Melissa Schober
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Melissa Schober
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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will be taking public comment on pollution prevention activities ahead of its September 3-4 Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) meeting. Continue reading EPA taking comments on pollution prevention
Although the U.S. is responding to the worsening global food crisis via emergency food aid programs, some international agencies are concluding that biofuel production is to blame.
The Guardian, a UK newspaper, obtained a copy of a World Bank report on the effect of biofuels on food prices. According to the newspaper, the report was held in order to prevent any discomfort to President Bush ahead of the G8 summit.
Despite a Supreme Court decision and a near-miss on a contempt of Congress citation, the Environmental Protection Agency has decided to thumb its nose at, oh, everyone by continuing to delay rule-making on greenhouse gas emissions.
Rather than following the decision, or heeding repeated warning from Congress (notably the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming), Administrator Stephen Johnson issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR). In this case, the issuance amounts to the EPA fiddling while Rome burns.
And as if that weren't enough, the ANPR – some 580 pages – is accompanied by numerous comments urging the government to NOT regulation carbon dioxide and other gases via the Clean Air Act.
Continue reading EPA to everyone: Nah nah nah, you can't make me
As lawmakers ease back into work after the July 4 recess, they'll be considering a couple of bills of interest to the green community:
As predicted in an earlier post, the Senate is slated to take up S. 3036, America's Climate Security Act, this week. The Senate will vote this evening on a cloture motion to close debate and proceed to a vote on the measure; the bill's supporters are confident they have the 60 votes needed to pass the motion.
This week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted, 10-9, to approve S. 2555, a bill that would require the EPA allow states to set stricter-than-the-national emission limits. The vote was mostly on party lines with two exceptions -- outgoing Sen. John Warner (R-VA) voted for it; Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE) voted against it.
Today, the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming will hold a hearing examining the Bush administration's energy policy. The sole witness is Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman. The hearing will focus on the administration's strategic petroleum reserve policies, as well as its support for tax credits for oil and gas companies.Continue reading EPA administrator likely to be found in contempt of Congress
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is hearing testimony from executives at BP America, Shell Oil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon Mobil on the "skyrocketing price of oil."Continue reading Senate committee hearings on oil prices, green collar jobs
Last week, the House Transportation Committee passed the Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act (HR 6052). At a time of record high gas prices – Hartford and Chicago are in the $4 gallon range with the national average not far behind – the bill would authorize $1.7 billion in grant funding for public transit.
The bill recognizes that some 37 million metric tones of carbon dioxide are saved annually by the 10.3 billion public transit trips Americans took in 2007. And, as a daily public transit rider myself, I appreciate the estimated annual cost-savings of $6,251 (as per the American Public Transportation Association).
Continue reading Money forthcoming for public transit. Maybe.
Last week, the International Center for Technology Assessment and a coalition of environmental and public health groups, including the the Center for Food Safety, Greenpeace, and Consumers Union, filed a citizen petition asking that the EPA regulate nanosilver as a pesticide under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act .Continue reading Citizen petition for nanotech regulation filed
The House and Senate are just about finished with conference negotiations over the reauthorization of the farm bill (HR 2419). The farm bill is sprawling, $570 billion piece of legislation, containing provisions on everything from Food Stamps and WIC to crop subsidies to biofuels to drought and flood aid.
A silent tsunami which knows no borders sweeping the world.Continue reading US Responds to Worsening Global Food Crisis
America's Climate Security Act (S. 2191) is supposed to be coming to the floor of the Senate sometime in early June.
So, it appears that Sen. McCain isn't alone in his need for an Econ 101 refresher. Continue reading McCain not alone in need for econ 101 lesson
Presidential candidate John McCain is calling for a Memorial Day-to-Labor Day moratorium on collecting the 18.4 cent-a-gallon federal gasoline tax and 24.4 cent-a-gallon federal diesel tax.
Yes, gasoline is very expensive. The price for one barrel of light, sweet crude hit $114.08 on April 15. The national average for a gallon of gasoline is $3.386; diesel is $4.119 per gallon. And yes, prices will increase as more refineries move to summer-blend gasoline, a lower evaporation formula that causes less air pollution (for more on blended gasoline, check out this Slate article.)
But reducing the cost of gasoline by reducing or eliminating the federal tax is a phenomenally bad idea.
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