Happy Thursday, good Americans! Now call your Senators and tell them to pass tell them to pass H.R. 1, the For the People Act; H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act; H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act; H.R. 5, the Equality Act; H.R. 6, the American Dream and Promise Act; H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act; H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act; H.R. 397, the Butch Lewis Act; H.R. 535, the PFAS Action Act; H.R. 582, the Raise the Wage Act; H.R. 986, the Protecting Americans with Pre-Existing Conditions Act; H.R. 1146, the Arctic Cultural and Coastal Plain Protection Act; H.R. 1373, the Grand Canyon Centennial Act; H.R. 1644, the Save the Internet Act; H.R. 2474, the PRO Act; H.R. 2513, the Corporate Transparency Act; H.R. 2722, the SAFE Act; H.R. 5035, the Television Viewer Protection Act; H.R. 7120, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act; and H.J. Res. 79, which would remove the expiration date from the original Equal Rights Amendment. Don't be swayed by the hype that "Mitch McConnell will never pass these bills." He ain't in charge; we are, and the more we assert that, the better off we'll all be.
Meanwhile, our Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (or BOEM) is now taking public comments on a "supplemental environmental impact statement" on Vineyard Wind, a proposed 800 megawatt offshore wind power project. But our BOEM has already done an environmental impact statement on Vineyard Wind, and given our President's vocal and loud opposition to any form of renewable energy, you might well decide this Administration is merely stalling until they can reject the project without criticism. Well, too bad! The Union of Concerned Scientists helps you tell our BOEM to get on with issuing permits for Vineyard Wind already. Aside from the normal ridiculous arguments about noise and ugliness and avicide, you'll hear about "the need for wider transit spaces between wind turbines" -- but Vineyard Wind has already compromised on that, and asking them to do so again would all but announce that our Administration wants to kill the project while making Vineyard Wind look like the bad guys. So let's not get rolled here.
Pennsylvania residents, take note: our state's Department of Environmental Protection (or DEP) has proposed methane regulations that fall short of what's necessary, so the Environmental Defense Fund helps you tell our DEP to strengthen methane regulations for good Pennsylvanians, so we can breathe cleaner air. Clean air is a big deal in Pennsylvania, since we're third in America in greenhouse gases and second in natural gas production, and these are not necessarily things you want to say WE'RE NUMBER ONE! about. (I'd prefer to be number one in renewable energy production. Pennsylvania ranks 42nd in that.) The DEP proposal would exempt "low-producing" wells, though their definition of "low-producing" happens to include most wells, and it would also reduce inspections on wells that had previously passed inspections, as if leaks can't happen at any time. That latter one sticks in my craw a bit -- the people who want to flood liberal cities with jackboots also want to go easy on corporations when they pollute our air and water. Some "law and order."
Finally, Change.org helps you tell North Dakota state legislators to ban "conversion therapy," the "therapy" by which "doctors" try to convert gay people into straight ones. You might as well try to convert a bulldog into an ocelot! And "conversion therapy" ain't "tough love," as some folks say -- it's abuse to make gay folks "relive" molestation and do naked touching and promise them they'll be cured when they'll more likely want to kill themselves. Republicans dominate North Dakota's state legislature, but that doesn't mean they're all a bunch of bigots. But some of them will pretend their "religious" "beliefs" mean more than the fact that no reputable medical or psychological professional association thinks "conversion therapy" is actually a thing with either scientific basis or good results. Those folks need to be exposed, whenever they stand in the way of real compassion and love, and demanding that they outlaw "conversion therapy" may well be a good way of outing them. So to speak.
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