EPA

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Budget Cuts at EPA Hit States Hard

Governments cut projects, environmental law enforcement

(Newser) - In December, Republicans lauded a $1.6 billion EPA budget cut as an effort to shrink federal government—but it’s the states that are feeling much of the squeeze, reports the Washington Post . That’s because most EPA money is channeled through the states, whose governments now have millions...

Union: Boycott Florida, Ohio, and Wisconsin

That is, if you can afford to vacation at all

(Newser) - A Chicago-based federal employees union is urging its members to put off their vacations, stop going out to dinner, and otherwise tighten their belts in the face of a two-year pay freeze and Washington’s general newfound zeal for spending cuts. And it’s adding that if they are going...

Supreme Court Skeptical About Climate Suit

Justices likely to throw out case brought by states against power plants

(Newser) - The Supreme Court looks like it will throw out a major environmental case against coal-fired power plants, reports the Los Angeles Times . The US solicitor general and several justices held that such matters fall under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Protection Agency, and shouldn’t be decided by judges. The...

Emails Show BP Trying to Tamper With Oil Spill Studies

Greenpeace digs dirt with Freedom of Information Act request

(Newser) - In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, BP created a $500 million fund for independent research into the disaster. But in emails obtained by Greenpeace under the Freedom of Information Act, BP officials talk openly about how they can manipulate that research, the Guardian reports. “Can we...

Some Smoke, Mirrors in That $38B in Budget Cuts

Dem. priorities take the brunt of cuts, but also many accounting tricks

(Newser) - Sure, Congress is patting itself on the back over $38 billion in spending cuts —but many of those savings aren't what they seem, reports the Washington Post . Mandatory programs are protected by law, so $17.8 billion of those cuts will go right back up next year. The $4....

EPA Scales Back Rules on Air Pollution

Makes it easier for incinerators to meet federal standards

(Newser) - Faced with stiff opposition in Congress and a court-ordered deadline, the EPA today said it will make it much cheaper for companies to reduce toxic air pollution from industrial boilers and incinerators. In an overhaul of air pollution regulations, the EPA said it found ways to control pollution at more...

Koch Brothers Wield Influence in New Congress

Change in House Energy and Commerce Committee 'like night and day'

(Newser) - Billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch have been thrust into the spotlight as of late —and though they once ran outside the typical Washington political circles, their increasing influence is now becoming more clear. That influence is most obvious in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to which Koch...

Gingrich: Let's Scrap the EPA
 Gingrich: Let's Scrap the EPA 
Jan 26, 2011 10:48 AM CST

Gingrich: Let's Scrap the EPA

He's no fan of the 'tool of ideologues'

(Newser) - The EPA is "a tool of ideologues to push an anti-jobs agenda" and it should be replaced, Newt Gingrich writes on his website. The potential 2012 presidential candidate called yesterday for scrapping the Environmental Protection Agency and creating a new agency that would streamline environmental regulations, with the goal...

Top Energy Adviser Leaving White House

Carol Browner departing with goals unmet

(Newser) - Energy czar Carol Browner is on her way out of the Obama administration. White House officials have confirmed that Browner, who is Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change, will be leaving within weeks, Politico reports. Her main mission, passage of a comprehensive climate change bill, now appears...

EPA Yanks Permit for Vast Mountaintop Mine

It uses Clean Water Act to kill West Virginia plan

(Newser) - Environmentalists won a big victory today in the debate over mountaintop mining: The EPA took the rare step of revoking a permit for a massive site in West Virginia, ruling that it would foul the water for residents in that region of Appalachia, reports the Charleston Gazette . Mountaintop mining involves...

Erin Brockovich Carcinogen Runs Rampant in US Tap Water

Industrial pollutant hexavalent chromium found in 31 of 35 cities surveyed

(Newser) - Those who thought Erin Brockovich was just a decent movie might want to check their drinking water: An environmental group has found the probable carcinogen featured in the film in the tap water of 31 of 35 US cities it analyzed—the first such study of hexavalent chromium to be...

Fracking Isn't Just a Battlestar Galactica Curse

Method of extracting natural gas may pose health risks

(Newser) - Fracking is short for hydraulic fracturing, a process used to extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation found beneath parts of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. It involves forcing water, sand, and some not so nice chemicals under high pressure into the ground. Problem is that some...

Oil Spill Drowning Tea Party
 Oil Spill Drowning Tea Party 
Analysis
Jun 10, 2010 2:05 PM CDT

Oil Spill Drowning Tea Party

Suddenly active government doesn't look so bad

(Newser) - The oil spill has certainly been bad for Barack Obama, but it’s been almost as bad for his most vocal opponents. The Tea Party has been almost completely bumped from the cable news airwaves they once dominated, according to the media analysts at TVEyes. Worse, the catastrophe has provided...

EPA to Amish: Put a Lid on Your Cow Poop

Feds worried Amish polluting Chesapeake with manure runoff

(Newser) - Think the Amish, with their simple, low-consumption ways, are paragons of environment-friendly living? Think again. The EPA plans to crack down on the Amish, because their cows are generating tons of manure that wash into the Chesapeake Bay, the New York Times reports. Lancaster County generates about 61 million pounds...

EPA Considers Cutting All Contracts With BP

Move would cost the company billions of dollars

(Newser) - News to cheer those who say the government has gone too easy on BP: The EPA is considering scrapping its federal contracts, a move that would cost the company billions, reports Pro Publica . It's far from a done deal, and any such action would depend on the results of the...

EPA to BP: Switch to Less Toxic Dispersant—Now

Company given 72 hours to make the switch

(Newser) - In a move that suggests the dispersants being dumped on the Gulf oil spill may not be so Earth-friendly, the EPA last night gave BP 24 hours to select a less toxic chemical and 72 hours to make the switch. The company, which has used 600,000 gallons on the...

EPA Rules May End Mountaintop Mining

New pollution standard aims at destructive coal practice

(Newser) - New pollution restrictions put in place today by the EPA could all but end the controversial practice of mountaintop mining in Appalachia. Environmentalists hate the method, in which miners blow off the top of a mountain, extract the coal, and dump the extra rock and soil into the valley below....

States Beg EPA to Delay Emission Rules

Regulators say they can't afford to enforce new standards

(Newser) - State regulators are pleading with the Obama administration to hold off on new rules curbing industrial greenhouse gas emissions, fretting that they're too costly for tapped-out budgets. Regulators from Kansas, Pennsylvania, Florida, California, and South Carolina have all chimed in, with varying levels of urgency, the Wall Street Journal reports....

EPA to Toughen Smog Rules
 EPA to Toughen Smog Rules  
Jan 7, 2010 2:15 PM CST

EPA to Toughen Smog Rules

Measure would be costly but yield huge health savings

(Newser) - The EPA wants to ramp up smog standards in a significant way from the Bush administration. Assuming today's proposal goes through after a 60-day period for public comment, the agency projects the new standards would prevent 12,000 premature deaths and yield huge savings in health costs. The rules limit...

GOP Opposes Consumer Agency as 'New EPA'

Senate Repubs resist independent agency as a business-killer

(Newser) - Get ready for a bruising showdown over the consumer protection agency the Democrats are trying to create: GOP senators are pledging to kill a standalone body, which is critical to the Dems' plan. A strong, independent CFPA is anathema, says Utah Republican Robert Bennett: "Can you say EPA?" Bennett...

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