Media

End Big Oil Handouts

The Senate is expected to vote for end to Big Oil tax breaks this upcoming Monday, following the release of a House budget and tax plan continuing the annual $4 billion for the next ten years. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has filed for a procedural vote for Repeal of Big Oil Tax Subsidies Act of 2012 (S 2204) for late Monday afternoon. The bill also contains credit extensions for renewable energy ...More

Americans Want Clean Air

According to a bipartisan survey recently released by the American Lung Association, Americans understand that public health and safety can coexist with a strong economy. Conducted by Democratic polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and Republican firm Perception Insight, the survey asked voters their opinions on a number of air pollution issues, including measures like the EPA’s Mercury and Toxics Standards (MATS), currently under attack by polluters’ congressional allies. Strong majorities supported stricter ...More

Path for the Already Prosperous

Contrary to the claims of “new direction” by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, the narrowly House-approved budget and tax plan continues to pander to Big Oil.

The budget reprises the annual $4 billion in tax breaks for wealthy oil companies, while slashing 80 percent of investments for clean energy over the next ten years. These cuts include a $3 billion cut in clean energy programs in 2013 alone –a billion dollars less than the tax ...More

LCV Statement on Obama Cushing Speech

LCV President Gene Karpinski issued the following statement on President Obama’s stop today in Cushing, Oklahoma, to discuss expediting the southern segment of the Keystone XL pipeline:

"Today's ill-advised event in Cushing stands in stark contrast to many of President Obama's laudatory efforts to reduce our dangerous dependence on oil. Instead of expediting the southern segment of the risky Keystone XL pipeline and promoting dirty energy, the Obama administration should continue its important work to cut ...More

Gas Prices and Drilling: A Fairy Tale

Contrary to the claims of Republican presidential candidates, “Drill Here, Drill Now,” doesn’t mean we’ll “Pay Less.” A fact check released Wednesday morning by the Associated Press reports “no statistical correlation” between domestic oil production and gas prices based on 36 years of data.

The AP analysis used figures from the Energy Department from 1976 until now, comparing gas prices adjusted for inflation with oil production and oil demand. Basic statistical correlation showed no ...More

Tammy Duckworth Wins Democratic Nomination (IL-8)

Tammy Duckworth, endorsed by the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, grabbed a decisive victory in the Democratic primary for the 8th Congressional District of Illinois.

A combat veteran of the Iraq war, Duckworth said in a statement on her LCV endorsement, “The links between environmental issues and public health, the long-lasting effects of toxics exposure on our Veterans, and the economic development risks of climate change and poor management of natural resources are topics ...More

Inhofe Dismisses Public Health

In today’s Senate hearing on the EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) from coal- and oil-fired power plants, Senator Inhofe (R-OK) claimed, “This rule isn’t about public health.” This claim came behind public support for the standards from the American Nurses Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Lung Association, the American Public Health Association and Physicians for Social Responsibility. Coal- and oil-fired power plants are the largest producers of mercury pollution, ...More

Death By Air Pollution

In a year of presidential candidates promising to slash funding for the EPA, or abolish it outright, the OECD has released its “Environmental Outlook to 2050,” showing the deadly consequences of our increasingly hands-off approach to clean air.

According to the OECD’s report, air pollution is expected to kill more than 6 million people per year by 2050, outstripping malaria, unsafe drinking water, and poor sanitation, even in wealthier countries like the U.S.

The EPA is ...More