The week is off to a strong start with eco-right news from coast to coast. We hope to see the volume continue to increase as the days, week, months progress.
Ayotte joins effort: Former Sen. Kelly Ayotte from New Hampshire, who narrowly lost her re-election bid in November, joined Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions as a senior advisor. The nonprofit group supports renewable energy policies at the state and federal level and aims to highlight and grow the network of Republican lawmakers who support clean energy solutions. “I find [that] especially younger voters care very much about having clean air, clean water. It’s an issue that we should be looking for ways for Republicans to lead,” Ayotte said.
Curbelo’s ascension: Florida’s Rep. Carlos Curbelo is still riding the wave of the defeat last week of an anti-climate amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. In an interview with a Florida radio station, he said “we have a lot of Republicans, even from the deep South, who everyday come to me and say ‘well, let’s talk about this climate change thing and sea level rise…There is growing interest and my hope is that we can build that coalition, that bipartisan coalition, as quickly as possible just so that we can advance common-sense policy solutions.”
On Saturday, the Miami Herald featured him on the front page highlighting his leadership on climate change.
ICYMI on Saturday’s @MiamiHerald front page: @RepCurbelo Leads on Environment. Full story here: https://t.co/EvYlv0Aysv pic.twitter.com/oxdmbvHzTi
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (@RepCurbelo) July 17, 2017
California moves forward: Eight Republicans joined Democratic lawmakers in extending the state’s one-of-a-kind cap and trade program for five years. “California Republicans are different than national Republicans,” said Assembly Republican leader Chad Mayes, who pushed his caucus to work across the aisle on the issue. “Many of us believe that climate change is real, and that it’s a responsibility we have to work to address it.” Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement: “We can fight for free market policies to clean up our environment for our children at the same time we fight for a booming economy.” Read what our own Rep. Bob Inglis said and the full report here.
Jester-in-waiting: President Donald Trump boasted that the economy has created 45,000 coal mining jobs since he took office. “In Pennsylvania, two weeks ago, they opened a mine, the first mine that was opened in decades….Well, we picked up 45,000 mining jobs in a very short period of time,” Trump said. “Everybody was saying, ‘Well, you won’t get any mining jobs,’ we picked up 45,000 mining jobs. Well, the miners are very happy with Trump and with Pence, and we’re very proud of that.” According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the figure is closer to 800 new coal mining jobs.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and every bit makes a difference. On that note, keep making a difference.