WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Donald Trump announced he is nominating Amy Coney Barrett to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court. Barrett has previously affirmed that judges do not have to adhere to judicial precedents, which represent decades of hard-fought advocacy to protect civil rights, human rights, healthcare, and the environment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite the ongoing and overwhelming COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. Forest Service has not slowed its push to allow a new wave of logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest. Today the agency announced a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) advancing its proposal to eliminate the Roadless Rule in the Tongass, opening vast swaths of irreplaceable old-growth temperate rainforest to clearcut logging.
Harrisburgh, P.A. - Governor Wolf vetoed House Bill 2025 today, which would have removed the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) legal authority to regulate carbon dioxide pollution from any source within the Commonwealth. The bill would’ve prevented Pennsylvania’s participation in the "cap-and-invest" program known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
Oakland, CA -- Today, a Kentucky grand jury indicted only Brett Hankison, one of the three officers involved in the murder of Breonna Taylor, on three counts of wanton endangerment in the first degree.
In response to the grand jury’s decision, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
SACRAMENTO--Governor Gavin Newsom today released an executive order designed to accelerate state action to cut climate pollution and respond to the climate crisis. The governor also said he is committed to working with the legislature to ban fracking in California by 2024. The order focuses on transportation-related climate pollution. Mobile sources account for nearly 40 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas pollution and almost 60 percent of ground-level air pollution. Administration officials have said that this will not be the only action the governor will take in coming weeks to accelerate climate action.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, September 23, the House of Representatives passed the Veterans Comprehensive Prevention, Access to Care, and Treatment (COMPACT) Act (H.R.8247). The package’s nine provisions aim to reduce veteran suicide and improve overall mental health and wellbeing for veterans. Included is the Accelerating Veterans Recovery Outdoors (AVRO) Act, which would begin the process of removing barriers that prevent veterans from accessing public lands to heal from service-related trauma. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.
OLYMPIA - With thousands of low-income families at risk of having their electricity shut off and being driven into debt by utility bills, a coalition of consumer, environmental and social justice advocates is pushing for systemic reform of utility bill collection practices statewide.
Little Rock, AR -- Last week, the Sierra Club filed a request to vacate the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality’s (ADEQ) wastewater discharge permit for the Flint Creek coal-burning plant, owned and operated by Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO). The filing alleges that the state failed to consider relevant factors meant to protect people and the environment from toxic water pollution as required by the Clean Water Act.
Portsmouth, VA - Last night, the Portsmouth City Council voted unanimously to approve a resolution that strongly supports offshore wind development off Virginia’s coast. The city now joins Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton, all expressing support for establishing Hampton Roads as a hub for the frontier clean energy industry.