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It's here. The Senate is on the verge of permanently eliminating our ability to prevent wasteful methane leaks from oil and gas wells on our public lands. They're about to strip away the protections the Obama administration put into place to cut climate pollution and protect public health. And they're doing it through the radical and rare Congressional Review Act, or CRA. It's part of Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and the new administration's extreme agenda. These special interest giveaways might be popular with their polluter allies, but permanently eliminating rules against pollution and corruption, as well as ones that defend our health and safety, don't make any sense in the real world. So far, Congress has passed three CRA resolutions: -- One that would allow oil and mining companies to make secret payments to foreign governments -- a recipe for influence-buying and corruption. -- Another that would permit the purchase of guns by people whose mental health, according to the Social Security Administration, impairs them from managing their affairs. -- A third that allows coal companies to literally bury mountain streams with mine waste. Pro-corruption, anti-safety, and anti-environment. In what world are those the priorities our Congress should be focused on? We're going to be fighting their extreme agenda until they hear us -- chip in to keep it up. Congress should focus on America's real priorities: creating an economy that works for more people, providing great health care and a great education to all Americans, and fighting the dangerous climate change that threatens our kids and communities. Those are all good places to start. Did I mention that repealing this methane rule would waste $330 million a year -- revenue that's just burned or leaked away -- that could pay for some of these priorities? Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is real and caused by human activities like the very same methane pollution this rule will sanction. That's not an alternative fact -- that is stone-cold reality. The evidence is right in front of us, and members of Congress would see it too if they'd look out the windows of their fancy offices for one second. Each of the past three years has been record-hot -- it was almost 100 degrees in Oklahoma earlier this month. Our most populous state is flooding in the wettest winter ever recorded, right on the heels of a devastating five-year drought -- and scientists have been predicting for decades that more extreme weather like droughts and floods would come hand-in-hand with climate change. These congressional leaders need to wake up and get their priorities straight. And we're going to hold their feet to the fire until they do. They're starting to feel the heat on Obamacare, and believe me, that won't be the end of it. Our voices will be heard. Help keep this fight going strong.
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