Environmental Politics

"Free Speech Case Springs From Fracking Dispute"

"Steve Lipsky’s tainted water well had already stirred national debate about the impacts of oil and gas production. Now it stars in a free speech dispute that has landed in Texas’ highest court – the biggest test of a state law meant to curb attempts to stifle public protest."

Source: Texas Tribune, 09/10/2014

"House Votes To Block EPA Water Rules"

"WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled House on Tuesday approved a bill to block the Obama administration from implementing a rule that asserts regulatory authority over many of the nation's streams and wetlands — an action that critics call a classic Washington overreach.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule that it says will clarify which streams and waterways are shielded from development under the Clean Water Act, an issue that remains in dispute even after two U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

Source: AP, 09/10/2014

Report: Koch Founded Anti-Enviro Group To Protect Oil Industry Handouts

Faceless on Facebook, a shadowy but aggressive anti-environmental propaganda group called the Institute for Energy Research turns out, documents reveal, to be founded and funded by oil billionaire Charles Koch. It's mission: preserve tax breaks for big oil.

Source: Salon, 09/09/2014

"BP Lashes Out at Journalists and 'Opportunistic' Environmentalists"

"NEW ORLEANS -- With the fourth anniversary of the busted well's final sealing coming up in a couple weeks, BP has been pushing back aggressively against the company's critics. On Wednesday night—just hours before the court's ruling—Geoff Morrell, the company's vice president of US communications, spoke in New Orleans at the Society of Environmental Journalists conference, and blamed the media and activists for BP's rough ride."

Source: Mother Jones, 09/05/2014

"Ethanol's Next Generation Powers Up Amid Resistance"

"Wednesday is biofuel's big moment: The first of three commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants comes online in Iowa. It took years of tricky engineering to get to this point. But that may prove the easy part, for the fuel's promise as a climate solution hinges heavily on federal policy."

Source: Daily Climate, 09/04/2014

"White House Won't Use NEPA Effectively on Climate And Clean Energy"

"The White House won’t use the law on federal environmental impacts assessments as an effective tool for executive action on climate and clean energy projects. The Council on Environmental Quality has let four years go by without acting on proposed guidance to federal agencies on permitting of energy projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, rejecting appeals to take stronger action and leaving the playing field tilted in favor of the fossil fuel industry."

Source: Climate Science Watch, 09/03/2014

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