Category: News & Opinion

by Mia DiFelice

In February, President Joe Biden announced a temporary pause on the country’s buildout of liquefied natural gas. After approving the Willow drilling project and the resulting outrage nationwide, Biden is finally starting to take the hint. We cannot and will not accept the status quo on fossil fuels. 

Of course, former President Donald Trump couldn’t let the moment pass without reminding us of the threat he poses to our planet. The next day, he announced that he would “approve the export terminals on [his] first day back.” 

“We will drill, baby, drill,” he crowed. 

After yesterday’s Super Tuesday primaries, Trump effectively secured the Republican nomination for president — raising the stakes for our livable future.

We know Trump’s track record and his stance on our issues. It isn’t pretty. In 2024, we face a fork in the road: a path to more progress toward a livable future, or doors slammed shut in our faces. Here’s exactly what’s at stake.

1. Threatening the Green Energy Transition We Need

Well before the LNG export terminal boom made headlines, Trump had already staked out a position on transporting the fuel by rail. In 2020, he permitted the highly flammable fuel to be shipped on “bomb trains” without a special permit, threatening rail-side communities across the country. (Biden suspended the rule, but still needs to ban bomb trains completely.)

This is just one drop in the ocean of Trump’s terrible response to climate. He’s called climate concerns “nonsense” and downplayed his own administration’s research.

And, early on in his presidency, Trump pulled us out of the Paris Agreement, the foremost international effort on climate change. Thankfully, Biden re-engaged with these efforts.

This year, the U.S. attended the COP28 climate conference to continue negotiating international climate action. Though the resulting deal didn’t go nearly far enough, it did include something unprecedented — for the first time, COP included language for countries to “transition away” from fossil fuels. Just as we’re starting to make progress on the international front, a second Trump administration would almost certainly walk it back.

That’s not the only thing it would walk back. Trump would undo as much of our progress as he can. According to advisors and senior campaign officials, the former president intends to slash funds to clean energy programs and repeal regulations on the oil and gas industry. He would also cut spending and staff to government agencies key to food, water, and climate protections.

2. Siding with Profit Over People in Our Food System

Megacorporations dominate many corners of our economy, especially our food system, with disastrous consequences. Take, for example, the meat industry. The four biggest meatpackers process 85% of all U.S. beef cattle. Because of their size and power, monopoly corporations get away with a lot of bad behavior, like dangerous working conditions. Rather than rein them in, Trump paved the way for more abuses.

For one, the administration approved three massive mergers for seed and agrochemical giants. Trump’s USDA also greenlit faster inspections on hog lines and faster line speeds at poultry plants. The former led to more contamination violations in hog slaughter plants; the latter threatened even more injuries in an industry already notorious for its health and safety risks.

Biden not only withdrew the bad line-speed rules — he’s also tackling our country’s poisonous monopoly problem at the root. His administration (following organizations including Food & Water Action) sounded the alarm on how meatpackers use their market power to raise prices and profits. At the expense of both families and farmers, meat giants have seen skyrocketing profits since the start of the pandemic.

In 2021, Biden ushered in the biggest crackdown on monopolies in decades. That included directing the USDA to issue new rules to protect farmers and ranchers against corporate abuses. He also urged the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to improve merger guidelines, which guide agency evaluations on the risks of mergers and whether they’ll step in to stop them.

A second Trump term jeopardizes this progress. The former president seemed only interested in tackling monopolies if it involved companies he had beef with. A second Biden term would steady the course on this work, which is essential to the health and economic well-being of families, workers, and farmers.

3. Allowing More Toxic Chemicals and Dangerous Water Water Pollution

The U.S. has a massive toxic chemical problem. For too long, our government has allowed corporations to make and sell products that pollute our water and endanger our health. The EPA is supposed to protect us from these harms — but Trump de-fanged the agency throughout his presidency.

The administration weakened regulations and enforcement for toxic chemicals and paved the way for new ones to enter the market. It halted bans for chemicals the EPA had already found dangerous. According to whistleblowers, Trump’s EPA bent over backward to accommodate corporations that want to profit from their toxic products as soon as possible. 

In contrast, Biden has taken major strides in protecting our health and drinking water. For instance, his EPA finalized new rules for regulating PFAS forever chemicals and proposed new lead-in-water rules.

For years, community activists and groups like Food & Water Action have demanded more protective policies. While these rules aren’t strong enough and we still have a long way to go, Biden has taken unprecedented steps in the right direction.

We Need to Defend Our Livable Future at the Polls

Over the past few years, we have won incredible victories that lay the groundwork for securing a livable future for all. We know we have the power to continue making huge strides. But if Trump returns to office, our work will become much harder. We can expect some massive steps backward that will further jeopardize our livable future.

This is underscored by the fact that Trump has sunk deep into the pockets of polluting corporations. The oil and gas industry is one of the top donors to the former president’s campaign. He pocketed $7.37 million last year from Big Oil — 10 times more than Biden. Trump also took in triple the amount of donations from agribusiness compared to Biden.

Though Biden has not come close to taking the action required to adequately address the climate emergency, we have made some progress with the potential for more, bolder action in a second term. While Trump can more easily ignore us, Biden can’t — he’s accountable to us, his base.

This year’s LNG pause showed that we can and do move the President to act. We’d lose that power with Trump behind the wheel.

That’s why Food & Water Action is going all-in on get-out-the-vote ahead of November. We know how to mobilize folks across the country to vote on the issues that matter to them. It’s gotten us amazing wins, and we’re poised to win more this year. But we need your help. 

The science couldn’t be clearer: in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change, we need to rapidly transition off fossil fuels and onto 100% renewable energy. To do that, we need elected officials at every level of government who will oppose any expansion of fossil fuels and fight for real climate solutions. 

We know that the climate crisis can’t be solved while still depending on coal, oil, and gas, so we’re exposing Capture and Storage (CCS) — the fossil fuel industry’s biggest scheme. Right now, the federal government is planning to spend billions of dollars on this technology, which has never fully succeeded in capturing emissions. Read more on the carbon capture scam here.

This year, Food & Water Action is asking candidates to take the pledge to stand against fossil fuel industry schemes and help us lead the transition to renewable energy.

Pledge Language

I accept the science that says humankind’s use of fossil fuels is the primary driver of dangerous global climate change.

Therefore, as a candidate for elected office, I pledge to put people and the planet before corporate profits by leading efforts to stop new fossil fuel development and achieve a just transition to 100% clean, renewable energy. The catastrophic impact of fossil fuels on public health and climate change-driven extreme weather events shows that we must act now.

If elected, I will 

• oppose any policies that will expand or extend fossil fuel production, use, or transport, including carbon capture and hydrogen, which will keep us dependent on oil and gas. 
• advance efforts to quickly transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, including policies to increase electrification and energy efficiency;
• support efforts to address the toxic legacy of fossil fuels in our communities, especially those most impacted including indigenous peoples, communities of color, low low-income and rural communities;
• support the declaration of a national climate emergency.

Are you a candidate for elected office? Sign the pledge here.

Current List of Signers

Has your candidate taken the pledge?

• Check back soon for our first round of signers!

Get Involved

Getting candidates to sign the pledge is an important way to educate leaders on climate solutions and identify the candidates who will fight for them, if elected. Food & Water Action volunteers will be asking candidates in their communities to sign the pledge throughout the 2024 election cycle. 

Questions? Email: [email protected]

Candidates listed on this page have signed the End Fossil Fuels Candidate Pledge. Signing this pledge does not constitute an endorsement by Food & Water Action or any other organization.

by Mia DiFelice

As we head into another election year, it’s no secret we face massive challenges. Our warming climate is plunging us into dangerous, unknown territory. More climate- and election-denying extremists are grasping for even more power. 

But at the same time, we’re gaining incredible ground. The past few years have seen exciting progress and amazing victories. Our movement is growing, and so is our power.

In 2024, Food & Water Action has a strategy for building on those victories and securing new ones. With your help, we can fight to defend a livable future and elect the leaders we need to support us.

Here, we’re breaking down the good we’re building on, the bad we’re fighting, and how exactly we’ll do both.

The Good: A Growing Movement for Climate Action and Progressive Champions

When Food & Water Action began this work, climate was on the margins of politics. Over the past few years, that has changed dramatically.

This progress was on full display in the 2020 presidential elections. All the major Democratic candidates tried to outdo each other on who had the boldest climate plan. Then, climate — especially fracking — played a central role during Trump and Biden’s general election contest. 

The ground swelling of grassroots organizing and growing popular support for bold climate action made this possible. In the streets and at the polls, people are enthusiastically supporting climate action and climate champions. 

We saw this last summer when Biden approved Willow, a carbon bomb drilling project in Alaska. Online and in-person organizing, especially from young people, condemned the administration. And though Willow went through, we’re seeing the administration re-evaluate its drilling policy and slow down approvals.

Fights like Willow have shown the power of people showing up and making noise. We’re confident we can build on that momentum in the 2024 elections. Already, we are proud to endorse Laura Friedman in California and Jamal Bowman in New York in this year’s Congressional races. And our work on this front is only beginning. 

Climate isn’t just big on the national level—the number of climate champions winning at all levels of government is growing. Last year, we were proud to support Sara Innamorato for Allegheny County Executive, one of the most powerful positions in Pennsylvania.

With her win, we built on the ground we laid in 2022, as we helped Western PA Representatives Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio get to Congress. And we proved again that we could get a climate champion elected in the heart of fracking country. 

The Bad: Rising Stakes for Our Planet and Democracy

We face so many intertwining crises that threaten our health, our livelihoods, and the planet we share. Global average temperatures are reaching new heights, and new fossil fuel projects continue to gain steam. Private companies are poaching our water, and corporations are polluting and draining it. Meanwhile, Big Ag and Big Oil continue raking in profits, while families struggle to make ends meet.

Right now, Congress has way too many lawmakers poised to worsen these problems. In fact, they’ve made their plans clear. If they had their way, they’d cut funding to renewable energy and grid expansions, gut environmental protections, and drill even more.

That’s in great part because of the millions they’re pocketing from polluting corporations. And that same cash is already flooding this election cycle.

The oil and gas industry alone has so far sent $11.4 million to Congressional candidates, and it spent $30.9 million during the last election cycle. As a result, many lawmakers are more concerned with preserving profits than serving the people.

What’s more, the Republican Party — which currently controls the House — has proven itself incapable of productive policymaking. Last year, it pushed the House to the teetering edge of a government shutdown. Then, it ground lawmaking to a halt by booting Speaker Kevin McCarthy and bickering for weeks over his replacement.

And as Congress approaches its new deadlines for must-pass spending bills, we’re bracing ourselves for more chaos.

To defend our food, water, and climate, we need to boot right-wing extremists from office and elect leaders that have our interests — not corporations’ — in mind.

What Comes Next: Building Power in the 2024 Elections

Since it’s an election year, we can expect most lawmaking to stall. However, Congress must negotiate several of last year’s must-pass spending bills in 2024. We can make a difference by advocating to embed our priorities in these bills.

For example, Congress extended the 2023 Farm Bill deadline to September of this year. With the extra time, we’ll continue working with our Fair Farm Bill Action Team, pushing for a Farm Bill that puts families and farmers before Big Ag.

Additionally, we’re helping to pave the way for victories up and down the ballot in November. We’re going all-in on Get-Out-the-Vote. Door-knocking, phone calls, and even everyday conversations with family and friends are crucial to this work.

With your help, we can take back power from right-wing extremists, end the chaos in the House, elect more progressives and climate champions, and defend our democracy.

We also need to keep the focus on state and local races as well as the national ones. Many of these races, like Sara Innamorato’s, can have immediate impacts in people’s backyards. They can shut down factory farms, defend water systems, and ban fracking and other polluting industries at the local level. And they build the necessary foundations for sweeping, national change.

This year, we’re fighting to keep climate deniers, fossil-fuel puppets, and corporate authoritarians from taking power nationwide. But we’re not just playing defense.

We know that to truly change our climate trajectory and protect our food and water, we need folks in the halls of power who will stand with us and work with us. And we know we can build even more people power to make that happen.

Mike Johnson photo CC-BY-SA 2.0, Gage Skidmore, Flickr

by Mia DiFelice

This past fall, amid growing climate chaos, chaos within the Republican Party reached fever pitch. Internal dysfunction nearly ground our government to a halt, entangling must-pass spending bills. An eleventh-hour deal by then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sent the GOP into a tailspin, and the Party booted McCarthy from leadership. Then, to elect a new Speaker, it went through three weeks of infighting and three failed nominees before finally settling on Rep. Mike Johnson.

Johnson’s rise to Speakership represents the rise of a far-right wing of an already right-wing party. It’s also a terrible sign for our food, water, climate, and democracy. Johnson is a climate denier, an election denier, and firmly in the pockets of Big Oil and Big Agribusiness.

But Johnson is no outlier — he was unanimously elected by House Republicans and embodies the current Republican Party. His election clarifies and highlights all the challenges we face, the dire state of politics, and the urgency of electing Democrats and progressives in this year’s elections. 

Johnson’s Track Record Is Bad News for Climate And Democracy

Despite mountains of evidence and what’s happening in their own backyards, Republican members of Congress continue to undermine climate science and the solutions we need to avoid climate chaos. Rep. Johnson is no exception. 

In 2017, he went on record saying, “The climate is changing, but the question is, is it being caused by natural cycles over the span of the Earth’s history? Or is it changing because we drive SUVs? I don’t believe in the latter. I don’t think that’s the primary driver.” 

With his climate skepticism, Johnson brushes aside the experiences of his own constituents; Louisianans are facing unprecedented, climate-fueled floods, heat, and wildfires. This is part of the GOP’s wider trend toward politicizing and discounting the climate crisis, instead of tackling it as an existential threat for everyone.

Given this, Johnson’s voting record comes as no surprise. Since becoming a representative in 2016, he has served as a staunch ally to the oil and gas industry. In 2022, he received a 100% approval score from the pro-fossil fuel American Energy Alliance. Johnson’s record also includes opposing regulations on toxic PFAS “forever chemicals,” slashing funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, and much more. Additionally, as chair of the Republican Study Committee, he railed against the Green New Deal and sponsored an anti-Green New Deal resolution. 

Climate change isn’t the only thing Johnson’s denied. He’s also a prominent figure among Congressional election deniers. In November 2020, he urged Trump to “exhaust every available legal remedy” to overturn the outcome of the election. Then, he voted against certifying President Biden’s win in the electoral college.

His election to Speaker is a disturbing sign of what Congressional Republicans support — with chilling implications for 2024’s presidential election.

Johnson Is a Textbook Case of Corporate Capture

Rep. Johnson’s record on energy and climate makes even more sense once you see his main donors. Over his past seven years in the House, he’s received more money from oil and gas than any other industry, taking more than $300,000 in donations. He’s also received over $180,000 from Big Ag throughout his tenure. 

Polluting corporations have Mike Johnson snugly in their pockets. In fact, the oil industry cheered on his Speakership. It knows it can count on Johnson to keep their interests central for the entire Republican caucus.

And he’s far from the only Congressmember taking corporate cash. From 2021-22, the oil and gas sector alone donated more than $30.9 million to Congress, with $24.6 million going to Republicans.

Mike Johnson is a shining example of how corporate dollars have corrupted our political process. As a result, many of our elected leaders would rather put profits over their constituents.

We Know What Johnson Wants for Congress, and It Isn’t Pretty

In his previous term, Mike Johnson served as chair of the conservative Republican Study Committee. During that time, he helmed a 300-page playbook for a Republican-majority Congress.

This “playbook” included several initiatives that threaten climate action and environmental protections. Notably, it suggested changes to the National Emergencies Act that would prevent President Biden from declaring a national climate emergency. This would block the possibility of one of the strongest policy tools we have to address climate change. (With an emergency, Biden could use executive powers to severely cut fossil fuel production and ramp up clean energy.)

In the same document, Johnson and the Republican Study Committee advocate for gutting the National Environmental Policy Act. This bedrock environmental law mandates environmental review and community engagement processes for potentially harmful projects. Johnson may angle to alter NEPA in budget negotiations this year.

Already, under Johnson’s leadership, the House passed a bill that would cut $5 to $6 billion in funding for renewables and home electrification rebates. The bill also includes bans on funding for several of the Biden administration’s environmental justice initiatives.

It’s unlikely to pass into law; but with bills like this one, Johnson and the GOP are staking their positions and goals as budget negotiations continue.

What This Means for the GOP and 2024 Elections

Mike Johnson not only bodes ill for the current Congress and budget negotiations — his unanimous election to House leadership is a weather vane for the winds of the whole GOP. In the words of Mitch Jones, Food & Water Action’s Deputy Director:

“In lining up behind Mike Johnson, House Republicans have uniformly embraced his dystopian vision and made it clear they are only interested in tearing things down — things like our fundamental clean air, clean water and public health safeguards.”

With House Republicans veering harder right than ever, the 2024 elections are more important than ever. We need to elect Democrats and defend against Republican extremism in races across the country. 

Food & Water Action has already endorsed two great candidates, and we’re gearing up to work on even more races across the country. We’ll be going door to door, making phone calls, and writing postcards to voters. It’s critical that we elect bold progressive climate champions and wrest control of the House from Johnson and his band of corporate cronies. 

Johnson’s record underscores the importance of organizing ahead of 2024. We face candidates across the country who refuse to prioritize our health, safety, environment, climate, and futures. But as we’ve seen in recent victories, we have the power to elect climate champions. We can fight corporate interests at the polls and win. And with your help, that’s just what we’ll be doing in 2024.