WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the EPA released an auto trends report that emphasized the importance of the clean car standards in increasing fuel efficiency. The report comes as the EPA, along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, prepare to finalize their rollback of Obama-era greenhouse gas and corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for light-duty vehicles this spring.
Sierra Club filed formal comments opposing Xcel Energy’s request that customers foot the bill for a $650 million gas-fired power plant in Mankato, MN, citing significant flaws in Xcel’s claims that the plant would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and benefit customers.
Washington, D.C.-- Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released a proposal to strip Endangered Species protections from gray wolves across the country, despite the fact that they occupy only five percent of their historic habitat.
In response Bonnie Rice of Sierra Club’s Our Wild America campaign issued the following statement:
TAMPA, Fla. — Sierra Club today released a new video highlighting the dangers and hypocrisy behind Tampa Electric Company’s plan for the biggest fossil fuel expansion in the history of Hillsborough County. The video shows how TECO plans to build a 20-foot high sea wall and elevate parts of their Tampa-area power plants by 14 feet to try to protect it from rising seas, while simultaneously expanding the use of the fossil fuels that actually cause climate change and sea level rise.
Washington, DC-- Today, the House Oversight Committee is hosting a hearing on the PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl chemical) crisis polluting communities and harming public health across the country. Coloradan, veteran, and clean water activist Mark Favors submitted written testimony about his personal experience -- sharing the stories of his family and his community’s suffering from PFAS pollution originating at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado.
Mission, TX-- Today, 12 U.S. Military veterans from the Sierra Club Military Outdoors team and two activists from the Tohono O’odham Nation will begin peacefully camping in at the National Butterfly Center in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, protesting in solidarity with communities along the borderlands and those opposing the border wall. The veterans will highlight the devastating effects of the border wall by meeting with residents and visiting sites in the area in solidarity with borderlands communities and lands.
Maryland moved one step closer to becoming the first state to ban expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam food containers, as the State Senate passed a bill that would ban restaurants, grocery stores, and other food providers from using foam food containers because of their harmful impact on the environment
Washington, DC-- Tomorrow at 10:00 am, Harlem resident and army veteran Mark A. Favors will testify before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on the military’s contamination of community drinking water systems surrounding military bases with per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (man-made chemicals known as PFAS).
Mr. Favors’ relatives, including seven military veterans, residing in polluted areas have been contaminated. 16 have been diagnosed with cancer.
This weekend, Canadian pipeline company Enbridge announced that plans for their proposed Line 3 tar sands pipeline have been delayed by a year. The pipeline was originally proposed in 2014 with a target in-service date of late 2017, but has faced significant public opposition since then because of the threat it would pose to critical water resources, Indigenous rights, and the climate.
Washington, DC -- At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday, Congressional Republicans announced the establishment of the bicameral Roosevelt Conservation Caucus. Senators Lindsey Graham (lifetime LCV score of 12%) and Cory Gardner (10%) will lead the caucus in the Senate, with Representatives Elise Stefanik (33%) and Brian Mast (26%) leading in the House. According to its founders, the caucus will not focus on climate change, instead looking at public lands, wildlife, and the expansion and promotion of fossil fuels.