[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”APPROPRIATIONS: HOUSE, SENATE DEADLOCKED OVER TEMPORARY SPENDING BILL”] The specter of a federal government shutdown looms again as the House passed a bill to fund the government beyond the end of the current fiscal year only to see it fail in the Senate. On Sept. 22, the House passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”AIR POLLUTION: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION POSTPONES OZONE STANDARDS”] On Sept. 2, the White House requested the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) postpone plans to strengthen the George W. Bush administration’s 2008 ozone standard. In a letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Cass Sunstein cites a need to “minimize…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”NATIONAL DEBT: CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS NAME DEFICIT COMMITTEE MEMBERS”] In accordance with the Aug. 16 deadline, Congressional leaders have announced their appointments for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, commonly known as the debt “supercommittee.” The joint committee was established under the recently enacted Budget Control Act (P.L. 112-25). Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV)…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”NATIONAL DEBT: OBAMA SIGNS MEASURE RAISING DEBT CEILING THROUGH 2012″] The week of August 2, Congress passed and the president signed a bill to increase the national debt by as much as $2.4 trillion. After weeks in which a deal between leaders of both parties appeared elusive, the deal was finally announced the weekend preceding…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”NATIONAL DEBT-CEILING DEBATE: CONSENSUS IN SIGHT, SPECIFIC PLAN REMAINS ELUSIVE”] House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and President Obama are unanimous in agreeing the federal deficit has to be raised before the projected August 2 deadline to avoid U.S. default on its debt. When, how and under what conditions this will…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”APPROPRIATIONS: SUBCOMMITTEES APPROVE SCIENCE, ENVIRONMENTAL SPENDING BILLS”] The week of July 6, two House appropriations subcommittees that fund federal agencies with jurisdiction over ecological issues released and marked-up their draft funding bills for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012. The House Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill includes a total of $50.2 billion in funding, a reduction…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”HOUSE: AG APPROPRIATIONS BILL CUTS CONSERVATION, RESEARCH INITIATIVES”] On June 16, the House passed H.R. 2112, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year (FY) 2012. Sponsored by House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Jack Kingston (R-GA), the bill cuts $2.7 billion in funding from the U.S. Department…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”COMMERCE: FORMER ENERGY CEO, NRDC COFOUNDER, NOMINATED TO LEAD DEPARTMENT”] On May 31, President Obama announced his intention to nominate John Bryson to the post of Secretary of the Department of Commerce. Bryson would bring a lengthy resume working on energy and environmental issues to the department that includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration….
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”SENATE: GOP MEASURE TO EXPAND OFFSHORE DRILLING IS REJECTED”] On May 18, the U.S. Senate rejected S. 953 by a vote of 42-57. The Offshore Production and Safety Act of 2011 sought to expedite and expand offshore oil and gas drilling nationwide.. Sponsored by Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the bill–similar to legislation the…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”MINING: COMMITTEE HEARING HIGHLIGHTS INDUSTRY CONCERNS OVER EPA REGS”] The House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment met May 5 for the first in a series of hearings entitled “EPA Mining Policies: Assault on Appalachian Jobs.” The hearings are in reaction to the Obama administration’s review of coal mining projects and the…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”APPROPRIATIONS: CONGRESS PASSES COMPROMISE FY2011 FUNDING MEASURE”] After months of short-term continuing resolutions and a near government shutdown, a deal was reached to fund the federal government for the remainder of Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. On April 15, the president signed (P.L. 112-10), which funds the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, ending…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”APPROPRIATIONS: NO COMPROMISE IN SIGHT HOURS BEFORE POTENTIAL SHUTDOWN”] As of the morning of Friday, April 8, repeated meetings at the White House fostered no definitive agreement between House and Senate leaders to fund the government through the remainder of Fiscal Year 2011. Lawmakers and the president have until Friday evening at midnight to avoid…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”NUCLEAR CRISIS: LAWMAKERS URGE NRC TO RAMP UP, REVIEW PLANT SAFETY STANDARDS”] The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee convened March 16 for a briefing on the nuclear plant crisis in Japan and its implications for the United States. Congressional Democrats have expressed concerns about the safety of the nation’s nuclear power plants, especially reactors…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”HOUSE: COMMITTEE MEMBERS, SCIENTISTS DISCUSS CLIMATE CHANGE, EPA REGS”] The House Energy and Commerce Energy and Power Subcommittee met Tuesday, March 8, 2011 to examine climate science. The hearing served as a precursor to the mark-up of H.R. 910, the Energy Tax Prevention Act, a bill to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”APPROPRIATIONS: FY 2011 CR PASSES WITH STEEP CUTS TO ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES”] On Feb. 19, the House passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) for the seven months remaining of the Fiscal Year 2011 Appropriations. The CR passed during a rare Saturday morning vote at 4:40 a.m. by an overwhelmingly partisan margin of 235-189. Not a single Democrat…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”HOUSE: PARTISANSHIP ABOUNDS AT FIRST GOP-LED CLIMATE HEARING”] House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans questioned climate science and asserted new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules would cost jobs while Democrats accused Republicans of ignoring scientists and human health concerns during the first subcommittee hearing concerning carbon emission regulations and the effects climate change since the…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”HOUSE: REORGANIZED COMMITEES TAKE SHAPE”] Congressional leadership has spent the past few weeks reorganizing House committees, which will now be led by Republican chairmen. In proportion to the new majority gains, minority committee rosters will also shrink as many Democrats who survived re-election will still loose slots on top committees. Membership on committees in general…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”HOUSE: COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN TO REFOCUS PRIORITIES, PROBE CLIMATE SCIENCE”] Among the new priorities of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee in the 112th Congress will be an investigation of climate science. Committee Chairman Ralph Hall (R-TX) opposes cap-and-trade policies and the Environmental Protection Agency’s plans to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Hall has repeatedly suggested…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”FOREIGN AFFAIRS: CANCUN SUMMIT ENDS WITH CLIMATE DEAL”] World leaders reached a consensus on a set of agreements Dec. 11 in Cancun for addressing climate change. Negotiators representing 193 countries agreed to a package that includes establishing a program to preserve tropical rainforests, sharing low-carbon energy technologies and preparing a $100 billion fund to help…
[toggles title=”In This Issue”] [toggle title=”HOUSE: GOP NAMES COMMITTEE CHAIRS”] House Republican leaders on Tuesday, Dec. 7 announced their roster of committee chairmen, all of whom have vowed to conduct vigorous oversight of the Obama Administration. Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), a noted climate skeptic, was picked by House GOP leaders to chair the Science and Technology Committee. “Our Committee will…