WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY:
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WHAT → happen → ?
If you’re like us, you might have grown up reading C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series.
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you → ’re → series
Director Greta Gerwig is putting the series to screen starting next year, adapting the chronologically first book The Magician’s Nephew.
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Gerwig → put → book
The first trailer for the fantasy epic was released today.
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trailer → release → epic
You can watch it here.
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You → watch → it
Today’s newsletter kicks off with an interview with the executive director of Environment America, the latest environmental nonprofit to speak out against the bipartisan Senate permitting bill, also known as the BAAJA.
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newsletter → kick → BAAJA
Keep reading to hear why the group told Callie they think the legislation should be scrapped completely.
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legislation → keep → Callie
If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here.
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you → send → you
If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.
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we → sign → list
ENVIRONMENT AMERICA TALKS SENATE PERMITTING DEAL – ‘IT’S A BAD BARGAIN’:
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IT → talk → DEAL
America is joining the many environmental and climate-focused organizations opposing the Senate’s bipartisan permitting reform package unveiled last month, calling for the legislation to be scrapped entirely.
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legislation → join → package
“We are opposing the bill, and our view is that this bill posits that we have to destroy nature in order to save the planet, and that’s wrong-headed,” executive director Lisa Frank told Callie during an interview this morning.
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Frank → oppose → interview
“We should not need to drive animals to extinction, remove states’ rights to challenge projects that could pollute their water in order to gain some environmental benefit from more clean energy.
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that → need → energy
So in our view, it’s a bad bargain.
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it → ’ → view
Before today, Environment America had not publicly commented on the Senate deal and the group did not sign onto an Oct. 5 letter sent to Democratic leadership urging the caucus to prevent the bill from advancing out of Congress this year, claiming the concessions made in the bill outweigh the benefits.
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concessions → comment → benefits
The letter was signed by more than 200 environmental and climate groups.
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letter → sign → groups
While the nonprofit did not sign the Oct. 5 letter, its positions regarding the permitting reform deal align closely with those listed by the other organizations.
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positions → sign → organizations
Specifically, Environment America is taking issue with provisions reforming the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.
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America → take → Act
We won’t dive into each provision – you can read more about those here, but broadly the bill would limit timelines for legal challenges to environmental reviews, limit states’ abilities to block federally permitted projects, and give states more authority in making endangered species determinations.
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bill → dive → determinations
For Environment America, these changes outweigh any benefit related to increased construction and buildout of clean energy projects due to the legislation.
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changes → outweigh → legislation
“I think the basic premise that we need to rework and weaken our core environmental protections in order to achieve climate goals is wrong,” Frank said.
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Frank → think → goals
Interestingly, the group is also challenging measures included in the bill handling permit certainty, which have widely been considered a win for Democrats.
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which → challenge → Democrats
This provision in the permitting legislation would block federal agencies from revoking approvals for projects with permits in effect on or after Sept. 16 of this year.
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provision → block → year
It would also bar the agencies from taking any other action to interfere with or prevent construction or operations.
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It → bar → construction
Frank explained that as written, the bill would “actually increase the risk of extinction” for some species if agencies are not able to pull back federal permits on a project causing more harm than previously predicted.
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agencies → explain → harm
“If we’re building something that might make some animal go extinct, we better be damn sure that that’s not going to be the outcome,” she said.
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she → build → something
Environment America was not involved in discussions and negotiations regarding the bill text released late last month, Frank told Callie.
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Frank → involve → Callie
She confirmed that the group has begun conversations with the offices of some members of Congress regarding the legislation, but would not detail who.
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group → confirm → who
As some on the Hill have suggested punting negotiations to the next Congress, Environment America would like to see the whole package scrapped.
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package → suggest → Congress
“Our view is, I think there’s enough wrong with this bill that it’d be better to start fresh,” Frank said. “Asking – just asking the question what, if anything, do we need to do to make it easier to build clean energy without environmental review.
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it → think → review
I don’t think this bill is a great starting point for that conversation, given the breadth of harmful provisions that are in it.”
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that → think → it
Where do other groups stand?
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groups → stand → ?
Environment America’s positions align closely with groups like the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth US, and the Climate Justice Alliance, who all vehemently oppose the legislation.
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who → align → legislation
Organizations such as the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and Citizens Climate Lobby have offered their support.
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Organizations → offer → support
Meanwhile, major groups including the Environmental Defense Fund and The Nature Conservancy have not issued any public statement on the matter.
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groups → include → matter
You can find the full analysis of 25 environmental groups here.
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You → find → groups
All the rest:
WHO’S DRIVING UP OIL PRICES?
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WHO → drive → PRICES
TRUMP SAYS HOUTHIS:
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TRUMP → say → HOUTHIS
President Donald Trump accused the Houthis of intentionally increasing global oil prices through their strikes on Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure and the Riyadh airport in recent days.
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Trump → accuse → days
The president suggested that the attacks, and the following spike in oil prices, were timed to influence global markets before the U.S. midterm elections.
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attacks → suggest → elections
…and 45 more, not listed.
The Aporia
