John Hood’s Post

Benjamin (Benji) Backer is is the Executive Chairman and Founder of the American Conservation Coalition and a Freedom Conservatism signatory. The author of the just-released “The Conservative Environmentalist: Common Sense Solutions for a Sustainable Future,” Backer serves as a board member for the Wisconsin Conservative Energy Forum and Mainstream Republicans of Washington. In a recent New York Times op-ed, Backer argued that environmental protection need not come at the expense of economic growth. No lasting solutions are possible “without the buy-in and leadership of conservative America,” he wrote, arguing that “there are clear opportunities for climate action that conservatives can champion without sacrificing core values.” For example, conservative environmentalists “firmly believe fossil fuels must be part of our transition to cleaner energy sources for years to come. So our movement will aim to improve the environmental impact of all energy sources, not just wind and solar. “We’ll also focus on ecosystem restoration and other conservation measures that lower emissions. And we’ll call on policymakers to prioritize permitting reform, reducing government overreach and making it easier to build clean energy projects in the United States more quickly.” In a separate piece for The Everett Herald, Backer criticized the state of Washington’s attempts to limit power generation by gas-fired plants. “Natural gas is the primary reason the United States has led the world in emissions reductions over the past couple of decades,” he pointed out. “Although natural gas is not currently carbon-free, it is a cleaner alternative to coal.” You’ll find links to these and other #FreeCon commentaries here: https://lnkd.in/eGVYSKyJ

Like bad guests, many people mistreat other people's property by ignoring the importance of being mindful, and responsible of the consequences due to their negligence. Actually, the law states that one needs to exercise greater care of one's property when they are borrowing or renting it. The level of care has to exceed the level of care of their own property. Now, lets put this theory into perspective. Every generation of human will be on this earth for a short time. One could argue that we are just guests for this period. AND, just like a bad guest the majority of us suck!!! That includes me!!! I can do better!!! #letsalldobetter Every generation since the Industrial Revolution has contributed to our world's largest manmade catastrophe, #globalwarming! Talk about being disrespectful guests, we have numerous industries that are unapologetically emitting large amounts of GHG emissions, because they can. THAT NEEDS TO STOP! If you asked any 10 people, republican or democrat, if they borrowed a friends favorite car, which was in mint condition..... how would they return the car when they were done borrowing it? 8 out of 10 said they would either return it in the same condition they received it or better. Hello??? We need to treat the earth the same way....with respect!!!! LETS LEAVE IT BETTER THAN WE FOUND IT! #vote #getoutthevote #DECARBONIZATION Democratic National Committee #CDR Tao Climate™ - the Way to Carbon Neutral

WCA and a coalition of local governments, and environmental, climate, and health advocates from across the state filed a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality of Washington State Ballot Initiative 2066 (I-2066). "I-2066 jeopardizes the ability of local governments and other entities to promote clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; it undermines programs that promote the construction of energy-efficient buildings; and it would make the clean energy transition chaotic and more expensive, especially for low-income households" Read more: https://lnkd.in/gUdGrq6Q

The Carbon Capture Coalition is a nonpartisan collaboration of more than 100 companies, unions, and conservation and environmental policy organizations building federal policy support to enable economywide, commercial-scale deployment of carbon management technologies. Learn more about the Coalition’s work in the Federal Policy Blueprint (https://lnkd.in/eZqtkdvk) and watch for the new version in Q1 2025.

America's president-elect is preparing significant climate and energy policy shifts for 2025, signalling a strong emphasis on deregulation and fossil fuel expansion. Key actions include: ·       Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement: Marks a departure from international climate commitments. ·       Eliminating Environmental Justice Offices: dismantling offices that address pollution impacting underserved communities. ·       Reducing National Monument Protections: allowing expanded drilling and mining on public lands in the West. ·       Ending Moratorium on New Natural Gas Terminals: lifting restrictions on permitting for new natural gas export facilities. ·       Revoking State Pollution Waivers: preventing states like California from enforcing pollution standards stricter than federal guidelines. ·       Appointing a White House "Energy Czar": to streamline interagency efforts + expedite fossil fuel production. ·       Relocating the EPA Headquarters: out of Washington, D.C., to decrease its centralized influence. These planned actions collectively reflect an assertive agenda aimed at reducing environmental regulations and advancing fossil fuel interests.

On Election Day, Washington voters decided to uphold the Climate Commitment Act, which will accelerate carbon reductions and the state’s energy transition. This was an important decision for the planet that will also advance Washington’s clean energy economy. For some of the emitters in the state, carbon capture and sequestration will be a key mitigation strategy. With the law affirmed, we look forward to working with partners in Spokane and throughout Washington on the critical work of decarbonizing the infrastructure assets across the Evergreen State. We also encourage the state to set up a robust mineralization and sequestration program that will make use of its unique geology to safely mineralize or store CO2. Read about how voters in Washington and six other states voted in favor of climate action in the 2024 election. https://lnkd.in/e7Ja5AAE

I was pleased to attend “Can a Bold Environmental Offering Rebuild the Conservative Party?”, hosted by the Conservative Environment Network. The event was an interview with CEN Director, Sam Hall, discussing CEN’s recent manifesto on conservative environmentalism. There was lots of interesting discussion about the often-misunderstood relationship between Net Zero policy and Reform voters, why the Conservative Party needs to put forward a positive case for Net Zero and how this will help them in opposing Labour, and how the work of CEN may change given that the party they influence the most is no longer in government. I also found fascinating the discussion of innovative policy proposals, such as solar panels over reservoirs, Direct Air Capture, and micro-wind farms. A brilliant event and thank you to the Conservative Environment Network for hosting! #NetZero #ConservativeEnvironment #Environment #Conservative #Conservatives #Conservatism #Sustainability #GreenEnergy #Green #Energy #RenewableEnergy #ClimateAction #Climate #ClimateChange #Innovation #EnvironmentalPolicy #Policy #Policies #CleanEnergy #EnergyTransition #Transition #SustainableDevelopment #Development #PoliticalStrategy #Strategy #Politics #Political #Values

No new fossil fuel projects: The norm we need It´s inconceivable that existing fossil fuel sources would be abandoned, leading to stranded assets of biblical proportions. Therefore, New fossil exploration clashes with the Paris Agreement's climate goals, so we should absolutely stop them. The crucial question is: Would the No New Fossil Nor be feasible or lead to a breakdown of our energy systems? Luckily, these arguments are nonsense. In a paper published in Science, the authors show that stopping new fossil explorations is perfectly feasible. Companies like ONE-Dyas tell us that their contribution to sustainability is that they help us extract 'cleaner' fossil fuels, as is planned near the North Sea islands of Schiermonnikoog and Borkum. So we can tell them now: You either ignore the Paris Agreement or deliberately create stranded assets! International Institute for Sustainable Development UCL Fergus G. Olivier Bois von Kursk Greg Muttitt https://lnkd.in/excQDZeF #climatecrisis #fossilfuels

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should download all of their data and secure it offsite in a safe location — this includes their entire public-facing website as well as internal datasets. These guys aren’t messing around. “People working on the transition have already prepared a slate of executive orders and presidential proclamations on climate and energy. They include withdrawing the United States from the Paris climate agreement, eliminating every office in every agency working to end the pollution that disproportionately affects poor communities and shrinking the size of national monuments in the West to allow more drilling and mining on public lands. “President Biden has made environmental justice a top priority and has sought to ensure that underserved communities benefit from at least 40 percent of clean energy development. That initiative will be scrapped, people familiar with the plan said. The move will be part of a greater effort to dismantle what Mr. Trump’s allies view as the “woke” agenda and any programs that do not help improve the economy.” #resist

View indicators from the Council on Environmental Quality’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST), including the overall disadvantaged community status and the disadvantaged status for the eight different categories of burden, in PolicyMap. Their inclusion allows organizations to target investments based on multiple criteria, including the Justice40 criteria, for more impactful clean energy strategies. https://lnkd.in/grDZ2ixU