November, 2017
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AAA Watch!
 
Think Electric Vehicles Should Receive The Same Support As Gas and Oil?

AAA Doesn't and Sues to End Electric Car Rebate

This year, the Oregon Legislature instituted a 0.5% tax on new vehicle sales to fund electric-vehicle rebates and non-highway transportation infrastructure projects. 

The tax is set to take effect on Jan. 1.

But not if Oregon AAA has anything to say about it. 

Oregon/Idaho AAA (aka, Oregon AAA) and its subsidiary that sells vehicles, AAA Oregon/Idaho Auto Source LLC, along with the Oregon Trucking Association, filed a petition on Nov. 3 asking the Supreme Court to rule that the tax is subject to the constitutional use limits, which would  result in its repeal.

Coal and oil are subsidized in a variety of ways. First, when economic "externalities" like carbon are not taxed, it is a subsidy. Then, there are special tax rules--like the oil depletion allowance--that further subsidize fossil fuels.

But AAA doesn't want to put alternative energy on the same level of subsidy.  Excuse me, we mean anything close to the same level of subsidy. So, it's off to court to stop the vehicle tax.  (Yes, AAA would likely say that they are not against the electric vehicle rebates--they just don't want to tax all drivers for it.  We would prefer that the tax be directly on carbon, not indirectly on cars, as it makes more economic sense.  But if it's on products that use carbon, so be it. Better World Club will not sue to stop this small bit of equalization.)

Let your friends who are AAA members know of the AAA suit. Don't forget to tag @AAAOregonIdaho so they know we're watching! 
Read More
We're Number One!
 

Nicaragua and Syria Join the Paris Climate Accords.

Leaving the U.S. as the Only Country That Hasn’t...

And You Don’t Think The U.S. Is Exceptional!

Better World Club has joined the "Still In" campaign (https://www.wearestillin.com/)
to protest U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, joining with businesses all over the country--some of which are surprises--like Wal-Mart and Mars Candy.

Meanwhile,  American cities and states are also stepping up!

The effort, called America's Pledge, is being led by businessman and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and California Gov. Jerry Brown. It is comprised pf 20 states and 110 cities.

A press release on the effort said "if these non-federal actors were a country, their economy would be the third largest in the world."

At a United Nations climate change conference on Saturday, Bloomberg said, "the American government may have pulled out of the Paris agreement, but the American people are committed to its goals, and there is nothing Washington can do to stop us."

Climate change isn't going away.  Meanwhile, Better World Club is asking these same actors to become involved with Carbon Offsets.  The first step toward reducing carbon is "prevention"--minimizing carbon.  But when carbon is unavoidable, we must offset.  Better World Club offsets the first 2,000 miles of driving for our insurance customers--and all of the carbon expended in our roadside assistance and by those who purchase travel from us.

President Trump faces many hurdles in his quest to dismantle our system of environmental protections. NRDC documents those steps, alongside their actions to thwart Trump policies that attack our air, water, and wild spaces. Here are the steps you can take—because the biggest obstacle to the Trump agenda is you.
Take ACTION

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt began the process of undoing the Obama’s administration’s marquee domestic climate policy, the Clean Power Plan, by signing a notice to propose to roll it back.

The Clean Power Plan is on life support Read this piece on Vox
Nature Watch

And now the Menominee River

Because who needs drinking water?
 

The Trump administration has been working to roll back regulations on the fossil fuel industry, with the mining industry being no exception. Last week, top executives from some of the biggest US mining companies got cozy with Washington at Trump International Hotel.

Now, the administration has announced a repeal of the Clean Power Plan.
 
Meanwhile, a mining company (Toronto-based Aquila Resources) is planning to dig an open-pit sulfide mine 150 feet from the Menominee River, which runs along the Wisconsin-Upper Michigan border into Lake Michigan, one of the Great Lakes. Over 35 million people get their drinking water from the Great Lakes. Experts note that there are no examples of metallic sulfide mines that have not polluted surface and ground waters.
 
Take action to stop this outrageous assault on the drinking water of a good portion of the upper Midwest, on the local environment, and on the Menominee Tribe.
Take ACTION
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