Annapolis, MD - Today, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) released its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act Plan. Under the 2016 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act Reauthorization (GGRA) the plan was required to be submitted to the Governor and the General Assembly by December 31, 2019. Secretary Ben Grumbles from the MDE has stated that, if implemented, the nearly 280-page plan would reduce Maryland’s greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 50% below 2006 levels by 2030.
Richmond, VA - Today, the Virginia State Senate passed HB 1965, which directs the State Air Pollution Control Board to implement a low-emissions and zero-emissions vehicle program for motor vehicles with a model year of 2025 and later. With this rule, Virginia joins 14 other states and the District of Columbia in adopting clean car standards. This bill will go to Governor Northam’s desk to sign and enact into law.
California-- Today, the Biden administration announced that its Department of the Interior will not go forward with an eleventh-hour Trump-era plan to eliminate millions of acres of protections for California’s deserts within the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP).
In response, Jenny Binstock, Senior Campaign Representative for Sierra Club’s Our Wild America Campaign in California, released the following statement:
Sierra Club statement on the winter storm sweeping the Midwest and Southern States
SACRAMENTO - Senators Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) introduced Senate Bill 467, which halts the issuance or renewal of permits for hydraulic fracturing (fracking), acid well stimulation treatments, cyclic steaming, and water and steam flooding starting January 1, 2022, and then prohibits these extraction methods entirely starting January 1, 2027.
The Outdoors Alliance for Kids (OAK) unveiled a list of legislative and administrative priorities for the Biden-Harris White House focused on connecting children, youth and families with the outdoors and calling on the administration to build a legacy of outdoors for all. So far, nearly a dozen environmental groups, businesses, and nonprofit organizations, including Sierra Club, REI, and the YMCA of the USA, have endorsed the document and its four topline recommendations.
“Necesitamos cambio. Un gran número de plantas energéticas de carbón y gas no pudieron operar durante este tiempo extremo. Y mientras que algunas fuentes renovables también quedaron fuera de servicio, la energía limpia resultó ser más fiable que los combustibles fósiles durante esta crisis.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- The Oklahoma State Legislature reconvened on Monday, February 1, amidst the COVID pandemic, an ever-worsening climate crisis, and national conversations about racial and environmental justice.
El Senado republicano impidió hoy que la Cámara Alta llegara a la mayoría de dos tercios requerida para condenar a Donald Trump por incitar a la insurrección con intención de derrocar los resultados de las elecciones.
WASHINGTON, DC -- Today, Senate Republicans prevented the body from reaching the two-thirds majority vote required to convict Donald Trump for inciting an insurrection with the intent to overthrow the results of the election. Despite irrefutable evidence and a majority of Americans saying they support convicting Donald Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection which cost at least 5 lives, injured hundreds more, and endangered the lives of countless members of Congress and former Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Republicans put their own political interests before those of their country.