Today, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) ruled that the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on Enbridge’s proposed Line 3 tar sands pipeline will be considered adequate, in spite of its failure to address many environmental concerns and the pipeline’s impact on tribal communities and cultural resources.
Interior Secretary Zinke was on Capitol Hill again today testifying before the House Energy and Natural Resources Committee defending the proposed budget for the Department of the Interior. Sec. Zinke’s answers to Congressional questions largely mirrored those he gave earlier in the week when he blamed the elderly, disabled, veterans, and children for failing to pay for the National Park maintenance backlog, changed his story on opening the country’s coasts to offshore drilling, lectured members he disagreed with, and made clear nothing will be allowed to get in the way of the Trump administration’s vision for the country’s public lands - fossil fuel profits above all else.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order reinstating certificate authorization for the fracked gas Sabal Trail pipeline. This decision effectively means the pipeline can continue operating.
Washington, DC -- Today, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke is facing the House Natural Resources Committee as his list of scandals continues to grow with the breaking news last night that he is using private email to conduct official business.
Washington, DC -- Last night, Politico is reporting that the American Petroleum Institute is holding its board meeting at Trump International Hotel just before its executive committee goes to lobby Donald Trump and his administration. Cabinet officials Rick Perry and Ryan Zinke are slated to speak at the meetings
In response, Sierra Club Resist Campaign Director Maura Cowley released the following statement:
Washington, D.C., -- Yesterday Ryan Zinke blamed veterans, disabled people, “the elderly,” and fourth graders for funding issues in our national parks, telling the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee: "When you give discounted or free passes to elderly, fourth graders, veterans, disabled, and you do it by the carload, there's not a whole lot of people who actually pay at our front door.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, in the wake of the Parkland shooting, students across the country are walking out of class to advocate for gun violence prevention.
Virginia ratepayers could pay as much as $2.3 billion for Dominion’s planned Atlantic Coast Pipeline, according to evidence the State Corporation Commission accepted for consideration after the SCC rejected Dominion’s request to strike the testimony of an expert.
Washington, DC -- Today, Mayor Bowser, following the Council of the District of Columbia’s unanimous support for the legislation, signed the Fair Elections Act of 2017. This bill incentivizes those seeking political office to reject corporate contributions in favor of contributions from District residents by providing a five-to-one match for small individual campaign contributions available only for those only accepting donations from individuals.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that he is severely weakening the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) program for air pollution, which will make it possible for industrial polluters to avoid installing state-of-the-art, cost-effective pollution controls. The Clean Air Act, and EPA’s NSR regulations, require major sources of air pollution, like dirty coal burning power plants, to add modern pollution controls when they undertake projects that produce an increase in air pollution. Pruitt’s announcement today opens a major loophole in those requirements by allowing polluting facilities to claim that planned decreases in pollution will offset any immediate increase in pollution, while abandoning the procedures by which EPA has, in the past, ensured that such claims are accurate and enforceable. The practical result will be an increase in air pollution, with especially harmful impacts in the communities that surround major industrial facilities.