#the midwest stop sign showdown

[waywardbeanie]

We’ve Got Tonight

Pairing: Dean x Reader 

Description: Dean goes to see his friend that he has flirted with for years before he and Sam go against Chuck. He is afraid he might not make it and wants to see Y/N on last time. They spend one last night together before they go their separate ways forever.

Word Count: 2285

Warnings: Angst and smut

A/N: This was written for @atc74​ Collaboration Challenge Contest. I picked “We’ve Got Tonight” by Bob Seger. The lyrics are in bold italics 

This was it, the beginning of the end, the big showdown was coming between Chuck and the Winchesters. Whatever the outcome, it would be brutal, and Dean knew it. He was scared, they all were. Chuck was coming for them and they were all on edge, the brothers had done all they could to stack the deck. They were unsure if this time it was going to be enough. Dean needed a break, making  the excuse that he needed some air, but he really needed to get away from the bunker for a while and see Y/N. She owned a diner a few towns over. He met her years ago when he saw the diner's billboard said, “Best pie in the Midwest.” Of course, he thought he would be the best judge of that. The sign wasn’t wrong, and the beautiful woman who made them was the cherry on top. They became fast friends, and he tried to come by whenever he could. They were mutually attracted to each other and always flirted, but it never went any farther. 

It was late when he pulled into the empty parking lot. He could see her through the plate glass windows wiping down the counter. Dean smiled sadly to himself; he had a feeling this was going to be the last time he saw her, and it was bittersweet. Getting out of the car, he made his way to the door, pulling it open, the brass bell announced his entrance. She looked up and smiled when she saw him. 

“Hey Dean”  

“Hey Y/N,” he greeted with a smile saddling up to the counter.  

The black vinyl and chrome of the stools, clean but well worn, sparkled in the diner's bright lights. 

She threw the cloth under the counter before pouring him a mug of coffee. Sitting it in front of him, she asked, “So do you want cherry or pecan tonight?” 

The edge of his mouth quirked up in a crooked smile. “How about a slice of both?” 

“You got it,” she said with a wink as she walked over to the pie case to cut the two slices he requested. With her back to him, he lost himself in thought. He wanted to make his move for so long, they had such an easy friendship, but he always changed his mind by the time he sat at the counter, but what was stopping him tonight? He might as well lay it all on the table. The way things were looking, Dean would never get another opportunity. Turning around, she brought his two slices to him, setting down the white pie plate in front of him with a fork and napkin. 

“Thanks,” the smile he gave her not reaching his eyes. 

Propping hip against the counter, she studied him. “Dean, are you ok?” 

Taking a sip of his coffee, he gave himself a moment to gather his thoughts. “I’m good. Why?” 

She reached across the counter and cupped his scruff covered jaw with her palm. “You look tired.” 

"This was it," he told himself, "he would seize the moment; it was now or never." Covering her hand with his, he turned his head, placing a kiss on her palm, meeting her eyes. Taking her hand, he closed his fingers around hers, not so tight she could pull away if she wanted to. Y/N stared at his deep green eyes in question. Their mutual attraction had sizzled between them for as long as she could remember. However, it never went any farther no matter how many times she daydreamed about it. She often hoped it would go farther than a simple flirt, but it never did, until tonight. 

“It’s going to be ok, whatever happens, but can I ask you something?” 

She nodded her head slowly, unable to tear her gaze from his as her heart pounded in her chest. 

Dean’s thumb began to rub circles across the top of her hand. “Look, I know it's late, and I know you're weary. It’s been a long day, and ultimately, I know your plans don't include me. My brother and I? We have a big job ahead of us, and I don’t know if I will ever make it back here again. I couldn’t walk out this door one more time without taking a chance. 

“What are you asking me, Dean?” she whispered. 

Standing up from the stool, she pulled her out from behind the counter through the walkway without breaking eye contact. Y/N breath caught as she stood so close she could feel his body heat radiating off of him. Looking up at him through her lashes, he cupped her cheek, his thumb brushing across her bottom lip. “Deep in my soul, I've been so lonely, All of my hopes they are fading away. I've longed for love, like everyone else does, but it’s not in the cards for me.” 

Dean leaned down gently, pressing his forehead to hers; he rasped, “ so there it is, girl, I've said it all now. And here we are babe, what do you say?” 

Leaning in, she brushed her lips against his with a smile. “We've got tonight, who needs tomorrow.”

He pulled her against him, threading his fingers through her hair. Dean deepened the kiss, she opened her mouth to him with a moan, her hands fisted in his jacket hanging on and trying to pull him closer all at once. Breathless, they broke apart, chests heaving.  

Stepping away with a shy smile, she pointed to the ceiling. “Let me turn out the light” She moved around the diner, grabbing her keys and her bag before flipping the switch shrouding them in darkness.  

“Come take my hand now,” came Dean’s husky voice from the shadows. She followed the sound until her hand was in his. He led her out of the diner’s glass door before turning around and pulling it to make sure it locked behind them. 

He began walking to his car when she planted her feet, his momentum yanking him back. “Where are you going?” she laughed. 

“I thought we were…” he trailed off, his brows knitted together in confusion pointing to Baby, the sleek black vintage muscle car. 

“My apartment is above the diner,” she began to pull his hand, “the stairs are around the back.” 

“Oh,” he perked up in understanding following behind her, as she squeezed his hand around the building. Dean trailed her up the rickety wooden flight of stairs. Y/N stood on the landing for a moment, rattling the keys in her hand. She could feel him standing close behind her, and she leaned back into him.

 “Are you sure this is what you want, Dean?” she whispered.

His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her back tight against his chest. He brushed her hair away with his hand, his lips moving along the column of her neck to her ear. “Y/N, I have wanted you for so long, let’s make it last, let’s find a way.” 

With a soft moan, she turned the key in the lock and pushed open the door. Dean tightened his arm around her waist, lifting her and bracing her against his body, he strode into the apartment, and kicking the door closed behind him. Turning her around, he walked her backward a few steps until she met the wooden door. He turned the deadbolt before he leaned into her, his palms set on either side of her head. Inclining his head, Dean brushed his nose along her jawline, making her body shudder against him.  

“Are you having any second thoughts?” 

He nipped along her neck, soothing it with his tongue. He began to suck on the point where her neck and shoulder met, her fingers grasping his short spiky brown hair. Pulling away, he slid his hand down to her hip, squeezing until she opened her eyes. 

“Y/N You’re sure,” he questioned. 

Sliding her hand down to his neck to pull him closer, she murmured, “I have never been sure about anything in my entire life.” 

Dean’s hand slid up her black t-shirt and under her bra, teasing her nipple as she whimpered, arching into his hand. He needed to taste more of her as he sealed his mouth to her, sucking hard as she dug her nails into his shoulder. 

“Yes,” she sighed on a breathy moan. 

A growl emitted from his throat from hearing that sound as he kissed and sucked down her neck to her shoulder. Stepping back, he grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head and unfastening her bra with one hand baring her breasts to him. 

"Jesus, you are beautiful," he graveled before placing a series of kisses between her breasts. When he lowered his mouth over one breast and began to suck, Y/N grabbed his hair with both hands holding him there, curving into him. When he tried to pull back, she tightened her fingers. 

“Please,” she begged. 

He smiled against her breast before grazing his teeth over her taut nipple as she rewarded him with another soft sigh. He licked and sucked, moving in between breasts to make sure they received equal attention. One of her hands slid down his chest, hooking a finger and pulling on the waistband before her hand palmed the front of his jeans, rubbing along the hard length she could feel beneath. His hips pushed into her hand with a groan. 

“Bedroom?” he growled in question. 

She opened her eyes, genuine desire shining up at him. She grabbed his hand and led him down the hall to her bedroom, the white comforter glowing in the moonlit room. Smiling at her topless form, he shrugged off his jacket and pulled his grey t-shirt over his head. As he began to kick off his boots, she began undressing at the same time. In just his boxers, he crooked his finger to her, drawing her closer until he could reach her. Grasping her wrist, he pulled her to him, pressing her bare chest to his. Dean began to kiss her, moving backward until the back of her knees hit the bed as they tumbled onto the mattress. Lust and desire pulsed between them as they moved up the bed, never breaking their kiss.

She arched against him as his weight pressed down on her. Dean kissed a soft path down her body until he reached the lacy material of her thong. Y/N watched as he slipped off the panties dangling them from one finger. 

“I knew this is what you had on under those tight jeans,” he smiled at her wolfishly. 

She bit her lip, the yearning in her eyes almost doing him in. The moonlight cast shadows over her body's curves as he reached into the pocket of his jeans and retrieved the condom from his wallet. Pulling off his boxers, he kneeled on the bed between her legs. He tore open the wrapper as Y/N sat up, taking the condom from his fingers. She held his gaze as she sheathed his erection as she leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his chest. He brushed her hair back from her face, their eyes meeting both acknowledging this intimate moment between them. 

As they lay together on the bed, Dean kissed her passionately, aligning their bodies. When he fantasized about this, he always thought it would be fast and wild. But as he held her in his arms, his heart hammering, and he could feel the frantic beat of hers, he knew it would be different. Dean looked into Y/N's beautiful eyes as they came together. He didn’t want to miss a single moment as her body stretched to accommodate him. She clung to him as pleasure rushed through his veins, taking it slow as he pushed deeper inside her. 

“Oh my God,” she breathed as he buried himself to the hilt. Her body squeezing around him, gripping him tightly. He let his head fall to her shoulder as he held himself in place, giving them each a moment. 

“Kiss me, Dean,” she held onto him, not wanting any space between them. His mouth brushed softly across hers as he began to move slowly at first, giving her body a chance to adjust but quickly finding their rhythm. Every move, kiss, or caress takes them closer to the connection they were seeking tonight. She wrapped her legs around his waist as the pressure increased inside him with every thrust. Dean began to pound into her faster, the intensity overwhelming. 

“I’m so close,” she cried out. 

“That’s it, sweetheart, let it go,” he gritted out between clenched teeth trying to hold off his release. Her thighs were squeezing him so tightly he knew she was barely hanging on. He moved his hand between them as he moved inside her, his thumb circling her clit, pushing her over the edge.  

“Dean, yes!” she called. 

He reclaimed her mouth, swallowing her sounds as her body pulsed around him. He began to lose control as she broke the kiss, digging her fingers into his back muscles. Driving into her, he ground out her name as the force of his orgasm ripped through him.

Panting, he collapsed on top of her trying to be careful not to crush her as she wrapped her limbs around him, cradling him against her body as they both tried to catch their breath. 

“Wow,” she laughed. 

“Yeah,” he agreed with a chuckle as he rolled on his back, pulling her against his side. “I wish we would have done that sooner.” 

She smiled, whispering, “We've got tonight, babe, why don't you stay?

Forever Tags: @winchest09 @katehuntington @whatareyousearchingfordean @emoryhemsworth @flamencodiva @superfanficnatural @deanwanddamons @janicho88 @talesmaniac89 @jensengirl83 @anathewierdo @lyarr24 @michellethetvaddict @suckmyapplejacks @carissime72 @ellewritesfix05  @malfoysqueen14 @atc74 @smol-and-grumpy​

[thisdaynews]

Even if Roe is upheld, abortion opponents are winning

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/even-if-roe-is-upheld-abortion-opponents-are-winning/

Even if Roe is upheld, abortion opponents are winning

Demonstrators gather during a protest vigil outside of the Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D.C., Carol Whitehill Moses Center in January. | Zach Gibson/Getty Images

health care

A drip, drip, drip of state restrictions has made abortion harder to obtain.

Abortion is still legal in the United States, but for women in vast swaths of the country it’s a right in name only.

Six states are down to only one abortion clinic; by the end of this week, Missouri could have zero. Some women seeking abortions have to travel long distances, and face mandatory waiting periods or examinations. On top of that, a new wave of restrictive laws, or outright bans, is rippling across GOP-led states like Alabama and Georgia.

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Both sides of the abortion battle are focused on the future ofRoe v. Wade,but opponents have already won the ground game over the past decade, chipping away at abortion access.

The Supreme Court’s new conservative majority, about to wrap up its first term, has not yet taken up a case challengingRoe.Just this week it declined to reinstate an Indiana law, signed by Mike Pence when he was governor, that would have banned abortion on the basis of gender, race or fetal disability. But that’s no guarantee the court won’t take another look at the landmark 1973 abortion rights ruling.

But even without the high court, GOP-backed laws have added restrictions and obstacles, whittling away access. Since the start of the Trump administration, hostility to abortion in general and Planned Parenthood in particular has only intensified in statehouses around the country.

“We celebrate freedom in America. But I believe that my choice ends when another life begins,” Louisiana state Rep. Valarie Hodges said just before a fetal “heartbeat” abortion bill passed there.

Years of piecemeal state laws have left their mark. Mandatory waiting periods, travel, missed work and lost wages all make getting an abortion more expensive and more difficult, particularly for low-income women. Doctors and clinic staff have to face protesters, threats, proliferating regulations and draining legal challenges; clinics have closed. In remote parts of the midwest and south, women may have to travel more than 300 miles to end a pregnancy.

“This is a moment of seeing how all of these laws fly in the face of medicine and science and go against what we in the medical profession know, which is that any restriction on medical care by politicians will endanger people’s health,” Planned Parenthood President Leana Wen, a physician herself, said in an interview.

It’s intensified of late. Republicans in Alabama and other states have raced to enact laws that would almost completely ban abortion, sometimes without exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest. Eight states have enacted laws which, if allowed to go into effect, would ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, as early as the sixth week of pregnancy, when many women don’t even know they are pregnant. (Missouri’s variant is eight weeks.) Alabama has gone even further, granting “personhood” and legal rights from conception.

Those laws may eventually reach the Supreme Court and testRoe,the 1973 decision that recognized women’s right to abortion. But those statutes aren’t what’s crimping access nationwide right now. That’s happened through a drip, drip, drip of lower-profile efforts that have created obstacles for pregnant women and led to a dwindling supply of doctors trained and willing to perform abortions.

Many of those laws were promoted as attempts to make abortion safer — though courts often disagreed and threw them out as unconstitutional barriers. Now, abortion opponents are openly talking about ending the practice altogether.

“The strategy used to be death by a thousand cuts,” said Colleen McNicholas, a physician based in St. Louis who also provides abortions in Kansas and Oklahoma. “They’re no longer pretending things are to promote the health and well-being of women, which is what we used to hear all the time. Now they’re being very bold and upfront.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that for many Americans, particularly for women in the middle [of the country] and the South, abortion is inaccessible,” she added.

Data from the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights, shows that 788 clinics in the U.S. provided abortion services in 2014 — a drop of 51 clinics over three years. Since 2013about 20 clinics have closed just in Texas.

Further, one in five women would have to travel at least 43 miles to get to a clinic, according to a Guttmacher analysis from October 2017. In North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming, at least half of the women between 15 and 44 years old lived more than 90 miles from a clinic.

Six states — Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and West Virginia — have only one clinic left that performs abortions, according to a recent analysis from Planned Parenthood and Guttmacher. Lawmakers in many of those states have pursued limits in when abortion can be allowed — such as fetal heartbeat laws or 15-week bans, though the laws have been blocked in court. Four of those states have also passed so-called trigger laws that would ban abortion immediately should the Supreme Court overturnRoe.

In Missouri, the sole clinic, which is in St. Louis, could close this week. On the surface, it’s a dispute with the state health department over licensing, safety and regulation, but the showdown comes just days after state lawmakers passed a ban on abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest.

“States have been marching down this path for a number of years. The restrictions that have passed previously have set the stage for the bans this year,” said Elizabeth Nash, Guttmacher’s senior state issues manager. “It’s counseling, it’s waiting periods, it’s abortion coverage in your health plan. It’s limits on abortion providers, such as unnecessary clinic regulations.”

“Missouri is the first and other states could be next,” Planned Parenthood’s Wen said on a recent call with reporters.

The ramifications of the anti-abortion movement’s sustained assault against Planned Parenthood are perhaps no clearer than in Texas, where lawmakers have passed dozens of restrictive laws, including mandatory ultrasounds, waiting periods and state funding restrictions.

The Supreme Court overturned another set of Texas restrictions in 2016 — but not before about 20 clinics shut down, many of which were never able to reopen. Providers retired, staff found other jobs and clinics had to start from scratch to get licensed and staff up. “All of those things take time and a significant amount of money,” said Kari White, an associate professor in Health Care Organization and Policy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and an investigator with the Texas Policy Evaluation Project.

Even though Texas permits abortions until 20 weeks — itself a cut-off point that conflicts withRoe v. Wade, although it hasn’t yet come to the Supreme Court — abortion access has sharply declined. That scenario is likely to play out in other conservative states, even if they don’t go as far as Georgia or Alabama.

More than half of Texas’ 41 abortion clinics closed or stopped performing abortions after the state passed legislation, TX HB2 (132), in 2013 that bundled several onerous restrictions, according to research from the Texas Policy Evaluation Project. The average distance a woman had to travel one way for an abortion jumped to 35 miles from 15 miles. In rural parts of the state, drives of 100 miles or more to access care are not uncommon, according to the group.

The evaluation project found that while the number of abortions overall declined after the Texas law went into effect, the number of second-trimester abortions rose as women were forced to wait and travel longer distances. Currently only about 22 abortion providers, mostly in urban areas, are operating in Texas, a state with roughly 6.3 million women of reproductive age.

Low-income women are disproportionately affected by abortion restrictions, said Kamyon Conner, executive director of the Texas Equal Access Fund, which helps women who can’t afford an abortion, which costs between $500 and $10,000 dollars depending on the point in pregnancy. The nonprofit was part of a group that challenged dozens of Texas abortion restrictions in court.

Calls to the group’s hotline have tripled over the past few years to 6,000 in 2018, but it only funded about 1,000 women last year, she said. Some of those women are undocumented immigrants, some are incarcerated and others have children but cannot afford to raise more.

Other costs mount — both in money and time, Conner said. Because Texas has a 24-hour waiting period between an initial consult and the abortion, women miss work and may have to pay for hotel rooms.

“There are fewer clinics to provide the services,” said Conner. “The few clinics that are left are in very high demand.”

Telemedicine could plug some gaps in care for women seeking abortion medication, instead of a surgical abortion. But there too access varies widely by geography. Some states ban telemedicine-facilitated abortions. Elsewhere, providers are using video-chat technology to dispense the medication. Seventeen states require licensed abortion providers to be physically present when administering abortion medication, which effectively is a ban on telemedicine, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Abortion medication is approved for use up to ten weeks into pregnancy, but under current FDA rules can only be dispensed at certain medical facilities, including abortion clinics.

Alternatives are being tested. In one FDA-reviewed study, clinicians can mail abortion medication directly to patients after a video chat. Study participants can go to any clinic for their screening and ultrasound, send the results to a participating abortion provider, and then video chat with that provider. If appropriate, the provider can decide to dispense the medication to the patient’s address, and the patient can take it at home.

Under this system, women don’t have to travel several hours just to pick up the abortion pills, Erica Chong, director of Gynuity Health Projects, told POLITICO. The Gynuity study has enrolled about 360 people across eight states since 2016; it builds on recent research concluding that telemedicine-facilitated medical abortions are just as safe for patients as the ones administered in-person.

Because it’s been reviewed by the FDA, the Gynuity trial is exempt from the dispensation limitation. The study operates in Maine, New York, New Mexico, Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Georgia. Gynuity’s trial in Georgia began a few weeks ago, shortly before the state passed its “fetal heartbeat” law.

“With a lot of these bans, there’s going to be a long legal battle,” Chong said, explaining that she didn’t expect the new Georgia law, which bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected at about six weeks, to affect the study in that state just yet. But she noted that the recent spate of early abortion bans have alarmed patients, who are unsure whether their appointments are still legal.

Gynuity’s goal is to convince the FDA that dispensing abortion medication directly to women’s homes, or even to retail pharmacies, is safe and effective, and that restrictions on its dispensation should be eased, Chong said.

Outside the Gynuity trial, some providers across the country let patients drive to the facility closest to them and video chat a clinician located at another site. Planned Parenthood, for instance, lets patients in 14 states virtually consult with clinicians based elsewhere. Yet in many cases, the clinician must watch the patient ingest the pill on screen to comply with federal restrictions limiting where the medication can be dispensed. Women might still have to travel across state lines to access these services — and many don’t even realize these options exist.

“How’s a woman in Alabama going to know to go to a Georgia clinic to find services?” Chong said.

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[takebackthedream]

Climate March Underscores Need for Urgent Climate Action by Libero Della Piana

Colorful banners, puppets and hand-painted signs filled the streets of Washington, D.C. as an upbeat crowd of more than 200,000 made their way from from the Capitol Building up Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, sending a strong message that climate change is a real and growing threat to local communities and the economy.

“We must turn to solar, wind, water, and we must do it now!” said Judith Howell, a member of local 32BJ of the SEIU and a security officer, in a speech before the march. “It is time to put the health and welfare of our communities before polluters’ profits.“

Photo credit: People’s Action / Libero Della Piana

SEIU, the Service Employees International Union, is one of the more than fifty environmental, economic, labor and racial justice organizations that joined together to support the march. These included Our Revolution, Native Organizers Alliance, the NAACP, 350.org, Color of Change, Sierra Club, the Communications Workers of America, the American Federation of Teachers, and People’s Action.

“We know first-hand the effects of climate change, Mr. President,” Howell said, citing the role service workers play at the front lines of national disasters. “We are here to rise up and let self-interest driven politicians like President Trump know we will no longer allow them to rig the system.”

The march was led by a contingent from indigenous communities from Alaska to the Amazon. Native peoples often find themselves on the front lines of climate change, facing encroachment on their lands and rights by extractive industries and government agencies.

Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Lakota Nation Photo credit: People’s Action / Libero Della Piana

“People are waking up to what we’ve been fighting for for hundreds of years – to protect Mother Earth so all our grandchildren, great grandchildren and future generations can survive,” said Oliver Semans, who traveled from from the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota to attend the march.

Semans is an advisory board member of the Native Organizers Alliance. He and his wife Barb lead Four Directions Inc., a nonpartisan group in South Dakota that has promoted Native voter engagement across the country since 2002.

He is concerned by the early executive orders President Trump has signed to restart construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline, which had been stopped in 2015 by an alliance of Native and non-Native residents of the Midwest.

“One of the things we say in Indian Country is that if they can do it to us, it’s practice so they can do it to them,” Semans said. “If we have a struggle, join with us today to protect yourself in the future.”

The dramatic showdown last year between Energy Transfer Partners and American Indian water protectors over the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota captured the imagination of the climate movement around the world and has revitalized it in the United States.

“We are here today to represent landowners, our members, and a coalition of Native and non-Native pipeline fighters in South Dakota,” Tony Helland of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, a member of Dakota Rural Action. “Native and non-Native people in South Dakota share a space. We need to share resources and combat this threat together.”

Photo credit: People’s Action / Libero Della Piana

It was no accident the climate protests – more than four hundred around the world – were held on the one hundredth day of the Trump presidency. While concerned about global climate change, participants are particularly alarmed by the environmental policies of the new administration.

Just one day before Saturday’s march, Trump ordered the Interior Department to “reconsider” safety regulations on offshore drilling that were established in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Trump’s agenda of dismantling environmental protects may be the most successful aspect of his first one hundred days.

The People’s Climate March was called by the People’s Climate Movement, a coalition founded in the wake of the of the massive climate march held in New York City in 2014. The network brought together a broad range of organizations and movements around the goal of building a response to the urgent challenge of addressing climate change. The group organized protests in more than twenty states, in addition to the march on the White House.

The movement’s platform calls for rapid reductions to greenhouse gases and toxic pollution and proactive measures to help communities and workers negatively affected by the shift away from fossil fuels towards sustainable energy sources, among other goals.

The importance of protecting the country’s water, air and environment is increasingly embraced by millions of people in the U.S. across regions, racial differences and across the political spectrum.

Photo credit: People’s Action / Libero Della Piana

Even in coal-producing states like West Virginia, there is consensus between environmental groups and coal producers that there is a need to to trap carbon before it enters the atmosphere, to slow the pace of climate change.

However, the Trump Administration’s seeming resolve to turn back the clock on both recent and long-standing environmental protections flies in the face of scientific consensus and popular sentiment.

Construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which had been stopped in 2015, may resume construction in the wake Trump’s executive orders, which face challenges in court.

“It’s like a zombie movie,” says Semans, In reference to Keystone XL’s possible revival. “We keep killing it and killing it, but it keeps coming back. Our goal is to leave the oil in the ground.”