In The News
NorCal lawmakers call for opening up secret drought bill negotiations
Yuba Net By: Dan Bacher June 26, 2014 June 24, 2014 - Six Northern California Congress Members on June 23 called on Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to open up secret negotiations on controversial drought legislation that threatens salmon populations, family farmers and California Indian Tribes. Representatives Jared Huffman, George Miller, John Garamendi, Jerry McNerney, Doris Matsui, and Mike Thompson asked for "public and transparent negotiations" between the Se… Continue Reading
06.26.14
Ranchers, scientists tell panel grazing can capture warming gases
E&E News By Phil Taylor June 26, 2014 Well-managed livestock grazing can help soil capture and store more carbon dioxide, resist drought and erosion and generate more forage, creating a win-win for the climate and ranchers, rangeland experts told a House panel yesterday. One scientist from Texas A&M University said "regenerative grazing," which allows plants to recover before they are grazed again, can restore the functionality of degraded ecosystems and allow the regrowt… Continue Reading
06.25.14
Groups air grievances against Obama admin proposals
E&E News By Manuel Quinones June 25, 2014 Several state and industry advocates lined up yesterday to accuse the Obama administration of aiming to usurp water oversight across the country. A hearing of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power became an arena for farming, electric utility and state interests to warn against the potential ramifications of U.S. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers' proposal to clarify the Clean Water Act's reach, plus a Forest Ser… Continue Reading
06.25.14
Record-low number of Dems join GOP on pro-pipelines bill as 'energy week' continues
E&E News By Elana Schor June 25, 2014 Seventeen House Democrats yesterday joined all but one Republican in voting to replace the presidential permitting process that Keystone XL has been mired in for years with a faster path to approval of energy infrastructure. The 238-173 vote to approve H.R. 3301, crafted by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas), marked a record-low number of Democrats crossing the aisle to support the GOP on measures … Continue Reading
06.25.14
LNG Export Bill Hits U.S. House Floor; Trade Group Predicts Passage
NGI Daily By Charlie Passut June 25, 2014 A bill to expedite the approval of applications to export natural gas to World Trade Organization (WTO) countries was on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, and a group that supports liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports expects it to win passage in the chamber on Wednesday. According to the Clerk of the House, discussions started over HR 6 -- also known as the "Domestic Prosperity and Global Freedom Act" -- … Continue Reading
06.25.14
Tierney sets talks on fisheries here with House panel chief
The Gloucester Times By Sean Horgan June 25, 2014 The federal disaster aid to fishermen and industry stakeholders is in the pipeline, and now much of the industry's attention - here and across the rest of the coastal United States - has turned to the reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Act that regulates the nation's fisheries. With that in mind, U.S. Rep. John Tierney is hosting a special listening session Tuesday in Gloucester on the commercial fishing industry, and he's bringin… Continue Reading
06.25.14
Job training programs for energy sector need government investment, witnesses tell lawmakers
E&E News By Joshua Learn June 25, 2014 Witnesses told lawmakers yesterday that robust government grants are necessary for training a workforce to fill the skills gap between new college and technical school graduates and highly skilled jobs in the energy industry. "We would like policymakers to give some attention to that," Marlene McMichael, the associate vice chancellor for government affairs at the Texas State Technical College System, said at a hearing examining the conne… Continue Reading
06.24.14
House set to debate energy exports, pipelines
E&E News By Nick Juliano June 24, 2014 The House is set to take up bills to expedite consideration of liquefied natural gas exports and ease the approval process for cross-border pipelines as a weeklong focus on energy issues continues. The Rules Committee yesterday authorized a handful of amendments to the first pair of energy bills it will consider this week. Earlier in the day, the House easily approved a handful of minor energy efficiency bills. Notably, this week's considerat… Continue Reading
06.24.14
House Dems call for transparency on drought negotiations
E&E News By Debra Kahn June 24, 2014 California Democrats are objecting to negotiations between the House and Senate over the state's drought conditions, saying that any compromise with House Republicans risks hurting Northern California and environmental interests. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and five other Northern California Democrats wrote a letter yesterday to the state's Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, asking them to make public their negotiatio… Continue Reading
06.23.14
Growing federal wildlife kills prompt new scrutiny
Houston Chronicle By Kevin Diaz June 21, 2014 WASHINGTON - Somewhere in Hunt County last year, in the vicinity of Dallas, a trapper for a little-known agency of the federal government spotted an armadillo tearing up some turf and shot it dead. Nine others were trapped or snared, among more than 700,000 animals exterminated last year to protect farms, ranches, airports, golf courses, parks and other places in Texas where wildlife could cause problems. The take, which varies from ye… Continue Reading
06.23.14
House to vote on study of Mass. river protections
E&E News By Phil Taylor June 23, 2014 The House tonight is scheduled to vote on H.R. 412 by Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.) to study the suitability of protecting Massachusetts' Nashua River and two of its tributaries as wild and scenic rivers. The bill, which passed the Natural Resources Committee by unanimous consent a year ago, will be considered under suspension of the rules, a process reserved for noncontroversial measures that requires a two-thirds majority to pass. It would aut… Continue Reading
06.23.14
House energy week to feature votes on LNG, offshore drilling, pipelines, efficiency
E&E News Nick Juliano, Phil Taylor and Elana Schor, E&E reporters June 23, 2014 Think of it as shark week for the energy and environment set. The House this week is planning to focus its attention on a series of bills to promote offshore oil drilling, pipeline construction, liquefied natural gas exports and energy efficiency in what has become a regular tradition under Republicans of setting aside a specified "energy week" to focus attention on the issues -- and s… Continue Reading
06.20.14
Bishop, DeFazio bill would accelerate state-federal exchanges
E&E News By Phil Taylor June 20, 2014 A new bill by Reps. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) and Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) seeks to expedite state-federal land swaps, a move aimed at protecting federal parks and wilderness areas while also increasing state education revenues. The bill seeks to simplify the patchwork of land ownership that arose when Western states were created more than a century ago. States including Utah, for example, were given four square-mile patches of trust lands out of every… Continue Reading
06.20.14
A Fight for Survival
States turn back the clock on wolf protections Eugene Weekly By Peter DeFazio June 19, 2014 After several years and over 3,000 miles of searching, last week it was confirmed that our famed OR-7 is no longer a lone gray wolf. Not only has OR-7 found a mate, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced he has fathered at least two pups - the first wolf pups in southern Oregon in decades. Many wolf advocates and OR-7 fans missed the irony in the agency's announcement. For… Continue Reading
06.20.14
Congressman proposes federal microbeads ban
E&E News By Sam Pearson June 19, 2014 Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) has introduced a bill to phase out microbeads, plastic particles that are increasingly found in the nation's waterways to the growing concern of environmentalists. Pallone's bill would ban the sale or use of microbeads in cosmetics products, which are often washed down shower drains, where they enter the water system. The tiny beads can be used to exfoliate skin in facial scrubs or clean teeth in toothpaste, … Continue Reading
06.19.14
Subpanel Republicans tout benefits of boom, Democrats warn of potential busts
E&E News By Dylan Brown June 19, 2014 When Louisiana Republican John Fleming first ran for Congress in 2007, a tour of Desoto Parish gave him pause. "What am I getting myself into?" he recalled thinking at a House Natural Resources subcommittee hearing yesterday. "I could foresee in the future an endless line of people at my door begging for money." The parish of 30,000 residents tucked away in the northwest corner of the state near the Texas border "was close… Continue Reading
06.13.14
Rockets, industrial foams may solve fracking's water woes, lawmakers told
E&E News By Katherine Ling June 11, 2014 Technology that helps launch weapons and rockets may be the key to using almost no water when companies seek to crack rocks to find oil and natural gas -- the process known as hydraulic fracturing. Water is a significant risk during "fracking." It can cost a company a few million dollars for treatment and disposal of the water used in production and is the focus of ongoing regulatory proceedings and public criticism that may lead to fu… Continue Reading
06.12.14
Rep. Peter DeFazio urges Congress to fund earthquake early warning
The World By Thomas Moriarty June 11, 2014 COOS BAY - The South Coast's man in Congress is joining colleagues in a push for an earthquake early warning system. In a hearing Tuesday morning, Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, criticized legislators for not acting sooner. "It's pretty pathetic when countries like Romania, Mexico and now Mongolia are doing more to protect their citizens (from) severe damage in the case of an earthquake t… Continue Reading
06.12.14
New Wolf Pups Just in Time for Father's Day
Eugene Weekly By Anna V. Smith June 12, 2014 It's been a good month for gray wolves so far: The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife documented new wolf pups in southern Oregon, and just across the border, the California Fish and Game Commission just voted to protect gray wolves under the California Endangered Species Act. The pups were fathered by Oregon's famous OR-7 and are the first pups to be born in the Oregon Cascades since the 1940s. OR-7, aka Journey, achieved national fame … Continue Reading
06.12.14
Infographic: Hey, Wildlife Services — what did you kill?
High Country News By Ben Goldfarb Jun 11, 2014 Earlier this month, Wildlife Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture division responsible for animal control, released data indicating that it killed over four million creatures in 2013 - a million more than it did the previous year. The agency, whose stated mission is to provide "leadership and expertise to resolve wildlife conflicts," undertakes plenty of non-lethal management, too: It dispersed nearly 18 million animals in … Continue Reading