Media

Attacking Our Air

The Senate defeated today the latest attempt to attack the EPA and stop it from doing its job to protect public health.

Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe’s resolution (S.J. Res 37) would have overturned EPA’s finalized Mercury and Air Toxics standard, which puts long overdue (set in motion by Congress in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments) pollution controls on power plants – the largest U.S. emitters of mercury, a potent neurotoxin. According to the EPA, the ...More

Pillaging Our Public Lands

This week the House of Representatives will vote on a broad assault on America's lands and wildlife. The Conservation and Economic Growth Act, a package of fourteen bills, includes provisions that would block or roll back key conservation laws on federal lands, gut environmental review, and privatize public lands in Alaska.

A key part of the bill is the Natural Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, known as the “border bill,” which would gut environmental safeguards ...More

NYT: Romney’s Energy Etch A Sketch

Saturday’s New York Times editorial bashed Mitt Romney’s flip-flopping over energy policy, saying:

The man who once worried about climate-driven sea-level rise in poor countries like Bangladesh now says things like “My view is that we don’t know what’s causing climate change on this planet,” as if mainstream science were wrong and humans had nothing to do with it. …

On oil and gas, Mr. Romney is wholly in the drill now, drill everywhere mode championed by ...More

A (Twitter)Storm is Brewing

People around the world are calling on their leaders to end fossil fuel subsidies – and here’s how you can take part.

Today, advocacy groups and activists will participate in a worldwide 24-hour Twitterstorm, posting tweets and Facebook posts to demand that world leaders end fossil fuel subsidies at the upcoming Rio+20 summit.

Despite the G20 pledge in 2009 to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies, countries continue to give a total of $1 trillion to fossil fuel companies ...More

Green Roundup: June 15, 2012

The EPA has proposed new national air quality standards that would reduce levels of fine-particle soot by about 17 percent, a move that could help deliver major health benefits by the end of the decade. [Washington Post]

The Big Oil billionaire Koch brothers are increasingly resembling their own political party, with millions invested in conservative races and bids to take over groups like the Cato Institute and Americans for Limited Government. Their upcoming convention in San ...More

The Great Energy Divide

Republicans and Democrats are overwhelmingly divided on energy issues, according to a new survey.

Majorities in both parties say energy is an important issue, but are divided on the causes of the country’s energy problems and possible solutions. While Republicans tend to push for more oil drilling, Democrats are more inclined to back conservation and alternative energy sources like wind and solar power.

75 percent of Democrats feel that industry does not do enough to support clean ...More

Green Roundup: June 14, 2012

As wildfires rage in Colorado and New Mexico, scientists say climate change may spark more frequent and intense wildfires in the future. [NPR]

The Western Energy Alliance, a trade association of oil and gas companies, released a report yesterday slamming the new BLM fracking rules. But the report is based on unsubstantiated assumptions and junk science that often relies on anecdotes from unidentified industry employees and contractors. [NRDC]

Oil companies benefit from taxpayers’ money, profits from products ...More

Green Roundup: June 13, 2012

Thanks to falling prices and federal policies, U.S. solar grew 85 percent in the first quarter, and the domestic market for solar panels is likely to double in 2012. [Bloomberg]

The world’s economies are forecasted to spend two trillion dollars on renewables between now and 2020, says a new Pew study. As the global race toward clean energy accelerates, it’s important that the U.S. not get left behind. [NRDC]

America is shoveling coal to the sidelines: the ...More