Environment &amp; Climate News

Idaho Phosphate Mine Wins Approval by Bureau of Land Management

October 14, 2019

The Idaho Falls District Office of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the Caldwell Canyon Mine Project, an open pit phosphate mine in Caribou County in the southeastern part of the state.

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EPA Allows Environmental Review of Alaska Pebble Mine

October 11, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rescinded its Obama-era 2014 decision preventing consideration of the Pebble Mine project near Bristol Bay, Alaska, allowing the environmental review process to begin.

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Trump Administration Promotes Species Conservation with New Rules

October 10, 2019

By Daren Bakst

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service released final regulations aimed at improving implementation of the 1973 Endangered Species Act to protect threatened and endangered species while strengthening pr

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EPA to Rescind East Texas Air-Quality Nonattainment Designation

October 10, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposes to reverse the agency’s 2016 designation of parts of five east Texas counties near a large coal-fueled power plant as being in nonattainment for sulfur dioxide levels under the 1970 Clean Air Act.

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Climate Catastrophe Theory Is ‘Hoax,’ Award-Winning Scientist Says

October 9, 2019

By Jay Lehr, H. Sterling Burnett

Beginning in 1980, with the very poorly thought-out Comprehensive Environmental Regulation and Compensation Act legislation, better known as Superfund, environmental zealots took over EPA, and not another useful piece of legislation has passed since.

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Legislative Pulse: Colorado Legislature Overrides Voters’ Oil and Gas Decision

October 8, 2019

By H. Sterling Burnett

New restrictions on oil and gas development in Colorado is a mockery of local control, and will devastate the industry.

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Twenty-Two States, Seven Cities Sue Trump Administration Over Power Plant Rule

October 7, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

A coalition of 22 states and seven cities has filed a federal lawsuit alleging the Trump administration violated the 1970 Clean Air Act when it replaced Obama-era coal-fueled power plant rules with new regulations to curb carbon-dioxide emissions.

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EPA Exceeds President’s Goals for Reducing Regulations

October 2, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

An internal watchdog report shows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has exceeded the president’s regulatory reduction goals, removing more regulations per regulation issued in fiscal year 2017 than any other federal agency.

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Federal Court Trump Administration Ax Obama Era WOTUS Rule

October 2, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

One of the most far-reaching regulatory initiatives ever undertaken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been struck down by a federal court in Georgia and then withdrawn by the Trump administration.

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Trump Administration Rescinds California’s Fuel Economy Waiver

October 1, 2019

By H. Sterling Burnett

The Trump administration has announced regulations withdrawing a waiver that allowed California to set separate standards for greenhouse gases, under which the state set higher fuel economy requirements for cars sold within its borders.

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Trump Administration ESA Reforms Emphasize Species at Most Risk

September 30, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

The Department of the Interior unveiled regulations guiding how the 46-year-old Endangered Species Act will be carried out, aimed at reducing costs and focusing scarce agency resources on recovering species most at risk of disappearing.

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Keystone XL Pipeline Overcomes Last Legal Hurdle in Nebraska

September 30, 2019

A dozen years after it was initially proposed, the Keystone XL Pipeline cleared a major hurdle to its completion as the Nebraska Supreme Court approved its revised path through the state, ending the final Nebraska-based legal challenge to the pipeline.

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D.C. Circuit Court Upholds EPA Ozone Standards

September 26, 2019

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals unanimously rejected challenges filed by industry, some states, and environmental groups to Environmental Protection Agency regulations issued in 2015 tightening the nationwide ozone standard.

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Federal Judge Tosses ‘Right to Wilderness’ Lawsuit

September 26, 2019

By H. Sterling Burnett

A U.S. District Court rejected a lawsuit filed by environmental groups against the federal government claiming its policies allowing fossil fuel development and use violate the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to wilderness unaffected by human activity.

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El Paso Shooter’s Extreme Environmentalism Deserves Condemnation

September 26, 2019

By Gregory Wrightstone

The manifesto the El Paso shooter (who will remain nameless here) posted before his deadly rampage reveals that, along with hatred toward immigrants, he held a radicalized view of humankind’s relationship to nature.

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Washington Governor Inslee Ends Climate-Based Presidential Campaign

September 25, 2019

Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington has dropped out of the Democrat presidential primary race after making climate change the central issue of his campaign.

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Ohio Bans ‘Rights of Ecosystems’ Lawsuits

September 24, 2019

A provision of Ohio’s recently enacted biennial budget bill bars lawsuits filed on behalf of the purported interests or rights of nature.

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Environmental Protection Agency Denies California’s Labelling Requirements for Popular Weed Killer

Law

September 24, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it longer approves warning labels on products containing glyphosate—the main active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup—linking the chemical to cancer.

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Missouri Supreme Court Upholds Farmers’ Expanded Participation on Clean Water Commission

September 23, 2019

The Missouri Supreme Court refused to overturn a law allowing the replacement of representatives from environmental groups on the Missouri Clean Water Commission with representatives from the farming and mining communities.

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Declining Government Support for Electric Vehicles Could Boost Global Oil Demand, Report States

September 19, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

Declining government support for policies promoting electric vehicles, and a slowdown in EV sales, could reinvigorate global oil markets, concludes a recent report by a Washington, D.C.-based firm specializing in global energy forecasts.

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Legislative Pulse: Defending Climate and Energy Realism in Minnesota

September 18, 2019

By H. Sterling Burnett

Minnesota state Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen (R-Glencoe) says energy socialism is just as bad as socialism in any other area of public policy.

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Twenty-Three States Push to Save California’s De Facto National Fuel Efficiency Standards

September 16, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

The governors of 23 U.S. states have joined California in demanding the Trump administration reverse its proposal to withdraw California’s Clean Air Act waiver for automobile emissions.

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Utah Cities Push Development of Next Generation of Nuclear Reactors

September 12, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

A number of cities in and bordering Utah have formed a coalition to purchase nuclear power from a small modular reactor being planned at the Idaho National Laboratory, triggering the next phase in its development.

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North Dakota, Montana Fight Washington State Oil-by-Rail Law

September 10, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

The attorneys general of North Dakota and Montana requested the Trump administration block a new Washington State law imposing tighter restrictions on shipping crude oil by rail in the state.

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Idaho Reforms Laws to Encourage and Protect Mining

September 9, 2019

In an effort to ensure the continued viability and profitability of Idaho’s economically critical mining industry, state lawmakers and policymakers recently enacted the first major changes to the state’s mining law in 50 years.

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Federal Appeals Court Affirms EPA Mining Liability Decision

September 5, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia affirmed a decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency not to impose new national financial assurance requirements on the hardrock mining industry.

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ALEC Rejects Climate Action Resolution

September 4, 2019

By James Taylor

A task force of the American Legislative Exchange Council rejected a proposed resolution calling for the “pursuit of American Clean Energy Policy” at ALEC’s 2019 Annual Meeting, held August 14 through the August 16 in Austin, Texas.

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California’s ‘Green’ Energy Policies Are Driving Residents into Poverty

September 4, 2019

California's energy policies are pushing more of the state's residents into poverty and is contributing to its homelessness crisis.

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USDA, BLM to Move Some Operations to Nation’s Heartland

September 2, 2019

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is moving two of its departments to Kansas City, and the U.S. Department of Interior is relocating the Bureau of Land Management headquarters to Grand Junction, Colorado.

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New Ohio Energy Law Emphasizes Subsidies, Mandates

August 29, 2019

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law a bill that will subsidize some coal, nuclear, and solar power facilities in the state.

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Trump Freezes Fines for Missing Obama-Era Fuel-Efficiency Standards

August 28, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

The Trump administration has decided to freeze the cost of fines automakers must pay for missing increased Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards imposed by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration.

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Feds Approve Billion Dollar Conversion of LNG Plant on Mississippi Coast

August 27, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a plan for Kinder Morgan’s $1.1 billion Gulf LNG liquefied natural gas plant in Pascagoula, Mississippi to begin exporting natural gas upon completion of necessary alterations.

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Pope’s Climate Policies Would Hurt the Ones He Loves

August 27, 2019

By Gregory Wrightstone

Pope Francis' climate proposals would hurt the poor be keeping them in poverty.

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EPA Reforms How it Calculates Cost-Benefit Analyses

August 26, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler issued new instructions for how the agency conducts cost-benefit analyses of environmental regulations.

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Proposed Constitutional Amendment Would Bring Competition to Florida’s Electricity Market

August 26, 2019

A proposed 2020 ballot measure would allow residents in Florida to choose their electricity provider in a competitive market.

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‘Green’ Cities: Higher Costs, Lower Electricity Reliability

August 26, 2019

A number of Texas cities have jumped on the bandwagon of renewable energy initiatives in recent years leading to higher costs and reduced the reliability for their residents.

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Touts Continued Environmental Progress

August 23, 2019

By Bonner R. Cohen

America’s air quality has become the envy of the world, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency states in its annual report on air quality.

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Congress Considers Extending Tax Credit for Expensive Offshore Wind Projects

August 23, 2019

By Kenneth Artz

Two U.S. Senators have introduced a bill extending a 30 percent wind investment tax credit to offshore wind projects that start construction by January 1, 2027 or the year after the United States has reached 3,000 megawatts of new offshore wind capacity.

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Circuit Court Overturns Montana Clean Water Act Conviction

August 22, 2019

A federal court vacated the conviction of a property owner for violations of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.

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