Feed: Switchboard, from NRDC - AggScore: 64.8

NRDC in the News 2/17: Protect the Arctic, Mr. President; mercury pollution limits announced; Keystone XL fight and more...

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NRDC News, NRDC News Team, NRDC Offices Worldwide: The Seattle Times published Frances Beinecke’s op-ed, which called upon President Obama to uphold his vow to stand up to Big Oil and protect the Arctic from drilling; the op-ed was strategically placed to appear the morning President Obama arrived in Seattle… Frances was...

EPA taking the right approach in investigating oil and gas pollution

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Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Washington, D.C.: There is a recent report that EPA is conducting a "multi-media" investigation into the environmental impacts from Marcellus Shale operations in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The agency is looking for environmental damage that violates federal regulations. I've visited natural gas operations in Washington County. The county...

Latin America Climate, Energy and Environment News: 2/11 - 2/17/2012

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Amanda Maxwell, Latin America Advocate, Washington, DC: Chile A glimmer of hope for renewable energy in Chile as recent studies show that the cost of green energy has been cut in half over the past two years. The price decline is a result of manufacturers who have...

FDA continues to favor BPA industry as NRDC awaits 3 year overdue response.

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Sarah Janssen, Senior Scientist, Health: The FDA kicked off a 60-day comment period today on the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) request to ban BPA from baby bottles and sippy cups. This is a step in the right direction but it isn't nearly enough. ACC’s request...

Event examines how to make LA a mobile city again

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Kristin Eberhard, Legal Director, Western Energy and Climate Projects, Santa Monica: This fall I taught a class at UCLA Law school, and was surprised to hear that many of the students did not plan to stay in LA after graduating.  When asked why, the big answer was jobs, but another common...

Why Are Some Coastal Republicans Protecting Big Oil?

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Elly Pepper, Legislative Advocate, Washington, DC: As the transportation bill saga continues, yesterday the House passed a bill by a vote of 237-187 (H.R. 3408—formerly known as H.R. 3410) that would devastate our oceans and coasts.  The House plans, through a rarely-used procedure, to include it...

Continuing Opposition to H.R. 1837

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Doug Obegi, Staff Attorney, Western Water Project, San Francisco: Yesterday, after minimal notice, the House Natural Resources Committee passed H.R. 1837 (Nunes).  Over the coming days, my colleagues and I will be blogging (again) about this radical legislation, which would eviscerate the state and federal environmental laws that protect...

BP Hauls in $7.7 Billion in Profits, Gulf Fishermen Haul in Shrimp with No Eyes

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Peter Lehner, Executive Director, New York City: Oil giant BP, the company behind the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, reported profits of dollarsignr7.7 billion for the last quarter of 2011. Company executives and industry analysts sounded bullish about the company's future in a recent New York Times article,...

Something Wicked This Way Comes: House Leadership's Three-Ring Transportation Circus

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Deron Lovaas, Federal Transportation Policy Director, Washington, D.C.: Speaking with someone outside of the bubble of national policymaking yesterday, I remembered the surreal and alarming spectacle of the past two weeks in the House of Representatives. At the beginning of last week those of us who work on...

Where am I? Given crazy jurisdictional borders, it's hard to tell

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Kaid Benfield, Director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, DC:    We’re looking at a satellite image of Netherlands countryside surrounding the Dutch town of Baarle-Nassau, home to just under 7,000 residents.  (Note the relative absence of sprawl to muck up the farmland.)    Or are we?  Look closely at...

Air Pollution: An Assault on the Heart, Brain and Lungs

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Diane Bailey, Senior Scientist, San Francisco: A number of studies have come out recently confirming that air pollution at levels that many people commonly experience can have serious impacts to our hearts, brains and lungs.  A major review of 34 separate studies around the world found...

Two new reports on "Drilling Dysfunction"

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Amy Mall, Senior Policy Analyst, Washington, D.C.: A new report from the Democratic members of the House Natural Resources Committee has found that federal enforcement of oil and gas rules appears to be almost non-existent. According to the report, from 1998 to 2011, more than two thousand violations were...

More on the new US/UNEP Initiative to Cut Short-Term Climate Pollutants: a Positive Step for Human Health and the Environment

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Rich Kassel, Senior Attorney and Director, Clean Fuels and Vehicles Project, New York City: Just this morning, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled a new international program to cut black carbon, methane, hydroflourocarbons and other short-lived pollutants that add to global warming.  (Teaser alert:  a historical note about Secretary Clinton's longstanding leadership on...

Latin America's sustainable energy future can start at the Rio+20 Earth Summit

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Carolina Herrera, Latin America Advocate, Washington DC: Environment ministers from 31 Latin American and Caribbean countries meeting in Quito, Ecuador highlighted the importance of renewing high-level political will on sustainable development at the Rio+20 Earth Summit this June. Latin America is in a position to start the transition...

White House Budget Proposal Threatens Cuts to Critical Coastal and Marine Programs

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Sarah Chasis, Senior Attorney and Director, Ocean Initiative, New York: When President Obama released his budget proposal to Congress this week, his message to Congress was clear: “[Create] an economy that is built to last.” Unfortunately for our coasts and oceans—and the millions of Americans who depend on these resources...