House of Representatives is Giving Big Ag the Green Light to Poison our Water.

“Factory farms routinely dump toxic animal manure and other pollutants into our waterways. They help fuel algal blooms. And they harm the health of the communities who live near them. Now, the GOP is advancing a bill that would strip rural communities of one of their key protections from factory farms. We need your help to stop this bill!” – Friends of the Earth

Pollution from Livestock Industry threatens all of us!

Tell your Representative: Don’t let Big Ag poison our drinking water!

The “Farm Regulatory Certainty Act” is all about protecting Big Ag’s rights over our communities. It would prevent people like you and me from going to court to stop agricultural polluters from endangering public health and the environment. This bill would make it harder to stop these massive industrial livestock facilities from polluting our water systems. The impacts could be huge. Already, waterways in all 50 states are impacted by nutrient pollution. Enormous amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus that are regularly leached into water can create dead zones depleted of oxygen and life, shut down fisheries, cause fish kills, render drinking water unsafe, and cause illness and death. But if this bill passes, communities impacted by this pollution would face an even steeper uphill battle to get factory farms to clean up their act.

Tell Congress: Don’t strip communities’ protections from factory farms!

Call Your Representatives Today to Urge “No” Vote on House Tax Bill

The House is expected to vote on its version of the GOP tax cut bill this Thursday, November 16. 
 

The tax bill overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest individuals and corporations, and will ultimately be paid for by cuts to critical programs, like SNAP, that serve low- and moderate-income people.
 
This scenario has played out before. When “dynamic scoring” (the notion that tax cuts will pay for themselves) does not result in expected economic gains, critical programs — like SNAP, school meals, Medicaid, and many others — will be targeted to address the deepening deficit.

Action Needed:

Call your Representatives (202-225-3121, Capitol Switchboard) to urge them to vote “no” on the House tax bill, H.R.1 — Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Let them know that this tax cut plan will make hunger and poverty far worse in this country and will further deepen income inequality.

Take Your Calls to the Next Level:

Follow up with emails to Representatives.

Get vocal on social. Find the Twitter handles of your Representatives(pdf), then use these sample tweets below.

• The #GOPTaxBill = increased hunger & poverty in your district, @YourMemberHandle. Vote NO to protect programs your constituents rely on: http://bit.ly/2h7iJZf (via @fractweets) 
• #GOPTaxBill would cut critical programs like SNAP & school meals. @YourMemberHandle: vote NO. Learn more w/@fractweets → http://bit.ly/2tiSHuE

Share these resources with your Members of Congress:

• SNAP participation by Congressional District
• Food insecurity and poverty in your state
• Fact sheet on Ways Congress Can Protect and Strengthen SNAP(pdf). 

Senate Tax Update: The Senate Finance Committee began marking up its version of the tax bill, the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (pdf) on Monday, November 13. The Senate version of the bill is similarly heavily tilted toward the wealthy; ultimately paid for by cuts to programs essential to low- and moderate-income families, including SNAP and Medicaid.