Posts Tagged ‘Congress’
Tenn Tuesday: Happy Independence Day!
I’m glad to live in a country where crazy stuff happens, but we are at least are able to stand up, criticize and even fire those in charge Welcome to Tennessee Tuesday! We’ve got our grills, our flags, and our green tomatoes just waitin to be fried. We’ll be fairly succinct this week as we…
Read MoreTenn Tuesday: More Sun! Less Surface Mining! TVA, Obama Agree on Climate Plan!
TVA says they are in line with the president’s plan on climate change! National Coal is packing their bags and leaving Tennessee! More solar is on the way! Cleaner air, healthier kids, fewer coal plants? It sure does make sense for Tennessee. We’re having our Tuesday with a dash of Wednesday today over here at…
Read MoreUPDATE: Clean Water Protection Act Gains Support
By Melanie Foley Legislative Policy and Research Assistant, Summer 2013 The Clean Water Protection Act, HR 1837, was introduced last month with 45 original cosponsors. Since then, more than two dozen additional members of Congress have recognized the need to protect our communities and rivers from pollution caused by mountaintop removal. The bill, which restores…
Read MoreNeedle in a Haystack: U.S. Senate Supports Lower Energy Costs for Rural America, will the House Follow Suit?
On June 11, the U.S. Senate passed a five-year Farm Bill that includes a small provision with significant potential for reducing energy costs for rural Americans. The Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP) — based on South Carolina’s successful “Help My House” program and first introduced in 2012 as a stand-alone bill — would authorize the…
Read More“War on Coal” Claims are a War on Reality
By Melanie Foley Legislative Policy and Research Assistant, Summer 2013 The coal industry and the members of Congress who depend on its support have accused President Obama and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of waging a “war on coal.” Industry supporters argue that limits on emissions from coal-fired power plants and increased scrutiny of mountaintop…
Read MoreClean Water News: Congress Backs Down, N.C. Steps Up
Last week, there was concern that the U.S. Senate budget resolution would end up containing measures to decrease funding for initiatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency such as the release of guidelines for coal ash disposal and rules to ensure states are following water quality standards. Thanks to good Americans like yourself speaking up,…
Read MoreAn Uphill Climb Gets Steeper
Sequestration Comes to Appalachia By Melanie Foley Legislative Policy and Research Assistant, Summer 2013 In August 2011, Congress and President Obama made a pact. They agreed to $1.2 trillion worth of cuts over 10 years if another deficit reduction compromise could not be reached. Efforts to avoid the severe and widespread cuts failed, and as…
Read MoreNo Longer Hidden in Plain Sight, Thanks to SoutheastCoalAsh.org!
For how large coal ash impoundments can be, they are sure hard to spot. For example, there are two large earthen dams full of coal ash just north of Charlotte near Mountain Island Lake. Can you spot them? (Answer: They’re on that long ridgetop to the left of the plant.) Since Duke Energy is probably…
Read MoreA Physician’s Take on Coal Pollution
A few weeks after releasing our report, The Human Cost of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining, and helping launch the No More Excuses campaign through iLoveMountains.org, I was turned on to a interview about the impacts to human health during various stages of the coal use cycle. On Earthjustice’s Down to Earth podcast, Jessica Knoblauch spoke…
Read MoreElectoral Math for “All You Climate People”
During a campaign season in which climate change featured most prominently as a laugh line at the Republican National Convention, the low point was when CNN’s Candy Crowley addressed “all you climate people” in her explanation of why climate didn’t come up during the presidential debates. Who knew that human disruption of the global climate…
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