Hundreds of thousands call on the EPA to slash soot pollution
Advocates with Environment America, PennEnvironment and U.S. PIRG joined other health and environmental groups to deliver more than 500,000 public comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters Tuesday in support of stronger limits on soot pollution.
Biden promises action on climate change during event at former coal plant
President Joe Biden took his campaign to slow down climate change and speed up our transition to clean energy to the site of the former Brayton Point coal-fired power plant on Wednesday. Brayton Point is now becoming a hub for the development and production of offshore wind technology. During the visit, he announced a new program to develop offshore wind power in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time and indicated that his administration would propose additional executive actions to tackle climate change in the coming days.
Report: 12,000 acres in Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest are on the chopping block
Federal agencies are targeting mature and old-growth forests for logging despite these trees’ extraordinary ability to curb climate change and President Joe Biden’s directive to preserve them, according to a new report spotlighting the 10 worst logging projects in federal forests across the country. One of the sales highlighted, the “Fourmile Project” in Wisconsin’s Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest includes a 1,000-acre clearcut that threatens wood turtles and American pine martens and is one of the largest logging efforts ever proposed for the national forest.
Logging mature and old trees threatens U.S. climate goals
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday signed a memorandum to clarify the U.S. Forest Service’s direction on climate policy. The memo, "Climate Resilience and Carbon Stewardship of America's National Forests and Grasslands," follows a recent White House executive order highlighting the importance of conserving mature and old-growth forests on federal lands as a climate solution. The memo, which lays out “actions to restore forests, improve resilience, and address the climate crisis”, falls short in meeting the ambition outlined in President Joe Biden’s order on old forests and trees. Secretary Vilsack acknowledges the role that older trees play in absorbing and storing carbon and supporting biodiversity. But he fails to outline a plan for his agency to protect mature and old-growth forests and trees from commercial logging.
Rhode Island legislature commits to 100% of state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2033
The Rhode Island legislature has passed legislation that would set the fastest timeline for any state in the nation to procure 100% of its electricity from renewable energy sources.
Environmental, public health groups to Senate: Act on toxic PFAS in drinking water
Eighty-two organizations, including Environment America and U.S. PIRG, delivered a letter Wednesday to the U.S. Senate’s Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee calling for comprehensive federal legislation to protect Americans’ drinking water from contamination by the toxic class of chemicals known as PFAS. The organizations, which hail from 30 states, asked the EPW Committee to designate all PFAS as hazardous substances, prohibit their use in firefighting foam, and direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue drinking water standards and stop the dumping of PFAS into our nation’s waterways.