ANN WAGNER VOTING RECORD ON                      

ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE

  VOTED

·       Against the President committing to the Paris Climate Agreement.

·       Against regulating climate warming methane escaping from oil and gas drilling operations

Against regulation of hazardous PFAS chemicals.

·       Against protecting our nation’s streams from pollution

·       Against reports to Congress on impacts of flooding on oil and gas facilities: leaks and spills from tanks, wells, and pipelines

·       Against using scientific based estimates of carbon pollution costs in all decision-making of our government                          

·     For a bill expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be detrimental to the United States economy

·       For increasing lease sales for offshore oil and gas development

·       For prohibiting the Department of the Interior from enforcing federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing

   The Trump Administration and Republican legislators like Wagner have rolled back protections for our water, air, land, and public health in order to benefit high-pollution industries that donate heavily to their political campaign.  Ann Wagner has supported him at every step by voting 98% Trump. She and fellow Republicans have also failed to do any pushback against the numerous Trump executive orders that harm the environment and the public’s health.    

For more on all of Ann Wagner’s votes go to  votesmart/annwagner

                                         IMPACTS

PARIS CLIMATE AGREEMENT Because of misinformation widely spread by those profiting from fossil fuel use, many Americans still do not know the world-wide scientific community is unanimous:  human activities are a major cause of our warming planet and this threatens our future.

Wagner and fellow Republicans have supported Trump’s pull out of the international 2016 Paris Agreement that sets limits on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sets goals for adapting to climate change. As a result, despite replacement of many coal plants with natural gas plants that reduce GHG, emissions have significantly failed to meet former pledged goals. For the sake of our families and everything we love we must not allow this to continue. We must send to DC a “change” representative who knows the risks and will support policies to implement, in concert with industry, innovative technologies in all business sectors and accelerate the on-going shift to clean renewable energy.

METHANE is a strong greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 104 times greater than carbon dioxide. Oil and gas drilling operations emit 1/3 of all US methane emissions. Wagner voted against regulating leaks of methane by industry. In Sep 2019 the EPA rolled back federal rules on methane by allowing oil and gas operators to largely police themselves to prevent methane from leaking out of new wells, pipelines and other infrastructure.

STREAM PROTECTION Voted to disapprove the Stream Protection Rule. The rule was put in place to better protect water supplies, surface water and groundwater quality, streams, fish, and wildlife from adverse impacts of surface coal mining operations and provide mine operators with a regulatory framework to avoid water pollution and the long-term costs associated with water treatment.

FLOODING OF OIL/GAS FACILITIES Voted against any report to Congress on impacts of flooding on oil and gas facilities, including instances of leaks and spills from tanks, wells, and pipelines. Hear no evil. See no evil.

SOCIAL COST OF CARBON Voted to stop the social cost of carbon from being used in environmental reviews or decision-making process of a regulatory agency.

That means regulatory agencies like the EPA can’t consider estimates of dollar damages to be caused by increases in carbon dioxide in the areas of agriculture, human health, or property damages from increased flood risk.

CARBON TAX Wagner voted to pass a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that a carbon tax would be harmful to American families and businesses. A carbon tax puts a price on carbon emissions, encouraging people, businesses, and governments to produce less emissions. A carbon tax would fall most heavily on energy-intensive industries. 

The Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act of 2019 would put a fee on crude oil, natural gas, coal, and related products. The fee would be imposed on producers and importers of fuels and cash dividends then distributed back to US citizens.

Conservative and liberal economists and leading statesmen of both Parties have strongly advocated the necessity of implementing a carbon tax as the best way for capitalist markets to respond to the future social cost of global warming.

If you want a future for you or your family then you want a carbon tax and a representative who will vote for it.  https://energyinnovationact.org/

OFFSHORE OIL Voted to pass a bill that increases lease sales for offshore oil and gas. Voted against two 2019 bills that would stop oil and gas development off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Oil and gas are finite resources – when the oil runs out so do the jobs. If ocean resources are protected and well managed, tourism, fishing and recreation will support local economies for generations to come. Clean non-fossil fuel energy is an affordable alternative that’s crucial to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to prevent further global warming.

HYDRAULIC FRACTURING Prohibits the Department of the Interior from enforcing federal regulations of oil, gas, or geothermal hydraulic fracturing activities if a state has its own regulations.