The Sierra Club and its allies mobilized more than 60 local community leaders from around the country to attend the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) public hearing on coal ash, to demand national clean water protections from coal ash be kept in place. Local leaders from communities polluted by coal ash traveled to D.C. from states including IL, GA, IN, OK, NC, Puerto Rico, and Navajo Nation.
Scandal ridden EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announce today that he is ordering staff to limit their use of scientific studies to those where the underlying data is publicly available, disqualifying the use of long-standing, landmark studies linking air pollution and pesticide exposure to harmful health impacts. These studies had long protected the confidential health information findings were based on which protected patients and scientists. This announcement has long been on polluters’ wishlists since medical science, which generally guarantees the anonymity of patients participating in studies, has repeatedly proven that smog, particulate matter, and heavy metals - all hallmarks of the fossil fuel and chemical industries - can cause death and severe health complications. Pruitt, who has also repeatedly been granted favors and career advancement through his relationship with polluting industries, is seeking to hide medical science from the public which would ordinarily force EPA to develop and enforce new protections against harmful pollution.
Embattled Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt again ignored science and announced that burning trees from managed forests will be considered carbon-neutral. This announcement comes in spite of the fact that biomass emits large amounts of carbon dioxide and exacerbates the worst effects of climate change.
Embattled Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt again ignored science and announced that burning trees from managed forests will be considered carbon-neutral. This announcement comes in spite of the fact that biomass emits large amounts of carbon dioxide and exacerbates the worst effects of climate change.
ALBANY, NY (April 19, 2018)—Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced a strong energy efficiency target for New York through 2025. The state’s new efficiency goal equates to saving the energy used by 1.8 million homes, and will deliver nearly one third of the state’s broader Greenhouse Gas Reduction target. The Governor’s initiative aims to “deliver benefits to New York consumers through new building retrofits, efficient appliances, and innovative technologies like heat pumps.”
Southern Company's plan proposes a long-term phase out of coal, but primarily pivots to fracked gas instead of fully transitioning to clean, renewable energy sources like wind and solar.
Media outlets reported earlier today that the Trump Administration is considering using the Defense Production Act - a relic of the Cold War - to force electricity customers and taxpayers to pay billions of dollars to bailout uneconomic coal and nuclear plants. Despite fierce objections by grid operators, consumer advocates, and business interests, the Trump Administration has continually pursued failed attempts over the past year to interfere in electricity markets in order to prop up dirty and dangerous fossil fuels that can’t compete with cheap clean energy resources like solar, wind and energy efficiency.
Richmond, VA -- Today, the American Lung Association released their 2018 State of Air report, with Virginian cities ranking among both the cleanest and most polluted U.S. cities for air pollution. This report was released a day after Virginia state officials from environmental and energy state agencies signed a letter opposing the Environmental Protection Agency’s repeal of the Clean Power Plan.
The American Lung Association’s 2018 State of the Air report, released today, gives Shelby County an “F” grade for excessive levels of ozone pollution. Last year, the county got a “D” for ozone, a pollutant that medical experts say is like getting a sunburn on your lungs.
Monday afternoon, public health and environmental advocates from across Illinois rallied outside Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) before offering public comments to the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB). Monday’s hearing was the third session where impacted communities have turned out in opposition to proposed changes in state air pollution rules. Up until now, those rules have protected the public against dangerous air pollution. Proposed changes would allow Dynegy-Vistra to keep cheap, dirty plants open while closing cleaner ones, nullifying the Rauner administration’s claim that the move is to “keep plants open” and save jobs. Dynegy has repeatedly pled poverty as a reason for these changes, yet, just this week, they closed on a merger worth $20 billion with Vistra, a Texas-based corporation.
Donald Trump issued an executive order today ordering the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to recklessly cut short review of clean air permits and reconsider important clean air protections against harmful smog pollution.
Today, 20 environmental and community organizations delivered a letter to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam urging him to veto legislation approved by the state House that will significantly weaken protections relating to coal mining in Tennessee.