Environmental Politics

The Obama White House issued a strong statement Wednesday opposing a bill by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) that would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating the disposal of coal ash. A 2008 failure of a TVA coal-ash in Kingston, Tennessee, caused major property and environmental damage. EPA administrator Lisa Jackson took office vowing to regulate coal-ash pollution, but has delayed action under White House and industry pressure.

"A nationwide poll conducted by Hart Research and GS Strategy Group, sponsored by Ceres .... found -- like so many polls before it -- that the public overwhelmingly supports clean air protections across demographic and party lines."

"When President Obama retreated from a tougher stance on smog last month, his Environmental Protection Agency chief had formally concluded that the existing standard endangered thousands of Americans, including children and people with respiratory ailments."

"The email from the American Chemistry Council took Gretchen Lee Salter's breath away. The ACC email that arrived Friday afternoon said there's no reason to worry about bisphenol-A (BPA) in baby bottles and children's sippy cups because the controversial plastic additive is no longer used in those products in the United States."

"The conservative nonprofit Americans for Prosperity unleashed a volley of ads aimed at Democrats in last year's midterm elections, but it recently reported to the IRS that it was not active in political campaign activities."

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"A subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives today considered a bill that would set new restrictions on the Equal Access to Justice Act, which allows nonprofit groups to recover attorneys fees in cases where they prove in court that the federal government is not following the law."

"The controversial proposed path of the TransCanada Keystone XL oil pipeline across Nebraska is unlikely to change, company officials said Tuesday."

"The State Department assigned an important environmental impact study of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to a company with financial ties to the pipeline operator, flouting the intent of a federal law meant to ensure an impartial environmental analysis of major projects."

To fill a seat on the state wildlife commission, Florida Republican Governor Rick Scott passed over aspirants with relevant experience and credentials and appointed a paving contractor with a record of environmental infractions.

"MONUMENT, Colo. -- The 50,000 drivers who cruise daily along Interstate 25 between Denver and Colorado Springs drive through ranch and farm land marked by dramatic buttes and the presence of wild animals, a vista that might have been very different but for a little-known federal program. "The Land and Water Conservation Fund, which Congress created in 1965, helped pay for this open space, along with large swaths of land in other areas across the country. But there is a fight looming in Washington as Congress plans to drastically cut the program’s budget, and President Obama, who had accepted cuts in the past, appears ready to oppose them."