Posts tagged GOP
Boulder Traffic Alert Today October 28th during GOP debates on Campus
Oct 27th
Light traffic impacts will occur throughout the day as candidates, media and attendees arrive on campus. The combination of national media, groups exercising First Amendment rights, candidates and related security details, and the normal rush hour traffic may cause significant delays on Broadway, US 36, and around campus later in the day.
Drivers wishing to avoid potential traffic congestion may wish to use alternate routes or adjust their travel schedules. Rolling road closures and traffic delays are expected on Broadway between Arapahoe Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue between 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.as attendees and advocacy groups arrive and between 8:15 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. when the debate adjourns. Regent Drive has been closed for the debate.
Debate ticket holders are expected to be onsite between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. The majority of attendees for the debate are expected to be bused to campus from offsite locations, use public transportation or walk to the event.
CU also is providing a Free Speech Zone on campus at the Business Field, just north of the Coors Event Center; this area will be open to the public from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Wednesday. The city has approved three advocacy permits related to the debate for groups who expect to exercise their First Amendment rights. One group intends to be entirely on campus. Two others plan to gather in Central Park at 3 p.m. and walk to the Free Speech Zone between 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Advocacy groups have indicated that many participants will be bused into the city as there is no event parking associated with the debate.
The debate will be televised on CNBC, and candidates are expected to be in place well in advance of the event. For more information on the debate, go to Colorado.edu/rnc-debate.
Another “sneak attack” on wildlife from GOP
Feb 3rd
Disguised as “Sportsmen’s Heritage Act, ”Legislation Would Also Roll Back Public-lands Protection, Promote Polar Bear Trophy Hunting
WASHINGTON— The U.S. House of Representatives will vote Tuesday on H.R. 3590, the misnamed “Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act.” Under the guise of expanding hunting and fishing access on public lands, the Republican-supported bill aims to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from protecting millions of birds and other animals from lead poisoning. The extremist legislation also contains provisions to undermine the Wilderness Act, dispense with environmental review for projects on national wildlife refuges, and promote polar bear hunting.
“Another cynical assault by House Republicans to roll back protections for public lands and wildlife,” said Bill Snape, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This supposed ‘sportsmen’s legislation’ would actually jeopardize the health of hunters, promote needless lead poisoning of our wildlife, and prevent hunters, anglers and other members of the public from weighing in on decisions about how to manage 150 million acres of federal land and water.”
H.R. 3590 seeks to exempt toxic lead in ammunition and fishing equipment from regulation under the Toxic Substances Control Act, the federal law that regulates toxic substances. The EPA is currently allowed to regulate or ban any chemical substance for a particular use, including the lead used in shot and bullets. Affordable, effective nontoxic alternatives exist for lead ammunition and lead sinkers for all hunting and fishing activities.
Spent lead from hunting is a widespread killer of more than 75 species of birds such as bald eagles, endangered condors, loons and swans, and nearly 50 mammals. More than 265 organizations in 40 states have been pressuring the EPA to enact federal rules requiring use of nontoxic bullets and shot for hunting and shooting sports.
“There are powerful reasons we banned toxic lead from gasoline, plumbing and paint — lead is a known neurotoxin that endangers the health of hunters and their families and painfully kills bald eagles and other wildlife,” said Snape.
H.R. 3590 would also exempt all national wildlife refuge management decisions from review and public disclosure under the National Environmental Policy Act and allow the import of polar bear “trophies” from Canada. The Republican-controlled House approved similar “Sportsmen’s Act” legislation in 2012 by a vote of 274-146, but the bill was stopped in the Senate.
Background
Despite being banned in 1992 for hunting waterfowl, spent lead shotgun pellets from other hunting uses continue to be frequently ingested by waterfowl. Many birds also consume lead-based fishing tackle lost in lakes and rivers, often with deadly consequences. Birds and animals are also poisoned when scavenging on carcasses containing lead-bullet fragments. More than 500 scientific papers have documented the dangers to wildlife from lead exposure. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service calculates that more than 14,000 tons of toxic lead shot is deposited in the environment each year in the United States by upland bird hunting alone.
Lead ammunition leaves fragments and numerous imperceptible, dust-sized particles that contaminate game meat far from a bullet track, causing significant health risks to people eating wild game. Recent scientific studies show that hunters have higher lead levels in their bloodstream, and more associated health problems, than the public at large. Some state health agencies have recalled venison donated to feed the hungry because of dangerous lead contamination from bullet fragments.
There are many alternatives to lead rifle bullets and shotgun pellets. More than a dozen manufacturers market hundreds of varieties and calibers of nonlead bullets and shot made of steel, copper and alloys of other metals, with satisfactory-to-superior ballistics. A recent study debunks claims that price and availability of nonlead ammunition could preclude switching to nontoxic rounds for hunting. Researchers found no major difference in the retail price of equivalent lead-free and lead-core ammunition for most popular calibers.
Hunters in areas with lead ammunition restrictions have transitioned to hunting with nontoxic bullets. There has been no decrease in game tags or hunting activity since state requirements for nonlead hunting went into effect in significant portions of Southern California in 2008 to protect condors from lead poisoning. California recently passed legislation to transition to lead-free hunting statewide by 2019.
Learn more about the Center’s Get the Lead Out campaign.
Keystone pipeline rising from the dead?
Jan 30th
44 SENATORS BEHIND KEYSTONE BILL TOOK $23 MILLION IN CAMPAIGN CASH FROM BIG OIL
Washington, D.C. – Forty-four Senators who introduced legislation today backing the controversial Keystone XL pipeline received $23.4 million in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry since 1989,according to analysis by 350.org and Public Campaign Action Fund. The figures reflected data coded by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics and available on their website and include contributions through September 30, 2011. Fourth quarter filings are due to the Federal Election Commission tomorrow.
The bill, which was announced today by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and cosponsored by 42 GOP senators and one Democratic Senator, would approve the Keystone XL project despite the Obama Administration’s rejection of its permit following months of intensifying protest against it and studies downplaying its potential economic impact.
“We no longer can just accept business as usual on Capitol Hill – the idea that the fossil fuel lobby puts a quarter in the slot, turns the handle, and gets a shiny toy has to come to an end,” said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org. “The nation’s top scientists, not to mention ten recent winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, have explained why this is a lousy idea. That should speak as loudly as campaign cash.”
The analysis of campaign donations for the cosponsors found that seven of them have taken more than one million dollars over their careers from the oil industry. The cosponsors collectively received more than $1.1 million over the first three quarters of 2011, the last data available in advance of tomorrow’s FEC deadline.
“The introduction of this Keystone bill is not about jobs for Americans, it’s about these Senators’ trying to protect their own jobs,” commented David Donnelly, national campaigns director of Public Campaign Action Fund. “They’re looking out for themselves, paying back their Big Oil donors, and trying to cash in for more Big Oil money.”
Lifetime Contributions to 44 Senators from Oil and Gas Industry
Name | Career Oil & Gas $$ |
McCain, John (R-AZ) |
$2,869,241 |
Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX) |
$2,223,271 |
Cornyn, John (R-TX) |
$1,864,050 |
Inhofe, James M (R-OK) |
$1,352,523 |
Isakson, Johnny (R-GA) |
$1,352,523 |
McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) |
$1,089,811 |
Vitter, David (R-LA) |
$1,011,685 |
Blunt, Roy (R-MO) |
$756,198 |
Thune, John (R-SD) |
$648,962 |
Coburn, Tom (R-OK) |
$551,663 |
Burr, Richard (R-NC) |
$549,852 |
Murkowski, Lisa (R-AK) |
$532,489 |
Wicker, Roger (R-MS) |
$528,310 |
Corker, Bob (R-TN) |
$444,350 |
Roberts, Pat (R-KS) |
$428,800 |
Alexander, Lamar (R-TN) |
$414,550 |
Moran, Jerry (R-KS) |
$384,496 |
Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) |
$381,192 |
Barrasso, John A (R-WY) |
$370,150 |
Hatch, Orrin G (R-UT) |
$363,525 |
Toomey, Pat (R-PA) |
$358,716 |
Shelby, Richard (R-AL) |
$352,700 |
Coats, Daniel R (R-IN) |
$348,908 |
Kyl, Jon (R-AZ) |
$334,332 |
Portman, Rob (R-OH) |
$321,458 |
Crapo, Mike (R-ID) |
$312,189 |
Enzi, Mike (R-WY) |
$305,650 |
Sessions, Jeff (R-AL) |
$297,000 |
Grassley, Chuck (R-IA) |
$270,050 |
Hoeven, John (R-ND) |
$263,289 |
DeMint, James W (R-SC) |
$248,389 |
Rubio, Marco (R-FL) |
$238,034 |
Cochran, Thad (R-MS) |
$231,485 |
Lugar, Richard G (R-IN) |
$200,925 |
Heller, Dean (R-NV) |
$156,450 |
Graham, Lindsey (R-SC) |
$149,875 |
Manchin, Joe (D-WV) |
$143,400 |
Boozman, John (R-AR) |
$141,952 |
Ayotte, Kelly (R-NH) |
$140,368 |
Johnson, Ron (R-WI) |
$113,700 |
Paul, Rand (R-KY.) |
$105,840 |
Risch, James E (R-ID) |
$88,350 |
Johanns, Mike (R-NE) |
$82,800 |
Lee, Mike (R-UT) |
$50,350 |
Total: |
$23,373,851 |
Available online at http://bit.ly/w3B6kl.
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