Washington, D.C., -- Today, the Department of Interior announced that despite the government shutdown, national parks would remain open to visitors through the weekend without staffing. Because of the lack of staffing, early reports indicate that parks will likely be open without the ability to collect admissions fees, bathrooms, campgrounds, trash collection or other basic services.
In response, Sierra Club Associate Director of the Outdoors Campaign, Jackie Ostfeld, released the following statement:
SNL News reported Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) member Richard Glick said FERC’s process for approving gas pipelines needs to be balanced because it’s currently too favorable toward the companies building the pipeline.
This morning, in a hearing before the House Natural Resources Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Acting Director Walter Cruickshank testified that, despite Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s earlier claims, Florida’s waters would in fact be considered in the administration’s offshore drilling plan.
Seattle, WA -- Today, Kinder Morgan announced that it will delay the expansion of its Trans Mountain pipeline for a third time. The announcement comes as the company continues to face stiff opposition to the project and has failed to obtain the necessary permits.
In response, Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels DIrector Kelly Martin released the following statement:
Today, Canadian pipeline company TransCanada made an attempt to claim that the Keystone XL pipeline is moving forward by announcing it has sufficient commercial support for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. However, TransCanada has still not committed to building the pipeline, and many obstacles remain for the controversial project.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today it was announced that Toyota Motor Corp. has ended talks with the Environmental Protection Agency to partner on an operational review at the agency. In December, during EPA administrator Scott Pruitt’s congressional hearing, Pruitt announced the EPA will be partnering with Toyota on an operational review. At the time, the Sierra Club condemned the partnership.
This is the third time Dynegy is seeking revisions to the Multi Pollutant Standard. The latest proposed changes come after eight months of backdoor talks between Dynegy and Gov. Rauner’s Illinois EPA, whose Director came under fire in the Chicago Tribune last week for his close ties to the company, highlighted by a lawsuit about Illinois’ failure to ensure conflict of interest safeguards are in place. Wednesday’s hearing is the first time the public will have the opportunity to weigh in on the proposal in front of the Illinois Pollution Control Board.
Hundreds attend the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) hearing at Salina Elementary School on Dearborn Industrial Generation’s (DIG) request for a new permit to increase the capacity at its fracked gas plant by adding another gas-burning unit. The Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation, NAACP, impacted residents from the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, Sierra Club, and State Representative Abdullah Hammoud held a press conference ahead of the hearing highlighting points against the increase.
Washington, DC -- Once again, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is having a disastrous week.
Trump Administration attacks vulnerable wildlife again./