EPA

SCOTUS Watch: Radical Republican Court To The Planet: ‘Burn, Baby, Burn!’

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The U.S. Supreme Court announced its last two opinions this morning. The first opinion is West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, a 6-3 decision by Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Gorsuch files a concurring opinion joined by Justice Alito. Justice Kagan dissents, joined by Justices Breyer and Sotomayor. The questions presented are whether the Republican-led states … Read more

A Good Week for Tucson’s Future with Regards to the Environment, Affordable Housing, and Economic Performance

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This has been a good week for the future of Tucson First, the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) has awarded the City of Tucson a one million dollar Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Grant. Later in the week, in a move that will provide additional opportunities for affordable housing, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, along with representatives from … Read more

BREAKING: Consistency! Sen. Sinema Casts A New Vote Against Clean Power Plan

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When Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema was one of the three Democrats voting with Republicans today to permit the Trump Administration to repeal the Clean Power Plan, it was not the first time she crossed the aisle on the regulatory plan to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

The 41-53 vote in the Senate today was a failed attempt to stop the EPA from repealing the Obama era measure. The three amigos – Sinema, Alabama Senator Doug Jones, and West Virginia’s Joe Manchin – were the only three Democrats to allow the repeal. (Susan Collins (R-ME) was the only GOP Senator to vote in the minority.)

Sinema demonstrated consistency in her vote. The record shows that she also voted against the Clean Power Plan in 2015, while she was in the House. That resulted in much opposition from environmental groups.

Today, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) cast the vote in stark terms: “Our Republican colleagues have a choice: They can either stop the rollback of life-saving

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Donald Trump commits the U.S. to his anti-science climate change denial (Updated)

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Last week the New York Times reported, Arctic’s Winter Sea Ice Drops to Its Lowest Recorded Level:

After a season that saw temperatures soar at the North Pole, the Arctic has less sea ice at winter’s end than ever before in nearly four decades of satellite measurements.

The extent of ice cover — a record low for the third straight year — is another indicator of the effects of global warming on the Arctic, a region that is among the hardest hit by climate change, scientists said.

“This is just another exclamation point on the overall loss of Arctic sea ice coverage that we’ve been seeing,” said Mark Serreze, the director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, a government-backed research agency in Boulder, Colo. “We’re heading for summers with no sea ice coverage at all.”

Dr. Serreze said that such a situation, which would leave nothing but open ocean in summer until fall freeze-up begins, could occur by 2030, although many scientists say it may not happen for a decade or two after that.

Less ice coverage also means that there is more dark ocean to absorb more of the sun’s energy, which leads to more warming and melting in a feedback loop called Arctic amplification.

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SCOTUS leaves EPA’s MATS rule in place

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The Supreme Court on Monday left intact a key Obama administration environmental regulation, refusing to take up an appeal from 20 states to block rules that limit the emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants that are byproducts of burning coal. Supreme Court rejects case challenging key White House air pollution regulation:

carbon-emissionsThe high court’s decision leaves in place a lower-court ruling that found that the regulations, put in place several years ago by the Environmental Protection Agency, could remain in effect while the agency revised the way it had calculated the potential industry compliance costs. The EPA finalized its updated cost analysis in April.

In a statement Monday, the EPA praised the court’s decision not to review the case, saying the mercury standards are an important part of a broader effort to ensure clean air for Americans.

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