We All Live Downstream

By Steve Hvozdovich, Marcellus Campaign Coordinator

For those in the heart of gas country, impacts from natural gas drilling to water and air quality are a daily concern and a threat to their quality of life. The bills introduced in the U.S. Congress today by Representatives Matthew Cartwright (D-PA) and Jared Polish (D-CO) mean so much to these people and show them that their government is concerned about their well being and working to protect them. Their leadership is welcomed.

Too often industry has been given a free pass. The BREATHE and FRESHER Acts close loopholes in the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act that have left stormwater runoff pollution and toxic air pollution from hydraulic fracturing operations go uncontrolled.

We need environmental champions now more than ever. Thanks to Reps. Cartwright and Polis for leading the way in making sure natural gas drillers play by the rules. It’s the very least we can do to protect the water we drink and the air we breathe.

By Andrew Fellows, Chesapeake Regional Director

Today, as we are observing the two-year anniversary of the disaster at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, we get great news on the energy front in Maryland!

Today the Nuclear Regulatory Commission refused to review UniStar Nuclear Energy LLC’s permit for expanding the nuclear power plant at Calvert Cliffs, which had been denied by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.  Last week, the State Senate advanced a bill to support offshore wind in Maryland. This is a huge week for clean energy!

Maryland is moving away from nuclear and towards wind for its energy future.  Our staff, led by Program Coordinator, Andrew Galli, and powered by the Clean Water Action phone and field canvass staff has played a significant role in both defeating the Calvert reactor expansion and passing offshore wind over the last 5 years.  There is plenty more to come, but this is a big step forward for the state and we should all take a moment to celebrate.

By Gary Wockner, Colorado Program Director

This piece originally appeared on Huffington Post

Over the past few weeks, Colorado’s Governor John Hickenlooper has gotten a lot of negative attention. First, for telling a U.S. Senate committee that he drank Halliburton’s frack fluid; second, for threatening to sue the City of Fort Collins for its ban on fracking.

But Hickenlooper isn’t the only government official trying to frack Colorado.

Helen Hankins, who directs the Colorado office of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), has also been in the very-uncomfortable glare of public fracking scrutiny, and for a good reason. The Colorado BLM has stirred up a hornet’s nest of controversy over the past year proposing fracking in three areas of the state. Read the rest of this entry »

By Cindy Luppi, New England Regional Director

Gina McCarthy

Today President Obama nominated Gina McCarthy to be the Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). We couldn’t be more thrilled with the selection.  We’ve worked with Gina throughout her career in New England and she is a committed professional who has led the fight to protect our air and water.  We know she’ll do a great job as the head of as she EPA.

McCarthy has served as Deputy Administrator for Air and Radiation under Administrator Lisa Jackson, helping develop critical clean air standards, including rules limiting mercury and air toxics pollution, cutting greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants and the historic fuel efficiency and emission standards for cars.  She also served in the Administrations of Governors William Weld (R) , Paul Cellucci (R), Jane Swift (R), and Mitt Romney (R) in Massachusetts and was head of the Department of Environmental Protection for Gov. Jodi Rell (R) in Connecticut. Read the rest of this entry »

Instead of cutting vital programs – end the subsidies!

By Michael Kelly, Director of Online Communications

Well, at least we know where Congress stands now. Today our Representatives and Senators chose the status quo and $8 billion in subsidies to Big Oil over funding for programs that protect the health of our water and funding for national parks and forests. They went with Big Oil over programs for food safety and air traffic controllers. They even chose Big Oil over the military.

Over the next few weeks, as Congress allows its mandatory across-the-board budget cuts (aka “sequestration”) to take effect, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of the Interior and other Federal agencies will begin to “furlough” employees or slash programs. That means reduced air pollution monitoring (just as pollution levels begin to spike during the summer months), less funding for cleanup of toxic Superfund sites or for meeting drinking water safety standards, even the closure of national park facilities and services just as we head into their busiest time of the year.  At the same time, Big Oil will still be pulling in Federal Corporate welfare as their profits soar. Whose interests are our elected officials representing? (Don’t answer that) Read the rest of this entry »

By Tom Taylor, 2013 Energy Program Intern

Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal. It contains toxic chemicals like arsenic, lead, and mercury. One local producer of toxic coal ash is Michigan State University’s T.B. Simon coal plant, the largest on-campus coal plant in the nation, which burns 200,000 tons of coal each year. Coal ash pollution can contaminate drinking water and cause a number of health problems, including cancer.

MSU T.B. Simon Power Plant -Photo Credit Tom Taylor

Several years ago MSU built what was called the “Bridge to the Future” on the south side of campus. The bridge is a railway overpass designed to allow uninterrupted flow of traffic on the road below.  With MSU’s environmentally friendly reputation, I was shocked to hear that a large amount of coal ash was unearthed during the bridge’s construction. The uncovered coal ash had previously been used as fill for construction purposes. Nearly half of the coal ash found during the project was relocated to another contaminated area on campus, known as a Brownfield site. In the light of all the negative consequences of coal ash pollution I’m surprised that the Michigan State Administration would elect to keep the coal ash on campus. Allowing coal ash to be stored close to a large population of students is not a thoughtful decision. In addition to human health concerns, plants and wildlife can be impacted by the toxic chemicals contained in coal ash as well. In order to protect the health of students and our environment we must properly dispose of this toxic substance. Read the rest of this entry »

Clean Water Action partnered with many other organizations on the February 17 Forward on Climate Rally.  We spread the word with our members and staff from offices in the DC Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic and New England all participated.  Here’s a report from our own Casille Systermans on her experience at the rally and the importance of our nation’s youth speaking out.

Americans, moving #ForwardOnClimate

On Sunday, I met with about 40,000 other climate activists and marched from the national mall to the White House to let President Obama know we not only want, but will demand, action on Climate Change. Before this, I had never taken part in large marches or rallies, but standing alongside such a huge group of my peers ignited something in me I haven’t really felt for a few years – belief.

For four years I studied climate change and environmental science at Boston College. My good friend Anthony, who shared my major and most of my classes, and I used to joke that studying the environment and what humans were doing to this planet was an exercise in learning about our inevitable doom. Especially considering at the time we saw the political right passing bills to outlaw climate science and legally deny the dangerous futures we were learning about every day. Needless to say, this atmosphere didn’t engender any real hope in me that we could make the changes needed to guarantee my generation will be able to live on a planet that will look like the one we grew up on. Read the rest of this entry »

By Jennifer Peters, National Water Campaigns Coordinator

#ProtectCleanWater

President Obama has made addressing climate change a top priority for his second term.   To some in the environmental community his commitment may seem long overdue, but it really is a big deal.  No other American President has ever made an environmental issue a top administrative priority.

I’m glad the Administration is finally taking a strong stance on climate change, but I am frustrated that other important environmental initiatives remain stalled in the White House.  Take the final policy that would restore protections to small streams and wetlands – water resources that will become even more precious in a changing climate.  This final guidance document has been languishing in the White House a full year awaiting approval. It’s time for the White House to finalize this vital guidance.

This new policy is needed because, for over a decade, the ability of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to keep our water free from pollution and destruction has been undermined.  Historically EPA asserted board jurisdiction over water in the United States, including small headwater streams and geographically isolated wetlands. Protecting all water equally is just common sense – streams and wetlands feed into larger river systems and the health of those small streams and wetlands directly contribute to the water quality of all rivers. Read the rest of this entry »

By Gary Wockner, Colorado Program Director

“If you don’t fight for what you want, you deserve what you get.” —Van Jones

Almost exactly nine months ago on May 22, 2012, I wrote an editorial in the Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper, Fort Colllins Should Ban Fracking. And yesterday, on Feb. 19, a sharply divided Fort Collins City Council voted 5-2 to ban fracking in the City of Fort Collins.

Nine months ago the conversation around fracking was relatively new in Colorado and few people and environmental groups were directly addressing it. Now, nine months later, very much has changed—fracking is in the news constantly, many environmental groups are engaged in the fight to stop fracking and the issue is escalating wildly throughout the public across the state.

What has changed in a mere nine months?  Read the rest of this entry »

By Erin Adair, Colorado Program Coordinator

We’ve been hard at work on our Don’t Frack Denver’s Water campaign – and it’s going great! We’ve found overwhelming support along the Front Range for our efforts to protect drinking water and our environment from the impact of drilling and fracking. This campaign specifically addresses the parcels of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands near the headwaters of the South Platte River and three reservoirs that provide drinking water for nearly 2 million metro Denver residents. Drilling and fracking in this sensitive area has the potential to not only pollute drinking water sources for metro Denver, but could devastate wildlife habitats and impact pristine hunting and fishing areas.

Our field canvass has been educating and mobilizing residents in the metro Denver area about these potential threats of drilling and fracking on BLM public lands in South Park Basin. They collected nearly 2,000 postcards and hand-written letters to Colorado BLM Director Helen Hankins urging her to create a Master Leasing Plan for the South Park Basin to ensure their drinking water is protected. Our members wrote some amazing, passionate, and insightful letters to Director Hankins about their concerns with industry practices, water protection, and stories of how drilling and fracking have impacted them personally. Thank you to all of our members who made their voices heard! Read the rest of this entry »