Climate Politics
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The Weak in Review
Bush’s Mercury Plan Was Rejected by Clinton EPA as Too Weak The Bush administration’s new plan for regulating mercury emissions from power plants is virtually the same as one that the Clinton administration considered and dismissed because it appeared to violate the federal Clean Air Act, former U.S. EPA officials said yesterday. The Bush proposal […]
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NPR: One Thing Considered
Pristine Petroleum Reserve in Alaska Opened to Oil Drilling Try as it might, the Bush administration hasn’t been able to get its hands on oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Perhaps to make itself feel better, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is forging ahead with plans to permit aggressive oil drilling in large […]
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Deck the Hauls
U.S. High Court Will Hear Mexican Truck Pollution Case The U.S. Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will wade into a dispute over whether tens of thousands of highly polluting Mexican trucks should be allowed to cross the border and deliver goods throughout the U.S. The Bush administration, arguing the free-trade point of view, welcomes […]
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Let ’em Snowmobile, Let ’em Snowmobile, Let ’em Snowmobile
Bush Administration Will Allow Snowmobiles in Yellowstone Snowmobiles will be welcome to keep zooming through Yellowstone National Park, the Bush administration announced yesterday, despite tens of thousands of public comments calling for the vehicles to be phased out from the oldest national park in the U.S. Final rules released yesterday on the issue will place […]
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Inuit and Out
Inuit Plan to Launch Human-Rights Case Against U.S. Over Climate Change Saying global climate change threatens them with extinction, the world’s Inuit people yesterday announced plans to launch a human-rights case against the United States, which has repeatedly reiterated that it will take no decisive action on the issue. The Inuit Circumpolar Conference represents 155,000 […]
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It Doesn’t Look a Day Over 29
Taking Stock of the Endangered Species Act at Age 30 Who knew the Endangered Species Act was a Sagittarius? That’s right, this month the act will turn 30. Signed into law by President Nixon in 1973, the ESA aimed to prevent extinctions, bring imperiled species back to viable population levels, and protect the natural habitat […]
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Bush’s latest clean-air proposals are better than nothing, but how much better?
Who let the smog out? Photo: EPA “I hate it that we’re always complaining,” said Eric Schaeffer, a former senior enforcement official at the U.S. EPA who resigned in 2002 to protest the Bush administration’s poor record on nabbing polluters. “So, looking on the bright side, I suppose you could call this better than nothing.” […]
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Wes Is More
Clark Unveils Environmental Platform Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean grabbed the campaign spotlight this week by earning the endorsement of former Vice President Al Gore. Meanwhile, off in the shadows, fellow Democratic presidential contender retired Gen. Wesley Clark presented his environmental platform yesterday. Perhaps it befits Clark’s military background that he described that platform not […]
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Crime and No Punishment
Pollution Enforcement Has Dropped Dramatically Under Bush President Bush talks tough about going after the bad guys, but it seems he’s been letting one set of lawbreakers off the hook: polluters. Enforcement of environmental laws under Bush has been far weaker than it was under his father and under President Clinton, according to records from […]
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Nevada Appeals to Federal Court to Stymie Nuke Waste Site Nevada is digging in its heels and promising a bitter fight to keep the nation’s high-level nuclear waste from being shipped to an underground storage facility at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Last year, President Bush signed a bill designating the site […]
