Need to Know

FEDERAL
 - The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (Alaska) has been protected land for six decades.  In mid-August, the Trump administration finalized a plan to overturn those protections to allow for oil and gas drilling on part of the land.  More...

 - In late August, the U.S. Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis, released The Case for Climate Action: Building on a Clean Economy for the American People report.  More...

 
MULTIPLE STATES
 - The United States Conference of Mayors recently came out with a list of ten priorities called: The Mayors' 2020 Vision for America: An American Breakthrough.  One of the ten priorities is "Build Modern, Resilient Infrastructure to Address Climate Change, Promote Environmental Justice, and Enhance Opportunity and Productivity."  More... 

INDIVIDUAL STATES
COLORADO
 - Environmental Justice: In mid-August, more than 100 elected officials and environmental organizations in Colorado signed onto a letter sent to Colorado Governor Jared Polis and numerous state agencies calling for any climate action plans that are created include racial equity as part of the process.  More...  

MASSACHUSETTS  
 - A $32.5 million four-year lease agreement between the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and wind developers is set to begin in 2023.  Per Governor Baker's administration, the main staging site for the construction and installation of the developers' wind projects will be at the New Bedford Marine Commerce Terminal.  More... 

NEVADA
 - In late August, Nevada Governor Sisolak set into motion, a State of Nevada Climate Initiative.  The goal is to help Nevada combat climate change.  There are numerous aspects of the Initiative, including an official state government website to provide climate action resources.  More...

 NEW JERSEY
 - Environmental Justice: The New Jersey General Assembly - both chambers - passed NJ S232 (20R) which if it becomes law, will require the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to deny the permits for any entity (i.e. power plants, landfills, etc) who applies for one, if the negative environmental effects that would result further exacerbate any environmental threats a community is already facing.  New Jersey Governor Murphy is expected to sign it.  More...   

Opportunities to Participate

NOTE: The following are opportunities for colleges and universities for sign-on; not opportunities for individuals at colleges and universities.  Are you an individual at a higher education institution who believes your college/university may be interested in signing onto one of these opportunities?  We encourage you to reach-out to the leadership at your institution and let them know. 

PENNSYLVANIA - Deadline Tomorrow!
If you're a college/university in Pennsylvania, then you should have received an email from us a week or so ago about an opportunity to illustrate your institution's support for Pennsylvania to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).  If you have yet to sign onto the letter of support - there's still time! 

Ceres, a Second Nature partner, has written a letter of support that will be sent to both Governor Wolf and members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.  The deadline to sign onto this letter is tomorrow, September 11th!  Below is additional information, including a copy of the letter, and if you have any questions, please contact Brianna Esteves (esteves@ceres.org).  

NORTHEAST & MID-ATLANTIC - Deadline 9/18!
On behalf of Ceres, Healthcare Without Harm, and us (Second Nature), we encourage you to sign onto a letter urging your state leaders to support the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI).  Those signing onto this letter come from many different sectors, and we want to ensure that the voice of the higher education sector is heard as well.  The deadline to sign onto the letter is September 18th.  Below is more information, and if you have any questions, please contact Dave Robba (drobba@ceres.org).   

Please note: The letter included in this email is a shorter, more streamlined version of the letter  originally released by Ceres in early March of 2020 with over 100 signatures, including businesses, investors, higher education institutions, and non-profit organizations. The re-release of the streamlined letter this fall will only include businesses, investors, and higher education institutions.

Header Photo by Kealan Burke on Unsplash

Sources:
Brasch, S.  (2020, August 17).  "As Colorado Plans To Tackle Climate Change, Advocates And Politicians Demand Racial Equity Be Included In The Process."  CPR News.  URL.  Retrieved: 9/4/2020.

Foundation H. and Plumer B.  (2020, August 17).  "Trump Administration Finalizes Plan to Open Arctic Refuge to Drilling."  The New York Times.  URL.  Retrieved: 9/4/2020.  

Maldonado, S.  (2020, August 27).  "How a long-stalled 'holy grail’ environmental justice bill found its moment in New Jersey."  Politico.  URL.  Retrieved: 9/4/2020.  

Munson, J (submitted by).  (2020, August 24).  "Governor launches new State of Nevada Climate Initiative."  carsonNOW.org.  URL.  Retrieved: 9/4/2020.  

Senate Democrats.  (2020, August 25).  "Senate Democrats’ Climate Committee Releases New Report On Climate Action, Plan To Build Clean Economy For American People."  Senate Democrats Newsroom.  URL.  Retrieved: 9/4/2020.  

The United States Conference of Mayors.  "Build Modern, Resilient Infrastructure to Address Climate change, Promote Environmental Justice, and Enhance Opportunity and Productivity: Transportation, Water, Green Energy, and Technology Systems."  usmayors.org.  URL.  Retrieved: 9/4/2020.

Zuckoff, E.  (2020, August 23).  "Offshore Wind Developers to Set Up Shop in New Bedford Marine Terminal."  CAI.  URL.  Retrieved: 9/4/2020.  

Our monthly policy updates, information, and opportunities to participate, are developed with support from Ceres, which is an organizational partner of Second Nature.  Ceres has identified 15 states plus Washington, D.C. for our primary focus - Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. - because of the beneficial legislative climates and real opportunities for policy advancements in these states.  

Note: The states included in each monthly Policy Update will be based on what policy updates we are recommending for that month, and are due to change - but will always be focused on the above 15 states (plus Washington, D.C.) - from month to month.  

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Combating climate change; it really does take all of us, because we're all in this together. 
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