Republicans
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GOP: Why can't we mine for uranium in the Grand Canyon?
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has extended the moratorium on uranium mining near the Grand Canyon through the end of the year, and House Republicans are grumpy. I mean, there's uranium there ... the hole is already mostly dug ... it's basically a perfect mining opportunity! So they're sticking a rider onto an Interior Department appropriations bill that would open the land back up.
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Republicans: We must protect children from energy efficiency
Republican Rep. Sandy Adams wants to limit funding for Department of Energy websites that educate kids about efficiency. She doesn't know how much money that will save, but by god, we must stop children learning at any cost!
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Critical List: Republicans vote to give states power over clean water; deer ticks in the Great Lakes
House Republicans voted yesterday to let states decide whether a company is living up to the Clean Water Act or not. The EPA's decision to prevent West Virginia coal companies from dumping waste into rivers prompted the bill to begin with, so it's pretty safe to assume that the bill's not meant to strengthen CWA protections.
The federal government says the cost of carbon is $21 per ton; a group of pro-environment economists says the cost is closer to $900 per ton.
China's feeding its "strategic pork reserve" with soybeans grown in Brazil on environmentally sensitive land.
As Moscow more than doubles in size, it will raze acres of forestland. -
Critical List: Republicans plan to defund the environment; no one likes the EPA
House Republicans want to defund all kinds of environmental activity -- the EPA, the Department of the Interior, the Forest Service. You know, just anything having to do with the outside.
And the USDA thinks that bioengineered bluegrass doesn't fall within its regulatory sphere, which means companies could grow the stuff without any regulation.
Exposing mice to air pollution makes them dumber and more depressed.
So it's probably good for everyone that the EPA is putting new regulations on coal-fired power plants that should reduced emissions of sulfur dioxide by 73 percent and nitrogen oxides by 54 percent from 2005 levels. Should Republicans succeed in cutting the agency’s budget yet again, this action could be little more than an empty gesture, though. -
Believing in climate change gets you votes
Here's good news if the phrase "President Bachmann" sends you into a twitching, frothing fit: For candidates on both sides of the aisle, the best vote-getting strategy is to take climate change seriously.
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Even Republicans and climate skeptics support fuel efficiency and clean energy
Regardless of how they felt about global warming -- from "alarmed" to "dismissive" -- nearly everyone in this 2009 survey supported increased fuel efficiency standards. Even the ones who dismissed the threat of climate change weren't very strongly opposed. What's more, 90 percent of people think clean energy should be a priority for the president, including 85 percent of Republicans. And more than 80 percent support increased funding of renewable energy research.
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House Republicans aim pitchfork at food-system reform
U.S. ag policy isn't totally geared to Big Ag -- but it will be if the House gets its way, writes Tom Philpott.
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Has Obama lost environmental voters?
Al Gore's critique of Obama's failure to act on the climate crisis is further evidence of environmentalists' frustration with this administration.
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Critical List: McKibben's march on Washington; speeding up permits for offshore drilling
Bill McKibben invites you to come to D.C. in August and march on the White House over and over and over again. The goal is to convince the administration that siphoning Canada's tar sands through the Keystone XL pipelines is not a good idea and also to get heat stroke.
Transocean issued a report blaming BP for the Macondo spill. A Norwegian prosecutor issued a report blaming Transocean for $1.8 billion in tax evasion.
House Republicans don't care who was to blame for the Macondo spill; they just want the EPA to approve permits for offshore drilling more quickly. Bored with this spill! Let’s start on a new one!