Calling Out the Bullies, Hotline 5.14.12
Calling Out the Bullies A recent NY Times article about Julia Trigg Crawford, a Texas farmer who stood up to TransCanada’s demand that the Keystone XL pipeline cross her property, reminded me of something Jeremy Symons of National Wildlife Federation said to me recently. “We will win when people realize that the fossil fuel... Read more of this article
Clean Air Act Digest, 5.11.12
UPDATES Congress: House The House has begun voting on FY2013 appropriations bills to provide the federal governments’ annual funding, but the Interior-EPA Appropriations bill, which includes funding for Clean Air Act activities, may be too controversial to come to the House floor this year and may instead be rolled into an omnibus appropriations... Read more of this article
Clean Air Act Digest, 5.4.12
UPDATES Congress: The full Energy and Commerce Committee is expected to vote on the Gasoline Regulations Act (H.R. 4471) in May (possibly May 17) and then the bill will head to the floor of the House. The American Lung Association has coined a more accurate name for the bill: the Gutting Air Standards Protection (GASP) Act. Contrary to the claims... Read more of this article
Clean Air Act Digest, 4.27.12
UPDATES Congress: In previous issues, we have reported on the surface transportation bill moving in Congress. Last week, the House passed an extension of the surface transportation law (H.R. 4348) and this week voted to go to conference with the Senate, which has passed a bipartisan transportation bill (S. 1813). Fortunately the bills do not... Read more of this article
There is no hope, but we might be wrong. Earth Day 2012 Hotline, 4.23.12
“There is no hope, but we might be wrong.” Earth Day 2012 Edition The Strip | By Brian McFadden published in The New York Times, 4.22.12. Happy Earth Day! Since the first Earth Day, the environmental threats facing our country and planet have worsened, growing exponentially in number and complexity. Even as we learn... Read more of this article
Clean Air Act Digest, 4.20.12
UPDATES Congress: On Tuesday, April 17, the Energy subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee voted 15 to 8 on party lines to pass a draft bill called the Gasoline Regulations Act, described by the committee as a legislative response to high gasoline prices. In fact, the Gasoline Regulations Act is yet another assault on the Clean... Read more of this article
Clean Air Act Digest, 4.16.12
UPDATES Congress: House Tomorrow (Tuesday), the Energy subcommittee of the House Energy & Commerce Committee is voting on a draft bill known as the Gasoline Regulations Act and a companion bill, described by the committee as “two legislative responses to high gasoline prices.” In fact, the Gasoline Regulations Act is yet another assault... Read more of this article
Earth’s Titanic Challenge, Hotline 4.16.12
Earth’s Titanic Challenge This past weekend marked a hundred years from when the Titanic sank tragically in the icy Atlantic Ocean. Although a century ago, this historic event has not only lived on but gained epic recognition in popular culture. Not surprisingly, this symbol of avoidable demise has been used as metaphor for climate... Read more of this article
Global Weirding in my Backyard, Hotline 4.9.12
Global Weirding in my Backyard Spring is definitely sprung, but for many of us, that statement barely elicits a yawn this April. Here in North Carolina – and the Southeast region is certainly not alone – we’ve experienced spring-like temperatures for months. On a personal level, it has been strange to bring out the flip flops in... Read more of this article
Getting to Higher Ground, Hotline 4.2.12
Getting to Higher Ground Happy Anniversary! That’s right: it’s been five, count ‘em, five years since the highest court in all the land decided that greenhouse gases are air pollutants and the EPA may regulate their emission. This is the “wooden” anniversary, so get out there and celebrate by planting or at least hugging a carbon-sequestering... Read more of this article
Clean Air Act Digest, 3.30.12
UPDATES Carbon Pollution Standard: On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed the first national limits on carbon pollution from new electric power plants. This is an incredibly important step forward to protect American’s health and well-being from the carbon pollution that is driving dangerous climate change. Carbon pollution... Read more of this article
The Water is Wide: Sea Level Rise and Flooding in a Warming World, Hotline 3.19.12
The Water is Wide: Sea Level Rise and Flooding in a Warming World “The water is wide, I cannot cross over,” sighs the old folk song, and more Americans may be singing this melancholy tune in the future. This week saw the release of two striking new reports on the threats of flooding due to sea level rise and increased rainfall... Read more of this article
Clean Air Act Digest, 3.16.12
UPDATES Congressional Update: Senate On Wednesday, the Senate passed S. 1813, the much-debated surface transportation act. As we mentioned last week, this legislation was a potential vehicle for Clean Air Act riders. However, last Thursday the Senate successfully rejected the Collins amendment to block EPA’s air toxics standards for industrial... Read more of this article
Climate Action Hotline, 3.12.12
Last year, the world watched a massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan. News from these tragic disasters quickly evolved as reports showed that Japan’s nuclear power facility, Fukushima Dai-ichi, had very serious problems. This heartbreaking and horrifying disaster provided an impetus to re-evaluate the safety and security of... Read more of this article
Clean Air Act Digest, 3.9.12
UPDATES Congressional Update: Senate Good news! Yesterday, the Collins amendment to block EPA’s air toxics standards for industrial boilers failed on the Senate floor. The amendment, offered to the unrelated Surface Transportation Act (S. 1813), needed 60 votes to pass but received a vote of 52-46. This anti-environmental rider would have... Read more of this article
Communicating Climate Change, Hotline 3.7.12
Communicating Climate Change Each day, those of us in the climate community become increasingly aware of the causes, impacts, and urgency of climate change. Many of us spend our days trying to communicate to the public and policy-makers in a variety of ways to raise awareness, make connections, and foster change. It’s a big... Read more of this article
Clean Air Act Digest, 3.1.12
UPDATES Congressional Update: Senate Starting this week, the Senate is considering amendments to the Surface Transportation Act, S. 1813. Senator Collins (R-ME) is seeking to offer an amendment—completely unrelated to transportation—that would block EPA’s standards to reduce mercury and other toxic air pollutants from industrial boilers... Read more of this article
Climate Action Hotline, 2.27.12
LOOK OUT! The weekly Climate Action Hotline will be changing over the next few weeks. As you may know, the US Climate Action Network has grown to include more than 85 member organizations with many more allies working on climate and energy issues. We love to share the great work happening on climate change, not only at the federal... Read more of this article
Clean Air Act Digest, 2.21.12
UPDATES Legislative Update: Long-Awaited Payroll Tax Cut Extension: A clean payroll tax cut extension was wrapped up last week, and the final legislation did not include any anti-environmental riders. This is a tremendous victory for the clean air community as this bill was considered a vehicle for clean air attacks, and the opposition attempted... Read more of this article
The Unsettling Attacks on Green Cities and Counties
Guest blog by Michael Schmitz, Executive Director of ICLEI USA Back in 2010, when Colorado gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes accused Denver’s bicycle sharing program of being part of an insidious United Nations conspiracy to take over America’s communities, a nation chuckled at the absurdity. “Cities Engage in Vast Biking Conspiracy (Shh!)”... Read more of this article
