WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Less than 24 hours after Donald Trump proclaimed that he had “ended the war on American energy,” the Washington Post reported Trump will be asking for a 72 percent budget cut for clean energy and energy efficiency programs. At the same time, notorious climate denier and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s home state of Oklahoma has now become the number two state for wind power in the country. Pruitt has previously backed Trump’s budgets that contain cuts to both the EPA and clean energy research.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a request from pipeline builders and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to take another look at the consequences of a case that established downstream greenhouse gas emissions as a crucial component of analyzing the impacts of gas pipelines.
Represented by Trustees for Alaska, Sierra Club and other conservation groups today challenged Interior Secretary Zinke’s recent approval of a land exchange to facilitate road construction through wilderness lands in the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Zinke’s approval ignores deep flaws in the road building plan, including its exorbitant cost, high winter use risks, and detrimental impacts on the wildlife of the refuge and the Alaska Native subsistence it supports.
The Office of Budget and Management recklessly suspended the implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2015 Clean Water Rule today, delaying it by at least two years. The Clean Water Rule, also known as the “Waters of the United States Rule”, provides vital clean water protections against dangerous pollution contaminating America’s waterways and drinking water supplies.
Today, at the West Virginia Mining Symposium, S&P Global reported that a Department of Energy official told the crowd that "I'm not a researcher, I'm not a scientist, I'm an advocate for the coal industry."
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, it was announced that Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, Brenda Fitzgerald resigned due to a scandal over her investments with tobacco, food and drug companies while she was serving as director. According to the Washington Post, these “complex financial interests” repeatedly forced her to recuse herself from the agency's activities and kept her from testifying before lawmakers on public health issues.
Washington, DC -- Testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday, Scott Pruitt was confronted over his past comments calling Donald Trump “dangerous” and saying that Trump would take “unapologetic steps to use executive power to confront Congress in a way that is truly unconstitutional.” At that same hearing, Pruitt suggested he may attempt to to undermine EPA's Endangerment Finding, disregarding the Supreme Court’s ruling that makes clear that carbon pollution is covered by the Clean Air Act and requires action from the EPA.
Noble County, OH -- Early this morning, the Tallgrass Seneca Lateral pipeline exploded. There were no injuries or deaths as a result of the pipeline, and five fire station crews were able to successfully extinguish the fire.
Washington, DC -- Tonight, Donald Trump delivered his first State of the Union speech.
In response, Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement:
“There is nothing Presidential about a speech and an Administration that embody, at their core, a profound attack on the truth, our health, our families, and our planet.
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.