Blog
The FDA ban on trans fats is good for U.S. consumers — but could be very bad for rain forests
This week the Food and Drug Administration bowed to a years-long effort by consumer groups to ban artificial trans fats from the U.S. food supply. The agency ruled that partially hydrogenated oils, the source of trans fats, can no longer be “generally recognized as safe,” and gave the food… Read More
Obamas environmental allies not buying his trade pitch on climate
President Obama has made environmental safeguards one of the selling points of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But environmental groups aren’t buying. The influential environmental groups – a key part of the effort to rally the Democratic base against fast-track bills for trade talks – believe that a new trade pact could… Read More
Bill targets ‘loopholes’ for fracking pollution
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) has introduced a bill to close what he characterized as loopholes for pollution that the oil and natural gas industry uses for hydraulic fracturing. The changes enacted in 1987 and 2005 create exemptions for fracking from various provisions of the Clean Water Act, a controversial oil… Read More
Anti-Climate Provision Gives Democrats Fresh Reason To Oppose Obama On Trade
A measure that would excuse the U.S. from any trade deal obligations to address climate change adds a fresh wrinkle to the tense debate in the House over President Barack Obama’s trade agenda. House Democrats opposing legislation that would grant Obama fast-track authority to funnel trade deals through Congress are… Read More
The carbon elephant in the room
Unwilling to debate opponents like Senator Elizabeth Warren on the substance of trade deals, President Obama has reduced his push to get trade promotion authority to morally righteous declarations and to flying members of Congress around on Air Force One. Critics, he laments, are quite simply “wrong.” When… Read More
Friends of the Earth calls for House to reject Trade Promotion Authority
WASHINGTON, D.C. – At the urging of President Obama, Speaker John Boehner and Congressman Paul Ryan are asking the U.S. House of Representatives to approve “Fast Track” or trade promotion authority legislation today. If approved, Fast Track would expedite congressional approval of two massive trade deals without amendment or proper… Read More
EPA to Take First Step Toward Regulating U.S. Aircraft Emissions
The Obama administration will take a first step on Wednesday to regulate emissions from airplanes, expanding its reach beyond automobiles and power plants in a campaign to fight climate change. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will propose a finding, subject to public comment, that the burning of jet fuel poses… Read More
Diablo Canyon safety will be focus of 3 upcoming meetings
Safety issues at Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant will be the subject of three Nuclear Regulatory Commission meetings over the next month. One meeting will take place in San Luis Obispo and is the agency’s annual safety assessment for the plant for 2014. The other two meetings will be hearings… Read More
Paul Ryan Adds Amendment to Trade Bill to Block Climate Deals
If House Republicans get their way, President Obama won’t be able to use any trade pact to strike a deal on climate change. Late Tuesday evening, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin offered up an amendment to a customs bill that would “ensure that trade agreements… Read More
House Republicans Would Cut EPA Spending 9 Percent
House Republicans proposed a spending bill Tuesday that cuts the budget at the Environmental Protection Agency by 9 percent and tries to prevent the Obama administration from enacting several regulations. At the top of their regulatory hit list is a proposed rule on cutting carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants. Read More