Thread by @RL_Miller

hey! can we talk about climate emergencies? it's relevant to the SCOTUS news this AM.

I know there's been other news. But listen! #ClimateEmergency

And in particular I want to talk about the "Declaration of #ClimateEmergency " that has become popular in lots of progressive circles, and has a very prominent role in the climate plan of Tom Steyer among others.

First, two kinds of #ClimateEmergency declarations. There's the powerless kind and the powered kind.

An example of the powerless kind: the @BernieSanders/ @AOC / @repblumenauer bill, S. Con. Res 22/ H.R. Con. Res 52, which clearly states that it's not intended to grant emergency powers. #ClimateEmergency

On the other hand, there's the @TomSteyer kind of #ClimateEmergency, in which the President formally declares a national emergency and then gets 136 supercharged powers to do things. This is the kind of emergency that Trump declared earlier this year....

@TomSteyer to be clear, climate is actually a crisis while what's happening at the southern border is a humanitarian crisis needing aid far, far different from the kind Trump imagines. #ClimateEmergency

anyway, back to the #ClimateEmergency declaration. The theory -- and it's front and center in Steyer's plan -- is that once the Pres declares an emergency, she gets superpowers to handle it, 136 various powers (some of which are not really super, but whatevs).

bit o' history: Presidents have been declaring emergencies since Wilson. Most famous: Truman seizing steel mills (more on that in a bit). 1976 National Emergency Act made things official-ish. We have 59 emergencies right now. Most of them sanction other nations. #ClimateEmergency

right now we have misc emergencies blocking certain persons/ property from Cote d' Ivoire, Belarus, Liberia, Somalia, you get the idea. #ClimateEmergency

Anyway. POTUS46 will declare an official, powered #ClimateEmergency and do... what, exactly? Lots of ideas. Everything from wartime rationing to seizure of coal mines to (since this might be up Pres Warren's alley) changing capital requirements for Wall St fossil fuel sector.

then the right wing outrage machine, thoroughly untethered to facts, goes into outrage. Rationing = imperial presidency! Seizure of coal mines = unconstitutional! changing capital requirements = Truman's seizure of steel mills!

Ah, yes. Truman seized the steel mills as part of an emergency declaration.

He lost that case in the Supreme Court.

That's really important. #ClimateEmergency

We have valid Supreme Court precedent against Presidential overreach following an emergency declaration. #ClimateEmergency

And right now, we have a far right Supreme Court that, just this morning, announced that it would be reviewing an abortion case it decided just a couple of years ago. Nothing has changed... except for Brett Kavanaugh. #ClimateEmergency

To be clear, declaring a #ClimateEmergency and using all the powers granted under the National Emergencies Act would be a disaster for the nation and for our democracy.

That's why @ClimateHawkVote has refused to sign on to any of the "declare a #ClimateEmergency!" work. You won't see our name on S. Con. Res. 22.

although I do think it would be kewl for the next Pres to declare a (powerless) #ClimateEmergency just to f*ck with Moscow Mitch.

as for the cities and counties who pass declarations of #ClimateEmergency, IDK how many of them are powerless and how many are powered. I do have observations on the Los Angeles declaration, one of the 1st....

the Dodgers beat the Nats 6-0 last night. Most of the fans got to the game via ICE cars. No one seemed to be in a state of #ClimateEmergency (except for maybe @Sammy_Roth because he's like me, thinks about this all the time).

the Exide battery factory hasn't been retooled to make cleaner batteries. Just as well!

The #ClimateEmergency victory gardens supposed to grow 80 percent of Los Angeles' food haven't been planted. (Also, the extra water to water those gardens hasn't materialized.)

IDK if the Los Angeles #ClimateEmergency will ever mean anything. But I do know that a national #ClimateEmergency declaration will backfire until we fix the Supreme Court.

Don't do it, climate friends. Please.

Thread, end.