WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, it was announced that Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, Brenda Fitzgerald resigned due to a scandal over her investments with tobacco, food and drug companies while she was serving as director. According to the Washington Post, these “complex financial interests” repeatedly forced her to recuse herself from the agency's activities and kept her from testifying before lawmakers on public health issues.
Washington, DC -- Testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday, Scott Pruitt was confronted over his past comments calling Donald Trump “dangerous” and saying that Trump would take “unapologetic steps to use executive power to confront Congress in a way that is truly unconstitutional.” At that same hearing, Pruitt suggested he may attempt to to undermine EPA's Endangerment Finding, disregarding the Supreme Court’s ruling that makes clear that carbon pollution is covered by the Clean Air Act and requires action from the EPA.
Noble County, OH -- Early this morning, the Tallgrass Seneca Lateral pipeline exploded. There were no injuries or deaths as a result of the pipeline, and five fire station crews were able to successfully extinguish the fire.
Washington, DC -- Tonight, Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union speech.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
“There is nothing Presidential about a speech and an Administration that embody, at their core, a profound attack on the truth, our health, our families, and our planet.
San Juan, Puerto Rico -- Yesterday, NPR reported that tomorrow, January 31st, Donald Trump’s Federal Emergency Management Agency will “officially shut off” operations in Puerto Rico despite more than 30% of the people still lacking power and thousands living without access to safe drinking water.
WASHINGTON, DC - The Washington Post and New York Times are reporting on a recently unveiled radio interview in which Donald Trump’s EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said that Trump ‘would be more abusive to the Constitution than Barack Obama — and that’s saying a lot.’ Pruitt also agreed with radio host Pat Campbell’s description of Trump as “dangerous” and “a bully.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As reported by the Washington Post, the White House has drafted a proposal to gut environmental protections in an effort to make it easier for corporations to build dangerous pipelines and other environmentally destructive projects, forming the cornerstone of what the White House is calling an infrastructure plan. In addition:
Little Rock, AR. -- Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved a weak clean air plan for Arkansas. This plan weakens protections for Arkansans that were developed in 2012, encourages continued use of aging and dirty coal-fired power plants, and does little to reduce the nitrogen oxides that contribute to haze in our parks and wilderness areas, and ozone smog in cities like St.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee today rejected the largest oil shipping terminal proposed in North America as not in the best interests of the state and its people. The Tesoro Savage project (also known as Vancouver Energy) sought to ship over 131 million barrels of oil per year down the Columbia River.
As he tries to boost his own profile, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke is continuing to catch Trump’s ire. Last week, Axios first reported that Donald Trump was upset with Zinke over his brash -- and possibly illegal -- decision to reverse course on offshore drilling off Florida’s coast.