Friend --

Today is Earth Day -- and while so many of us are wholly focused on combating the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic fallout, some agencies in Donald Trump's administration are quietly gutting bedrock environmental protections.

Under the cover of the pandemic, the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Interior are making devastating decisions that will affect our climate for generations, undeterred by our current pandemic.

I'll tell you about all of their plans, but first: In honor of Earth Day, will you commit to fighting for our climate in the face of devastating attacks on environmental protections right now?

While we've been inside trying not to make a deadly pandemic even worse, Donald Trump gutted a rule I fought for and President Obama put in place aimed at curbing auto emissions. Trump's new rule will allow cars to emit hundreds of millions more tons of carbon dioxide, making our air dirtier, exacerbating climate change, and forcing drivers to spend thousands of dollars more at the pump. Even worse, government scientists have criticized "significant weaknesses" in the administration's analysis. And Trump set the bar so low that automakers don't even want it -- many have already committed to maintaining higher standards.

But that's not all -- as we fight the pandemic, the Trump administration is pushing through other decisions that could devastate our health and environment for generations:

• The EPA has limited the studies regulators can use in the rulemaking process -- a move meant to hurt future health regulations.
• The EPA is letting power plants and factories regulate themselves during the coronavirus epidemic, and they won't issue fines for some air, water, and hazardous waste violations.
• The Department of the Interior is moving ahead to consider drilling projects on previously protected lands, like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and continuing oil and gas drilling lease auctions.
• The Interior Department also refused to extend the comment period on its proposed reinterpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act -- a 1918 rule protecting more than 800 birds.

This is what the administration was trying to do when they thought no one was looking. But, we're standing guard and continuing to fight for our environment. And we can't let these devastating changes go unchecked.

Commit to fighting these dangerous rollbacks on Earth Day with me right now: Add your name to tell the Trump administration they can't continue to gut our environmental protections.

Thank you,

Maria Cantwell