July 2011

Republicans Seek Big Cuts in Environmental Rules

July 28th, 2011
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By Leslie Kaufman, The New York Times

With the nation’s attention diverted by the drama over the debt ceiling, Republicans in the House of Representatives are loading up an appropriations bill with 39 ways— and counting — to significantly curtail environmental regulation.

Climate Change Brings Water Worries To U.S. Cities, NRDC Report

July 28th, 2011
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By Lynne Peeples, The Huffington Post

You might say that the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) had good timing with their Tuesday release of a new report on water-related impacts of climate change in U.S. cities. Extreme heat had just scorched much of the country, and the South remained under extreme drought. Perhaps Americans were ready to listen?

Funding for preservation drying up

July 25th, 2011
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By Karissa Minn, The Salisbury Post

As rural land disappears in Rowan County, local preservationists are working hard to save it.

But while opportunities to preserve that land are flooding in, the funding to take advantage of them has run dry.

The economic downturn is to blame for both trends, said Jason Walser, executive director of The LandTrust for Central North Carolina.

The politics of clean water turn cloudy

July 21st, 2011
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By Tim Gestwicki, from The News & Observer, Point of View

RALEIGH-- To most North Carolinians, it may seem intuitive that protecting access to clean water should be a priority for our elected leaders. Unfortunately, members of Congress have demonstrated repeatedly that this is not so.

Health for Sale: House EPA Bill Allows Pollution and Supporters Get Big Oil Donations

July 20th, 2011
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By Daniel J. Weiss, Stewart Boss, Center for American Progress

The House Appropriations Committee voted July 12 on a strict party line to pass the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency appropriations bill for fiscal year 2012. The bill makes severe cuts in programs vital to protect public health from air and water pollution. And it includes a number of provisions added in the back rooms that would block EPA from reducing air and water pollution while benefiting oil, coal, and utility companies.

State revises bypass finance plan

July 18th, 2011
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by Adam Bell, The Charlotte Observer

The Monroe Connector project could tap bonds tied to federal gas tax.

The state is revamping its financing plan for the Monroe Connector-Bypass, a move it hopes will save $90 million.

But work on the Charlotte area's first modern toll road remains on hold until a federal judge decides a challenge from environmental groups trying to stop the bypass. A decision is expected in late summer or the fall.

House Votes to Roll Back Clean Water Act

July 14th, 2011
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by, Senior Attorney, NRDC; from The Huffington Post

In a 239 to 184 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives voted today to roll back key provisions of the federal Clean Water Act by passing H.R. 2018, formally known as the "Clean Water Cooperative Federalism Act of 2011." We call it the "Dirty Water Act."

U.S. House votes to end EPA water pollution oversight

July 14th, 2011
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by Ken Ward Jr., Charleston Gazette

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Fueled by coal industry complaints about the Obama administration's crackdown on mountaintop removal, legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday that would strip federal regulators of their authority to make state agencies properly police water pollution.

House members approved the legislation by a vote of 239 to 184.

A Times Editorial: The enemies of clean water

July 13th, 2011
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Editorial/St. Petersburg Times

U.S. Rep. John Mica, the Winter Park Republican whose district hugs the east coast of Florida and stretches from near Jacksonville to the Orlando area, should appreciate the benefits of clean water. Largely nestled between the St. Johns River and the beaches of the Atlantic, Mica's district includes or abuts waterways that help drive Florida's economy.

WV Coal Association Sends Out Thanks

July 12th, 2011
in

Yikes! This is what we are up against. This article appeared on a "Friends of coal" website!

Please contact your legislators and tell them you are not in favor of the coal industry's devastation of our environment!

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House Subcommittee Spending Bill Guts Major Environmental Protections

July 7th, 2011
in

 

  WASHINGTON—(ENEWSPF)--July 7 - The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations released the first draft of a spending bill for the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, the Forest Service and other federal agencies that guts key environmental protections and plays politics with our health.

An Assault on Clean Water and Democracy

July 6th, 2011
in

, President, Waterkeeper Alliance; Professor, Pace University
from the HuffPost Green

Like the 104th Congress when Republicans controlled the House of Representatives, the House today is swinging a sledgehammer at a cornerstone of contemporary American democracy and undermining the most extraordinary body of environmental law in the world.