The Associated Press reported this morning that EPA Chief of Staff Ryan Jackson admitted in testimony before Congress to expediting a FOIA submission at the request of a corporate polluter lobbyist. Meanwhile, Bloomberg also reported that EPA “manipulated” its handling of FOIA requests to benefit Scott Pruitt. The incident was first exposed as a result of the Sierra Club’s ongoing FOIA litigation and production, with the original emails online here.
After almost 60,000 pages of documents from Scott Pruitt’s EPA turned over to the Sierra Club via FOIA litigation, extensive media coverage on scandals those records, thousands and thousands of public comments and actions urging Pruitt’s resignation, dozens of rallies in Oklahoma and beyond, and successful engagement by the #BootPruitt coalition nationwide, Pruitt has finally resigned as EPA Administrator.
Washington, DC-- Today, the House Western Caucus introduced nine bills, all of which would effectively dismantle the Endangered Species Act. Taken together, the bills impede citizen involvement in species protections, significantly limit opportunities for listing and undermine the sound science needed for effective wildlife management. This better known House “extinction package” doubles down on Sen. Barrasso’s bill introduced last week that would also weaken the ESA.
Today, Ireland’s government committed to divest its 8 billion-euro national investment fund from all coal, oil, and gas investments, making it the world’s first country to fully divest from fossil fuels.
Today, Scott Pruitt’s former Deputy EPA Administrator and current Acting EPA administrator Andrew Wheeler addressed Washington, DC EPA employees for the first time. Among his first actions was to announce that Henry Darwin would take his old job as acting EPA Deputy Administrator. When hired by Pruitt, Darwin demanded a high-paying job for his wife at the EPA that she received.
Leaders from the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters, and Earthjustice will discuss what Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will mean for the environment and why our organizations are engaging on this issue.
Washington, DC -- Today, the Sierra Club, Center for Biological Diversity, and Environmental Defense Fund filed a request to EPA to withdraw its decision to cease enforcing the glider truck requirements.
Denver, CO-- According to AP, today, in response to mounting public pressure against the sellout of public lands for dirty fuels, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced that the agency will defer the lease sale near Great Sand Dunes National Park and in the Huerfano River Valley Community until it consults further with the Navajo Nation.
WASHINGTON DC-- District of Columbia Councilmember Mary Cheh, the Chair of the Committee on Transportation and Environment, introduced a comprehensive climate protection and clean energy package today.
BOSTON-- The Massachusetts Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change hosted a briefing today to discuss the findings of The Applied Economics Clinic and Sustainable Energy Advantage report which focuses on the impacts of the major electric sector provisions in the 2018 Act to Promote a Clean Energy Future bill which passed the Massachusetts Senate unanimously last month.