BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
X-WR-CALNAME:www.indybay.org
PRODID:-//indybay/ical// v1.0//EN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:Indybay-18809255
SEQUENCE:18951248
CREATED:20180517T153900Z
DESCRIPTION:5/21 Rally For EPA Workers In 
 SF\nhttps://www.facebook.com/events/1061622047310659/\nOn Monday, May 21, 
 Gather outside the USEPA SF office at lunchtime to show our support and 
 affection for R9 employees and the good and necessary work they do. \nOur 
 theme is, "Every day is Earth Day!"\n\nPlease join us for a lunchtime 
 demonstration at 11:30 - 1:00 pm at the front steps of 75 Hawthorne. Bring 
 family, grandkids, friends. Make a sign. Bring cards, cookies, treats to 
 hand out if you wish. \nLet us be, in the words of Kamala Harris, "joyful 
 warriors," and show our support for EPA and its dedicated employees. 
 \n\nPlease sign the Open Letter to EPA Employees; 
 \nhttps://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLktQDLYa4FhTmT2mS9gVhBo8OoY2xrb5p2SiOlLgYKB4EtQ/viewform 
 \n\nand enjoy & share the accompanying Video: 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eKC_-JpRj4\n\nOpen Letter to EPA 
 Employees\nDear Environmental Protection Agency Employees,\nThis letter is 
 written to express support and thanks for the work you do every day to 
 protect public health and the environment.  We want you to know your 
 dedication is valued by millions of Americans despite indication that the 
 current Administration feels otherwise.  Equally important, we also write 
 to better inform members of the public who may not understand what a 
 frontline role you play in preventing premature death, other avoidable 
 health consequences, irreversible ecosystem damage, and yes, even climate 
 change.\n\nStates, Tribes, and EPA play vital roles in protecting Americans 
 and the environment from the impacts of pollution.  In the late 60s and 
 early 70s, our Congressional leaders created a system of environmental 
 protection based on the principle of cooperative federalism.  For this 
 reason, and today more than ever, the safeguarding of our health and 
 natural resources depends on robust state and Tribal programs as well as a 
 fully functioning EPA.  \n\nIn every part of this country, you provide 
 vital expertise and guidance, in partnership with the states and Tribes, by 
 setting pollution limits to protect public health and the environment, 
 facilitating development of multi-state solutions to pollution, using sound 
 science to inform and address complex environmental challenges, responding 
 to extreme weather events and catastrophes, and assisting states and Tribes 
 with monitoring, enforcement and compliance.  All of these functions (and 
 there are many more) create a level playing field among states and 
 industry, which in turn guarantees a level of protection against harmful 
 pollution for all Americans, regardless of where you live.  \n\nThis is 
 exactly what Congress intended.  This is how environmental protection 
 occurs in our country and is the reason why the air we breathe and the 
 water we drink is cleaner now than at any previous point in our lifetimes.  
 \n\nThis is also why it is more important than ever that Americans 
 understand what you do and why you do it.  EPA’s work is not done, far 
 from it.  The gains achieved in the last 50 years must be protected, and 
 the new challenges that arise must be addressed. \n\nThere are dozens of 
 different roles and jobs that you, as EPA employees perform, across the 
 country.  For example:\n\nMaybe you are an emergency responder called to 
 evacuate nearby residents and abate a potential crisis caused by improper 
 mixing and disposal of toxic waste.  Thank you for your expertise, for your 
 ability to think on your feet, and for risking your own well-being to keep 
 others safe.\n\nMaybe you are a toxicologist who determines the safe level 
 of toxic chemicals in air, water, and land to protect public health. Thank 
 you for the rigor of your research, for your contribution to the body of 
 knowledge regarding the health impacts of man-made pollution, and for your 
 part in creating solutions to difficult environmental problems.\n\nMaybe 
 you work with communities to clean up Superfund sites and restore them to 
 productive use.  Thank you for your engineering expertise, your community 
 involvement skills, and your creative redevelopment ideas.\n\nMaybe you are 
 one of the many people working behind the scenes to make EPA work - you run 
 the IT systems, work in Human Resources, process grants and contracts, 
 prepare budget and planning documents, or deliver the mail.  EPA could not 
 function without the commitment and professionalism you bring to the job 
 every day.  You are important and valued. \n\nMaybe you are one of the 
 attorneys who held Volkswagen accountable after it sold nearly 600,000 
 diesel cars in the U.S. that were equipped with devices designed to cheat 
 federal emissions tests.  By stopping this source of mobile pollution, you 
 prevented at least 130 premature deaths, saved close to a billion dollars 
 in avoided health and social costs, and leveled the competitive playing 
 field for automobile manufacturers who don’t cheat.  Thank you, 
 counselor. \n\nMaybe you are a scientist who monitors air and water 
 nationally to assess trends in environmental quality and identify and stop 
 new pollution threats before health impacts occur.  Thank you for your 
 well-designed monitoring strategies, statistical analyses, and commitment 
 to communicate the facts. \n\nWe know that as EPA employees you are 
 experiencing dramatic reductions in the funds and staff needed to do this 
 important work; the repeals of many common sense rules that protect public 
 health and safety; the removal of key science documents and technical 
 reports from EPA websites and regulatory impact assessments; and the 
 dangers of replacing objective, university scientists on Congressionally 
 mandated science advisory boards with industry proponents. \n\nBut the work 
 you do is too important to throw in the towel.  The ways in which you 
 contribute to the health of our society and the protection of our 
 children’s futures are too numerous to list but here are some 
 more:\n\nMaybe you were one of the 150 employees with boots on the ground 
 in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Irma.  Thank you for assessing the safety of 
 chemical facilities and Superfund sites after the storm, for getting 
 wastewater treatment systems running again, and for testing the safety of 
 the water supply.  \n\nMaybe you work to develop new rules, such as 
 first-ever standards to cut climate-altering methane emissions from oil and 
 gas facilities, and through careful analysis of science, economic, and 
 technological solutions, you also develop policy initiatives to guide EPA 
 toward a more innovative future.  Thank you for the integrity of your 
 rulemakings, and for remaining steadfast in your determination despite 
 knowing that many of the common sense rules you worked to develop are now 
 under attack.  Please don’t give up. \n\nMaybe you assess pesticides and 
 other toxic chemicals in order to establish safe conditions of use and 
 storage to protect public health and the environment. Thank you for your 
 comprehensive risk assessments of impacts on people, plants, and 
 animals.\n\nMaybe you are an attorney who plays a critical role ensuring 
 that decision-makers understand their legal obligations or who pursues 
 enforcement, in partnership with the states and Tribes, when necessary.  
 Thank you for your counsel, and for keeping the playing field level and 
 fair when it comes to making sure the laws designed to protect us are 
 followed.\n\nMaybe you provide states and Tribes the technical and 
 scientific assistance they rely on to implement the pollution control 
 standards in the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and other federal 
 environmental laws.  As 39 former heads of environmental state agencies 
 recently wrote to Congress, states rely on EPA to provide such assistance 
 and cannot effectively run their programs without it.  Thank you for your 
 service.\n\nDo not feel abandoned.  Many public and private groups are 
 responding to this assault on public health and safety.  They are ensuring 
 public awareness through accurate press coverage of the attacks on science 
 and impacts of deregulation. They are fighting back in court against 
 delayed and repealed regulations. They are requesting Office of Inspector 
 General investigations.  And they are filing scientific integrity 
 challenges.  Congress is also reining in this Administration’s agenda by 
 modifying Mr. Trump’s requested budget, holding hearings, and initiating 
 federal investigations.  Please realize that you are deeply appreciated by 
 the majority of Americans and are supported by organized and dedicated 
 public and private groups.   \n\nAlthough quitting EPA is an understandable 
 option in these difficult days, the American public relies on you.  We as a 
 society must build our future on the foundation of hope but do so with 
 careful, insightful vision.  In 1970, in his State of the Union address, 
 President Nixon declared about the creation of EPA and the promise of the 
 decades ahead, “the 1970s is a historic period when, by conscious choice, 
 [we] transform our land into what we want it to become.”  \n\nLike the 
 current Administration, President Nixon’s was flawed.  But not when it 
 came to understanding the clear and present danger of untempered industrial 
 growth.  EPA is meant to ensure that our country moves into the future with 
 increasing prosperity and innovation without jeopardizing the health and 
 well-being of Americans, American resources, and American treasures such as 
 our national parks.  \n\nProgress without health and environmental 
 protection is not progress – it is a ticking time bomb, where all are at 
 risk but where the young, elderly, and poor are most vulnerable.  The vast 
 majority of Americans understand this.\n\nSo guard the gate, EPA employees. 
  These may be the most trying but also the most crucial days of your 
 career.  We appreciate you, we admire you, and we look forward to relying 
 on a strong and supported EPA in the days and decades to come.  You protect 
 our health, you protect our resources, and you ensure a safer and more 
 truly prosperous future for all Americans.\n\nIn short, you matter.\n\nWith 
 great respect and in solidarity, \n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/05/17/18809255.php
SUMMARY:5/21 Rally For EPA Workers In SF
LOCATION:SF EPA\n 75 Hawthorne\nSan Francisco
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2018/05/17/18809255.php
DTSTART:20180521T183000Z
DTEND:20180521T193000Z
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR