It’s always enjoyable (and all too rare!) to share good news, and I’m pleased that there’s some to share on this, the last Friday in April: The Ontario government under newly elected premier Kathleen Wynne announced on Wednesday that it will be partnering with the government of Manitoba and the International Institute for Sustainable Development [...]
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White House, Senate Proposals a Good Start by Human Rights Watch, Feb. 1, 2013 WASHINGTON, D.C. – The US government should urgently reform its unfair immigration system to uphold the basic rights of non-citizens and provide a path to legal status for the country’s unauthorized immigrants, Human Rights Watch said in a policy briefing released today. While the Senate and READ MORE Finally, a TV ad that tells it like it is: Exxon hates your children! That’s according to: Exxon Hates Your Children: “From As Congress debates what actions to take to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” perhaps no programs are less worthy of government support than those which subsidize Big Oil, Gas, and Coal. Read on to [...] Barack Obama by Tyler Streeter Other than the outrage caused by Mitt Romney’s promise to fire Big Bird, there’s been virtually no discussion on arts issues leading up to the November 6 elections in the United States. Cultural topics have been nearly absent in an election campaign dominated by the economy — despite the fact roughly “>5 million Americans work in the arts in some capacity. With so little to go on, how does one know whether their local representatives support the arts? Fortunately, Americans for the Arts has just released their “>Congressional Report Card for 2012, which . . . → Read More: Art Threat: Who in US Congress support the arts? As the Senate considers a bill to strengthen the nation’s cybersecurity, some questionable numbers keep creeping into the discussion. black-lung.gif In what could possibly be a new low for one of the most anti-environment, pro-dirty energy industry Congresses in history, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives are attempting to gut funding for measures that would reduce the occurrence of black lung in mine workers. The funding cut was inserted into the 2013 appropriations bill that provides funding to the Department of Labor, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health and Human Services. The language inserted into the appropriations bill reads: SEC. 118. None of the funds made available by this Act may . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog: House Republicans Attempt To Block Black Lung Protection Funding smoke-stack1.jpg In a blatant insult to the millions of Americans who would breathe easier under the EPA’s air pollution controls, the dirty energy industry, along with other groups, has sued the EPA to stop regulating toxic industrial air pollution. The Center for American Progress has the story: Two essential Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, regulations to protect children, seniors, the infirm, and others from air pollution are under attack from the coal industry and many utilities. Last year the EPA issued two rules that would reduce smog, acid rain, and airborne toxic chemicals: the Cross-State Air . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog: Dirty Energy Industry Sues EPA Over Clean Air Initiatives us_chamber_of_commerce_0.jpg A bitter fight has erupted in Washington, D.C. in recent weeks surrounding the fate of a much-needed transportation and infrastructure bill. Congressional Democrats wanted to pass a bill that would fund projects to help rebuild roads and bridges, but Republicans were against the idea. So, in an attempt to get something more tangible out of the legislation, Congressional Republicans loaded the bill down with dozens of handouts to the oil industry, including immediate approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and expanded access to U.S. lands for oil exploration. The amendments would also take national gas tax . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog: U.S. Chamber Hits The Road To Promote "Oily" Highway Transportation Bill coal-power-plant-pic1.jpg Two separate reports released this week offer a grim look at the state of air quality in North America. The continent already produces 6% of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants, resulting in an array of health and environmental problems. According to a joint report by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP), EarthJustice, and the Sierra Club, the situation in America is getting worse. Their report rated the top 5 worst states for toxic power plant emissions. Some of the chemicals used to rank the states’ emission status included . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog: North American Air Pollution Statistics Will Take Your Breath Away NOAA.jpg This week, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives sent a strong message to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – they’re not concerned about climate change. The NOAA had asked Congress for permission to create a new National Climate Service within the NOAA’s own offices, but Congress decided that the agency was just fine the way it is. At a time when Congress is fiercely debating federal spending, it would seemingly make financial sense to deny additional funding to NOAA to create their new branch. But, in a rare occurrence on Capitol Hill, . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog: Congress Says No To Free Climate Service RonWydenLNGhearing-300×188.jpg Considering the rate at which natural gas resources are being developed, and the sudden push from industry to export the product, it might come as a surprise that the Senate’s Energy Committee hadn’t had a hearing on liquified natural gas (LNG) since 2005. Last Tuesday, for the first time in six years, Senators brought the issue back to the Capitol spotlight, as they considered the impact of exporting LNG on domestic prices. In order to export or import natural gas, companies can either transport it through pipelines, or ship it as liquefied natural gas (LNG). LNG . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog: Senate Hearing Confirms Natural Gas Export Plans Will Raise Prices For Americans Koch Fat Cat.jpg During last week’s Americans For Prosperity (AFP) event, a common theme kept creeping into the speakers’ presentations: Dismantle the EPA. And as the major funders of… . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog: Koch Brothers Behind Push To Dismantle EPA coal ash spill.jpg On Monday, a bluff surrounding a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based power plant collapsed, sending a cascade of debris and coal ash waste from the power plant into Lake Michigan. No in… . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog: New Lake Michigan Coal Ash Spill Raises Old Concerns oil_subsidies.jpg As the so-called “Super Committee” works to figure out how to trim $1.2 trillion from the U.S. government’s federal deficit, the dirty energy industry has thei… . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog: Oil Lobbyists Targeting “Super Committee” Is Barack Obama a fake progressive (fauxgressive), or simply a non-progressive? fracking air quality.jpg The U.S. EPA is poised to enact the first ever rules on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) with a proposal that would allow the agency to regulate the practice under the Cle… . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog – Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: EPA Proposes First-Ever Federal Fracking Rules Image by Images_of_Money The current debate in Washington as to whether or not and under what conditions to raise the debt-ceiling has for the past week dominated global news coverage and the public mind. Absent from the debate and mainstream coverage is a discussion of the debt limit in the context of the American monetary system, which creates a structural monetary deficit in the American economy and makes inevitable ever-increasing debts and deficits in the public and private sectors. It is this system which has fostered the current situation, which is not so simply that the federal government (Read more…) Help Media Matters petition for a Congressional review of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire and manipulation of the public. . . . → Read More: Excited Delirium: Media Matters Petition for Congressional Review of Murdoch 160px-Rep._Ed_Whitfield.jpg Republican Congressman Ed Whitfield from Kentucky, who serves as Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power, has made it clear that he will do everything i… . . . → Read More: DeSmogBlog – Clearing the PR Pollution that Clouds Climate Science: Top Republican Wants To Weaken EPA, Fast Track Environmental Destruction by matttbastard Every Republican’s favourite soon-to-be retired moderate [sic] DINO gunslinger Evan Bayh refuses to quietly ride off into the sunset: “There’s just too much brain-dead partisanship, tactical maneuvering for short-term political advantage rather than focusing on the greater good, … Continue reading → |
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