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Congress Can Help Solve the Climate Crisis With Tax Credits for Green Tech | Take Action Tuesday @EarthFoodLife

July 23, 2019
Road to green: Tax credits that support green technology are critical for spurring investment in a low-carbon economy. But many are expired or about to expire, and Congress is at odds about their future. Electric vehicle (EV) tax credits, for example, are the subject of competing bills—one that would extend them and another that would eliminate them completely. “Given that the transportation sector has surpassed the energy sector as the leading source of U.S. carbon emissions—and that transportation sector emissions rose last year after three years of decline—the stakes over the EV tax credit’s future are high,” writes EFL contributor Elliott Negin of the Union of Concerned Scientists, on Common Dreams. (Photo credit: Joenomias/Pixabay)

Natural Resources Defense Council: There’s one big way Congress can help speed up action on clean energy and climate change: tax credits. But many are outdated, expired or set to expire soon, including in four key green technology areas needed to meet U.S. climate goals: electric vehicles, offshore wind, electric grid scale storage and building efficiency. By extending or modifying critical tax credits for clean energy and energy efficiency investments, the federal government can provide billions of dollars in tax incentives that will help solve the climate crisis.
>>>Tell your representative to extend vital tax credits needed to help meet the nation’s clean energy and climate goals.

Lady Freethinker: During South Korea’s horrifying Bok Nal “Dog Eating Days,” millions of dogs are hanged, savagely beaten and burned alive before being cooked and consumed by people. Unbelievably, patrons of this cruel event believe that torture makes the dog flesh taste better. China may be more known for its annual dog meat festival, but South Korea is the only country in the world with large-scale, commercial dog meat farms. The animals live in disease and filth before being tortured and killed. South Korean President Moon Jae-In has compassion for animals and has even adopted a dog rescued from the meat trade. Also, activists throughout the country are calling for an end to dog and cat meat, and most South Koreans do not eat dog meat, and want the cruelty to end.
>>>Urge South Korean Ambassador Joe Yoon Je and President Moon to institute a national ban on dog and cat meat.

Force Change: In the wake of a sudden invasion of non-native iguanas, Florida residents are being urged to kill the lizards on sight whenever possible. Homeowners do not need a permit to do so, and the species is not protected under any federal laws beyond general animal cruelty legislation. The concern is warranted, as iguanas are a non-native species who carry dangerous salmonella bacteria and dig tunnels that compromise the structure of homes and pavement. However, they are a non-aggressive species; they do not attack humans or harm animals larger than themselves. Furthermore, they are living creatures, and giving people permission to kill them on sight is cruel when there are more humane ways of dealing with them, such as capturing them and releasing them into the wild in their native territories.
>>>Urge Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to advocate humane, non-lethal methods of reducing the iguana population.

Cause for concern…

Poisoned wells: Anti-fracking activists protest at the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, on January 12, 2012. In a startling new study, researchers at the University of Colorado found that the chemicals released from oil and gas wells can have serious and even fatal effects on babies born to mothers who live within a mile of an active well site—which some 17 million Americans do, reports Julia Conley of Common Dreams. The study, which looked at more than 3,000 newborns born between 2005 and 2011 in Colorado, home to around 60,000 fracking sites, found that babies born near oil and gas wells are up to 70 percent more likely to have congenital heart defects. (Photo credit: Progress Ohio/Flickr)

Round of applause…

No more space junk: NASA made history 50 years ago this month by landing two humans on the surface of the moon and safely returning them to Earth. Now NASA wants to land astronauts back on the moon in 2028, and the space agency’s first human mission to Mars could be as soon as 2033. “Along with those goals comes the challenges of how to produce enough food, minimize and recycle waste, and conserve resources on both long-duration space flights and off-Earth colonies,” writes Ellen R. Delisio on Triple Pundit. “Today’s NASA is building in recycling options and sustainable operations within these future plans.” (Photo credit: NASA)

What we’re reading…

Avian hero: “I first learned about Karen Davis and United Poultry Concerns in 2009 when exploring ways to better understand and care for my first family of adopted chickens,” writes Robert Grillo, founder and director of the nonprofit animal advocacy organization Free From Harm. “I was immediately struck by the passion and power of her words. Ten years later, I have come to know Davis as a colleague in animal rights activism, and my respect for her work has only deepened over this decade. It is at this ten-year juncture that Davis releases her new book, ‘For the Birds: From Exploitation to Liberation,’ which is a collection of her writings on a wide range of subjects that reflect both the heart and intelligence of a pioneering advocate for animals.”

Parting thought…

“The good man is the friend of all living things.” — Mahatma Gandhi

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