Monday, February 29, 2016

What a Supreme Court ruling on mercury standards will tell us

<> What a Supreme Court ruling on mercury standards will tell us - Weeks after the United States Supreme Court froze Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations regarding greenhouse gas output, the tribunal may block a rule aimed at cutting down power plants' toxic emissions.

Friday, February 26, 2016

EPA Proposes Revisions to its Risk Management Program

<> EPA Proposes Revisions to its Risk Management Program - U.S. EPA is proposing to revise its Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations to improve chemical process safety, assist local emergency authorities in planning for and responding to accidents, and improve public awareness of chemical hazards at regulated sources.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Inhofe Statement on Bipartisan Solution for Flint

<> Inhofe Statement on Bipartisan Solution for Flint - U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, today (Feb 24) put forward a fully-funded solution to assist the people of Flint, Mich., as well as communities across the nation, facing challenges from aging water infrastructure. The legislation is co-authored with Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and cosponsored by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Rob Portman (R-OH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Gary Peters (D-MI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), and Richard Burr (R-NC). -- legislation filed as an amendment to S.2012, Energy Modernization Act; and, requested to consider the legislation as an amendment to H.R. 4470, the House-passed bill to aid Flint.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

34 Senators, 171 Representatives File Amicus Brief, Urge Circuit Court to Block EPA Attempt to Transform the Nation's Electricity Sector

<> 34 Senators, 171 Representatives File Amicus Brief, Urge Circuit Court to Block EPA Attempt to Transform the Nation's Electricity Sector - Led by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-OK), House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI.) and House Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-KY), 34 Senators and 171 House Members filed an amicus brief today in the case of State of West Virginia, et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Seas Are Rising at Fastest Rate in Last 28 Centuries

<> Seas Are Rising at Fastest Rate in Last 28 Centuries - The worsening of tidal flooding in American coastal communities is largely a consequence of greenhouse gases from human activity, and the problem will grow far worse in coming decades, scientists reported Monday.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Clean Power Plan Opponents File Briefs with the D.C. Circuit Court

<> Clean Power Plan Opponents File Briefs with the D.C. Circuit Court – Access all briefs filed to date in the case which is scheduled for oral argument on June 2, 2016 on the Environmental Defense Fund website

Friday, February 19, 2016

Energy Department Announces Locations of Consent-Based Nuclear Waste Siting Initiative's Eight Public Meetings

<> Energy Department Announces Locations of Consent-Based Nuclear Waste Siting Initiative's Eight Public Meetings - These eight public meetings are part of the Department's effort to seek input from the public on designing a fair and effective process for siting the facilities needed to manage the nation's spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste -- Chicago; Atlanta; Boise; Boston; Denver; Minneapolis; Sacramento; Tempe

Thursday, February 18, 2016

President Obama's Supreme Court Nomination

<> President Obama's Supreme Court Nomination - The White House has set up a website to discuss issues and facts regarding President Obama's Constitutional responsibility to appoint a replacement resulting from the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia -- among the facts: Six Justices have been confirmed in a presidential election year since 1900; Every nominee has received a vote within 125 days of nomination; the Senate has more than 300 days to consider and confirm a nominee

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Obama Will Nominate a Justice That is Indisputably Qualified

<> Obama Will Nominate a Justice That is Indisputably Qualified - "The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now.  When there is a vacancy on the Supreme Court, the President of the United States is to nominate someone. . . I'm going to present somebody who indisputably is qualified for the seat and any fair-minded person -- even somebody who disagreed with my politics -- would say would serve with honor and integrity on the Court. [statement found at beginning of Q&A following the President's announcement]

  • U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell - [statement on the day Justice Antonin Scalia died] "The American people‎ should have a voice in the selection of their next Supreme Court Justice. Therefore, this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President."

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

What Antonin Scalia's death means for Obama's climate plans

<> What Antonin Scalia's death means for Obama's climate plans - President Obama's plan to tackle global warming is in far less legal peril than it was just three days ago. . . everything changed with Scalia's passing and the Supreme Court split 4-4 between conservatives and liberals (assuming Republicans refuse to confirm a new Obama nominee). The plan's fate now rests with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit. And that's good news for Obama.

Friday, February 12, 2016

BTLaw Says Supreme Court CPP Decision Creates Additional Uncertainty for Industry

<> BTLaw Says Supreme Court CPP Decision Creates Additional Uncertainty for Industry - In an Environmental Law Alert regarding the U.S. Supreme Court stay of the Clean Power Plan rules, Barnes & Thornburg LLP indicates that analysis suggests that a final judgment may not be reached until sometime in 2017, assuming the need for Supreme Court review.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

White House Response to Supreme Court's CPP Decision

<> White House Response to Supreme Court's CPP Decision - "We disagree with the Supreme Court's decision to stay the Clean Power Plan while litigation proceeds. . . EPA has indicated it will work with states that choose to continue plan development [and] the Administration will continue to take aggressive steps to make forward progress to reduce carbon emissions."

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

SCOTUS: Clean Power Plan Carbon Pollution Controls On Hold

<> SCOTUS: Clean Power Plan Carbon Pollution Controls On Hold - Dividing five to four, the Supreme Court on Tuesday evening ordered the Obama administration not to take any steps to carry out its "Clean Power Plan," a move that may stall the plan until after the president leaves office next January -- the order — issued in identical form in individual responses to five separate challenges — will spare the operators of coal-fired power plants from having to do anything to begin planning for a shift to energy sources that the government considers to be cleaner.

Tuesday, February 09, 2016

The President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2017

<> The President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2017 - The Budget shows that the President and the Administration remain focused on meeting our greatest challenges – including accelerating the pace of innovation to tackle climate change and find new treatments for devastating diseases; giving everyone a fair shot at opportunity and economic security; and advancing our national security and global leadership – not only for the year ahead, but for decades to come. [includes links to all details]

Monday, February 08, 2016

POTUS: Doubling Our Clean Energy Funding to Address the Challenge of Climate Change

<> POTUS Weekly Address: Doubling Our Clean Energy Funding to Address the Challenge of Climate Change - In this week's address, the President discussed climate change and how the most ambitious climate agreement in history is creating private sector partnerships that are advancing the latest technologies in clean power.

Friday, February 05, 2016

Flint water crisis & the Senate Energy Bill

<> Charles Fishman: Lessons from Flint water crisis extend around the world - "The first thing to say about Flint is this is disaster that was completely avoidable. . . a failure of water system officials and people whose job it was to protect the water system and the public. . . So lesson one is that we need to take our responsibility seriously and we need to hold people accountable for their responsibilities."

<> Senate energy bill blocked in fight over Flint water funds - Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a comprehensive energy bill after majority Republicans balked over hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency federal aid to Flint, Michigan, to fix and replace the city's lead-contaminated pipes.

Thursday, February 04, 2016

Where blame leads so far in Flint, MI water crisis

<> Where blame leads so far in Flint, MI water crisis - Bridge Magazine's Michigan Truth Squad publishes a more than 30,000-word timeline of the Flint debacle, the most comprehensive published, in one place, to date. [See previous WIMS coverage of the hearing]

Wednesday, February 03, 2016

Congressional Hearing to examine the ongoing situation in Flint, MI

<> Congressional Hearing to examine the ongoing situation in Flint, MI – Includes testimony from U.S. EPA; Michigan DEQ; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Flint and U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee [includes webcast of hearing]

<> FBI joins Flint drinking water investigation - The FBI is now investigating the contamination of Flint's drinking water, a man-made public health catastrophe, which has left an unknown number of Flint children and other residents poisoned by lead and resulted in state and federal emergency declarations.