Today the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB) agreed with environmental groups in their lawsuit against Midwest Generation, LLC, a subsidiary of NRG Energy, alleging that four of its coal power plants contaminated groundwater with harmful chemicals found in coal ash. The pollution at those four coal power plants, located in Waukegan, Joliet, Pekin, and Will County, put the densely populated communities around the plants at risk. This is a major victory in a case started in 2012 by the environmental groups (Sierra Club, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Prairie Rivers Network, and Citizens Against Ruining the Environment).
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, in a hearing about the Administration’s rollback of the clean car standards, EPA Assistant Administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation Bill Wehrum four times refused to answer Representative McNerney’s yes or no questions on whether he believes in climate science and whether it poses a danger to human health, despite rollbacks to the Clean Power Plan and the clean car standards.
Baltimore, MD -- The Maryland Commission on Climate Change (MCCC) hosted a meeting today where Governor Hogan’s Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) presented an overview of its draft Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act Plan (GGRA). Advocates are concerned that the Governor’s current plan will not provide enough ambitious climate action leadership, especially since details remain sparse. The release of the draft plan is already six months overdue.
On Tuesday, the same evening Trump claimed the US has the “cleanest air and water” at a campaign rally in Orlando, Florida, the AP reported that U.S. air quality is deteriorating after years of improvement. The decrease in air quality comes as Trump rolls back two of the US’ biggest defenses of clean air and a safe climate: the Clean Power Plan, replaced yesterday with the “Dirty Power Scam” and the clean car standards. Notably, the main architects of the rollbacks from EPA and NHTSA’s political leadership are about to face a congressional hearing.
San Francisco, CA-- Today in federal court, ACLU attorney Dror Ladin will represent the Sierra Club, ACLU and SBCC in arguments against the Trump Administration’s appeal of a preliminary injunction granted in a lawsuit against the president’s national emergency declaration. The plaintiff groups won a preliminary injunction to block the Trump administration from using military funds to build 50-55 miles of new border wall in Arizona and New Mexico.
MADISON, WI -- In the midst of intense public pressure for action on the climate crisis, Donald Trump and his EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler nevertheless moved backward today by finalizing the Trump Administration's plan to roll back the Clean Power Plan, the first-ever safeguards to curb carbon pollution from existing power plants.
Un Abogado de ACLU Argumentará en la corte federal de San Francisco en Nombre de Comunidades y Medio Ambiente en Juicio de Apelación de la Administración Trump.
LITTLE ROCK, AR. -- In the midst of intense public pressure for action on the climate crisis, former coal lobbyist and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler did the opposite today by finalizing the Trump Administration's plan to roll back the Clean Power Plan - the first-ever safeguards from carbon pollution for existing power plants.
En medio de intensa presión pública para actuar contra la crisis climática, el ex cabildero carbonero y administrador de la Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA), Andrew Wheeler, hizo hoy lo opuesto finalizando el objetivo de la administración Trump de eliminar el Plan de Energía Limpia — las primeras salvaguardas de la historia contra la contaminación de carbono de plantas carboneras.
Today, the Ohio Supreme Court overturned the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio’s approval of a FirstEnergy bailout that left customers footing a nearly $600 million bill. The bailout misleadingly named the Distribution Modernization Rider (DMR) has cost customers up to $204 million annually since it was approved in 2017 and, as the Supreme Court ruled, provided no guarantees the funds would go to grid modernization nor that there were proper customer safeguards in place.