• History of the Clean Water Act

  History of the Clean Water Act

  Sep. 12, 2019  (EPA)- The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948 was the first major U.S. law to address water pollution. Growing public awareness and concern for controlling water pollution led to sweeping amendments in 1972. As amended in 1972, the law became commonly known as the Clean Water Act (CWA).

  The 1972 amendments:
  
  • Established basic structure for regulating discharges into the waters of the U.S.
  • Gave EPA the authority including setting wastewater standards for industry
  • Maintained requirements for water quality standards
  • Illegalized discharge any pollutant into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions
  • Funded the construction of sewage treatment plants
  • Recognized the need for planning to address the critical source pollution problems

  Click now for a full explanation.

• Is Ethanol Really a Good Idea?

  Food Vs. Fuel: What
  Trump's Ethanol Policy
  Means For The Food System

  Forbes Magazine -The EPA moved forward with President Trump’s directive to lift a federal ban on high ethanol blended gas during the summer months, though not quickly enough for Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who Reuters reports is urging the EPA to lift the ban on a much quicker timeline.

  Lifting the ban is a policy shift that’s being celebrated by large-scale corn growers and decried by biofuel opponents. But the policy has implications for the food system too, as many food system reformers say the last thing U.S. farmers should be growing is more corn.

  Surprised? Click now for the story.

• EPA to Halt Fuel Economy Standards

  California Getting Ready
  to Fight Back

  Mar. 29, 2018 - The Trump administration is poised to abandon America's pioneering fuel economy targets for cars and SUVs, a move that would undermine one of the world's most aggressive programs to confront climate change and invite another major confrontation with California.

  The EPA is expected to announce in the coming days that it will scrap mileage targets the Obama administration drafted in tandem with California that aim to boost average fuel economy for passenger cars and SUVs to 55 miles per gallon by 2025, according to people familiar with the plans.

  Click now for the LA Times story.

• The E.P.A is a Sinking Ship

  E.P.A. Officials,
  Disheartened by Agency’s
  Direction, Are Leaving in Droves

  Dec. 22, 2018 - More than 700 people have left the Environmental Protection Agency since President Trump took office, a wave of departures that puts the administration nearly a quarter of the way toward its goal of shrinking the agency to levels last seen during the Reagan administration.

  Click now for the New York Times/ProPublica story.

• How Low Can the EPA Go?

  EPA Reverses Policy on
  'Major Sources' of Pollution

  Jan. 25, 2018 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday it was withdrawing a provision of the Clean Air Act that requires a major source of pollution like a power plant to always be treated as a major source, even if it makes changes to reduce emissions.

  The decision to withdraw the "once-in always-in" policy is part of President Donald Trump's effort to roll back federal regulations and was sought by utilities, the petroleum industry and others. Never mind about the health of the American people.

  Click now for the story.

• Trump Imposes Tariffs on PV Imports

  30% Tariff Disappoints
  Trade Industry

  Jan. 22, 2018 - Trump has agreed to a recommendation by the International Trade Commission (ITC) to grant U.S. solar manufacturers relief from unfair trade practices in the form of tariffs on solar cells and modules imported to the U.S.

  This will hurt the solar industry which currently employs over 250,000 workers.

  Click now for the story
  from Renewable Energy World.

• Fed. Compromise on Anti-PACE Law

  Industry, Lawmakers Compromise
  on Anti-Property Assessed
  Clean Energy Legislation

  Dec. 27, 2017 - A financing program that’s let more than 180,000 homeowners pay for solar panels and clean-energy appliances through their local tax bills is poised to survive an effort by Republicans to add regulations that would have effectively shut it down.

  Click now to read more
  from Renewable Energy World.

• Shouldn’t We Abolish Fossil Fuel Subsidies?

  America Spends Over $20Bn Per
  Year On Fossil Fuel Subsidies.

  July 30, 2018 (The Guardian) -Imagine that instead of taxing cigarettes, America subsidized the tobacco industry in order to make each pack of smokes cheaper.

  A report from Oil Change International (OCI) investigated American energy industry subsidies and found that in 2015–2016, the federal government provided $14.7bn per year to the oil, gas, and coal industries, on top of $5.8bn of state-level incentives (globally, the figure is around $500bn). And the report only accounted for production subsidies, excluding consumption subsidies (support to consumers to lower the cost of fossil fuel use – another $14.5bn annually) as well as the costs of carbon and other fossil fuel pollutants.

  Click for the full story.

• The D.O.E. Solar Decathlon

  How To Shine In The Solar Village

  October 6, 2017 - At noon Eastern Standard Time today — the second day of competition for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon in Denver — the Northwestern University team was sitting in first place, according to scores released on the competition website.

  The Solar Village, where all 13 teams’ houses are standing for the competition, is now open to the public.

  With scoring under way on three of the 10 competition categories — Heath & Comfort, Appliances, and Home Life — Northwestern was tied with Swiss Team and UC Berkeley/U of Denver on the three segments in Health & Comfort — temperature, humidity and indoor air quality.

• Budget Slashed for Clean Energy

  Trump’s Budget Expected
  to Massively Slash Research
  On Renewable Energy
  — And ‘Clean Coal’

  May 18, 2017 -The Trump administration is expected to propose massive cuts to federal government research on wind and solar energy next week, according to current and former Energy Department officials familiar with budget discussions.

  The department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), which funds research on advanced vehicles as well as other aspects of clean energy, would face a roughly 70 percent cut in 2018, carving about $ 1.45 billion from its $2.09 billion 2017 budget.

• The SunShot Initiative

  What is the SunShot Initiative?

  The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office focuses on achieving the goals of the SunShot Initiative, which seeks to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by the end of the decade.

• The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

  Notes from the Solar Underground:
  US Solar’s Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

  The global solar industry relies on mandate. Let's hope it doesn't go away.

• Carbon Tax Center

  What is the Carbon Tax Center?

  Why revenue-neutral carbon taxes are essential, what’s happening now, and how you can help. In a carbon-constrained world, a permanent U.S. carbon tax is essential to reduce emissions that drive global warming.

• Congress Examines Oil Industry on Hidden Facts

  Examining the Oil
  Industry’s Efforts to Suppress
  the Truth about Climate Change

  Oct. 23, 2019  (Committee on Oversight and Reform)- The Subcommittee will examine how the oil industry’s climate denial campaign has negatively and disproportionately affected people of color and vulnerable populations in our country and around the world, as well as drowned out the voices of everyday Americans.
  • Decades of climate denialism by the oil industry forestalled meaningful government action to avert the current crisis.
  • The lack of government action on climate change has a disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities who are often harmed “first and worst” by climate change.
  • Climate denial not only led to these devastating effects on vulnerable populations; it also represents a distortion of our democracy, as powerful, moneyed interests control the conversation and drown out the voices of average Americans who are paying the price of climate change.
  • Exxon has continued to fund climate deniers. Exxon still continues to fund organizations “steeped in climate denial and delay” to this day, clear evidence that it has not changed since its initial pivot from climate science to denial.

  Despite the already devastating effects of climate change, Exxon shows no signs of slowing down on its production of fossil fuels.

  Click now for the full story.

• Indigenous People Push Washington State To Clean Up Its Act

  Tribes Are Pushing Washington
  to Be the First State to
  Declare a Climate Emergency

  Oct. 18, 2019  (GIZMODO)- There’s an occupation taking place in Olympia, Washington. Native American activists have established a semi-permanent camp 15 minutes away from the state Capitol as part of a campaign to push Governor Jay Inslee—the former presidential candidate who put the climate crisis front and center as part of his bid—to declare a climate emergency for the state in what would be an American first.

  Indigenous peoples and their allies have been protesting on the steps of the Capitol since the end of September. They walked nearly 50 miles together from the construction site of a proposed natural gas terminal in Tacoma to arrive at the Capitol.

• Unreported: The Pentagon Sure Likes Using Carbon

  Major Media Bury Ground-
  breaking Studies of Pentagon’s
  Massive Carbon Bootprint

  Oct. 10, 2019  (Fair.org)- In 2010, Project Censored found that the US military is responsible for the most egregious and widespread pollution of the planet, yet this information and accompanying documentation goes almost entirely unreported.

  Almost a decade later, Project Censored’s observations are still applicable, with two major studies published in June remaining buried by most major media outlets. The first study, “Pentagon Fuel Use, Climate Change, and the Costs of War,” by Neta Crawford for Brown University’s Costs of War Project, confirmed previous findings that the US military is “the single-largest producer of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the world,”

  Click to read more about this issue.

• Honeybee Survey Resumed by the Dept. of Agriculture

  USDA Will Resume Honeybee
  Survey Suspended This Summer

  Sept. 13, 2019  (CNN Politics)- The US Department of Agriculture will resume data collection for its annual Honey Bee Colonies report on October 1 -- the start of a new fiscal year -- after suspending the survey earlier this summer over budget constraints.

  While researchers welcome the decision to resume the survey, some caution that it will leave a critical gap in this year's data.

  Dennis vanEngelsdorp, an entomologist who studies bee health at the University of Maryland, explained that missing even one quarter of data can undermine researchers' ability to compare loss rates from year to year, one of the fundamental ways that experts and the honeybee industry can use the survey as they try to better understand honeybee population declines.

• Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act

  Energy Savings and Industrial
  Competitiveness Act of 2019

  July 17, 2019 (Congress.gov)-This Act was introduced by Republican Senator, Rob Portman of Ohio. Here are what some of this bill includes:

  Title I: BUILDINGS (Building Energy Codes, Worker Training and Capacity Building and School Buildings)
  
  Title II: INDUSTRIAL EFFICIENCY AND COMPETITIVENESS (Manufacturing Energy Efficiency, Rebate Programs
  
  Title III: FEDERAL AGENCY ENERGY EFFICIENCY
  
  Title IV: REGULATORY PROVISIONS

  Click to see the PDF.

• EPA Seeks to Kill California Standards

  EPA Set to Revoke California's
  Authority to Set Vehicle Standards

  Sept. 17, 2019 (CNN Politics)-The Environmental Protection Agency (A.K.A Fossil Fuel Proerction Agency) is preparing to revoke California's authority to set its own vehicle emission standards, a source familiar with the plans told CNN on Tuesday, the latest move in the Trump administration's ongoing fight with the Golden State and attempts to chip away at former President Barack Obama's environmental legacy.

  The source said the change could come as soon as Wednesday. It's yet another escalation in the clash between California and Trump administration. Industry watchers feared that the Trump administration's plan to freeze federal emission standards, a rollback of tightened standards created by the Obama administration, could have led to two auto markets in the US -- one subject to more restrictive California regulations and another linked to significantly less stringent federal standards.

  Click now for the story.

• Army Corps' Largest Wetlands Destruction in Minnesota History

  Lawsuit Targets Minnesota’s PolyMet
  Copper-Sulfide Mine Permit

  Sept. 10, 2019  (Center for Biological Diversity)-ST. PAUL, Minn.—Conservation groups sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today to challenge a key water permit authorizing the PolyMet open-pit copper-sulfide mine to move forward. The mine would destroy 1,000 acres of wetlands and more than 1,700 acres of critical wildlife habitat in northern Minnesota's Superior National Forest.

  Today’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, says the Corps violated the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act when it issued the permit in March.

  Click now for the full story.

• What Do the Feds Have Against Wildlife?

  The Federal Government’s
  Cruel War Against Wildlife

  Aug. 26, 2019 (The Revelator)-Wildlife advocates got a much-needed win recently when the EPA withdrew its support for M-44 “cyanide bombs” used to kill coyotes and other animals. The devices — which attract animals with tasty bait and then inject a deadly dose of sodium cyanide into their mouths — have been used for decades by a USDA program called Wildlife Services to eliminate animals that are perceived as threats to agricultural interests.

  The announcement came just five days after the EPA re-approved the use of M-44s, a move that generated outcry from around the country.

  While this success is noteworthy, M-44s are just one of the weapons in Wildlife Service’s arsenal. The program’s staff uses a variety of additional tools and methods to complete their tasks, including several that wildlife advocates consider to be cruel and inhumane.

  Click now for more
  on this poisonous story.

• The Endangered Species Act is Endangered

  The Species Act, Endangered:
  ‘Like a Plan From a Cartoon Villain’

  Aug. 17, 2019 (NY Times - Opinion) -The President and his Interior Department undermine the landmark Endangered Species Act in the service of “energy dominance.”

  In early May, a U.N. panel on biodiversity released a deeply troubling 1,500-page report warning that as many as one million plant and animal species were at risk of extinction worldwide. It strongly urged nations everywhere to accelerate efforts to save the marine and terrestrial life that remain — the mammals, the birds, the fish, the plants, even the insects that pollinate the world’s food supply. The report also noted that global warming had become a major driver of this alarming decline, shrinking or shifting the ecosystems in which wildlife had evolved.

  Now comes what amounts to a thumb in the eye from the Trump administration: The Interior Department announced a set of rules on Monday that, far from enlarging protections, will weaken how the nation’s most important conservation law, the Endangered Species Act, is applied.

• The Plastic Bans and The Plastic Bans Bans

  See the Complicated Landscape
  of Plastic Bans in the U.S.

  Aug. 15, 2019 (National Geographic)-A new map shows where states have banned plastic—and where states have banned bans on plastic.

  A battle over plastic—a material so prolific the UN calls the 90 percent of it that ends up as trash a pollution crisis—is under way in Florida.

  Coral Gables, a small city of 51,000 people just south of Miami, wants to ban polystyrene from restaurants and grocery stores. The Florida Retail Federation does not, and an appeals court ruling delivered yesterday says they can keep the plastic product, in part thanks to a 2016 state rule that prevents cities from regulating how polystyrene is used.

  Click now for more
  the story and the maps.

• Utilities: Breaking Up is Hard to Do - or is it?

  In a Battle to Break Up Utilities,
  Arizona Steps to The Front Line

  Aug. 8, 2019 (Bloomberg News) -Of all the efforts to break up utility monopolies in the U.S., the one unfolding in Arizona may be the most important to watch.

  Officials in the state, where Arizona Public Service Co. has long reigned, are considering allowing customers to pick their own electricity providers. Independent power companies and free-market groups are pushing similar efforts in Florida and Virginia. The difference is in Arizona it’s being spearheaded by regulators.

  “If they want to deregulate, they may be more in a place to do it,” said Paul Patterson, an utility analyst at Glenrock Associates.

  Click now to get the rest of the story.

• Mayors Speak Out on Putting a Price on Carbon

  U.S. Conference of Mayors
  Urges Federal Government
  to Put a Price On Carbon

  July 31, 2019 (Citizen’s Climate Lobby) -Carbon pricing has been receiving major press lately — tens of millions heard it discussed in the first two presidential debates — and now, America’s mayors are joining in on the action. The Conference, an organization comprising 1,407 mayors from cities with populations of 300,000 or more, recently passed a series of environmental resolutions at their annual meeting, one of which calls for Congress to put a price on carbon.

  The resolution cites climate change’s “challenges to human health and safety, quality of life, and the rate of economic growth” and “strongly urges the United States Congress to pass legislation that imposes a price on carbon emissions sufficient enough to reduce carbon emissions in line with ambitions detailed in the Paris Agreement.” While the resolution did not specify what type of carbon pricing proposal the organization prefers, it was passed by hundreds of mayors with bipartisan support.

  Click now for more information.

• Surprising News From the Dept. of Energy

  Department of Energy Announces
  $14 Million for Fusion
  Energy Sciences Research

  July 30, 2019 (U.S. Dept. of Energy)) -Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $14 million in funding for 10 university-led research projects using the DIII-D National Fusion Facility. A major goal of the research is to develop methods of sustaining steady-state or continuous operation of fusion reactors, an essential step toward eventually making nuclear fusion a practical energy source.

  “Fusion remains one of the world’s most promising potential sources of energy,” said Under Secretary for Science, Paul Dabbar. “This research—aimed at achieving steady-state operation of fusion reactors—will be an important milestone on the road to sustainable energy from fusion.”

  Click now to some positive news from
  the Trump Administration for a change.

• The NRC Doesn’t Need to Inspect Nuclear Facilities?

  NRC May Cut Back On
  Nuclear Power Plant Inspections

  July 17, 2020 (Electric Light & Power) -In an action prompted by Nuclear Power Industry, Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is recommending that the agency cut back on inspections at the country's nuclear reactors, a cost-cutting move promoted by the nuclear power industry but denounced by opponents as a threat to public safety.

  The recommendations, made public Tuesday, include reducing the time and scope of some annual inspections at the nation's 90-plus nuclear power plants. Some other inspections would be cut from every two years to every three years.

  Some of the staff's recommendations would require a vote by the commission, which has a majority of members appointed or reappointed by President Donald Trump, who has urged agencies to reduce regulatory requirements for industries.

  Click now for this freightening story.

• Juliana v. United States - Youth Climate Lawsuit

  Youth Climate Lawsuit

  June, 2019 (ourchildrenstrust.org)-Youth filed their constitutional climate lawsuit, called Juliana v. U.S., against the U.S. government in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in 2015. Earth Guardians is also an organizational plaintiff in the case.

  Their complaint asserts that, through the government's affirmative actions that cause climate change, it has violated the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, as well as failed to protect essential public trust resources.

  Click now to read all about the case.

• Fl. Governor Allows Local Govts. to Ban Plastic Straws

  In First Veto, Fla, Governor
  Allows Local Governments
  to Ban Plastic Straws

  MAY 14, 2019 Governing.com -Gov. Ron DeSantis flexed his veto power for the first time Friday night, declining to sign an environmental bill that would have prohibited local governments from banning plastic straws for the next five years.

  In his veto letter to Secretary of State Laurel Lee, he said municipalities that prohibit plastic straws have not "frustrated any state policy" or "harmed the state's interest."

  Click now to read the article.

•    Congressional Uncharted Territory On Climate Policy  

  Green New Deal vs. Carbon Tax:
  A Clash of 2 Worldviews,
  Both Seeking Climate Action

  Inside Climate News, Mar. 4, 2019 - For the first time ever, lawmakers face competing approaches to reviving U.S. climate action. And despite hostility from the White House, each has significant support and the potential to shape the 2020 elections.

  On one side are the student activists of the Sunrise Movement and Congress's new young firebrands; on the other, more moderate groups, including grassroots advocates and some of the Republican Party's elder statesmen, supported both by established environmental groups and by major energy corporations.

•  Senate Passes a Sweeping Land Conservation Bill

  Senate Passes a Sweeping
  Land Conservation Bill

  Feb. 12, 2019 NY Times Climate Forward -As a lobbyist and lawyer, David Bernhardt fought for years on behalf of a group of California The Senate on Tuesday passed a sweeping public lands conservation bill, designating more than one million acres of wilderness for environmental protection and permanently reauthorizing a federal program to pay for conservation measures.

  The Senate voted 92 to 8 in favor of the bill, offering a rare moment of bipartisanship in a divided chamber and a rare victory for environmentalists at a time when the Trump administration is working aggressively to strip away protections on public lands and open them to mining and drilling.

•   Promises Broken to Hurricain-Ravaged Communities 

  Why Is HUD Ghosting America’s
  Hurricane-Ravaged Communities?

  Feb. 8, 2019  National Resources Defense Council(NRDC) - The Trump administration promised $16 billion to help places like Texas, Puerto Rico, and Florida weather future storms. Now, nearly a year later, it won’t even return their calls.

  The costliest hurricane season in our nation’s history took place two years ago, when 17 named storms—including three that went by the names of Harvey, Irma, and Maria—all came ashore within a six-month period, killing more than 3,300 Americans and causing more than $300 billion in damage. So when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced last April that it would be distributing nearly $16 billion in mitigation funding to the areas hit hardest by storm activity since 2015, officials in places like Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands must have breathed a little easier.

  Not so fast…

• What Else Will the E.P.A. Fail to Regulate?

  Report Says EPA Refuses to
  Regulate Two PFAS Chemicals

  Feb. 1, 2019 The Allegheny Front -Pennsylvania lawmakers on Tuesday slammed the reported decision of the federal government not to regulate two chemicals that have been linked to cancer and other illnesses when present in drinking water.

  PFAS are man-made chemicals that have been used in industry and consumer products worldwide since the 1950s, in non-stick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain resistant fabrics and carpets, some cosmetics, some firefighting foams, and products that resist grease, water, and oil.

  Politico reported Monday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has decided not to set enforceable health limits for PFOA and PFOS, two of the PFAS class of chemicals that are being increasingly strictly regulated by some states as more becomes known about their risks to public health.

• House Reintroduces Bi-partisan Carbon Dividend Act

  Bipartisan Energy Innovation
  and Carbon Dividend Act
  Reintroduced in House

  Jan. 24, 2019 Citizens’ Climate Lobby -A group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives has reintroduced the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act, the groundbreaking bipartisan climate solution to price carbon, give revenue to households and bring greenhouse gas emissions down 90 percent by 2050.

  Sponsored by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL), Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL), Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL), Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA), Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA), the bill will create over 2 million new jobs, lower health care costs and promote energy innovation.

• Is the Green New Deal Grounded in Science?

  Let’s keep the Green
  New Deal Grounded in Science

  Jan. 18, 2019 M.I.T. Technology Review -The promise of a Green New Deal has become a galvanizing force in US politics, inspiring climate activists and building much-needed pressure behind a sweeping federal climate

  But the proposed environmental and economic policy package has contained a technical flaw from the start that’s coming into sharper relief as interest groups seek to translate its high-minded ideals into nuts-and-bolts policies. Specifically, the early language sets the goal of meeting “100% of national power demand through renewable sources,” which in general usage excludes carbon-free sources like nuclear power and fossil-fuel plants equipped with systems to capture climate-affecting emissions.

• U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Contrast With Trump’s Policies

  All The Good News About
  Renewable Energy — From
  The US Department Of Energy

  Jan. 13, 2019  CleanTechnica - File this one under ‘W’ for With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies? President* Trump front-loaded his 2016 campaign with a pledge to revive the US coal industry, but during his tenure the growth prospects for coal power have flatlined. The latest outlook on electricity generation from Trump’s own Department of Energy serves up the bad news for coal with a side of good news about renewable energy and some so-so news for natural gas, too.

  The new update comes from the Energy Information Administration. The office was established in 1974 as part of the federal response to the oil crisis. EIA comes under the Department of Energy umbrella, though its Congressional mandate provides it with a semi-independent mandate to produce policy-neutral data, analysis, and forecasts.

• Climate-Caused Migration Reported by the GAO

  Activities of Selected
  Agencies to Address Potential
  Impact on Global Migration

  Jan. 15, 2019 U.S. Govt. Accountability Office -The effects of climate change, combined with other factors, may alter human migration trends across the globe, according to the International Organization for Migration.

  For example, climate change can increase the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, causing populations to move from an area. Climate change can also intensify slow-onset disasters, such as drought, crop failure, or sea level rise, potentially altering longer-term migration trends.

• Shutdown Forced Scientists to Halt Research

  How the Record-
  Breaking Government Shutdown
  Is Disrupting Science

  Jan. 12, 2019Science News - As the partial federal government shutdown enters its fourth week — on January 12 becoming the longest in U.S. history — scientists are increasingly feeling the impact. Thousands of federal workers who handle food safety and public health are furloughed. Countless projects researching everything from climate change to pest control to hurricane prediction are on hold.

  Among government agencies hit by the partial shutdown are the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and NASA, where nearly all employees are on leave. Additionally, 40% of the Food and Drug Administration’s 14,000 workers are furloughed, as are most employees of the National Parks Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

• DC & 9 States Collaborate On Carbon Emissions Policy

  DC & 9 States Collaborating On
  Carbon Emissions Reduction Policy

  Clean Technica, Jan. 7, 2019 - Washington, D.C., Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont are working together to formulate a policy proposal to reduce transportation carbon emissions.

  The point of the collective effort is to reduce air pollution, improve transportation to underserved people and develop economic opportunities.

  The collaborators have a goal to generate the low-carbon regional policy in one year, after which they can decide if they are going to adopt it.

• How the Government Shutdown Hurts Climate Science

  Toll on Science and
  Research Mounts as
  Government Shutdown Continues

  NY Times Climate Forward, Jan. 5, 2019 - One of the first sessions of the American Meteorological Society’s annual conference in Phoenix this weekend seemed like just the sort to attract plenty of government scientists: “Building Resilience to Extreme Political Weather: Advice for Unpredictable Times.”

  But the conference, where more than 700 federal employees had been expected, will have few federal scientists in attendance. Many are barred from participating during the partial government shutdown, just one of the numerous consequences for the science community during the capital’s latest spending standoff.

• Something Positive About the Government Shutdown

  The Government Shutdown Has
  Stalled Trump’s Plan to Drill
  in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

  Earther , Dec. 31, 2018 - In a rare bit of good news about the partial government shutdown, President Trump’s dream of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border seems to be putting a damper on his administration’s plans to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to oil and gas drilling.

  The government shutdown is causing this effort to hit delays as the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are unable to move forward with issuing permits for seismic testing, reports the Anchorage Daily News.

• Alexandris Ocasio-Cortez’s Green Ideas

  Select Committee
  for a Green New Deal

  Nov. 21, 2018 -Draft Text for Proposed Addendum To House Rules For 116th Congress:
  

  1. ESTABLISHMENT; COMPOSITION
    2. JURISDICTION; FUNCTIONS
    3. PROCEDURE
    4. FUNDING
    5. INTERIM REPORTING; SUBMISSION OF THE PLAN FOR A GREEN NEW DEAL; SUBMISSION OF DRAFT LEGISLATION
    6. SCOPE OF THE PLAN FOR A GREEN NEW DEAL AND THE DRAFT LEGISLATION.
  
    FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  Click now for all of the details.

• Washington. State Rejects a Carbon Tax

  Washington State Voters
  Reject Carbon-Fee Initiative

  Nov. 6, 2018 -Washington state voters on Tuesday rejected Initiative 1631, a proposed carbon fee on fossil-fuel emissions that spurred the biggest ballot-measure spending spree in state history.

  As of Tuesday evening, with more than 1.9 million votes tallied from all 39 counties, 56.3 percent of the voters opposed the initiative, while 43.7 percent supported the measure. There are many more votes to be counted but the lead was unlikely to be overtaken.

  Click now for more from The Seattle Times

State Agencies (continued)

Florida Dept. of
Environmental Protection

Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency

Maine Department of
Environmental Protection

Massachusetts Department
of Environmental Protection

NJ Board of Public Utilities

NJ Department of
Environmental Protection

NY: NYSERDA

Ohio EPA

Oregon Department
of Environmental Quality

PA Department of
Environmental Protection

Sarasota County (Fla.) Government

Roadmap to Sustainability.