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House continues extreme anti-environmental rampage
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The House of Representatives passed Rep. Bill Shuster’s (R-Pa.) bill, H.R. 1732, that would undermine the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Water Rule by a vote of 261-155. This bill requires that the EPA reach “consensus” with certain state and municipal governments on what streams and wetlands the… Read More
Senate blocks discussion of Trade Authority
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell failed to get the 60 votes necessary to begin debate on the Hatch-Wyden trade promotion authority bill. If passed the bill would grant President Obama power to sign two sweeping trade deals that threaten people and the planet — even before Congress has… Read More
Advocates for public health and environment chide Rep. Blumenauer for trade vote
Groups launch TV ad buy in Portland, Ore. and Washington, D.C. condemning Rep. Blumenauer’s trade vote WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace began running television advertisements in Portland, Ore. and Washington, D.C. condemning Representative Blumenauer’s (D-Ore.) endorsement of the ‘fast track’ Trade… Read More
Interior approves Shells dangerous drilling exploration plan
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of the Interior gave conditional approval of Shell’s revised Exploration Plan for oil and gas drilling in the Chukchi Sea, pending receipt of drilling permits from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and authorizations under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Compared to the original… Read More
Department of Interior leasing policies responsible for one quarter of U.S. energy-related carbon emissions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – An analysis completed by the Climate Accountability Institute for the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth finds that federal leasing for oil, natural gas and coal authorized by the Department of the Interior is responsible for approximately one-quarter of U.S. fossil fuel emissions and… Read More
DOEs rubberstamp cooks the planet
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Energy gave final approval to Cove Point, a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Maryland. Studies by the Department of Energy and the European Commission have suggested that the huge amounts of energy required to liquefy natural gas actually make the life-cycle greenhouse gas… Read More
150,000 Americans call for less meat, more plants in new U.S. diet guidelines
WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than 150,000 Americans signed a petition being delivered today urging Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to adopt the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommendations for less meat and more plant-based food. The petition will be delivered at… Read More
Groups urge USDA to launch thorough investigation into scientist censorship
USDA scientists’ research about bee-killing pesticides compromised WASHINGTON, D.C. — Environmentalists, beekeepers, farmworkers, farmers, fisheries, and food safety advocates sent a letter to the USDA Inspector General and the co-chairs of the White House Task Force on Pollinator Health today, urging an investigation into recent reports that USDA… Read More
House approves $279 million renewable energy cut
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House of Representatives passed H.R. 2028, “The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2016,” by a vote of 240-177. The bill sets funding levels for important programs within the U.S. Departments of Energy, Interior, and the Army Corps of Engineers. While staying… Read More
Contributions to Green Climate Fund alarmingly low
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Friends of the Earth International today demanded that developed nations provide the Green Climate Fund with the resources they pledged to it in 2014, warning that the contributions made so far are alarmingly low. The Green Climate Fund, or GCF, announced yesterday that countries had missed… Read More