New Yorkers Tell Senator Schumer: Stop the Dirty Energy Bill

WASHINGTON, July 12 -- The Food and Water Watch issued the following news release:

Feeling the heat over his failure to unravel the Affordable Care Act, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is attempting to ram a fossil fuel-friendly energy bill through Congress, a move that could finally give the Trump White House a legislative victory.

It's up to Democrats to stop that from happening.

On July 11, New Yorkers took that message to six offices of Senator Chuck Schumer, the nation's most powerful Democrat. Led by Food & Water Watch and inspired by the Sane Energy Project, grassroots groups across the state hand-delivered a letter signed by over 350 organizations to the Senate Minority Leader's staffers.

Chanting, "Schumer, Schumer, take the lead / Resistance is what we need," the crowds from Long Island to Buffalo sent a strong message that leadership has to be more than just rhetoric.

Gathering at five of Schumer's state offices (Rochester, Buffalo, Melville, Peekskill, and Manhattan, as well as Washington, DC), we were joined by our great allies across the state: 350NYC, 350 Brooklyn, NYC H20, Sane Energy Project, Indivisible NY CD 17, United for Action, New York Communities for Change, Resist Spectra, Safe Energy Rights Group, Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC), Lower Hudson Valley Progressive Action Network, Mothers Out Front, Rochester People's Climate Coalition, the Clean Air Council, Beyond Extreme Energy, Show Up Long Island, and Move Forward Long Island.

The "Trump-McConnell Dirty Energy bill" (S. 1460, The Energy and Natural Resources Act of 2017) would be catastrophic, increasing fracking and drilling for dirty fossil fuels. It would streamline the approval process for liquid natural gas (LNG) export terminals, expedite the review of new oil and gas drilling and fracking permits, and grant new authority and deference to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a rubber-stamp approver of fossil fuel infrastructure projects. In short, it means more fracking, more pipelines, and more pollution.

This bad bill would take us in the wrong direction in the battle against climate chaos. That message is being heard loud and clear: In a matter of days, Food & Water Watch has generated close to 2,000 calls to Senate offices, and about 300 of those have gone to Schumer's office, along with thousands of petitions.

The corporate interests that have taken over the White House and much of Congress aren't going to stop on their own. That's why Senator Schumer's voice matters. He can rally Democrats to stay united against this bill, and to push for the kind of transformative energy policy we need in this country. It's up to Schumer to stop the Trump agenda.