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Arctic Alarm – Time To Agree On Environmental Standards
Russia is moving ahead with plans to drill in the Arctic (with BP at its side, no less). This is a clear wake-up call: Arctic basin countries need to create an agreement on international environmental standards for the Arctic. Because oil exploration exposes the Arctic to spills that cross artificial boundaries on a map, international…
Read MoreFriday Finds: BPA's Bearded Ladies
EU moves forward on chemical regs while U.S. gets bearded females The European Union recently announced that it will ban six toxic substances under its Registration, Evaluation, Authorization & Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) program, reports Chemical & Engineering News. The landmark move, which includes phasing out three plastic softening chemicals and a flame retardant, stands…
Read MoreToxic Air Pollution from Industrial Boilers to Get EPA Scrutiny
The EPA, today issued its final standard to protect Americans from the toxic air pollution emitted by industrial facilities like chemical plants, refineries and paper mills
Read MoreTr-Ash Talk: House Broken
Early Saturday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives approved an amendment to the House budget bill that had nothing to do with trimming the federal deficit, but everything to do with sweetening the bottom line of the likes of Duke Energy, AEP, Ameren and Southern Company. The House passed this amendment at about two in…
Read MoreMonday Reads: The Wildlife Meets Music Edition
News headlines last week prominently featured both music (the Grammy Awards rolled out their red carpet) and the environment (the GOP’s proposed spending legislation steamrolled through the House, nearly crushed under the weight of riders and amendments seeking to rollback many environmental and public health gains of the past several years). What readers may not…
Read MoreHouse Approves Anti-Environment Spending Bill
 It’s a shame that it took the House days and many late night and early morning hours to come up with a budget plan like this. And during the wee hours of 4:35 a.m. the final roll call counted a vote of 235 to 189. And just like that our elected leaders eliminated safeguards for…
Read MoreCongress v. The Environment: The House Is On Fire
As I write this, members of the House of Representatives continue to debate and move their way through votes on hundreds of amendments to the chamber’s government spending bill. The voting and debate has been a marathon process, stretching from morning through late at night for the last three days, and looks to carry on…
Read MoreLetter and Op-Ed Take House to Task For Environmental Assault
This month, Earthjustice endured many attacks on clean air, including efforts to undo air protections that would slash mercury and other air pollution from cement kilns. In January Rep. John Carter (R-TX) began his protracted assault, starting with a resolution under the Congressional Review Act to kill these important safeguards. Last night as the House…
Read MoreHouse Votes to Undo Cement Kiln Protections
Here is a quick update on the spending bill nonsense taking place in the U.S. House of Representatives: Last night, as House leaders continued their marathon vote of their budget bill, they voted to dismantle a crucial set of air rules that would save up to 2,500 lives and slash mercury and other air pollution…
Read MoreChevron Must Pay $8 Billion For Despoiling Amazon in Ecuador
On Monday, a court in Ecuador told Chevron it owes $8 billion for environmental contamination in the Amazon. This is Ecuador, where oil companies wield economic power and political influence. Yet, this didn’t cloud the court’s independent eye when faced with the facts of uncovered toxic waste pits in the pristine Amazon. This is Chevron,…
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