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Kansas Legislature Passes Coal Plant Bill
The Kansas state legislature today gave final passage to a bill authorizing massive expansion of the Sunflower coal-fired power plant — but there is unexpected good news in the vote … it’s 10 votes short of being veto-proof in the House. This means that the promised veto from Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is more likely than…
Read MoreOn the Right Path to Roadless
Two million acres of new wilderness, miles of new scenic rivers, the withdrawal of land in the Wyoming Range and elsewhere, all signed into law by President Obama (it still feels really good to type that) just in time for my birthday. The bill, a so-called omnibus, was a patchwork of nearly 170 separate bills,…
Read MorePart 3: TVA Has Its Say At Coal Ash Hearing
In the final witness panel, Tom Kilgore, president and CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority, said that they have posted information on their website. But as mentioned earlier by Harriman resident Sarah McCoin, many of the residents simply don’t have ready access to the internet and to TVA’s website. Much like if a tree falls…
Read MorePart 2: Report From Coal Ash Hearing in Congress
After a break…the hearing resumed with testimony from Renee Victoria Hoyos, executive director of the Tennessee Clean Water Network, and from Dr. Avner Vengosh, professor of earth and ocean sciences at Duke University. During questions from members of the committee (specifically Rep. Johnson), regarding particulate matter pollution, Dr. Vengosh said: "Inhalation of ash would definitely…
Read MoreReport on Today's Congress Hearing on Coal Ash Spill
Today’s congressional hearing on the Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash spill from last December in Harriman, TN, started out with opening remarks from Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) who said that it’s been "nearly a decade" since this committee held oversight hearings on the Tennessee Valley Authority. She also said the committee maybe plans to…
Read MoreCoal Ash Flood Still a Mess 100 Days Later
You can do a lot in 100 days. But apparently if you’re the Tennessee Valley Authority and you spilled a billion gallons of coal ash into the Emory River and surrounding communities, cleaning up your mess isn’t one of them. You’ll recall that just three days before Christmas in 2008, a coal ash dump broke,…
Read MoreColorado Passes Nation's Strongest Oil & Gas Drilling Rules
The Colorado Senate has passed a package of regulations on oil and gas drilling that increases protections for drinking water, wildlife and natural resources. The rules, which will be signed by Gov. Bill Ritter in the next few days, are the strongest, most comprehensive regulations in the nation. A key provision—and the most contentious—will require…
Read MoreCongress Crowns "The King" With Wilderness Status
A couple of weeks ago we jumped the gun and announced that Mineral King, a lovely high-elevation valley in the southern Sierra Nevada in California, would be added to the National Wilderness System along with around 170 other areas totalling about two million acres. Last minute parliamentary tricks in the House kept it from happening…
Read MoreMountaintop Removal is Slowed – But Far from Stopped
UPDATE: There was a lot of confusion and misinterpretation about Tuesday’s announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency that it was reviewing mountaintop removal mining permits to assess their potential impact on the waterways and people of Appalachia. Only two permits have been questioned. Dozens are under review. And the EPA is signalling that many of…
Read MoreEPA Reverses Course on Greenhouse Gases
Today, the Environmental Protection Agency took a giant step away from the path it was on under Bush by moving a step closer to finding that carbon dioxide from major global warming polluters threatens our health and well being. The EPA proposal to the White House could result in national limits on carbon dioxide and…
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