Climate Politics
All Stories
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Hogwash
The U.S. EPA unveiled new livestock-waste regulations yesterday designed to keep billions of pounds of unhealthful pollutants out the nation’s waterways annually. The rules, which were issued in compliance with a court mandate from a 1989 lawsuit brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council, will require some 15,500 factory farms to obtain government permits to […]
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No Virginia, There Is No Santa Claus
Virginia may be the cradle of American democracy, but it’s also the stingiest state in the union when it comes to the environment. According to a fiscal analysis released yesterday, the state spends less on environmental protections than any other; moreover, current environmental spending rates are lower than they have been since 1984, as calculated […]
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New Issue, Same Old Jersey
South Camden, N.J., has the distinction of being one of the nation’s poorest cities — and an important East Coast laboratory for the environmental justice movement. Environmental justice advocates believe South Camden’s poverty goes a long way toward explaining why the city is home to so many plants and factory facilities, many of which spew […]
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Rumors of the EPA chief stepping down may not be greatly exaggerated
It takes one to know one, they say, so when Eric Schaeffer indicates that U.S. EPA Administrator Christine Whitman might jump ship, we sit up and take notice. Schaeffer, the former director of the EPA’s Office of Regulatory Enforcement, resigned last February to protest the agency’s failure to fulfill its mission to advocate on behalf […]
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On the Roadless Again
In a victory for environmentalists, a federal appeals court has reinstated a Clinton administration rule protecting nearly 60 million acres of national forests from logging, mining, and construction. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco lifted an injunction against the roadless rule yesterday, simultaneously affirming its legal basis and criticizing a lower […]
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Gas-p
Fuel economy standards could change for the first time in six years if a Bush administration proposal to modestly increase gas mileage in sport utility vehicles, vans, minivans, and pickup trucks is approved. The proposal would increase the fuel economy of those vehicles by 1.5 miles per gallon over three years, beginning in 2005, from […]
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Texan’s Chainsaw Massacre
Disregarding opposition in both houses of Congress, President Bush announced a plan yesterday to expedite the cutting of trees and brush in national forests by streamlining environmental reviews and judicial oversight. Bush says the plan will help reduce fire danger, but critics say last summer’s wildfires merely provided the pretext for permitting more logging on […]
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Oh, Yeah, Canada
Canada’s House of Commons voted overwhelmingly in favor of ratifying the Kyoto Protocol yesterday, concluding months of rancorous debate and paving the way for a concerted international effort to curb emissions of climate-altering greenhouse gases. A triumphant Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who staked a fair bit of political capital on Kyoto, will sign Canada’s official […]
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G.A.Oh, No!
In a victory for the Bush administration and a significant setback for congressional oversight of White House goings-on, a federal judge ruled yesterday that the investigative arm of Congress does not have legal standing to sue Vice President Dick Cheney for refusing to turn over documents related to the development of the national energy policy. […]
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Imperious
Ignoring threats of dire consequences by state and federal officials, California’s Imperial Irrigation District refused yesterday to approve a huge water sale to San Diego County. Members of the Imperial Valley irrigation district’s governing board said they resented the threats, which ranged from intimations that the board would be disbanded to suggestions that the valley’s […]
