Gutting EPA climate rules will put lives at risk
Advertisement
The very real impact of extreme weather is hard to miss. Brutal heat is becoming the norm. Take last month, when
Advertisement
Further, an estimated
But beyond the headlines of death and destruction, extreme weather is also having an impact on daily lives. Climate change compromises livelihoods, particularly for the millions who work outdoors. If it's too hot to harvest a crop or work on a construction site, it will impact workers' incomes as well as the bottom line for businesses.
Extreme heat causes
In the agriculture sector, extreme heat drives up food prices, because there are fewer days when food can be harvested — a
Cutting regulation isn't saving ordinary Americans money; it's saving big business money. The EPA
Advertisement
The sad truth is the administration is abandoning its responsibility to act, and American citizens and people around the globe will pay the price. Denying the incontrovertible truth about climate change risks more death and damage to property and business.
Further, under the guise of deregulation, the administration is strategically undermining the authority of scientists and the public's access to facts on how greenhouse gas emissions will impact lives and livelihoods.
White House officials will not back down. Instead Congress and state and city officials, as well as courts, must block the plan. Otherwise, we risk deepening misunderstanding with the public, economic damage, more loss of life, and putting our long-term prosperity at risk.
This isn't giving Americans more choice, it's stripping them of their right to clean air, safe communities, and a secure job.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
16 minutes ago
- Axios
Marjorie Taylor Greene presses Trump to pardon George Santos
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is urging the Trump administration to pardon former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who is serving a seven-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Why it matters: President Trump recently weighed in on a potential Santos pardon by noting that the former congressman is a staunch supporter of his — a factor that has proved decisive in other Trump clemency decisions. "He lied like hell," Trump said of Santos in a Newsmax interview last week, adding he "didn't know him. … I might have met him. Maybe, maybe not." The president added, "But he was 100% for Trump. … His vote was solid, it sounds like." Driving the news: Greene posted to the social media app X a letter she sent to the Justice Department arguing Santos' sentence "extends far beyond" what is warranted. "I worked with Mr. Santos on many issues and can attest to his willingness and dedication … to serving his constituents," Greene wrote, noting her former colleague is "sincerely remorseful and has accepted responsibility for his actions." She added, without offering specific examples: "While his crimes warrant punishment, many of my colleagues who I serve with have committed far worse offenses … yet have faced zero criminal charges." Zoom in: Santos was exposed shortly after the 2022 election for lying about basic details about his background, including his education and employment history, family history and personal wealth. He was expelled from Congress in 2023 after an Ethics Committee report accused him of a "complex web of unlawful activity involving [his] campaign, personal, and business finances." He was sentenced in April after pleading guilty to charges related to fabricating campaign finance records to obtain support from national Republicans for his successful 2022 campaign for Congress. Greene was one of Santos' few allies during his time in Congress, along with other staunch supporters of Trump. Zoom out: Santos has emerged in the public consciousness as an unlikely potential recipient of clemency from Trump due to his MAGA credentials.
Los Angeles Times
16 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
California cannabis firm raided by ICE unveils big labor changes to avoid a repeat
One of California's largest legal cannabis companies announced Monday that it would radically revamp its labor practices in the wake of a massive immigration raid at two company facilities last month. The raid led to the death of one worker and the detention of more than 360 people, including, according to government officials, 14 minors. Glass House Brands announced it had 'terminated its relationship' with the two farm labor contractors who had provided workers to the cannabis green house operations in Camarillo and Carpinteria. It also announced that it has 'made significant changes to labor practices that are above and beyond legal requirements.' Those include hiring experts to scrutinize workers' documents as well as hiring the consulting firm Guidepost Services to advise the company on best practices for determining employment eligibility. The firm is led by Julie Myers Wood, a former ICE director under President George W. Bush. The company also said it has signed a new 'labor peace' agreement with the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters. Glass House officials declined to comment publicly beyond what was in a press release, but a source close to the company said that officials wanted to 'make sure we never have a situation that we had on July 10. We can't have this ever happen again.' On that day, federal agents in masks and riot gear stormed across Glass House operations in Ventura and Santa Barbara county in the state's largest ICE workplace raid in recent memory. Agents chased panicked workers through vast green houses and deployed tear gas and less-than-lethal projectiles at protesters and employees. One worker, Jaime Alanis Garcia, died after he fell three stories from the roof of a greenhouse trying to evade capture. Others were bloodied from shards of glass broken or hid for hours on the roofs or beneath the leaves and plastic shrouding. More than 360 people — a mixture of workers, family members of workers, protesters and passerby—were ultimately detained, including at least two American citizens including a U.S. Army veteran. In the wake of the raid, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that Glass House had been targeted because 'we knew, specifically from casework we had built for weeks and weeks and weeks, that there was children there that could be trafficked, being exploited, that there was individuals there involved in criminal activity.' To date, neither Homeland Security nor the U.S. Department of Justice have announced any legal action regardlng the alleged trafficking and exploitation of juveniles. In its press release, Glass House said that just nine of its direct employees were detained; all others picked up were either employees of its labor contractors or were 'unassociated with the company.' With regards to the government's contention that it had found children working in cannabis, the company said: 'while the identities of the alleged minors have not been disclosed, the company has been able to determine that, if those reports are true, none of them were Glass House employees.' California labor law allows children as young as 12 to work in agriculture, but workers must be 21 to work in cannabis. The raid devastated Glass House and its workforce. Numerous workers were detained or disappeared, terrified to return. Those that remained were so distraught the company called in grief counselors. Across the wider world of legal cannabis, people were also shaken. Glass House, which is backed by wealthy investors and presents a sleek corporate image in the wild world of cannabis in California, has long been known as the 'Walmart of Weed.' Many in California's cannabis industry feared the raid on Glass House was a signal that the federal government's ceasefire against cannabis —which is legal in California but still not federally—had come to an end. In the wake of the raid, the United Farm Workers and other organizations warned farm laborers who were not citizens — even those with legal status — to avoid working in cannabis because 'cannabis remains criminalized under federal law.' In its statement, Glass House said the search warrant served on the company the day of the raid was seeking 'evidence of possible immigration violations.' A source close to the company said officials have had no further contact with the federal government since the raid. Some farm labor advocates were unimpressed by the company's announcement of revamped labor practices, saying it was farm workers who would pay the price. Lucas Zucker, co-executive director of Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, or CAUSE, said Glass House was using farm labor contractors to avoid responsibility 'while their workers are torn away from their families in handcuffs.' 'This shows the double standards of our legal system, where corporations can profit from the immigrant workers their businesses depend on, yet wipe their hands clean when it becomes inconvenient,' he said. He added that 'many farmworkers are still struggling to navigate this mess of labor contractors and have not been paid for the work they did at Glass House.' A source close to Glass House said company officials want to make sure everyone who was at work on the day of the raid receives all the wages they are owed. Company officials authorized all workers to be paid through 11:30 pm on the day of the raid, because workers who had finished their shifts couldn't get out because immigration agents were blocking the doors. The source said the farm labor contractors had been paid and should have released wages to all the workers. 'We don't want anyone to be shorted,' the source said.
CNN
17 minutes ago
- CNN
TX Governor Orders Arrest Of Dems Who Fled State Over Redistricting - Anderson Cooper 360 - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
TX Governor Orders Arrest Of Dems Who Fled State Over Redistricting Anderson Cooper 360 43 mins Texas Gov. Greg Abbott orders arrest warrants for missing Democratic lawmakers, in a redistricting fight that could undermine who controls half of Congress next year. Plus, the Trump DOJ launches a grand jury criminal probe of the Obama administration's handling of 2016 Russian election interference. This less than two weeks after the current President accused the former President of treason and said "it's time to go after people."
