June, 27 2014, 05:33pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Ted Zukoski, Earthjustice Staff Attorney, (303) 996-9622
Alli Melton, High Country Conservation Advocates Public Lands Director, (970) 349-7104 ext. 2
Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians’ Climate and Energy Program Director, (303) 437-7663
Nathaniel Shoaff, Staff Attorney, Sierra Club (415) 977-5610
Citing Climate Change Impacts, Court Decision Protects Colorado Backcountry From Bulldozing, Mining
Conservationists Force Agencies to Take a New Look At Environmental Impacts of Coal Mine Expansion
GUNNISON COUNTY, Colo.
Citing agencies' neglect to consider climate change impacts, a federal court ruling today rejected federal agencies' approval of Arch Coal's plans to bulldoze roads through 1,700 acres of the pristine Sunset Roadless Area in Western Colorado and halted any road construction in the area.
U.S. District Court Judge R. Brooke Jackson issued a 36-page ruling holding that each of the three decisions by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that ultimately approved the proposed bulldozing violated the federal law requiring that agencies take a "hard look" at environmental impacts. The court's decision halts for now Arch Coal's plan to begin exploring for coal, which involves building 6 miles of road and scraping 10 drilling pads in the heart of the roadless area. Arch hoped to begin drilling as early as next week. A copy of the ruling is available here.
Earthjustice, on behalf of the High Country Conservation Advocates, WildEarth Guardians, and Sierra Club filed suit in federal court last year to overturn BLM and Forest Service decisions approving bulldozing in the Sunset Roadless Area's aspen and spruce forest to permit underground coal mining below. The roadless area is in the Gunnison National Forest of western Colorado about 15 miles southeast of Paonia, next to the West Elk Wilderness.
"Today's court ruling will ensure that Federal agencies take the hard look that the law requires at environmental harms before bulldozing roads throughout the Sunset Roadless Area," said Alli Melton, Public Lands Director for High Country Conservation Advocates. "Pristine forests, such as the Sunset Roadless Area, are part of Colorado's natural heritage and can't be replaced. They provide substantial benefit to our local economies, hunting and angling alone brings in over $1 billion to the Colorado economy. Clean air and clean water are essential necessities for our quality of life and for ensuring the West Elks remain a world-class recreation destination for years to come. Requiring these values and benefits to be considered is another step to ensuring balanced public land management that supports diverse, resilient local economies."
The area Arch Coal plans for road and drilling pad construction provides habitat for the threatened lynx, is crossed by the Sunset Trail (a backcountry route used by hikers and hunters), and provides a valuable link between the West Elk Wilderness Area and lower-elevation forests along the North Fork of the Gunnison River.
The Court found that the Forest Service failed to account for the impacts of global warming from mining coal under the roadless area when approving Arch Coal's lease. The Court held that the Forest Service looked at the benefits to the local economy for both decisions but ignored the global costs of climate change, stating: "It is arbitrary to offer detailed projections of a project's upside while omitting a feasible projection of the project's costs."
"This decision means that these agencies can't bury their heads in the sand when confronting the very real impacts of climate change," said Ted Zukoski, attorney with Earthjustice.
"This mine expansion was a lose-lose-lose proposition," said Jeremy Nichols, WildEarth Guardians' Climate and Energy Program Director. "We stood to lose our backcountry at the expense of our climate. Thankfully, the feds will have to take into account the costs of carbon pollution before approving more coal mining."
"BLM's federal coal leasing program has a massive impact on our climate and public health, affecting the waters we use, the air we breathe, and the wild areas we enjoy. For years, BLM has been telling the public that its individual coal leasing decisions--even those approving hundreds of millions of tons of coal--have no impact on our climate. That assumption is out the window. This decision means that just saying there's no impact doesn't mean there's no impact," said Roger Singer, Senior Organizing Manager with the Sierra Club in Colorado.
The Court enjoined any road construction in the roadless area, and asked attorneys for all parties to discuss how the agencies should proceed in light of the decision.
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities.
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Agency Trump and Musk Want to 'Delete' Set to Deliver $1.8 Billion to Scammed US Consumers
"When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is allowed to fully do its job, Americans only stand to benefit."
Dec 06, 2024
In the coming weeks, as President-elect Donald Trump's second term approaches and his pledge to dismantle key agencies potentially comes closer to fruition, 4.3 million consumers are set to receive checks from one of the agencies the incoming administration wants to "delete."
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced Thursday that it will soon begin distributing a historic $1.8 billion to millions of people who were charged illegal junk fees or defrauded by credit repair companies including Lexington Law and CreditRepair.com.
The money will be distributed from the CFPB's victim relief fund, which was created by Congress and is financed entirely by civil penalties paid by companies and individuals who violate consumer financial protection laws.
The fund has distributed $3.3 billion to consumers since its inception, and the CFPB said the forthcoming payment will be its largest ever.
"Lexington Law and CreditRepair.com exploited vulnerable consumers who were trying to rebuild their credit, charging them illegal junk fees for results they hadn't delivered," said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. "This historic distribution of $1.8 billion demonstrates the CFPB's commitment to making consumers whole."
A district court ruled in August 2023 that the two companies had violated the Telemarketing Sales Rule's prohibition on advance fees, which bars credit repair firms from collecting fees from consumers until they prove they have achieved the results they promise to their customers.
If the CFPB payments are divided equally among those who were wrongly charged fees by the two companies, each consumer would receive about $419.
The payments are being sent days after the CFPB proposed a rule aimed at reining in data brokers who sell people's personal information.
As Common Dreamsreported, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has expressed concern about the practices of data brokers—but as Trump's nominee to co-lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a yet-to-be-created commission that would cut regulations and government spending, Musk has pledged to "delete" the CFPB.
Filmmaker and media activist Danny Ledonne said Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, another businessman nominated to lead DOGE, likely want to do away with the CFPB because the agency acts "in the interest of regular people."
Liz Zelnick, director of the Economic Security and Corporate Power Program at government watchdog Accountable.US, said the upcoming $1.8 billion payout shows why the CFPB should remain in operation.
"When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is allowed to fully do its job, Americans only stand to benefit," said Zelnick. "Between surprise fees and misleading business practices, today's victory affirms the importance of the CFPB for defending people across the country from shady industry actors."
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said supporters of consumer protections in Congress will "fight any attempts to dismantle [CFPB], whether from Trump, Musk, or their billionaire buddies."
"The CFPB fights for everyday Americans against corporate greed, junk fees, and predatory lenders," he said. "This watchdog agency protects normal people like you and me."
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'We Need to Tax the Rich So Much More': Musk Spent Quarter of a Billion Backing Trump
"If your income was $274 million per year, you'd make more than 99.9% of Americans," wrote one activist. "Elon Musk spent that buying the 2024 elections for Republicans."
Dec 06, 2024
Federal filings released Thursday revealed that Elon Musk spent significantly more than previously known to help secure a second White House term for Donald Trump and boost GOP congressional candidates, making the world's richest man the nation's largest political donor and perhaps the most influential figure involved with the incoming administration.
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings showed that Musk, the CEO of Tesla and owner of the social media platform X, spent around $270 million this year in support of super PACs backing Trump's reelection bid.
The filings also exposed Musk as the mysterious funding source behind RBG PAC, a Republican organization named after the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Musk pumped more than $20.5 million into the super PAC, which aimed to paint Trump as more moderate on abortion than other Republicans and falsely claimed Trump shared Ginsburg's views on reproductive rights.
"In reality, RBG unequivocally supported abortion rights, believing it was a fundamental matter of equality," notedRolling Stone's Andrew Perez. "Trump, on the other hand, pledged to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban abortion—and his justices did just that. When Ginsburg died late in Trump's first term, he replaced her with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, creating a 6-3 conservative supermajority on the court that overturned Roe and ended the federal right to an abortion."
Musk's ability to convert his extreme wealth into political influence underscored the need for far higher taxes on the nation's economic elites, progressives said in response to the FEC disclosures. In 2018, Musk paid nothing in federal income taxes even as his wealth soared, largely due to Tesla stock appreciation.
"We need to tax the rich so much more," activist Jonathan Cohn wrote on social media. "Not just so that we can fund programs to benefit everyone, but to prevent them from rigging the political system in their favor."
Melanie D'Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, noted that "if your income was $274 million per year, you'd make more than 99.9% of Americans."
"Elon Musk spent that buying the 2024 elections for Republicans," she wrote. "Tax the oligarchs."
Musk's spending on the 2024 elections outpaced that of Timothy Mellon, the secretive heir to a Gilded Age fortune who pumped $197 million into races in support of Republican candidates, Bloombergreported.
"The clear story from the final federal campaign filings of 2024 is of the damage concentrated money in politics does to our elections," said Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert. "This includes being the sole backer of a super PAC that vandalized Ruth Bader Ginsburg's image to try and change Trump's public abortion position. Rich billionaires and corporate money simply ran the table in the 2024 election. They singlehandedly made the case for the aggressive campaign finance reforms we need to fix our system and get big money out of politics."
Musk, whose wealth jumped substantially following Trump's victory, is one of more than a dozen billionaires set to be either a member or close adviser to the incoming administration. The president-elect has tasked Musk and fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy with leading a commission whose goal is to gut federal regulations and slash spending.
"It's not hyperbole to call this a government of billionaires," Axiosreported Friday. "Trump's projected Cabinet alone is worth at least $10 billion... Trump's gilded Cabinet is the product of an election in which billionaires spent like never before in U.S. history—mostly on behalf of Republicans."
The billionaires in Trump's inner circle are set to play central roles in crafting policy over the next four years, including another tax-cut package that's expected to disproportionately benefit wealthy Americans. The 2017 Trump-GOP tax law that Republicans are looking to extend and expand helped boost the collective wealth of U.S. billionaires by over $2 trillion.
"The looters and polluters who are swarming around Trump bear careful watching," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said earlier this week. "Looks like no one's too rich to want to steal."
This story has been updated to include a statement from Public Citizen.
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'Nothing Is Sacrosanct': GOP Floats Social Security Cuts After Musk Capitol Hill Visit
"They're going to put everything on the table," one Republican lawmaker said of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
Dec 06, 2024
Republican lawmakers on Thursday signaled a willingness to target Social Security and other mandatory programs after meeting with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the billionaire pair President-elect Donald Trump chose to lead a new commission tasked with slashing federal spending and regulations.
Though the GOP's 2024 platform pledged to shield Social Security, the party has reverted to its long-held position in the weeks since Trump's election victory, with some lawmakers openly attacking the program while others suggest cuts more subtly by stressing the supposed need for "hard decisions" to shore up its finances. (Progressives argue Social Security's solvency can be guaranteed for decades to come by requiring the rich to contribute more to the program, a proposal Republicans oppose.)
On Thursday, Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) emerged from a meeting with Musk and Ramaswamy with the message that "nothing is sacrosanct."
"They're going to put everything on the table," said Norman, one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
After airing Norman's remarks, Fox Business reported that Musk and Ramaswamy told lawmakers that no federal program is safe from cuts, "and that includes Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid."
Fox Business reports that cutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid is "on the table" for Republicans pic.twitter.com/ETUjJHbt3h
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 5, 2024
NBC News congressional correspondent Julie Tsirkin said Thursday that after meeting with Musk, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.)—who was recently elected Senate majority leader for the upcoming Congress—told her that "perhaps mandatory programs are areas that they're looking to make cuts in, like Social Security, for example."
"But again, no specifics were laid out there," Tsirkin added.
Thune has previously voiced support for raising Social Security's retirement age, a change that would cut benefits across the board.
🚨🚨🚨
BREAKING: After meeting with Elon Musk, Republican leader Sen. John Thune announces plans to cut Social Security
HANDS OFF OUR EARNED BENEFITS! pic.twitter.com/eTX8wpHuwr
— Social Security Works (@SSWorks) December 5, 2024
In the days leading up to their Capitol Hill visit, both Musk and Ramaswamy took swipes at Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and made clear the programs would be in the crosshairs of their advisory commission, which is examining ways to slash federal spending without congressional approval.
Earlier this week, Musk amplified a series of social media posts by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), who once said he hopes to "get rid of" Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Defenders of Social Security saw Lee's thread, and Musk's apparent endorsement of it, as a declaration of war on the New Deal program.
Days later, Ramaswamy said in an interview with CNBC that "there are hundreds of billions of dollars of savings to extract" from Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, claiming the programs are rife with waste, fraud, and abuse.
"People love to have lazy armchair discussions about, oh, are you going to make cuts to entitlements or not, when, in fact, the dirty little secret is that many of those entitlement dollars aren't even going to people who they were supposed to be going to in the first place," said Ramaswamy, advancing a narrative that observers warned could be used to justify additional bureaucratic barriers making it harder for eligible people to receive benefits.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said Thursday that the Trump-GOP agenda is "so predictable."
"Tax cuts for billionaire donors; benefit cuts for people on Social Security—how the billionaires loot our country (what, not rich enough already, fellas?)," Whitehouse wrote on social media.
In a column on Thursday, MSNBC's Ryan Teague Beckwith wrote that "Republicans somehow keep coming back to the idea of cutting Social Security" despite widespread opposition to such cuts among the American public.
"Would Trump try to cut Social Security? It's hard to say. Over the years, he has staked out every possible position on Social Security—sometimes within hours of each other," wrote Beckwith, noting that Trump previously called the program a "huge Ponzi scheme" and backed calls to raise the retirement age.
"So if Republicans—or Musk—decide to propose changes to Social Security benefits," Beckwith added, "it's possible that he might go along with it."
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