Enforcement
Anti-Regulation Fever On Capitol Hill
Congress is on an anti-regulation crusade as of late. The reason is thinly veiled as a job creation move, but the real goal seems to be suspending all environmental regulations. There have been a series of anti-regulation bills introduced on Capitol Hill. One of the most dangerous, the Regulatory Freeze for Jobs Act would shut down the current regulatory system, endangering public health and the environment. It would essentially prohibit all significant regulatory actions until the unemployment level goes down to 6%. That level was last seen in 2008. Sadly HR 4078, which encompassed a number of bad bills including the Regulatory Freeze Act passed the House. Click on the following link: http://www.sensiblesafeguards.org/assets/documents/css-post-4078b-vote.pdf to read a press release on this dangerous legislation where a number of directors from non-profit organizations are quoted including CWN's Natalie Roy. CWN sent an alert this week detailing the current Congressional regulatory crusade and outlining the current crop of dangerous bills being introduced- http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs047/1102259806148/archive/111055725...
CWN Attends Meeting with White House Council on Environmental Quality
On July 26th, CWN's own Casey Knecht met with members of the White House Council on Environmental Quality to discuss the prevention of chemical disasters by using safer chemical processes. The meeting was organized by Greenpeace and involved a number of other environmental groups and public health groups. A petition with 60,000 signatures was presented to the council to prevent chemical disasters. The photo was taken immediately after the meeting and features those in attendance as well as others who signed the petition in front of the White House.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Clean Water Voting Record
| Representative | H.R. 4278 | Edwards Amend. | Bishop Amend. |
| Mica | Yes | No | No |
| Rahall | No | Yes |
Letter to House T&I Committee on Latest Dirty Water Bills
Attached below is a letter from various environmental groups to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure with regard to various dirty water bills. The bills are H.R. 4278, H.R. 5961, H.R. 2541, and H.R. 3158. These four bills undermine the Clean Water Act and related rules and regulations meant to protect our nation's clean water. These bills employ loopholes, exemptions, sidestepping, and unrelated issues to effectively prevent the Clean Water Act from doing what it was intended to do. On July 26, 2012, the T&I Committee began the markup on these bills and will finish around the end of the month presumably to send the bills to the House floor before the August recess. This letter points out the damaging effects these bills will cause if enacted.
Open House to Celebrate the Work of William W. Ellis Jr.
The Ohio Environmental Law Center will hold an open house on Thursday, July 26th, to celebrate the work of William W. Ellis Jr. It will be from 5-7pm at the Ohio Environmental Council offices in Columbus. Please RSVP to 614-487-7506 or oec@theoec.org
Reid Gardner Power Plant Investigation
Reid Gardner Generating Station is a coal-fired power plant located near Moapa, Nevada, very close to the Moapa Paiute Indian Reservation. Opened in 1965, this 557 megawatt plant is co-owned by NV Energy (69% stake) and California Department of Water Resources (31% stake). NBC affiliate KSNV News 3 - Las Vegas recently aired a 3-part investigation of the plant and its pollution which neighbors say is poisoning them to death. We have posted the television segments below for your information. Just click on the arrows to view the reports.
Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper
Vision
2012 House Clean Water Voting Record
Key to this chart: For each Representative, if they voted 50% or higher in support of clean water, they received a blue water drop. If they voted 49% or lower, a brown drop is shown next to their name. Click on the drop next to each Representative to see the details of each vote that was recorded on this chart and to see how other Representatives from their state voted.
2012 Senate Clean Water Voting Record
|
International News and Events
Waterkeeper Alliance declaration to the Rio+20 UN Conference