The federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report in December that takes a hard look at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) energy efficiency efforts and capital expenditure planning. The report recommends that (1) TVA complete its energy efficiency potential study and use that to inform its future energy efficiency efforts, and (2) that the [...]
Earlier today, the U.S. Senate solidly rejected an effort to place the recently finalized Cross-State Air Pollution Rule on ice. By a vote of 56 to 41, Senators defeated a resolution offered by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R) that sought to block implementation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new Cross-State Air Pollution Rule. Starting [...]
The following is a post written by Professor Rena Steinzor and originally published yesterday on the Center for Progressive Reform Blog. As Prof. Steinzor notes, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to ignore the lessons of the Kingston coal ash disaster and to pull the rug out from under the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to [...]
The White House took a strong stand for the environment yesterday, issuing a statement against a proposed bill currently looming in Congress that would undermine the Environmental Protection Agency’s efforts to adopt strong safeguards for coal ash management. In that statement the Administration specifically identified the 2008 Kingston disaster as a reminder of why strong [...]
When Texas Governor Rick Perry (R) tossed his hat in the ring seeking the GOP presidential nomination he made quite a splash. During his first week on the campaign trail, Perry shared his thoughts on evolution vs. creationism, called Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernake’s financial strategy ‘treasonous‘ and made it clear he’s skeptical of climate [...]
Two years ago, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Congress’ first-ever climate legislation to reduce carbon pollution by implementing a market-based trading mechanism known as “cap and trade.” Despite the support of the President and a majority of American people, this climate policy became hopelessly stalled in the U.S. Senate and today we seem further [...]
“One cool judgment is worth a thousand hasty councils. The thing is to supply light and not heat.” – Woodrow Wilson The past couple of weeks have seen heat grip the nation’s capital both literally and in debate. Unbelievably – and despite growing economic uncertainty, a mounting debt crisis and multiple overseas military operations – [...]
This week I spent time in the Florida Keys SCUBA diving the coral reefs. As I glided over Sombrero Reef near Marathon, marveling at the biologically rich rainbow of tropical sea life, a sad thought filled my mind. Would my youngest son Warren or my grandchildren ever get to experience this magic of Earth’s diversity? Are [...]
Earlier this year in the State of the Union, President Obama implored Congress to “eliminate the billions in taxpayer dollars we currently give to oil companies,” noting that “they’re doing just fine on their own.” Congress has now made two half-hearted attempts to end these taxpayer-funded subsidies to large oil companies. Last night, United States [...]
The 1 year anniversary of the nation’s worst oil spill was observed just two weeks ago but little has been done to improve offshore drilling safety measures to ensure another accident of similar magnitude does not happen again. Nevertheless, the U.S. House of Representatives just passed legislation introduced by Rep. Doc Hastings to speed up [...]
