Congress must act quickly to reach a #DebtCeiling agreement and avoid a catastrophic default, which would harm the economy and disproportionately hurt low-income households. No #DefaultOnAmerica The #DebtCeiling deal announced over the weekend shows some progress BUT contains some very damaging provisions that would harm public health and well-being and the environment, especially in frontline communities and communities of color.

➡️docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/…

We're wrapping up National Farmworkers Awareness Week with a thread! Farmworkers make our food system run. But they shoulder a lot of risk. Daily life is full of dangers for the estimated 2.4 million farmworkers in the US, most of whom are Hispanic and Indigenous. #NFAW2023 Working outdoors is hard, dangerous work: Farmworkers die of heat-related causes at a rate 20 times greater than other professions. In hot agricultural centers like California's Central Valley, that number is even higher. act.ucsusa.org/3wju1lg

Sixty-nine years ago this week, the US conducted "Castle Bravo," its largest-ever nuclear weapons test, on the colonized land in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Following WWII, the Marshallese people were again denied of their sovereignty when Japan surrendered control of the Marshalls to the US under a post-war trusteeship. They gained independence in 1979.

The public health implications of overturning #RoeVsWade are clear: it means pregnant people will needlessly suffer. act.ucsusa.org/3ndb6mk The policy decisions following this ruling that restrict reproductive health will ignore what the best available science tells us about how to best protect people.

Yesterday we talked about the threat the events of Jan. 6 posed to our democracy. But #Jan6 also highlighted a threat to our entire planet. Why? Outdated and dangerous policies give @POTUS sole authority to launch a nuclear strike & no one can stop it once issued. (🧵) – Two days after the capitol riot, concerns about then-president Trump led House Speaker Pelosi to ask the head of the US military, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, about "preventing an unstable president from...ordering a nuclear strike. politico.com/news/2021/01/0…

The House Oversight Committee has called on major fossil fuel company CEOs and lobbying groups to appear before Congress on 10/28 & answer for their #ClimateDisinformation campaigns. They have until 9/23 to confirm. RT this thread to keep the pressure on. act.ucsusa.org/3Ewiu3A .@Chevron CEO Michael Wirth must commit NOW to appearing before Congress. It’s time to answer for Big Oil’s decades of #ClimateDeception. act.ucsusa.org/3zoNFtP

Today, California's @AirResources held a workshop on electric truck infrastructure. Investments in charging infrastructure and deployment of electric trucks are critical, as is a strong Advanced Clean Fleets Rule, to getting zero-emission trucks on the road. A strong electric truck fleet rule will create certainty in the heavy-duty charging infrastructure marketplace & send a clear signal that we must continue momentum on the investment & buildout of zero-emission fueling tech. #ElectricTrucksNow @mslianeran ElectricTrucksNow.com

Hurricane season officially started yesterday. In the lower 48 states, there are 126 counties at risk of storm surge from a Category 5 hurricane, according to NOAA. Based on our analysis, just 36% of eligible people across those counties is fully vaccinated. The Gulf Coast is home to hundreds of large petrochemical plants, oil wells and refineries, and Superfund sites containing large quantities of toxic material. Every hurricane strike has the potential to expose people in the area to even greater concentrations of toxic chemicals.

We are encouraged by the Biden administration’s initial actions and science-based plan to address the #COVID crisis, but recognize that ALL OF US must act to bring the virus under control and prevent more needless deaths. int.nyt.com/data/documentt… Science clearly shows that masking up and social distancing are essential to bringing the virus under control. Requiring masks on all federal property is a good step, but EVERYBODY should be wearing a mask in public, no matter where they are. act.ucsusa.org/39dmrNt

Here's a good piece by @izzieramirez @vicenews highlighting environmental justice! Thank you for including UCS. We wanted to take this opportunity to clarify UCS is not primarily an environmental justice org & why it's important to uplift orgs that are. vice.com/en/article/jgx… Grassroots environmental justice groups often have to struggle for funding and attention, even as they’re representing the communities most overburdened by environmental issues. It’s important these groups get the credit.

Meet Dr. Scott Atlas, who has effectively replaced Dr. Anthony Fauci as the chief science advisor to the White House’s #Coronavirus Task Force. forbes.com/sites/mattpere… Dr. Atlas is unqualified for the job, has no background in epidemiology as a radiologist, and is pushing pandemic policies not backed by evidence. He is actively advocating for a “herd immunity” strategy that would needlessly endanger the lives of people. washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…

California's Bay Area wakes up to disorienting orange skies. By raising temperatures, melting snow sooner, and drying soils and forests, climate change is fueling #Wildfires. Here’s a thread on what the science shows. twitter.com/i/events/13037… #1: Wildfires are getting worse. Since 2015, the United States has experienced, on average, roughly 100 more large wildfires every year than the year before.

Charleston, South Carolina just became the first city in the US South to take fossil fuel companies to court for their role in climate change. #MakePollutersPay thestate.com/news/local/cri… Under current trajectory, over 1,600 homes in Charleston are at risk for chronic flooding in the next 25 years and over 7,000 are at risk by the end of the century. Residents shouldn’t be on the hook for the costs of climate change while Big Oil profits. ucsusa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries…

THREAD🧵: In July, the Trump administration abruptly told the CDC to stop collecting and publicly sharing current data on #COVID19 hospitalizations, ICU beds, and PPE. The results have been as predictable—and unacceptable—as expected: nytimes.com/2020/07/14/us/… COVID data collection shifted to a third-party under Health & Human Services and subject to potential political influence. The firm has repeatedly refused to answer questions about its contract & data collection, which—unlike the CDC—are not fully public. nytimes.com/2020/08/14/us/…

The Trump admin’s EPA has launched a new attack on the #CleanAirAct, this time by reinventing math. Tell the EPA to not sideline the science that supports strong air pollution standards. File a comment by Monday, August 3. Protect our clean air today! act.ucsusa.org/2PaLl5a Why is the admin messing with math? Because the science on air pollution is inconvenient for powerful industries who want to roll back public protections. @GretchenTG and @_aploy explain: blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/h…

We condemn the Trump administration's slide toward autocracy and its flagrant abuses of power. We call on Congress and policymakers of conscience, of all political parties, to stand up for our democracy and uphold their oath of office by speaking out against and taking steps to counter the president’s dangerous actions. Call your member of Congress at 833-277-4075.

The Trump administration weakened the National Environmental Policy Act today, putting communities and ecosystems at risk. act.ucsusa.org/3euHaev “At a time when we need to be prioritizing health, justice and the long-term well-being of our communities, the Trump administration is speeding in the opposite direction.” act.ucsusa.org/3euHaev

Happening RIGHT NOW: The visionary Moving Forward Act (H.R. 2), a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan, is on the House floor. This bill would create jobs and address climate change. Urge your Representative to #ActOnClimate and vote YES on #HR2. act.ucsusa.org/3idsELs BREAKING: The US House has passed the Moving Forward Act, #HR2. We are particularly excited about the parts of the bill that help transition to vehicle electrification, deploy #CleanEnergy, and build resilience into our infrastructure. Read more: act.ucsusa.org/2BYDGmW

PRESS RELEASE: The National Black Environmental Justice Network Relaunches to Address Growing Threats to Black Communities: ow.ly/b9bz30qOvjr @nbejn1 #NBEJN #NBEJNisBack #NBEJNisBlack #RacialJustice #COVID19 #ICantBreathe #BlackLivesMatter #HealthEquity #ClimateJustice The @nbejn1 is back because more Black Americans breathe in far more deadly air pollution than they are responsible for making: pbs.org/newshour/healt… #NBEJN #COVID19 #BlackLivesMatter

In support of ongoing protests and in response to the Trump admin’s violent rhetoric and unacceptable and unconstitutional threat to use military force against the people of the US exercising their first amendment rights, we issue the following statement: act.ucsusa.org/2XyNCfD We condemn the racism that persists in the United States and the racist actions of the Trump administration, which are literally killing Black and brown people across the country.

We stand for our democracy, our Constitution, and our first amendment rights.

We need independent information to protect public health, not political manipulation of CDC recommendations for keeping people safe. By overruling and removing CDC advice, the White House is putting lives at risk. washingtonpost.com/health/white-h… This isn’t the first time the White House has interfered with CDC recommendations. At the end of April, the White House blocked the release of a CDC report that provided detailed science-based recs on how to reopen communities safely during the #COVID19. act.ucsusa.org/3bQYBor