Environment &amp; Climate News

Midwestern Governors Push Major Gas Tax Hikes

May 24, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

Citing pressing transportation needs, three Midwestern governors – two Democrats and one Republican – are calling for significant gas tax hikes in their states.

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Cities Turning to Non-Green Options to Handle Recyclable Material After China Halts Imports

May 22, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

China’s decision ban recyclable waste imports is resulting in some U.S. cities beginning to burn or bury recyclable material rather than pay the higher prices to recycling companies.

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FDA Approves Biotech Firm’s Genetically Modified Salmon Project

May 21, 2019

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has decided to permit Massachusetts biotech firm AquaBounty to begin importing genetically modified Atlantic salmon eggs to be raised at its private, land-based facilities.

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Trump Administration Proposes Major Cuts in Federal Science Programs

May 17, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

Setting up what is certain to be a bruising showdown with Congress over Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 spending, President Donald Trump’s budget proposal recommends significant funding reductions in science programs at a slew of federal agencies.

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Colorado Adopts Strict Anti-Drilling Legislation

May 14, 2019

By Linnea Lueken

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law sweeping oil and gas legislation which that allows imposing greater restrictions on new oil and gas exploration in the state than a proposition voters rejected in a 2018 election referendum.

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Sorry Kids—The Next Energy Alternative Is Not Here Yet

May 13, 2019

With present technology, renewable energy sources can’t replace energy from deep earth minerals and fuels. Global economies increase, not decrease, their use of fossil fuels each year.

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Indiana Utility Asks for Rate Hike to Replace Coal with Renewables

May 9, 2019

By Linnea Lueken

The Northern Indiana Public Service Co. filed a plan with the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to remove coal from its electric power mix by 2028 and replace it primarily with electricity generated by solar power.

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Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Returning Gray Wolf Management to States, Tribes

May 8, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, is proposing to remove gray wolves from protection under the 1973 Endangered Species Act in the lower 48 states.

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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Approves Minnesota Copper Mine

May 8, 2019

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ issued a final wetlands permit to PolyMet Mining, authorizing the company to discharge dredge and fill material into 901 acres, as part of the construction and operation of the NorthMet copper mine.

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Federal Agencies Approve Arizona’s Rosemont Mine Permits

May 6, 2019

Two federal agencies issued permits to allow Hudbay Minerals Inc. to build and operate its proposed Rosemont copper mine in Pima County, Arizona.

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Courts Reject Challenges to EPA Policy on Science Advisory Boards

May 3, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

In two separate cases, federal courts tossed out lawsuits challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s policy aimed at preventing conflicts of interest for people serving on the agency’s scientific advisory boards.

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President Trump Signs EMP Order to Protect Critical Infrastructure

May 2, 2019

By H. Sterling Burnett

President Trump issued an Executive Order directing federal agencies to identify and develop responses to the threat electromagnetic pulses could pose to critical infrastructure.

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North Dakota to Charge Electric Vehicle Owners for Highway Maintenance

May 1, 2019

North Dakota joined 20 other states imposing fees on electric vehicles, on April 11.

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Senate Confirms Bernhardt as Interior Secretary

Transportation

April 30, 2019

By H. Sterling Burnett

The U.S. Senate confirmed David Bernhardt as the 53rd Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior by a vote of 56 to 41.

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Federal Judge Blocks Oil and Gas Leases, Development on Federal Lands in Wyoming

April 30, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras blocked oil and natural gas lease sales proposed by the Obama administration in 2016 for nearly 500 square miles of federal land in Wyoming.

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Trump Acts to Speed Oil and Gas Infrastructure Construction

April 29, 2019

By H. Sterling Burnett

President Donald Trump signed two executive orders to speed construction of multistate pipelines, liquefied natural gas terminals, and cross-border infrastructure projects, to remove key obstacles to interstate commerce.

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California Activists Push for Forcing Insurance Companies to Disclose Fossil Fuel Connections

April 26, 2019

By Arianna Wilkerson

Environmental activist groups have petitioned California’s new insurance commissioner to require insurance companies to publicly disclose their investments in fossil fuel-related companies and any fossil fuel projects they underwrite or insure.

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Renewables Push Undermines Power Grid Serving 65 Million

April 25, 2019

By Bernard (Bud) Weinstein

In recent years, environmental zealots have called for replace coal and nuclear power plants with green energy source, a shortsighted plan that could very well endanger the future of American energy production.

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New Mexico Enacts 100 Percent Renewable Energy Mandate

April 24, 2019

By Tim Benson

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a law requiring 50 percent of the electricity provided by the state’s utilities to be generated by renewable sources by 2030, 80 percent by 2040, and 100 percent by 2050.

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Green New Deal Resolution Unanimously Rejected in Senate

April 24, 2019

By H. Sterling Burnett

The U.S. Senate voted to reject the much-publicized Green New Deal (GND) resolution, authored by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA).

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Environmentalists Are Using Bees for a Steroid-Infused Land Grab

April 18, 2019

By Paul Driessen

The Natural Resources Defense Council sued the U.S. Department of the Interior for declining to designate “critical habitat” for the rusty patched bumblebee, which the Obama administration designated as endangered just before leaving office.

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United States Will Soon Pass Saudi Arabia in Fossil Fuel Exports

April 16, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

The United States will be exporting more oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and gasoline than Saudi Arabia by the end of 2019, which has not occurred since Saudi Arabia began exporting oil in the 1950s.

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Air Emissions, Toxic Releases Reduced, EPA Reports

April 15, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released reports showing air pollution and the amount of toxins released into the environment continue to decline nationwide.

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U.S. Senate Public Lands Bill Would Declare 1.3 Million Acres As Wilderness

April 12, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

The U.S passed sweeping public lands conservation bill that would lock up more than one million acres in California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah as wilderness and impose additional permanent protections on federal lands in Montana and Washington.

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Trump’s Tweets Highlight Climate Contradictions

April 12, 2019

By H. Sterling Burnett

As a polar vortex held much of the nation in its icy grip, with record-low temperatures recorded in many locations, President Donald Trump ridiculed global warming alarmism, highlighting contradictory climate claims.

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Oregon Teens’ State Climate Lawsuit Dismissed

April 11, 2019

A three-judge panel of the Oregon state Court of Appeals dismissed a climate change lawsuit asserting climate change was harming the state’s natural resources and the state government had an obligation to protect them as part of a public trust.

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Proposed New Mexico Environmental Review Act Scuttled After Public Outcry

April 10, 2019

A bill that would have required New Mexico state agencies to expand environmental assessments and public consultations concerning activities on state lands stalled in the state’s House Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee.

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Ballooning Costs, Missed Deadlines Derail California High-Speed Rail Project

April 8, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he is pulling the plug on the state’s high-speed rail project due to massive cost overruns and repeatedly missed deadline.

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Proposed New Mexico Renewable Energy Mandate Could Raise Prices

April 4, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

Legislation introduced in the New Mexico legislature would increase the state’s renewable energy mandate (REM) and provide a consumer-paid financing mechanism for the transition to wind and solar power.

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FERC Streamlines LNG Export Process, Approves New Louisiana Terminal

April 2, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved its first new liquefied natural gas terminal in two years.

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Hawaii Swamped by Carbon-Dioxide Tax Bills

April 2, 2019

Multiple carbon-dioxide tax bills are under consideration in the current session of the Hawaii State Legislature.

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Texas Breaks Crude Oil Production Record

March 29, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

Texas produced 1.54 billion barrels of crude oil in 2018, breaking the previous record of 1.28 billion barrels set in 1973, a new report states.

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Facts and Data Prevail at House Hearing on Oceans and Climate Change

March 28, 2019

By Aaron D. Stover

The U.S. House of Representatives’ Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife held a hearing on ocean health and climate change, moderated by Subcommittee Chair Jared Huffman (D-CA) and Ranking Member Tom McClintock (R-CA).

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Federal Court Rejects Challenge to Mountain Valley Pipeline Approval

March 27, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed all 16 challenges environmental activist groups had filed against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

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Court Rules California’s Carbon-Dioxide Emissions Mandate Constitutional

March 27, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

The Federal Appeals Court dismissed a challenge brought by industry groups to the constitutionality of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), requiring fuel producers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the use of their products.

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EPA’s Chemical Risk Assessments Rely on Flawed Science, Study Finds

March 26, 2019

By Linnea Lueken

A new study concludes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), a program assessing the toxicity of chemicals and any risk from exposure to them, often produces assessments based on flawed research.

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U.S. District Court Dismisses Kids’ Lawsuit Against Trump Climate Policies

March 25, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

A federal district judge in Philadelphia dismissed a lawsuit by two Pennsylvania boys and an environmental group challenging the Trump administration’s rollback of some Obama-era climate regulations.

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Bill Would Place 400,000 Acres of Colorado Off-Limits to Energy Production

March 25, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

A bill under consideration in Congress would re-designate more than 400,000 acres of existing federal land in Colorado in ways that would limit access, mining, and oil and gas production.

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Hyping Climate Fears to Push Socialism

March 22, 2019

By Jon Basil Utley

We should not embrace energy socialism, which calls for the replacing of cheap, reliable fossil fuels with expensive, intermittent wind and solar power.

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