Posts Tagged ‘EPA’
By The Numbers
78%: Voters nationwide who support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s work to hold polluters accountable. 170: Votes against environmental protection in the House of Representatives since the beginning of 2011 1,048.3 million: Number of short tons of coal the U.S. consumed in 2010, the second-lowest consumption rate in a decade. 1995: The last time coal…
Read MoreTime to Stop the Denial
Let’s talk about losing touch. According to a 2011 study by the Pew Research Center, fewer Americans believe in global warming than did five years ago. Politicians treat climate change as a non-issue and wage war on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as if Americans asked for it. In reality, the opposites are resolutely true.…
Read MoreBLM/OSM Merger Postponed | Newsbites
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has announced a postponement of a merger between the Bureau of Land Management and the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement to Feb. 15, 2012. In late October, Salazar announced the proposal and received immediate and staunch criticism. Some argued that the two agencies have little overlap and expressed doubts…
Read MoreAppalachian Coal Mining Jobs Reach 14-year High
Increase Comes Despite Arguments that Regulations Kill Jobs Some congressional representatives claim that federal oversight of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia threatens domestic coal production and the regions coal mining jobs, but new government data indicates the opposite is true. Data released by the Mine Safety and Health Administration show that the number of jobs…
Read MoreProposed Coal Ash Regulations Weaker than Household Waste Laws
Nearly three years after the Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash disaster spilled over a billion gallons of toxic sludge into the Emory River in Harriman, Tenn., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is set to finalize guidelines regulating coal ash ponds. However, a bill in the Senate could put a permanent hold on the EPA’s ability…
Read MoreRally to Save Ison Rock
Hundreds of citizens gathered at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 16 to call on the EPA and White House to block a proposed mountaintop removal permit that would destroy Ison Rock Ridge in Wise County, Va. More than 2,000 residents living in the five communities that surround the mountain would…
Read MoreIt’s Sad to Say, Fracking’s Here to Stay
A new series of proposed natural gas pipelines will give many states better access to natural gas reserves of the Marcellus Shale, a formation of sedimentary rock that covers much of the Appalachian Basin. The pipelines will connect to larger interstate lines to reach more customers in the northeastern United States and possibly Canada. The…
Read MoreMercury Proposal Receives Support, Opposition
This spring, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a rule that would reduce mercury, particulate matter and sulfur dioxide emissions from coal plants. According to the agency, the proposed rule would save an estimated 17,000 American lives a year beginning in 2015 and prevent 120,000 cases of childhood asthma. A campaign motivated by environmental organizations…
Read MoreResponding to the Threat on Our Water
In 1969, a fire on Ohio’s heavily polluted Cuyahoga River shocked the American public into taking action. Out of that movement, several federal laws, including the Clean Water Act of 1977, were established to safeguard U.S. waterways from industrial pollution. Now, a mere 30 years later, members of Congress are attempting to undermine the very…
Read MoreThe Coal Report
Cross-State Air Pollution Rule Will Save Lives By Meg Holden The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR), the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) newest regulations to limit air pollution from coal-fired power plants, will take into account the problem of air currents whisking pollutants far away from their original sources. “Pollution that crosses state lines places a…
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