California just became the latest state to move toward curbing neurotoxic neonicotinoid insecticides, or “neonics.” AB 2146, introduced by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan and co-sponsored by NRDC, Environment California, and California Native Plant Society, would ban nearly all non-agricultural uses of these bee-killing pesticides–like those on lawns, gardens, and golf courses. The bill follows the lead […]
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Posted inEnviro
Biden EPA Delays Trump-Era Lead and Copper Rule Again
WASHINGTON, June 16, 2021 – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today pushed back the effective date for implementation of the Trump Administration’s federal drinking water regulation, the Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, until December 2021. The much-ballyhooed Trump-era Rule, which left millions of people exposed to toxic lead in drinking water, in many cases for another 33 years or more, […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Sujatha Bergen and Susan Casey-Lefkowitz: The Days of Fossil Fuel Freebies Are Over
This Earth Day, millions of people around the globe are taking a really important action: calling for a rapid phaseout of fossil fuels to help us reduce climate pollution and transition instead to a clean energy economy. To do that, we need to take back trillions in government subsidies and other giveaways that boost the oil, […]
Posted inEnviro
EPA Withdraws Trump-era Permit for Virgin Islands Oil Refinery
WASHINGTON, March 25, 2021— The Environmental Protection Agency today withdrew a federal permit for the controversial Limetree Bay refinery on the Caribbean island of St. Croix. The following is a statement from Jennifer Valiulis, Executive Director, St. Croix Environmental Association (SEA): “We are grateful to the Biden/Harris administration and the EPA for this significant first […]
Posted inEnviro
SCOTUS Refuses Case on President’s Power to Create Monuments
WASHINGTON, March 22, 2021 – The Supreme Court today declined to hear a case challenging the legality of establishing marine national monuments under the Antiquities Act. In a statement respecting the denial of certiorari, Chief Justice Roberts indicated that while the case potentially posed interesting legal questions, it did not do so in a way that […]
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Mitchell Bernard: The Case for Impeachment
February 8, 2021 – On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate steps away from the business of legislating to focus on defending American democracy, and senators become judge and jury in the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump. The House has voted to impeach Trump for inciting the deadly January 6 insurrection that sacked the U.S. Capitol, set the Congress […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Gina McCarthy: Setting the EPA Back on Track
November 30, 2020 – By a margin of more than 6.2 million votes, Americans elected Joe Biden president, largely on his promise to help unite the country and restore the public’s faith in our democracy. It’s a tall order, but he can make a good start on both by setting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) back […]
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In Major Reversal, Trump Administration Denies Permit for Pebble Mine
WASHINGTON (Nov. 25, 2020) – The Army Corps of Engineers today denied a permit for Pebble Mine, the massive gold and copper mine proposed for construction at the headwaters of Bristol Bay in southeastern Alaska. The following is a statement from Joel Reynolds, senior attorney with the Nature Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council: “Amen to […]
Posted inEnviro
Like a Zombie, Reckless Pebble Mine Terrorizes Bristol Bay
July 14, 2020 – Widely considered dead, a massive mining scheme proposed for Bristol Bay headwaters by underfunded Canadian company is likely to be permitted this summer by Army Corps of Engineers despite unsolved technical, financial, and environmental flaws, deep opposition in Alaska, and blatant racial and social injustice. “You mean the Pebble Mine isn’t […]
Posted inEnviro
Amid National Emergency, Trump to Strip Ocean Protections
WASHINGTON, June 5, 2020 – President Trump is expected to issue an executive order this afternoon to strip essential protections from a highly protected ocean area — the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument — by lifting all restrictions on commercial fishing. Designated in 2016, it is the only monument in the U.S. Atlantic Ocean. Brad Sewell, […]
Posted inUS
Detroit Residents Face Water Shut-offs, But Indebted Coke & Pepsi’s Taps Never Run Dry
WASHINGTON. April 23, 2020 – An exposé of Detroit’s unequal application of its water shutoffs policy is strengthening the call for Congress to enact a national moratorium on water shutoffs. According to a Consumer Reports (CR) story published today, Detroit allows bottling companies Coke and Pepsi to amass tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid water bills but […]
Posted inUS
Trump Administration Moves to Open Arctic Refuge the Very Day Lawmakers Voted to Protect It
WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2019 – The Bureau of Land Management today took a key step to open the Arctic Refuge to polluters, releasing its final environmental impact statement for oil and gas leasing. The move, which comes the very day lawmakers voted to permanently protect the Refuge, is a key step in opening the area to […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Joel Reynolds: Pebble Mine: The Industry’s Burden of Irresponsible Mining
July 8, 2019 – Former Rio Tinto mine permitting expert calls Army Corps of Engineers environmental review of embattled Bristol Bay mine “fatally flawed,” citing numerous “omissions, deficiencies and errors” and failure to meet “standard industry practice.” Don’t let anyone tell you that opposition to the reckless Pebble Mine is anti-mining or anti-copper. Society needs […]
Posted inEnviro
House Approves Appropriations Amendments to Block Expansion of Offshore Drilling, Exploration
WASHINGTON, D.C. June 21, 2019 – The House of Representatives voted to adopt amendments that would block the expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling and exploration off hundreds of miles of our nation’s coasts. The amendments are attached to two bills: the FY20 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (H.R. 3055) and […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Franz Matzner: Arctic Drilling: Folly Wrapped in Rhetoric
Oct. 26, 2018 – Secretary Zinke this week—with great fanfare—approved a drilling operation in Arctic waters just off the coast of Alaska in the Beaufort sea. This is, no doubt, a troubling development. The Arctic is no place for oil and gas drilling, and this site is not far from one of America’s last wild […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Alexandra Adams: Ongoing Gulf Spill Refutes Claim U.S. Could Expand Drilling Safely
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2018 – A damaged Taylor Energy oil site 12 miles off the Louisiana coast has been leaking as much as 29,400 gallons of toxic crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico every single day since 2004, according to a shocking new Washington Post report. Amid this revelation, the Trump administration is expected, […]
Posted inUS
Supreme Court Whiffs on Climate Change Fight
WASHINGTON, Oct 9, 2018 — The Supreme Court today let stand a lower court ruling that allows the continued use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), a powerful class of climate-damaging chemicals, in millions of consumer products ranging from air conditioners to aerosol sprays. The following is a statement by David Doniger, an attorney and Senior Strategic Director […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Taryn Kiekow Heimer: Poll Finds Overwhelming Local Opposition to the Pebble Mine
July 20, 2018 – A new poll found that an overwhelming majority of Bristol Bay residents continue to oppose the Pebble Mine and believe it poses a threat to the region’s commercial, sports, and subsistence fisheries. Salmon are the economic and cultural linchpin of the region, generating $1.5-billion annually, supporting 14,000 jobs, and providing the lifeblood […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Ana Unruh Cohen: House Science Committee Majority Membership Flunks Science
May 18, 2018 – Ana Unruh Cohen is Managing Director, Government Affairs, Natural Resources Defense Council. Sixty years ago, amid U.S. fears that the Soviet Union would win the Cold War race for mastery of outer space, the House of Representatives created the committee that now oversees science, technology and space. It’s hard to imagine more […]
Posted inOp-Ed
Rhea Suh: Trump’s Budget Is a Blueprint for Destruction
February 15, 2018 – It may sound like green eyeshades stuff, but the massive budget proposal the White House sends up to Congress each February is a kind of road map to our future. It’s the president’s plan for spending taxpayer dollars to advance his priorities and goals. President Trump’s proposal landed with a thud Monday […]