Environmental Politics

Interior Plan To Fund New Projects By Drilling Met With Skepticism

"A new Interior Department plan to build roads in national parks, fix visitors centers and complete other infrastructure projects using money raised by drilling on public lands is facing skepticism from members of Congress and a former senior department official."

Source: The Hill, 02/20/2018

"Interior To Hold Largest Oil And Gas Lease Sale in US History"

"The Interior Department is planning to hold the largest sale of oil and gas leases in the country's history.

The plans, announced Friday, would auction off 77.3 million acres of offshore waters to drilling, covering coastal waters in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.

The auction will take place March 21.

Areas protected under a 2006 congressional moratorium, which bans drilling within 125 miles of the Florida coast until 2022, will be excluded from the lease."

Source: The Hill, 02/19/2018

U.S. Environmental Penalties Nearly Halve In Trump's First Year: Report

"The Environmental Protection Agency levied around half the average number of penalties against polluters in the first year of the Trump administration as in the same period of the past three presidential administrations, according to a report released Thursday."

Source: Reuters, 02/16/2018

"Top EPA Science Adviser Has History Of Questioning Pollution Research"

"In 2015, the top toxicologist for the state of Texas, Michael Honeycutt, was interviewed on Houston Public Radio. At the time, the Environmental Protection Agency was pushing for tighter limits on ozone, a type of air pollution that is hazardous for people with asthma and other respiratory diseases."

Source: NPR, 02/16/2018

Coalition Warns Federal Funding Cuts Would Harm Great Lakes

"Although it’s expected that President Trump’s plan to gut Great Lakes programs will be “dead on arrival” in Congress again, a major coalition of environmental groups is prepared to show how such draconian cuts could severely hurt public health and the economy — not just the environment."

Source: Toledo Blade, 02/16/2018

"How $225,000 Can Help Secure a Pollution Loophole at Trump’s E.P.A."

"The gravel parking lot at the Fitzgerald family’s truck dealership here in central Tennessee was packed last week with shiny new Peterbilt and Freightliner trucks, as well as a steady stream of buyers from across the country. But there is something unusual about the big rigs sold by the Fitzgeralds: They are equipped with rebuilt diesel engines that do not need to comply with rules on modern emissions controls."

Source: NY Times, 02/16/2018

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