by Stephen Capra, Executive Director, Bold Visions Conservation

It has been quite a week at the Supreme Court. Giving gratuities to an elected official for a contract is now legal. You cannot give it before you sign the papers; that would be illegal, but once signed, give them $15,000, $20,000, maybe even a million, and that is OK. It's a simple gratuity so much for corruption.
But the reality is that this court is bought and paid for, and its mission is to destroy federal agencies and any protections for the environment. These radical right judges should be jailed for their corruption. A case in point was the Chevron doctrine decision that was expected and handed down this week. The decision strips power away from federal agencies to protect the environment, have workplace safety, and regulate everything that the scientists and experts in these agencies have been educated in and worked to safeguard all of us. Thursday, the court ruled that the EPA could not limit smokestack pollution that blows across state lines. Known as the good neighbor rule, the court took the unusual step of weighing in while the case was still pending in a lower court. Again, why? Last year, this same court, at the behest of radical conservative's agenda's, struck down an EPA rule known as "Waters of the United States," designed to protect millions of acres of wetlands from pollution; they did this before the rule was final.
In 2022, according to the N.Y. Times, they sharply limited the agency's Clean Power Plan, and the court sharply limited its ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants. Again, this is a radical agenda, which the court directs, not a rational plan to protect Americans.

Now, judges or Congress will make these decisions, but not those with expertise. Both of these decisions were political and skink of cash, changing hands. The billionaires that run major corporations, the oil industry, want nothing that stops their destruction of the planet and their lust for money. By not allowing agencies to regulate, we are on the precipice of destroying efforts to curb climate change; we are looking at people like Leonard Leo, a despicable human who has spent more than two million dollars of his own money to fight climate change efforts and now has his sights set on ending the Endangered Species Act.
Leonard Leo is a name you must get on your radar. Leo is the architect of the Supreme Court's conservative supermajority. Leo uses dark money channels such as the Concord Fund and the 85 Fund, according to Rolling Stone magazine. He wants nothing to stop the oil, gas, logging, and mining industries. He has worked with the wingnut Paul Gosar (R) of Arizona on a range of bills with what he calls "modernization amendments that are designed to allow the destruction of wildlands and wildlife so that industry that enjoys the 1872 mining law, drilling at record levels on public lands, and endless logging money to get their cut out, can do so without regulation or fear.

Part of the Project 2025 plan is to delist grizzlies, delist gray wolves everywhere, and end any protections for sage grouse. This man, Leonard Leo, is a clear and present danger to our wildest public lands and needs to feel the heat of citizens across this country who love wildlife and our public lands. His is not the action of a real American or patriot. Still, instead of human scum, a man driven by wealth and arrogance is determined to destroy the very lands we love.
All of this goes back to the election. After a horrible night in the debate, Biden has left many of us wondering and fearing what a Trump Administration would bring. It is clear, given his mean and nasty demeanor, that Trump would drill the Arctic Refuge. Just to hurt us.
He would support the slaughter of wolves and bears, would end protections for sage grouse, and end the Environmental Protection Agency. We would see an end possibly of the Interior Department and work to open wilderness areas to destruction. Nothing would be off the table.
He is a sick and demented man, and his push for total control would not bode well for the environment. But most Americans seem oblivious to what could happen to the environment.
But Protect 2025 spells it out, and we must listen and educate people who seem only obsessed with the price of groceries. Biden may step away or come back swinging, but what we know about Biden is that he has worked to protect our public lands and has not been great on wolves, but that is a political situation that will soon change; he has created several key National Monuments in his first term, which was a bold move. He has allowed federal agencies to flourish and protect everything from the water we drink to the air we breathe.

As a nonprofit, we are not here to tell you how to vote but to inform you that we face a severe environmental crisis that could forever change our public lands and wildlife. That should be an alarm bell across our country, and one thing is for sure: the Supreme Court will do all it can to prevent corruption and the destruction of our wildlife and public lands. They remain a disgrace that must be reined in, something a second term of Biden or another Democrat will need to focus like a laser on.
The bottom line is that we need agencies to regulate, and we need professionals with experience to make decisions, not politically appointed judges or radical conservatives whose only agenda is to destroy democracy.
There's no way to contact Leonard Leo directly, but let The Federalist Society know what you think of his actions: info@fedsoc.org
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