September, 26 2019, 12:00am EDT

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Hannah Connor, Center for Biological Diversity, (202) 681-1676, hconnor@biologicaldiversity.org
Sylvia Wu, Center for Food Safety, (415) 826-2770, swu@centerforfoodsafety.org
Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration's Approval of Bee-killing Pesticide, GE Crop Uses on National Wildlife Refuges
WASHINGTON
The Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety sued the Trump administration today for approving the use of bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides and pesticide-intensive genetically engineered crops on national wildlife refuges.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., challenges a 2018 decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Department of the Interior reversing a 2014 commitment to phase-out those practices.
The Trump administration's decision opens the door to increased pesticide use across 150 million acres of important pollinator and bird habitat without considering harm to the nation's most endangered species, as required by law.
"It's frankly astounding that anyone would promote spraying dangerous pesticides on wildlife refuges but if anyone would, it's the pesticide pushers in the Trump administration," said Hannah Connor, senior attorney with Center for Biological Diversity. "This is nothing but a shameless giveaway to the pesticide industry with no regard for our nation's most vulnerable wildlife."
Among those who played a key role in reversing the ban is Aurelia Skipwith, a former Monsanto executive who is currently the deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department. Skipwith is also Trump's latest nominee to lead the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Earlier this month, 27 former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees sent a letter urging the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to deny Skipwith's confirmation. The letter stated that Skipwith "repeatedly put the interests of the pesticide industry ahead of imperiled wildlife," including in issuing the decision challenged in today's lawsuit.
"The courts have repeatedly shot down the unfettered use of genetically engineered crops on national wildlife refuges, and for good reason," said Sylvia Wu, senior attorney with Center for Food Safety. "We will not allow Trump and his band of profiteers to destroy the health and beauty of these special places."
The 2014 decision reversed by the Trump Administration was the result of a 10-year campaign that included multiple lawsuits successfully challenging the planting of genetically engineered crops at refuges. The lawsuits were brought by the Center for Food Safety and other public interest groups.
Just last week a new analysis published in the journal Science revealed that nearly 30 percent of birds in the United States and Canada -- 2.9 billion birds -- have vanished since 1970. That news followed a report that U.S. agriculture is 48 times more toxic to insects like bees and other pollinators than it was 20 years ago, findings largely attributed to an increased use of neonicotinoid pesticides.
Background
The National Wildlife Refuge System is America's largest collection of lands set aside for the preservation of fish and wildlife. In creating the refuge system, Congress affirmed the nation's commitment to ensuring these places are managed to provide for the conservation of fish, wildlife and plant species and their habitats.
The Trump administration approval reverses a 2014 decision, reached by the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Obama administration, to prohibit genetically modified crops and neonicotinoid pesticides on the wildlife refuges.
A growing body of research has found that neonicotinoid pesticides are highly toxic to pollinators and one of the leading causes of the collapse of bee populations. The Trump administration's decision to allow use of genetically modified seeds on wildlife refuges is likely to spur greater use of highly toxic pesticides, a practice that scientists have said will increase harm not only to pollinators but birds, fish and other wildlife.
Most genetically altered crops are designed to survive being sprayed with herbicides like glyphosate and dicamba, which allows farmers to increase use of these pesticides in the summer months when many animals are out foraging.
Glyphosate use on genetically altered crops has significantly contributed to the monarch butterfly's 80 percent decline over the past two decades because the pesticide kills milkweed, the monarch caterpillar's only food.
At the Center for Biological Diversity, we believe that the welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature — to the existence in our world of a vast diversity of wild animals and plants. Because diversity has intrinsic value, and because its loss impoverishes society, we work to secure a future for all species, great and small, hovering on the brink of extinction. We do so through science, law and creative media, with a focus on protecting the lands, waters and climate that species need to survive.
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Green Groups Slam 'Harmful' GOP Vote to Kill Biden Clean Vehicle Rule
"House GOP leaders should be ashamed for trying to thwart the EPA, and its authority under the Clean Air Act, to limit dangerous and deadly pollution," said one campaigner.
Dec 06, 2023
Climate and environmental campaigners on Wednesday bristled as the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted to block a proposed Biden administration rule meant to accelerate the transition from gasoline-powered to electric automobiles.
House lawmakers voted 221-197, almost entirely along party lines, in favor of H.R. 4468, the so-called Choice in Automobile Retail Sales Act of 2023. The office of House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) claimed the bill "stops President [Joe] Biden's agenda to force Americans to drive electric vehicles, which will cede our auto future to China."
However, Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko of New York condemned the measure during a House floor speech Wednesday, asserting that "we should be putting our clean energy standards in overdrive to protect consumers and our planet, not reversing course on vital electric vehicle policies."
"We should be putting our clean energy standards in overdrive to protect consumers and our planet, not reversing course on vital electric vehicle policies."
When the Biden administration unveiled its proposed clean transportation standard in April, progressive critics argued that it did not go far enough. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) projects that under the most robust version of its
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A coalition of green groups slammed H.R. 4468 this week, writing to congressional leaders that "rather than recognize the twin crises of unmitigated climate change and public health impacts from transportation pollution and the transition to zero-emission vehicles underway, this bill aims to stem the tide of progress towards clean air and a healthy future."
"We need to move forward," the groups added, "not backward."
Margie Alt, director of the San Diego-based Climate Action Campaign, said in a statement that "today's vote on H.R. 4468 is a cynical and tremendously harmful attempt by some in Congress to placate their deep-pocketed fossil fuel executive and lobbyist allies."
"House GOP leaders should be ashamed for trying to thwart the EPA, and its authority under the Clean Air Act, to limit dangerous and deadly pollution from light duty and medium duty vehicles and trucks," she continued. "Cleaner cars standards protect all Americans from the significant respiratory and other health impacts of tailpipe pollution, not to mention limit the impacts of the climate crisis from a key source of climate pollution."
"Vehicle pollution endangers millions of Americans," Alt added, "particularly vulnerable Americans living near highways and high-traffic corridors."
H.R. 4468 has little chance of passing the Senate and even if it did, the White House has signaled that Biden will veto the measure. The White House Office of Management and Budget said Monday that the GOP proposal "would catastrophically impair EPA's ability to issue automotive regulations that protect public health, save consumers money, strengthen American energy security, and protect American investments in the vehicle technologies of the future."
Republican lawmakers on Wednesday also advanced a raft of what GOP leaders called "American energy solutions" that critics slammed as damaging to the climate, environment, Indigenous rights, and frontline communities. These bills include H.R. 6009, a measure introduced by Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) that would force taxpayers to foot the bill for cleaning up oil and gas wells on federal lands.
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Members of the National Voting in Prison Coalition and other advocacy groups on Wednesday welcomed the introduction of Democratic legislation that would end felony disenfranchisement in federal elections and guarantee incarcerated U.S. citizens the right to vote.
"Too often, citizens behind the wall and those with a record are wrongfully stripped of their sacred right to vote and denied the opportunity to participate in our democracy," said U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who is leading the bill with Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.).
Pressley stressed that "with Republicans and the Supreme Court stopping at nothing to undermine voting rights and exclude Black and brown folks from participating in our democracy, we must protect and expand access to the ballot box—including for incarcerated citizens."
"As someone whose family has been personally impacted by mass incarceration, I'm proud to partner with Sen. Welch on the Inclusive Democracy Act to ensure everyone can make their voice heard in our democracy," she added. "Momentum is growing in states across the country and Congress must follow suit by swiftly passing this crucial legislation."
The National Voting in Prison Coalition—made up of over two dozen groups including the Campaign Legal Center, Center for Popular Democracy, Common Cause, Dēmos, Stand Up America, and the Sentencing Project—said that "the Inclusive Democracy Act stands as a beacon of hope for the more than 4.6 million Americans currently disenfranchised due to criminal convictions."
"The Inclusive Democracy Act of 2023 is a long-overdue step towards fulfilling the promise of our democracy, where every American has a voice and a stake in shaping our nation's future," the coalition continued.
Some coalition members also put out their own statements of support. Common Cause's Keshia Morris Desir said that "the Inclusive Democracy Act takes significant steps to help end the racist and discriminatory practice of felony disenfranchisement that grips communities of color."
Stand Up America's Sunwoo Oh called felony disenfranchisement "a stain on American democracy" and pledged that the group's nearly 2 million members "are ready to do whatever we can to push this legislation forward at the federal level."
Nicole D. Porter of the Sentencing Project noted that "not only is expanding voting rights the morally correct thing to do—it is also effective policy: For people who have been impacted by the criminal legal system, restoring voting rights has been linked to reduced recidivism, as it helps them rehabilitate and reintegrate into civic life."
According to its sponsors, the bill would:
- Guarantee the right to vote in federal elections for citizens who have criminal convictions;
- Require state and federal entities to notify individuals who are convicted, incarcerated, on probation, or on parole of their right to vote in federal elections;
- Outline the process for citizens in carceral settings to register to vote by mail, if registration is required by their state;
- Outline the process for citizens in carceral settings to vote by mail, including protecting and prioritizing election mail, curing ballots with mistakes, and casting a provision ballot;
- Ensure citizens in carceral settings have access to information about elections through mechanisms available to them such as the internet, campaigns, and third-party groups;
- Provide guidance to state officials to not prosecute citizens in carceral settings who complete an election ballot that includes an election they are not eligible to vote in; and
- Provide a private right of action to enforce this legislation.
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Jeremiah Mungo of More Than Our Crimes declared that "every American deserves a voice in their homeland."
The new bill is backed by 17 other House Democrats as well as Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) but is unlikely to pass the GOP-controlled lower chamber or split Senate. Despite the odds, lawmakers have also unveiled other voting rights measures throughout the year, including the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
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In response to Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade's announcement that she won't remove former U.S. President Donald Trump from the ballot for the Republican Party primary without a court order, voters on Wednesday filed a lawsuit seeking one.
This case and others like it across the country are based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars anyone who has taken an oath to the U.S. Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection or rebellion" from holding any civil or military office.
"Donald Trump violated his oath of office and incited a violent insurrection that attacked the U.S. Capitol, threatened the assassination of the vice president and congressional leaders, and disrupted the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in our nation's history," Free Speech for People (FSFP) legal director Ron Fein said in a statement.
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"All Oregon voters, including the plaintiffs, have a well-established right to have only eligible candidates on the ballot."
FSFP—which represents the Oregon voters and has filed similar legal challenges in Michigan and Minnesota—had sent a letter last month requesting that Griffin-Valade "issue a temporary rule (and subsequent declaratory ruling) that Mr. Trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on any Oregon future ballot for nomination of election to federal office."
In a statement about denying that request last week, the secretary's office noted that her decision relies on legal advice from the Oregon Department of Justice (DOJ), it only applies to the primary, and she "received significant voter contact" on the topic.
"Oregon law does not give me the authority to determine the qualifications of candidates in a presidential primary," Griffin-Valade said. "I will follow our usual process and expect to put Donald Trump on the primary ballot unless a court directs me otherwise."
"I understand that people want to skip to the end of this story. But right now, we don't even know who the nominee will be," she added. "When the general election comes, we'll follow the law and be completely transparent with our reasoning."
Along with FSFP, the Oregon voters behind the new filing are represented by local attorneys Jason Kafoury and Daniel Meek.
"The United States Constitution makes Donald Trump ineligible to run for or serve in any public office in the country, let alone president," Kafoury argued Wednesday. "All Oregon voters, including the plaintiffs, have a well-established right to have only eligible candidates on the ballot. Since Secretary of State Griffin-Valade has announced that Trump will be on the primary ballot unless a court orders otherwise, we are seeking a court order preventing Trump from being on the ballot."
Griffin-Valade spokesperson Laura Kerns said in an email to the Oregon Capital Chronicle on Wednesday that "the secretary believes that she made the right decision to rely on the advice of DOJ regarding the presidential primary election."
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