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.
Albany, N.Y.— New York State released their Offshore Wind Master Plan today which lays the framework to develop a scalable offshore wind program. Through the Master Plan, the state has identified port facilities for turbine infrastructure development, areas off of Long Island for future offshore wind sites and established a procurement standard for the industry that focuses on state-based job creation -- all the elements to position New York as a regional hub for the offshore wind industry and supply chain. Additionally, the plan estimates that at least 5,000 jobs will be added to New York by the mid to late 2020s through the growth of a robust offshore wind industry.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A leaked version of Donald Trump’s infrastructure document suggests that the President would sell public lands in order to fund government spending. The draft document includes this line: “Disposition of Federal Real Property: would establish through executive order the authority to allow for the disposal of Federal assets to improve the overall allocation of economic resources in infrastructure investment.”
Washington, D.C. -- Today, the House Natural Resources Committee will vote on bipartisan legislation to provide opportunities for youth and young veterans to gain important job skills in protecting our nation's public lands and shores by establishing a civilian service organization. H.R. 2987 would help reduce the maintenance backlog in our nation’s national parks
Raleigh, NC -- Today, Governor Roy Cooper’s Department of Environmental Quality approved a water permit that would allow the proposed fracked gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline to be constructed in the state. The water permit (“401 permit”) is the main input states have into federally controlled projects such as the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.