EJToday is SEJ's selection of new and outstanding stories on environmental topics in print and on the air, updated every weekday. SEJ also offers a free e-mailed digest of the day's EJToday postings, called SEJ-beat. SEJ members are subscribed automatically, but may opt out here. Non-members may subscribe here. EJToday is also available via RSS feed. Please see Editorial Guidelines for EJToday content.
Interior Nomination Becomes Embroiled in Fight Over Alaska Refuge
Wash Post, 02/25/2013"Alaska’s Izembek National Wildlife Refuge is a 315,000-acre stretch of eelgrass and tundra pockmarked with lakes and lagoons, a site where the geese called Pacific black brants stop off to feed before they begin their journey to wintering grounds in Mexico."
"Secret Climate Report Calls for Action In SC"
The State, 02/25/2013"A team of state scientists has outlined serious concerns about the damage South Carolina will suffer from climate change – threats that include invading eels, dying salt marshes, flooded homes and increased diseases in the state’s wildlife."
"Sequester Spending Cuts Will Hurt the Environment"
ENS, 02/25/2013"WASHINGTON, DC -- If Congress does not act this coming week, automatic federal spending cuts, called the sequester, will go into effect March 1 that will impact the environment. Funding for parks, energy development, travel, clean air and water, fish and wildlife protection, pollution prevention, and disaster readiness will be cut."
EPA Hit Range After Official Said TX Leaders Too Cozy With Drillers
EnergyWire, 02/25/2013"The former U.S. EPA official who tangled with Texas officials in a drilling contamination case outside Fort Worth said the state's oil and gas regulators were more interested in promoting the industry than policing it."
"Groups Flock To White House To Talk 'Fracking' Rules"
The Hill, 02/22/2013"Environmental advocates and representatives from the oil-and-gas industry are flocking to the White House following the submission of a draft rule that would govern the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing on public lands."
"Obama Settles On EPA, Energy Department Nominees: Source"
Reuters, 02/21/2013"President Barack Obama intends to nominate air quality expert Gina McCarthy to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz to head the Department of Energy as early as this week, according to a source familiar with the process."
"EPA Officials Ignored Engineer's Theory in Range Contamination Case"
EnergyWire, 02/21/2013"A former Texas state oil and gas regulator outlined in 2011 how two Range Resources Corp. wells outside Fort Worth could have leaked natural gas into the water supply of nearby homes."
"Digging for Dark Money"
Columbia Journalism Review, 02/20/2013Exposes by the Guardian and Center for Public Integrity have unravelled parts of a dark network which launders the millions flowing from fossil-fuel interests like the Koch brothers to climate change denial and disinformation outlets. It was documents obtained by scientist Peter Gleick, whose undercover tactics brought criticism from some journalists, that helped bring the story to light.
"Regent Defends Intervening With U. Iowa On Ethanol"
AP, 02/20/2013"IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Regent Bruce Rastetter intervened on behalf of ethanol industry leaders who were upset with a prominent University of Iowa researcher for warning that water-intensive ethanol production was threatening Iowa's water supply, records show."
"High-Stakes Fight Over Soybeans at High Court"
AP, 02/19/2013Today the Supreme Court will hear arguments in a case testing the reach of GMO companies' market power based on intellectual property claims -- and while environment and health are not immediately before the court, a case that could have wide impacts on both.
"Coal: Texas Developer Cancels Power Plant, Blames Obama Climate Push"
Greenwire, 02/19/2013A Texas company quit plans to build a coal-fired power plant -- blaming President Obama's environmental rules, but admitting the low price of natural gas was a key reason.
"EPA Official: Cuts Will Undercut Pollution Forecasts, Waste Cleanups"
AP, 02/19/2013"WASHINGTON -- A top environmental official is warning lawmakers that automatic spending cuts due next month would jeopardize EPA's ability to protect against oil spills, air pollution, and hazardous waste."
North Carolina: "GOP Is Poised To Restructure Coastal Oversight"
Charlotte Observer, 02/19/2013"Republican legislators’ plan to take over key state commissions would remake the Coastal Resources Commission in a way that could strain a decades-long partnership with federal regulators.
At stake is $2.5 million in federal funds the state receives each year to help protect the environment in a federal-state partnership that has afforded North Carolina local control of coastal development permits.
"Keystone XL Protesters Pressure Obama on Climate Change Promise"
Wash Post, 02/18/2013"Event billed as largest climate protest in US history intended as show of force as Obama nears decision on controversial project."
"Secret Funding Helped Build Vast Network of Climate Denial Thinktanks
Guardian, 02/15/2013"Anonymous billionaires donated $120m to more than 100 anti-climate groups working to discredit climate change science."

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