Petition Calls for EPA Regulation of Large Dairy and Hog Farms This article features Government Accountability Project and was originally published here. Two dozen environmental and consumer groups, including the Sierra Club and Government Accountability Project, petitioned the EPA on Tuesday to regulate large dairy and hog operations under federal air pollution laws. “The EPA has [...]
We Dont Know for Sure, and the Death Toll is Still Climbing The 2018 hurricane season is now upon us, even while millions of people residing in hurricane alley the large swath of ocean stretching from Africa to North America are still recovering from the hyperactive, catastrophic 2017 hurricane season. Last year we [...]
Nearly three dozen nuclear power plants are inadequately protected against major flooding guaranteed to occur after an upstream dam failure – flooding that could easily lead to an accident or meltdown on the scale of the 2011 nuclear power disaster in Fukushima, Japan. Yet, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) – the federal agency responsible for [...]
The U.S. has failed to submit by 1 January a major report required under U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Most countries have submitted their reports, while there is no publicly available information on the status of the 7th U.S. Climate Action Report and 3rd Biennial Report. Under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, drafts were made available for public review and comment. And the last reports were submitted under President Obama before the January 1, 2014 deadline.
By Nicky Sundt CSPW Senior Fellow The charter of the subcommittee that oversees the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is set to expire tomorrow, October 21, 2017. This speaks volumes about the Trump Administration’s attitudes toward science generally – and toward climate change science specifically. More ominously, it raises very serious questions about the [...]
[F]or … three compelling reasons – poor leadership, waste, and your failures on climate change,” a senior Department of Interior Official, Joel Clement, submitted his resignation on October 4 to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. In his resignation letter, Clement said the administration is “shackled to special interests” and “unwilling to lead on climate change.” Just two weeks earlier, Clement had received the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage.
ExxonMobil, which refuses to acknowledge risks associated with climate change impacts, owns two large refineries in Texas that are poorly prepared for sea level rise, storm surges, extreme flooding, and so on, and now Hurricane Harvey has caused damage to oil facilities and interrupted operations for weeks. Will ExxonMobil now begin to disclose these climate-related risks to shareholders?
Damage caused by Hurricane Harvey in Rockport, Texas, Aug. 28, 2017. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. 1st Class Malcolm McClendon Report identifies rising risks posed by hurricanes as planet warms By Nicky Sundt CSPW Senior Fellow The Climate Change Special Report, arguably the most important report produced by the interagency U.S. Global [...]
Scott Pruitt, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Source: EPA By Nicky Sundt CSPW Senior Fellow “Frankly this report ought to be subjected to peer-reviewed, objective-reviewed methodology and evaluation,” said Scott Pruitt, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, when asked about the leaked draft of a Federal Climate Science Special Report (CSSR). [...]
Troubled and opaque Administration review process is a harbinger of problems for the Fourth National Climate Assessment By Nicky Sundt CSPW Senior Fellow A final draft of a key federal report on the science behind climate change has been leaked to the New York Times and made public. The Climate Science Special Report (CSSR), produced [...]