HIGH MARKS: The Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund is giving Sen. Bernie Sanders
Bernie SandersPoll: Sanders leads Biden by 9 points in Iowa Poll: Biden leads in Iowa ahead of caucuses The Memo: Impeachment dominates final Iowa sprint MORE (I-Vt.) the highest grade on environmental issues out of the seven major Democratic presidential candidates in its new voter guide unveiled Monday.
The group gave Sanders an A overall. He was followed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann WarrenPoll: Sanders leads Biden by 9 points in Iowa Poll: Biden leads in Iowa ahead of caucuses The Memo: Impeachment dominates final Iowa sprint MORE (D-Mass.) with an A-minus, Tom Steyer
Tom Fahr SteyerYang qualifies for New Hampshire debate stage Biden leads 2020 pack in congressional endorsements Poll: 68 percent of Democrats say it ‘makes no difference’ if a candidate is a billionaire MORE with a B and former Vice President Joe Biden
Joe BidenTrump denies telling Bolton Ukraine aid was tied to investigations Former senior Senate GOP aide says Republicans should call witnesses Title, release date revealed for Bolton memoir MORE with a C-plus.
Andrew Yang
Andrew YangButtigieg: America ‘united in mourning’ Kobe Bryant’s death ‘The worst news’: Political world mourns loss of Kobe Bryant Sunday shows – Spotlight shifts to Trump tweet, Senate trial witnesses MORE was given a C and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Peter (Pete) Paul ButtigiegPoll: Sanders leads Biden by 9 points in Iowa Buttigieg on polarization: ‘We don’t have to choose between being bold and being unified’ Buttigieg: America ‘united in mourning’ Kobe Bryant’s death MORE was given a C-minus. Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Amy Jean KlobucharPoll: Sanders leads Biden by 9 points in Iowa Democrats step up pressure over witnesses after Bolton bombshell The Memo: Impeachment dominates final Iowa sprint MORE (D-Minn.) scored worst, receiving a D.
The Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund evaluated the candidates on the categories of “saving wildlife, protecting public lands, ensuring environmental justice and ending the climate crisis.”
The evaluations were based on voting records, executive decisions, private-sector experience, campaign proposals and a questionnaire sent to the campaigns.
The guide praised Sanders’s record on the environment and said he had the “strongest plan to address climate change.”
It said that Klobuchar, meanwhile, “would be an unmitigated disaster for the environment” as president and that her climate plan “is the weakest of any major candidate.”
Sanders has also been praised by other environmental groups. He is similarly listed as the top candidate on Greenpeace’s scorecard and he received the endorsement of the youth-led Sunrise Movement.
Read it here.
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TRUMP’S WATER WIN MAY NOT WIN OVER FARMERS: President Trump
Donald John TrumpTrump denies telling Bolton Ukraine aid was tied to investigations Former senior Senate GOP aide says Republicans should call witnesses Title, release date revealed for Bolton memoir MORE’s new water rule cements a campaign promise to farmers to reverse a controversial Obama-era policy, but it may not be enough to win over an agricultural industry that has seen markets evaporate under his trade wars.
In the past two weeks, Trump has delivered some of his biggest wins for farmers, shepherding through an initial trade deal with China that would boost agricultural purchases, securing the passage of a new agreement with Canada and Mexico, and on Thursday, offering his replacement for Obama’s Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule that was near universally-despised by farmers.
But Trump’s efforts to woo farmers who say they are undecided for 2020 may come up short, as a new water policy will do little to counter the financial hits agricultural producers have taken from tariffs.
Disappearing markets in China have left stockpiles of soybeans. Oil policies and trade wars have diminished the market for corn-based ethanol. And extreme weather has made it a tough year for farming in the Midwest.
“A lot of farmers voted for him with the hope of better days, let’s put it that way, and then between the trade issues and the ethanol issues the bloom is of the rose,” said Tim Dufault, a self-described “radical moderate” who grows wheat and soybeans on his fourth-generation family farm in Crookston, Minn.
“There’s been a lot of grumbling. It’s all going to depend on who the candidate is that he’ll be facing this fall, but I’ve got to think that there are a good chunk of farmers that supported him this time are going to be bailing this fall.”
Trump’s new water policy, the Navigable Waters Protection Rule, was welcome news to a wide variety of farm and industry groups. The rule removes federal protections for many smaller bodies of water–a direct contrast to Obama’s WOTUS, which faced a slew of legal battles as farmers and others argued it was overreaching and would subject huge swaths of land to federal oversight.
Of course, different farmers, different opinions…
“This new rule I think is definitely going to swing some people in the direction of Trump,” said Shayne Isane, a farmer with 5,000 acres outside Badger, Minn., just 25 miles south of the Canadian border.
A self-professed moderate who has hosted 2020 hopeful Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on his farm, Isane said his initially favorable view of Trump has faltered over the last three years. But he’s starting to warm to him again–describing him as a president, fresh off a speech to the Farm Bureau’s annual conference, that has always prioritized agriculture.
“We haven’t had a lot of good news in farm country, and we needed some wins, and now we’ve had three in a row,” he said, referring to the two trade deals and the new water rule. “I think that will get some support for Trump in the heartland and in the ag community.”
But the new water rule, popular as it may be, may not have the same sway as the trade deals.
Read more on the political impacts of the rule here.
PROTESTING THE AMAZON: More than 350 Amazon workers are speaking out about climate change, defying the company’s policy on making public comments about business activity.
In a Medium post on Sunday night, 357 employees posted quotes critical of climate-related actions taken by the online retail giant.
They said in a separate statement posted to Twitter that the quotes were to protest “Amazon’s newly updated external communications policy, which forbids employees from speaking about the company’s business without prior approval.”
The workers said the new policy was unveiled last year after Amazon employees said they would participate in a climate strike in September.
“This clearly shows that as Amazon tech workers have reflected upon what is the right thing to do at this moment, they decided that they needed to keep speaking out,” software development engineer Victoria Liang said in the Twitter statement.
“Every person who shared a statement had to decide for themselves that whatever the consequences, they needed to stand up for what they felt was right. The climate crisis is just that urgent. We just couldn’t be silenced by these policies on issues of such moral weight,” Liang added.
Read more on the climate statement here.
GARDNER: Sen. Cory Gardner
Cory Scott GardnerDemocrats feel political momentum swinging to them on impeachment Senate Republicans confident they’ll win fight on witnesses Tensions between McConnell and Schumer run high as trial gains momentum MORE (R-Colo.) is being targeted by a six-figure ad campaign seeking to pressure him into supporting legislation aiming to protect Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Alaska Wilderness League Action is spending $150,000 on ads that will start running on Monday and highlight the vulnerable Republican’s record on drilling.
“Tell Senator Gardner to stop betraying Colorado values and support legislation protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,” concludes the 30-second spot.
Gardner is up for reelection this year and is viewed as one of the GOP’s most vulnerable senators.
Read more on the ad here.
ON TAP TOMORROW:
The House Energy and Commerce Committee will examine the impact of wildfires on the power sector and the environment.
Also on Tuesday, the House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on three water-related bills and a separate hearing on a bill regarding reporting of fossil fuel extraction and emissions
The House Agriculture committee will review implementation of farm bill conservation programs
OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY:
Northeast governors slow to embrace regional climate pact, the Associated Press reports.
Oh no! Climate change threatens world’s wine supply, USA TODAY reports.
GM investing billions in Michigan plant to produce electric trucks, SUVs, we report.
Lawsuit planned to stop Idaho-Wyoming natural gas pipeline, the Associated Press reports.
ICYMI: Stories from Monday and the weekend…
Hundreds of Amazon employees defy company policy by speaking out about climate
Fifth congressional Democrat backs Bloomberg in 2020 race
Sanders scores highest on green group’s voter guide
Ad campaign pressures Gardner on Arctic National Wildlife Refuge bill
Greta Thunberg slams AP photo that cropped out Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate
Trump’s latest wins for farmers may not undo trade damage
