corporation
(ORC) International for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
The new poll is being released today as a major House/Senate bill is
introduced in Congress to kill the authority of the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to continue its work on updating key
anti-pollution safeguards.
Conducted in response to former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich's call
on January 25th to dismantle the EPA, the 1,007-person survey also finds
that more than two out of three Americans (67 percent) - including 61
percent of Republicans - oppose any such move to abolish the EPA.
"The bottom line is clear: Democrats, Republicans and Independents want
politicians to protect the health of America's children rather than the
profit-driven agenda of big polluters" said Pete Altman, Climate
Campaign director, Natural Resources Defense Council. "People get that
the EPA is dedicated to protecting public health and want Congress to
let the agency do its job."
"Chairman Upton's bill, which is expected to block the Environmental
Protection Agency from updating the Clean Air Act to limit carbon
pollution, puts our nation's health at risk," said Health Care Without
Harm's Climate Policy Coordinator Brenda Afzal, MS, RN. "Leading health
organizations and experts consider carbon dioxide pollution to be a
wide-ranging threat to public health, which contributes to the same air
pollution problems that worsen asthma and other chronic respiratory
illnesses that affect millions of Americans and children. Our health
should not suffer so that members of Congress can put corporate profits
ahead of the public's health."
"The poll findings reflect strong bipartisan support both for the EPA in
general, and also for it playing a vigorous role in relation to
fighting air pollution" said Graham Hueber, senior project manager, ORC
International. "There is no evidence in this survey to suggest that
Americans have any appetite for dismantling an agency that they see as
protecting the health of themselves and their families."
The health stakes for Americans in the future of the EPA and its current
work to update pollution safeguards are high. On January 27, 2011,
NRDC joined with Health Care Without Harm to emphasize that more than 24
million Americans with asthma, including over 7 million children, are
at increased risk of adverse health consequences if the members of the
House and Senate seeking to block the EPA from updating the Clean Air
Act are successful in doing so.
Over 120 House members and 18 Senators have cosponsored one or more
pieces of legislation intended to prevent the Environmental Protection
Agency from reducing pollution from industrial plants and other sources.
By blocking the EPA, the lawmakers would be allowing polluters to
continue emitting unlimited amounts of carbon dioxide pollution and
unsafe amounts other pollutants. The lawmakers collectively have
received over $38,000,000 from polluters, many of which have made
stopping the EPA a high priority. (For more information on the House
members, see https://www.nrdc.org/media/2011/110127.asp. For information on the Senate members, see https://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/paltman/supporting_polluters_over_kids.html.)
Key findings from the new ORC International survey for NRDC include the following:
* Americans want the EPA to do more, not less. Almost two thirds of
Americans (63 percent) say "the EPA needs to do more to hold polluters
accountable and protect the air and water," versus under a third (29
percent) who think the EPA already "does too much and places too many
costly restrictions on businesses and individuals." Well under half of
Republicans (44 percent), less than a third of Independents (29 percent)
and under a fifth of Democrats (16 percent) think the EPA is going too
far today.
* Americans do not want Congress to kill the EPA's anti-pollution
updates. Only 18 percent of Americans - including fewer than a third
of Republicans (32 percent) -- believe that "Congress should block the
EPA from updating pollution safeguards," after being told: "Some
members of Congress are proposing to block the Environmental Protection
Agency from updating safeguards to protect our health from dangerous air
pollution, saying they will cost businesses too much money." By
contrast, more than three out of four Americans (77 percent) --
including 61 percent of Republicans - say "Congress (should) let the EPA
do its job."
* The vast majority of Republicans - and all Americans - oppose the Newt
Gingrich plan to dismantle the EPA. Overall, only 25 percent of
Americans agree with Newt Gingrich's call to eliminate the EPA. More
than two out of three Americans (67 percent) oppose abolishing the EPA,
including half (49 percent) who strongly oppose it. Among those
opposing the Gingrich plan: 61 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of
Independents, and 79 percent of Democrats.
* Support is weak for a new "Gingrich EPA" replacement agency.
Gingrich's proposal that EPA be "replaced by an agency that would place
equal consideration for corporate interests as it does for protecting
American families against air and water pollution" is supported by
fewer than two out of five Americans (39 percent).
Full survey results are available online at https://bit.ly/fXmFyX.
This ORC International survey conducted for NRDC presents the findings
of a telephone poll conducted among a national probability sample of
1,007 adults comprising 500 men and 507 women 18 years of age and older,
living in private households in the continental United States.
Interviewing for the ORC International survey was completed during the
period January 27-30, 2011. The margin of error for results based on
the total sample is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
NRDC works to safeguard the earth--its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. We combine the power of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of some 700 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water, and the wild.
(212) 727-2700LATEST NEWS
Grand Jury Indicts Top Trump Aides, 11 Arizona Republicans Over 'Fake Electors' Scheme
Had it succeeded, said the state's attorney general, the scheme would have "deprived Arizona's voters of their right to have their votes counted for their chosen president."
Apr 25, 2024
A grand jury in Arizona on Wednesday charged seven aides to Donald Trump and nearly a dozen Republican officials over a "fake electors" scheme in the state that aimed to keep the former president in power after his 2020 loss to President Joe Biden.
Trump, who is currently facing nearly 90 charges across four criminal cases as he runs for another White House term, was described as "unindicted co-conspirator 1" in the 58-page indictment, which was announced by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
"The people of Arizona elected President Biden," Mayes, a Democrat, said Wednesday. "Unwilling to accept this fact, the defendants charged by the state grand jury allegedly schemed to prevent the lawful transfer of the presidency. Whatever their reasoning was, the plot to violate the law must be answered for."
The indictment names former Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward, sitting state Republican Sens. Jake Hoffman and Anthony Kern, former U.S. Senate candidate Jim Lamon, and seven others as the "fake electors" who sought to declare Trump the rightful winner of the state's presidential contest.
The names of other individuals indicted by the state grand jury are redacted, but the document's descriptions make clear that former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, and top Trump legal strategist Boris Epshteyn are among those facing felony charges—including fraud, forgery, and conspiracy.
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Mayes said Wednesday that had the fake elector scheme succeeded, it would have "deprived Arizona's voters of their right to have their votes counted for their chosen president."
"It effectively would have made their right to vote meaningless," said Mayes.
A state grand jury, made up of everyday, regular Arizonans, has handed down felony indictments in the ongoing investigation into the fake elector scheme in Arizona. pic.twitter.com/Nu8GcD4ZqJ
— AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes (@AZAGMayes) April 24, 2024
Alex Gulotta, state director of All Voting Is Local Action Arizona, said Wednesday that "the indictment of the eleven fake electors is one of the first steps required in holding these election deniers accountable for their alleged attempts to take power away from voters by disrupting our free and fair elections."
"Arizonans deserve to trust the election officials responsible for administering our elections and preserving our democracy," said Gulotta, "and this is a positive step forward as we continue to strengthen the foundations of our democracy and restore faith in our elections."
The Arizona Republicreported Wednesday that "several of the Arizona electors have previously claimed they were merely offering Congress a backup plan, though nothing in the documents they sent to Congress and the National Archives backs up that assertion."
"The indictment includes several statements the false electors made on social media that contradict those claims," the newspaper observed.
Jenny Guzman, director of Common Cause's Arizona program, said the indictment "marks the start of a new chapter for the fake elector scheme that has plagued Arizona."
"Arizonans are still dealing with the fallout from the false electors and the Big Lie about the 2020 elections," said Guzman. "We are relieved that the investigation by Attorney General Mayes has concluded and Arizonans can now know that what comes next is accountability. These efforts by these fake electors to undermine the will of Arizona’s voters have had implications far beyond their failed attempt to overthrow the 2020 election."
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A campaign finance watchdog on Wednesday filed a Federal Election Commission complaint accusing former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, affiliated political groups, and an accounting firm of violating U.S. law in a scheme "seemingly designed to obscure the true recipients of a noteworthy portion of Trump's legal bills."
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According to CLC:
Red Curve is a domestic limited liability company that offers compliance and FEC reporting services but does not appear to offer any legal services. It is managed by Bradley Crate, who also serves as the treasurer for each of the five Trump-affiliated committees concerned in this complaint, as well as over 200 other federal committees.
According to filings with the FEC, Red Curve appears to have been fronting legal costs for Trump since at least December 2022, with Trump-affiliated committees repaying the company later. This arrangement appears to violate FEC rules that require campaigns to disclose not only the entity being reimbursed (here, Red Curve) but also the underlying vendor. By not disclosing the vendors that actually provided legal services, the Trump-affiliated committees effectively blocked the public from knowing which attorneys and firms are being paid—and how much they are being paid—through this arrangement.
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Trump—who is the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee—faces 91 federal and state felony charges related to his role in the January 6 insurrection and his organization's business practices. He is currently on trial in New York for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 election cycle. The twice-impeached former president has been open about his use of campaign donations to pay his legal costs.
The new CLC filing comes a day after the watchdog filed separate FEC complaints urging investigations into a pair of Trump-affiliated "scam PACs," which "pretend to fundraise for major candidates or issues while secretly diverting almost all of their donors' money back into fundraising or the fraudsters' own pockets."
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Three Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday joined with Democrats to advance legislation that would repeal an 1864 ban on abortion—a development rights advocates welcomed while stressing that the fight is far from over.
The 32-28 vote on House Bill 2677—with GOP Reps. Tim Dunn (25), Matt Gress (4), and Justin Wilmeth (2) voting in favor—was the third attempt in as many weeks to pass repeal legislation since the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the ban.
"The state Senate could vote on the repeal as early as next Wednesday, after the bill comes on the floor for a 'third reading,' as is required under chamber rules," according toNBC News. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs on Wednesday toldThe Washington Post that "I am hopeful the Senate does the right thing and sends it to my desk so I can sign it."
Applauding the House passage of H.B. 2677, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona president and CEO Angela Florez said that "today, Arizona is one step closer to repealing the state's Civil War-era total abortion ban. While the repeal still must pass the Senate, this is a major win for reproductive freedom."
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Florez noted that "even with the repeal of the Civil War-era ban, the state will still have a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy that denies people access to critical care. And lawmakers continue to attack Arizonans' ability to access reproductive healthcare. Our right to control our bodies and lives is hanging on by a thread."
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The Arizona Abortion Access Act is a proposed state constitutional amendment that would prevent many limits on abortions before fetal viability and safeguard access to care after viability to protect the life or physical or mental health of the patient.
The coalition supporting the amendment, Arizona for Abortion Access, highlighted on social media that the House-approved bill "did not include the emergency clause required to stop the 1864 ban from taking effect on June 8," meaning H.B. 2677 wouldn't apply until 90 days after the end of the legislative session.
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