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The Latest by Raviya Ismail

Press Secretary

Raviya was a press secretary at Earthjustice in the Washington, D.C. office from 2008 to 2014, working on issues including federal rulemakings, energy efficiency laws and coal ash pollution.

May 11, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Drumbeat to Release Coal Ash Rule

By Raviya Ismail  /  Washington, D.C. Office

Another week, another voice calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to release federal coal ash rules. The drumbeat is getting louder, although it feels like the calls are falling on deaf ears. In this editorial by the Knoxville News Sentinel, the Tennessee paper says the EPA’s announcement that the rule might be delayed leaves …

May 4, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Another Lo-o-o-ng Delay

By Raviya Ismail  /  Washington, D.C. Office

As we wait for federal standards to regulate coal ash, it seems that some states are following suit with delays on their standards as well. In Albany, the Environmental Conservation Commission announced plans to “carefully” examine an already long-delayed proposal to ban coal ash altogether (the federal proposal would regulate it as a hazardous waste) …

April 27, 2011

U.S. EPA Releases Clean Water Act Guidance

By Raviya Ismail  /  Washington, D.C. Office

On Wednesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a new guidance that will restore protections to waterways that are currently the dumping grounds for industrial polluters. The “Clean Water Framework” is a huge deal for the millions of Americans who depend on this water for drinking. The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, but …

April 21, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Mercury In the Showerhead

By Raviya Ismail  /  Washington, D.C. Office

Coal ash strikes again. In this video by Sam Despeaux and Carly Calhoun titled “TVA At the Crossroads” (also check out “American Nightmare”), Lynn and Jean Gibson speak about living near a coal ash dump in Benton County, Tennessee. The area is some four hours from the site of the December 2008 TVA spill/disaster in …

April 12, 2011

Anti-Environment Foot Comes Down In Congress

By Raviya Ismail  /  Washington, D.C. Office

It’s been a harrowing past few weeks (to say the least). The first jolt came Feb. 19, when House leaders approved a spending plan that slashed an array of environmental safeguards and pretty much gave polluter industries a free pass to continue using our air and water as their dumping grounds. Amid the back and …

April 7, 2011

Court Supports Less Sulfur Dioxide In Our Air

By Raviya Ismail  /  Rocky Mountain Office

Amid the wrangling back and forth in Congress over our clean air protections, there is some good news for our air. This morning the DC Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an effort from industry groups and allied states  to suspend an EPA rule adopted last June that will limit dangerous sulfur dioxide emissions from power …

March 23, 2011

Tr-Ash Talk: Put Down that Glass!

By Raviya Ismail  /  Washington, D.C. Office

A while back, we documented the threat of hexavalent chromium in drinking water and the fact that it leaches from coal ash disposal sites across the country. Sadly hexavalent chromium and coal ash share a headline again in this story out of Madison, Wisconsin. The article details the results of a study that found hexavalent …

March 11, 2011

And…The Nonsense Continues in the House

By Raviya Ismail  /  Washington, D.C. Office

The questions came from all sides, but one in particular stood out: “How would HR 1 affect the EPA’s ability to protect the public?” asked Representative Henry Waxman, (D-Calif.) During testimony before the U.S. House Energy and Power Subcommittee on the EPA’s budget, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson answered Waxman’s question: “We understand cuts have to …

March 1, 2011

EPA On Clean Air Act: 160,000 lives saved last year

By Raviya Ismail  /  Washington, D.C. Office

Despite the House GOP majority attempting to quash our clean air, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is serious about our right to breathe. Today, the agency released a report that champions the Clean Air Act as a lifesaver, health protector – and economic bolster. The report analyzed effects of the Clean Air Act on the …

February 25, 2011

Thanking House Leaders Who Stood For Clean Air

By Raviya Ismail  /  Washington, D.C. Office

  This week has been a welcome reprieve from the madness in the House of Representatives last week. Among the many environmental amendments passed in the House budget plan is one that blocks regulations of mercury and other air pollution emanating from cement plants. Despite the calm after the storm, we’ve got continued movement from …