October, 07 2021, 10:26pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Steve Blackledge, Senior Conservation Program Director, sblackledge@
Kelsey Lamp, Protect Our Oceans Campaign Director, klamp@environmentamerica.org
Josh Chetwynd, Deputy Director, Media Relations, jchetwynd@
Statement: Biden honors U.S. conservation legacy by restoring protections for Utah, New England monuments
Great day for Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and Northeast Canyons and Seamounts
WASHINGTON
President Joe Biden is expected to restore protections Friday for three national monuments. The original boundaries for two Utah areas, Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, and the original protections for the U.S. Atlantic's only marine monument, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, will be reinstated after being stripped during the Trump administration.
This Trump administration shrank the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument by 85% and cut Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument boundaries nearly in half. This left such endangered species as the Mexican spotted owl and the Southwestern willow flycatcher, who call these areas home, at great risk. Along with protecting the natural beauty and species who live in these areas, more than 100,000 archaeologically significant objects, including grave sites, ceremonial grounds and ancient cliff dwellings, which were at risk from oil drilling and mining, will be safeguarded.
The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, which received safeguards in 2016 during the Obama administration, saw its protections rolled back in 2020 as President Donald Trump lifted restrictions on commercial fishing within the monument's boundaries. Environment America highlighted restoring the marine monument in First Things to Fix, a list of Trump-era rollbacks that the Biden administration should reverse to protect our land, air, water and climate.
Following President Biden's executive action, the area, which is home to dozens of species of deep sea coral and is an important habitat for whales and other marine mammals, will once again be set to become an entanglement-free zone in the Atlantic Ocean's U.S. boundaries. This decision will also ensure that the marine monument serves as a refuge for species vulnerable to climate change impacts and as a research area to allow for a better understanding of deep sea ocean ecosystems.
In response, Steve Blackledge, Environment America's senior conservation program director, issued the following statement:
"Our country has a long history of ensuring 'America the Beautiful' exists for generations to come. By restoring safeguards to Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante and the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts, we can rest assured that these treasured areas will remain a part of that lasting legacy. Because all three of these monuments protect biodiversity and critical habitat, this victory will help the U.S. move closer to protecting 30 percent of our important lands and waters.
"There are so many reasons to rejoice over Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante once again receiving protection. They are home to countless animals, such as eagles, owls and a world-renowned elk population. Visitors come from all over for beautiful hikes, rock climbing, river rafting and wildlife viewing. They are also rich cultural heritage sites and are sacred to many Native Americans who originally lobbied for federal recognition.
"The same is true for New England's Northeast Canyons and Seamounts. This majestic underwater landscape teems with both large and small life. From whales and dolphins to thousand-year-old deep sea coral, this is a biodiversity hotspot, one that deserves protection in perpetuity. We are so glad to see the president safeguard this diverse and important ecosystem at the edge of the continental shelf."
With Environment America, you protect the places that all of us love and promote core environmental values, such as clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and clean energy to power our lives. We're a national network of 29 state environmental groups with members and supporters in every state. Together, we focus on timely, targeted action that wins tangible improvements in the quality of our environment and our lives.
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New Progressive Caucus Chair Ready to 'Fight Billionaires, Grifters, and Republican Frauds'
"Our caucus will make sure the Democratic Party stands up to corporate interests for working people," said Rep. Greg Casar.
Dec 05, 2024
The Congressional Progressive Caucus on Thursday elected its leaders for the next term, including Rep. Greg Casar as chair.
"The members of the Progressive Caucus know how to fight billionaires, grifters, and Republican frauds in Congress. Our caucus will make sure the Democratic Party stands up to corporate interests for working people," said Casar (D-Texas), who will replace term-limited Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.).
"I'm honored to build on the legacy of Chair Jayapal," Casar continued. "I've fought back against extremist, egocentric autocrats in Texas for my entire adult life. The Democratic Party must directly take on Trump, and it'll be CPC members boldly leading the way and putting working people first."
Casar, who is currently the CPC whip and ran unopposed, will be joined for the 119th Congress by Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) as deputy chair and Jesús "Chuy" García (D-Ill.) as whip.
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García said that "I am proud to join incoming Chair Casar, Deputy Chair Omar, and all members of the newly elected executive board as we prepare for the 119th Congress—in which I believe the role the CPC plays will be more critical than ever."
"We are a caucus that gives platform to ideas deeply popular across the political spectrum, and a caucus that builds diverse coalitions to get things done," he continued. "I look forward to working with my colleagues in Congress and partners across the country who believe in people-centered policies rooted in equity and justice for all."
The CPC, first led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 1991, when he was still in the U.S. House of Representatives, has nearly 100 members. The new caucus leaders are set to begin their terms on January 3 and will face not only a Republican-controlled House and Senate, but also U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who is set to be sworn in on January 20.
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"I was proud to establish term limits when I became chair in 2018, and have full confidence in the abilities of our new class to lead this caucus in the fight against the worst of the incoming Trump administration while rebuilding our party with a focus on economic justice for working people," she added. "I will be cheering these three new leaders and our new vice chairs at every turn as chair emerita come next year, and my heart is very full knowing we will have them at the helm of the CPC."
Speaking with NBC News on Wednesday, 35-year-old Casar said that "the progressive movement needs to change. We need to re-emphasize core economic issues every time some of these cultural war issues are brought up."
"So when we hear Republicans attacking queer Americans again, I think the progressive response needs to be that a trans person didn't deny your health insurance claim, a big corporation did—with Republican help," he explained. "We need to connect the dots for people that the Republican Party obsession with these culture war issues is driven by Republicans' desire to distract voters and have them look away while Republicans pick their pocket."
According to NBC:
That means the Democratic Party needs to "shed off some of its more corporate elements," to sharpen the economic-populist contrast with Republicans and not let voters equate the two parties, he said. He predicted Trump and the Republican-led Congress will offer plenty of opportunities to drive that distinction, including when it pursues an extension of tax cuts for upper earners.
"The core of the Republican Party is about helping Wall Street and billionaires. And I think we have to call out the game," Casar said. "The Democratic Party, at its best, can hold people or can have inside of its tent people across geography, across race and across ideology. Because we're all in the same boat when it comes to making sure that you can retire with dignity, that your kids can go to school, that you can buy a house."
Others—including Sanders, who sought the Democratic nomination for president in 2016 and 2020—have issued similar calls since Democrats lost the White House and Senate in last month's elections.
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On Thursday, both Sanders and Jayapal, who have led the congressional fight for Medicare for All, reiterated calls for a single-payer healthcare program in response to a social media post by Elon Musk, who is set to co-lead Trump's forthcoming Department of Government Efficiency with fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy.
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Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Wednesday expressed his optimism about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's next term and suggested he would "help" the Republican gut regulations.
"If we're talking about Trump, I think it's very interesting, I'm actually very optimistic this time around... I'm very hopeful about this—he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation," Bezos told The New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin during the newspaper's DealBook Summit.
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After complaining about the burden of regulations, Bezos added, "I'm very optimistic that President Trump is serious about this regulatory agenda and I think he has a good chance of succeeding."
The comments came during a discussion about Bezos' ownership of The Washington Post, which also addressed the billionaire's recent controversial decisions to block the newspaper's drafted endorsement of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and have it stop endorsing presidential candidates.
Bezos said Wednesday that he is "very proud" of the move, that the Post "is going to continue to cover all presidents very aggressively," and the decision did not result from fears about Trump targeting his companies.
As Inc.reported Thursday: "Trump had railed against Bezos and his companies, including Amazon and The Washington Post, during his first term. In 2019, Amazon argued in a court case that Trump's bias against the company harmed its chances of winning a $10 billion Pentagon contract. The Biden administration later pursued a contract with both Amazon and Microsoft."
Bezos owns Blue Origin, an aerospace company and a competitor to Elon Musk's SpaceX. Musk—the world's richest person, followed by Bezos, according to the Bloomberg and Forbes trackers—has been appointed to lead Trump's forthcoming Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with fellow billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy.
Bezos' remarks at the Times summit led Fortune's Brooke Seipel to suggest that he may be the next billionaire to join DOGE.
Musk and Ramaswamy headed to Capitol Hill on Thursday to speak with GOP lawmakers about their plans for the government.
"Despite its name, the Department of Government Efficiency is neither a department nor part of the government, which frees Musk and Ramaswamy from having to go through the typical ethics and background checks required for federal employment," The Associated Pressnoted. "They said they will not be paid for their work."
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"The most efficiently run healthcare systems in the world," said National Nurses United, "have been proven time and time again to be single-payer systems."
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Two of the United States' most outspoken critics of the for-profit health system welcomed billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's criticism of the country's sky-high healthcare spending—and suggested that Musk, a potential Cabinet member in the incoming Trump administration, join the call for Medicare for All.
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Jayapal added that she has "a solution" to exorbitant healthcare costs in the U.S.: "It's called Medicare for All."
Musk has been nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to lead a new federal agency that he wants to create called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Sanders has expressed support for some of the agency's mission, saying its plan to "cut wasteful expenditures" could be put to use at the Department of Defense, which has repeatedly failed audits of its annual spending.
But Sanders has sharply criticized the economic system and business practices that have helped make Musk the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $343.8 billion.
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