White House Homeland Security Advisory Tom Bossert, when pressed on the increased severity and frequency of Hurricanes by a White House reporter, just told the American people that “We continue to take the climate change seriously, not the cause of it, but the things that we observe.” This statement stands in stark contrasts to the actual actions taken by this administration, including repeated efforts to defund climate change research, censorship of the term “climate change” throughout the federal government, the appointment of climate deniers to the highest posts in the Administration, and the elimination of President Obama’s flood risk rule just weeks before Hurricane Harvey hit.
Yesterday, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in a letter to a federal regulator, announced its intention to “vacate and remand” their approval of the certification for the proposed fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline.
As California electric utilities ramp up efforts to stifle clean energy by attacking SB100, a coalition of California mayors, city councilors, and community leaders today delivered a letter to California Assemblymembers to issue their support for moving California to 100% clean energy by 2045. A copy of the letter can be found here.
Late yesterday, President Trump announced his nomination of Bill Wehrum, a lobbyist and former George W. Bush-era EPA official, to lead the EPA's air and radiation office. Wehrum was nominated for this position once before, in 2006, and rejected by the Senate.
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey’s devastation along the Gulf Coast and Hurricane Irma’s havoc in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean and pending threats in Florida, Scott Pruitt has eliminated the EPA’s climate adaptation office, according to a spokesperson and as reported by Politico Pro.
For six years, National Drive Electric Week has inspired drivers to ditch the gas station. The seventh annual National Drive Electric Week (NDEW), which starts tomorrow, September 9, will boast more events than ever before.
Today, Lewis Reed, President of the Board of Aldermen for the City of St. Louis introduced a resolution calling for the City to pursue a transition to 100 percent clean and renewable energy. If approved, St. Louis will join over 40 cities across the county that have committed to move to 100 percent clean and renewable energy like wind and solar.
Today, the Senate appropriations committee voted for a budget amendment to reinstate $10 million in funding for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the international body that oversees the Paris Climate Agreement. The committee rejected an amendment to provide $750 million to the Green Climate Fund, which would provide assistance for countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis.
An economic analysis released today by Synapse Energy Economics found that CPS Energy has likely been losing money by operating its outdated Spruce 1 and Spruce 2 coal-burning units at the Calaveras power plant over the past several years and would likely continue to do so into the future.
Today, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a petition for review of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) July 12 decision to unlawfully delay an Obama Administration rule that increased penalties for automakers that don’t meet the fuel economy standards.