WIMS Daily Environmental HotSheet, January 21, 2015 - National / International News

WIMS REPORTS EACH DAY ON National/International environment, energy & climate change news, along with all U.S. Appeals Courts' environmental decisions, important Federal Registers announcemsnts, Great Lakes news, detailed environmental happenings in Michigan and complete Michigan environmental legislative tracking. HERE'S today's complete National/International News section. For a free trial or to order (click here).

 

National / International News

<> ". . .no challenge -- no challenge -- poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change. . ." – Remarks by the President in State of the Union Address, January 20, 2015: "let's set our sights higher than a single oil pipeline. Let's pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan that could create more than 30 times as many jobs per year"  Watch: President Obama's 2015 State of the Union - "A brighter future is ours to write. Let's begin this new chapter -- together -- and let's start the work right now." Republicans' Responses Take Shots At Obamacare, Push Keystone XL - Joni Ernst, who in 2014 became the first woman elected to the Senate from Iowa, offered the Republican response to the State of the Union

<> House & Senate Bipartisan Infrastructure Bills - President Obama: "So let's set our sights higher than a single oil pipeline. Let's pass a bipartisan infrastructure plan. . ." Delaney and Fitzpatrick Reintroduce Partnership to Build America Act for New Congress H.R.413 Senator Blunt, Bipartisan Group Urge President To Prioritize Job-Creating Infrastructure & Corporate Tax Solution

<> SOTU: A Missed Opportunity for Bipartisan, Constructive Engagement - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the President's State of the Union last night: "Last night, the American people heard two very different addresses. "One was focused on the middle class, and how Washington can work together in a serious way for better jobs, higher wages, and more opportunity. . ." Upton Responds to State of the Union Address - U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) issued the following statement this evening following President Obama's State of the Union address. . . Boxer Statement on President's State of the Union Address - U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, released the following statement. . .

<> API highlights gaps in President Obama's remarks about oil and natural gas - President Obama's remarks about oil and natural gas in his 2015 State of the Union address fell short of acknowledging the true impact of our energy renaissance on the U.S. economy, said the American Petroleum Institute's President and CEO Jack Gerard. . . President is Right to Focus on Infrastructure Jobs, Not Keystone XL Pipeline - WASHINGTON (January 20, 2015) – The following is a statement from Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council. . .

<> New clean energy investment surges 12% in 2014 - New investment in the global clean energy sector totalled $67.9 billion in Q4.14, a 4% increase on the corresponding quarter in 2013 ($65.2 billion). More significantly total investment for CY2014 increased 12% year-on-year to $274.2 billion, the highest annual investment volume since 2011.

<> Old ice in Arctic vanishingly rare - Decades ago, the majority of the Arctic's winter ice pack was made up of thick, perennial ice. Today, very old ice is extremely rare.

<> Rep. Israel Calls for Study on Health Risks of Synthetic Fields and Playgrounds - Steve Israel (D-NY) joined with local stakeholders to call on U.S. EPA to conduct a comprehensive analysis of health risks associated with turf fields and playgrounds that contain recycled tire material known as "tire crumb." EPA website: The Use of Recycled Tire Materials on Playgrounds & Artificial Turf Fields Environment and Human Health, Inc.website indicates ground-up rubber tires used as garden mulch and playground mulch remain a concern

<> Electronic Recyclers International Partners with United Nations University, US EPA and Basel Convention for Person in Port Project - The project focuses on identifying the types and amounts of e-waste imported, its functional status, how it is packaged, labeled and transported, its origin (exporting countries), and what will become of it once it arrives in Nigeria. Solving the E-Waste Problem Initiative (Step)

<> Melting Glaciers Increase the Flow of Carbon to Downstream Ecosystems – USGS reports that melting glaciers are not just impacting sea level, they are also affecting the flow of organic carbon to the world's oceans, according to new research that provides the first ever global-scale estimates for the storage and release of organic carbon from glaciers.

<> Senate Republicans Block Markey Amendment to Keep Keystone Oil, Gasoline Here for American Consumers, Security - After years of the oil industry claiming building Keystone XL would increase energy security, and after months of Senate Republicans promising an open amendment process in the U.S. Senate, Senate Republican leaders today blocked a vote on an amendment offered by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) to keep the Canadian tar sands oil that would be transported through Keystone and the refined gasoline, diesel and other fuels produced from that oil, here in America for our consumers. Access Senate Floor actions on S.1 - Keystone XL Pipeline Act