Posts Tagged ‘Congress’
Protect Families: Stop Toxic Coal Ash From Polluting the Federal Transportation Bill
West Virginia Rep. David McKinley is a man on a mission — to save the coal industry from the bullies at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. McKinley’s afraid that the EPA may eventually require coal-fired utilities to contain their coal ash so it’s not allowed to continue to pollute our waterways. But McKinley is not…
Read MoreThe Dirty Money Dozen
According to both the Center for Responsive Politics and Oil Change International, contributions from oil, gas and other energy industries skyrocketed in the past five years, with the coal industry alone contributing more than $8 million in 2009-2010 — more than twice what the industry had contributed in any previous election cycle. And during 2011,…
Read MoreThe Dirtiest Congress Money Could Buy
By Matt Wasson According to a report released at the end of 2011, the 112th Congress had achieved, in just its first year, the dubious distinction of running the most anti-environmental legislative session in history. The report, conducted by Representatives Henry Waxman, Edward Markey and Howard Berman, showed that, in 2011, the House voted 191…
Read MoreThe “Art” of Influence: A Story of Strategy in the Post-Citizens United Political Terrain
By Brian Sewell On March 15, when a campaign called N.C. Real Solutions launched, it came with a 30 second television spot aimed at North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue. The ad claimed that the new state legislature’s budget, which Perdue vetoed out of concern for its effect on education before being overridden, actually added funding…
Read MoreThe Emerging Efficiency Lobby: Diverse Interests Find Common Ground
By Molly Moore Conversations about blowing up mountains for easier access to coal or risking offshore oil spills to boost a corporation’s bottom line spark passions in a way that those about financing energy efficiency retrofits don’t. But wherever national energy dialogue goes, talk of energy efficiency and minimizing our energy consumption is sure to…
Read MoreThe EPA’s New Carbon Rule, Getting Serious About Climate Change
So we’re a little late to the punch on this one. Let’s take a moment to catch up. Last Tuesday, March 27, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the first-ever rules regulating carbon pollution from power plants. For those who didn’t already know this news, I should also mention this is not an April Fool’s…
Read MoreClose Calls as Congress Defeats Rollbacks to EPA Boiler Rule and Speed-up of Keystone XL Pipeline
Get ready, because a hostile hive of lobbyists echoing industry cries that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is no more than big government, job-killing, mean, green machine may have just been shaken up again. On Thurs., March 8, Congress narrowly defeated an amendment to a transportation funding bill authored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) that…
Read MoreSenator Manchin Should Listen to Himself
It’s rare to get this upset over someone making a valid statement, but the other day Sen. Manchin (D-WV) said something that I completely agree with, and it’s driving me nuts. When discussing the future of coal in a hearing with Department ofEnergy Secretary Steven Chu, he stated the following: “It doesn’t make any sense…
Read MoreSubcommittee Hearing A “Dog and Pony Show” With Your Ringmaster, Rep. Bill Johnson
I’ll admit, this morning’s Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources hearing had my head spinning. Similar to the committee’s previous hearings on the stream buffer zone rule, statements made by the Republican majority committee members could cause concerns as to who exactly they’re representing. The hearing seemed staged to give committee members yet another opportunity…
Read MoreEPA Buffaloed Over Surface Mine
A letter sent by the EPA to WVDEP in January expresses the agency’s concerns about CONSOL Energy’s 2,308-acre Buffalo Mountain surface mine. The EPA has suggested ways to reduce the negative impacts on the environment and water quality that the surface mine, one of Appalachia’s largest, will inevitably have. Stretching from Belo to Williamson in…
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