Elizabeth Warren on Environment Massachusetts Senator; former head of CFPB; Dem. Presidential Challenger

Public service for 10,000 people on public lands

Help Native Americans continue stewardship of their lands

WARREN: It's got to be hard to watch your homelands disappear. [In my climate plan] I want to work on this with the communities that are affected--making sure that this money goes down to the community level, that it doesn't go, I'll be blunt, to governors. [In all my policy plans], it's not going to be a one and done that's all confined. So, for example, on the policies about our federal government's relationship with our native tribes, it's about respecting the tribe's ability to take care of their own land, to be good stewards of the land. I will not approve any plans for the use of federal lands that can affect what happens on tribal lands--I will not do that without the prior informed consent of the neighboring tribes. I think that's how we help tribes be the stewards of the land that they have been for generations and I know they will be for generations to come.

We need a Blue New Deal to protect our oceans and fisheries

WARREN: I like that. We need a Blue New Deal, as well [a Green New Deal]. I just want to say on this one about the oceans. The rising acidification and the fact that now, in Boston, the lobsters move to Maine because it's too warm in the waters. I talk to folks who fish commercially off our shores [in Massachusetts]. They keep pulling stuff up that they don't even know what it is--[because those species used to get caught] off the coast of Florida. Here's what really scares me. This isn't slowing down. It's speeding up. We count on our oceans for life, not just for food, but what it means in our entire climate. So you want to call it a Blue New Deal, count me in. But part of getting the carbon out of the air, out of the water, out of the soil is also about the change in what's happening in our oceans.

Collective trusts for asbestos victims, not individual cases

Endorsed by Sierra Club and Clean Water Action

"Elizabeth Warren has fought her whole career against the billion dollar companies that have been raking in record profits while American families pay the price in terms of our health, our economy, and our environment," said the Political Chair of the MA Sierra Club. "Warren understands that fighting for middle-class families means standing up to big banks and big polluters alike."

The Clean Water Action group which works to promote clean and affordable water, said they believe Warren will best promote environmental protection in the Senate. "Warren shares our commitment to preventing pollution and protecting our air quality," said Clean Water Action.

Require labeling genetically engineered food.

Congressional Summary:

• [Require labeling] any food that has been genetically engineered or contains genetically engineered ingredients.
• Defines `genetically engineered` (GE) as a material intended for human consumption that is an organism produced through the intentional use of genetic engineering, or its progeny, without regard to whether the altered molecular or cellular characteristics of the organism are detectable.

Discussion of pro/con (Huffington Post 4/25/2013):

Polls show that the overwhelming majority of Americans--over 90%--supports mandatory labeling of foods with GE ingredients. 64 other countries already require such labels. However, strong opposition from the agriculture and biotech industries has scuttled proposals for GMO (Genetically-Modified Organisms) labeling laws in the past. The most recent and high-profile of these failed attempts at a GMO labeling requirement was California`s Proposition 37, which was narrowly defeated after opponents spent $50 million lobbying against it. `Unfortunately, advocates of mandatory GMO labeling are working an agenda to vilify biotechnology and scare consumers away from safe and healthful food products,` a Biotechnology Industry Organization spokeswoman wrote.

Argument in opposition (Food Democracy Now 5/26/2012):

Exactly 20 years ago today, the first Bush administration declared genetically engineered foods to be `substantially equivalent` to foods that farmers had traditionally bred for thousands of years. With this single policy, the US government radically altered the food supply, introducing novel genes into our food that had never before been consumed by humans. Corporate executives at Monsanto colluded with elected officials to make sure that their new `products` were placed onto the market as quickly as possible. Two decades later, Americans are still denied the basic right to know what`s in their food because of this infamous policy.

Keep restrictive rules for predator control in Alaska.

Library of Congress Summary: This joint resolution nullifies the rule finalized by the Department of the Interior on Aug. 5, 2016, relating to non-subsistence takings of wildlife and public participation and closure procedures on National Wildlife Refuges in Alaska.

Case for voting YES by House Republican Policy Committee: The Fish and Wildlife Service rule--which lays claim to more than 20% of Alaska--violates ANILCA (Alaska National Interest Land Conservation Act) and the Alaska Statehood Compact. Not only does [the existing 2016 rule] undermine Alaska`s ability to manage fish and wildlife upon refuge lands, it fundamentally destroys a cooperative relationship between Alaska and the federal government.

Case for voting NO by the Sierra Club (April 6, 2017):

• President Trump signed H.J. Res. 69, overturning the rule that banned `predator control` on federal wildlife refuges in Alaska unless `based on sound science in response to a conservation concern.`
• Any rule mentioning `sound science` is in trouble under a Trump administration.
• So what kinds of practices will the Trump administration now allow on our federal wildlife refuges? Activities that include shooting or trapping wolves while in their dens with pups, or hunting for grizzly bears from airplanes.
• It`s all about ensuring a maximum yield of prey species like elk, moose, and caribou for the real apex predator: humans. So if having more elk requires killing wolf pups in their dens, then so be it.
• The Obama administration`s rule (which Trump revoked) never tried to stop all hunting. Subsistence hunting was still allowed. What`s changed is that the predators on federal wildlife refuges are now under the control of the state of Alaska. And that makes them prey.