Las Vegas, NV-- Yesterday, the Sierra Club joined with members of the Western Shoshone Nation and community members to rally and demand the Trump administration’s Bureau of Land Management halt their oil and gas lease sales-- one that took place yesterday and upcoming sales through the year-- that target hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in the state for drilling. The November sale originally included over 500,000 acres of land for sale, but the agency downsized the average significantly due to political pressure.
United States District Judge Joe Billy McDade approved today a settlement agreement between the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Respiratory Health Association (RHA), and Vistra Energy to resolve the Clean Air Act lawsuit brought by environmental organizations in 2013. The settlement includes the retirement of the E.D. Edwards coal-fired power plant by the end of 2022 and $8.6 million in funding for workforce development and public health and environmental projects that benefit Peoria-area communities.
In an interview with the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, Acting Bureau of Land Management Director William Pendley made clear his ambitions to remove the “acting” from his title and assume the role of BLM director.
Oakland, Calif., — Today, eighteen months after Judge Vince Chhabria struck down the City of Oakland’s ban on handling and storage of coal at the former Oakland Army Base, the case was argued on appeal before three Ninth Circuit judges. They heard oral arguments on the appeal by the City of Oakland, Sierra Club, and San Francisco Baykeeper.
Nov. 12, 2019 (Tacoma, Wash.)—Today, a coalition of public health and environmental groups challenged federal approvals for Northwest Innovation Works’ massive fracked gas-to-methanol refinery proposed for Kalama, Washington.
Late yesterday, the New York Times reported that former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler is preparing to significantly limit the scientific and medical research that the government can use as it sets public health safeguards.
Washington, DC-- Today, eighty two public health and environmental organizations sent a letter to Sen. Inhofe, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, signaling concern about proposals to remove critical provisions related to per- and poly- fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- Last week, Ken Wagner, the Oklahoma Secretary of Energy and Environment, stated the State of Oklahoma is supportive and onboard with a proposal to devolve coal ash regulation out of the hands of the EPA and into the hands of Oklahoma’s state government. This regulatory change was initiated by disgraced former EPA administrator Scott Pruit, whom Secretary Wagner served under, and worked with, for more than a decade.
DULUTH, MN-- Two gas plant proposals would cost Minnesota ratepayers more for electricity than comparable clean energy portfolios (CEP), as shown in a Sierra Club analysis using a methodology and algorithm developed by Rocky Mountain Institute. In both cases, CEPs would provide the same energy, peak capacity, and ramping characteristics as the proposed gas plants, but at a lower cost, saving ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars.