EPA

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GOP Senators Boycott Vote on New EPA Chief

Democrats accuse them of obstructionism

(Newser) - Republicans on the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee refused to show up yesterday for a vote to confirm President Obama's nominee to head the EPA , complaining that Gina McCarthy hadn't responded to their inquiries. "We're not asking to amend any bedrock environmental laws,"...

EPA to Require Cleaner Gas Despite Big Oil's Objections

New rules will call for less sulfur in gasoline

(Newser) - Big oil's lobbyists have lost a fight over cleaner gasoline: The EPA will require refiners to reduce the amount of sulfur to cut down on smog, reports the Washington Post . The cut is a sizable one, dropping the allowable limit by two-thirds from 30 parts per million to 10....

Beekeepers Battle EPA Over Pesticide

Environmentalists want neonicotinoids banned

(Newser) - Beekeepers and environmentalists sued the EPA last week over its approval of some of America's most popular pesticides, the latest salvo in an ongoing battle over products they blame for falling bee populations . NPR took a look this morning at the struggle over neonicotinoids, which show up in a...

Obama Naming Energy, EPA Honchos Today

Picks Ernest Moniz, Gina McCarthy to fill the key vacancies

(Newser) - President Obama will appoint a new energy secretary and new head of the Environmental Protection Agency today, according to a White House official. Obama is nominating MIT scientist Ernest Moniz to head the Energy Department and EPA veteran Gina McCarthy to run the environmental agency. She currently serves as EPA'...

EPA Rethinks Hybrid Mileage
 EPA Rethinks Hybrid Mileage 
Mar 1, 2013 1:31 PM CST

EPA Rethinks Hybrid Mileage

And hauls in Ford for special testing

(Newser) - The EPA is taking the unusual step of hauling in Ford's C-Max hybrid for special testing as it reevaluates its rules for determining mileage for next-generation hybrids, USA Today reports. Usually, the EPA lets automakers test their fuel mileage themselves according to its rules, but the agency has had...

Energy Secretary Steven Chu Leaving, Too

He will leave as soon as his successor gets confirmed

(Newser) - President Obama has another Cabinet post to fill: Energy Secretary Steven Chu is stepping down as soon as a successor is confirmed by the Senate, reports Politico . Chu is a Nobel winner in physics who made green spending a priority, even if it occasionally backfired, as in the Solyndra debacle...

EPA Boss Quit Over Keystone XL

Lisa Jackson left post because Obama is changing his position: insider

(Newser) - Here's the latest on the eco-drama going on in DC: Lisa Jackson, who last week left her post as the head of the EPA, apparently stepped down because President Obama is now planning to change course and throw his support behind the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, reports the New ...

EPA Head Lisa Jackson Stepping Down

Jackson's tenure marked by big fights with Republicans

(Newser) - The Obama administration's chief environmental watchdog, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, is stepping down after a nearly four-year tenure marked by high-profile brawls over global warming pollution, the Keystone XL oil pipeline, new controls on coal-fired plants, and several other hot-button issues that affect the nation's economy and people'...

Consumer Reports Slams Ford Hybrids' Mileage

Test finds huge gap between EPA estimates and real figure

(Newser) - If the 47mpg rating on Ford's 2013 Fusion and C-Max models sounds too good to be true, well, there's a reason for that. The two hybrids perform drastically worse than advertised, Consumer Reports has concluded, clocking their actual performance at 39 mpg for the Fusion and 37 mpg...

In Face of Gas Woes, Great News at the Pump

Gas prices falling everywhere else, but crisis persists in worst-hit areas

(Newser) - More steps in the effort to ease the post-Hurricane Sandy fuel crisis: UPI reports that the EPA lifted clean diesel regulations in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and NYC area, allowing vehicles to use heating oil for emergency response purposes, while the Energy Department said it was working with the Pentagon...

Navy Will Again Sink Ships Off US Coast

Re-starting old practice instead of recycling

(Newser) - The US Navy is resuming its practice of using old warships for target practice and sinking them in US coastal waters after a nearly two-year moratorium spurred by environmental and cost concerns. Later this month, three inactive vessels—Kilauea, Niagara Falls, and Concord—will be sent to a watery grave...

EPA's New Soot Rules Pose Threat to Obama

11 states demanded action on air pollution, but others will likely be irked

(Newser) - The Obama administration didn't want to tighten air pollution regulations until after the election—but lawsuits from 11 states have forced its hand. The Environmental Protection Agency will today announce a proposal for stricter rules on allowable soot levels. Though a final decision won't come until December, the...

EPA Honcho Resigns Over 'Crucify' Comments

Al Armendariz targeted by GOP over 2010 incident

(Newser) - The EPA's top administrator in the South and Southwest region has resigned over comments he made in 2010, in which he used the word "crucify" to describe his ideas about the EPA's enforcement policies, the AP reports. Republicans called for Al Armendariz to be fired after a...

Your Home May Sit on Lead-Poisoned Soil

 Your Home May Sit 
 on Lead-Poisoned Soil 
investigation
Apr 19, 2012 10:05 AM CDT

Your Home May Sit on Lead-Poisoned Soil

...and the EPA and government regulators know it: USA Today

(Newser) - The ground your home is sitting on could very well be harming you. A 14-month USA Today investigation revealed that the health of thousands of families could be in jeopardy due to potentially hazardous levels of lead in the soil—a possibility government regulators were told of more than a...

EPA Budget Cuts Could Imperil ... Beachgoers?

It plans to kill $10M in grants used to test tainted water

(Newser) - Swimmers, beware: You may want to stick with sand, not surf, this summer. The EPA is feeling the financial squeeze, and this week submitted a budget request that eliminates $10 million in grants that are used to test for polluted water and post warning signs. The EPA says the burden...

Farmers: EPA Going Overboard on Dioxins

Toxic chemical found in most meat, dairy

(Newser) - The EPA is set to release guidelines this month warning the public not to ingest too much of a class of poisonous chemicals. Sound reasonable? Well, farmers and the food industry beg to differ, because the chemicals in question are dioxins—a ubiquitous byproduct of paper, metal, and cement production...

EPA Set to Loosen New Pollution Rules

10 states could face less stringent limits on emissions

(Newser) - The EPA finalized a new rule to curb industrial pollution this summer; three months later, the agency has proposed to loosen the restrictions in 10 of 27 affected states. The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, meant to cut power-plant emissions that can blow across state lines, has faced sharp criticism from...

President Obama Dumps New Smog Rules in Surprise Win for Businesses
 Obama Dumps 
 New Smog Rules 
Sep 2, 2011 11:28 AM CDT

Obama Dumps New Smog Rules

He says standard will change anyway in 2013

(Newser) - Barack Obama handed the business community a surprise win today by asking the Environmental Protection Agency to scrap new smog standards that would force state and local government to improve air quality or risk losing federal funds, the Washington Post reports. "Work is already underway to update … the...

Budget Cuts at EPA Hit States Hard

Governments cut projects, environmental law enforcement

(Newser) - In December, Republicans lauded a $1.6 billion EPA budget cut as an effort to shrink federal government—but it’s the states that are feeling much of the squeeze, reports the Washington Post . That’s because most EPA money is channeled through the states, whose governments now have millions...

Union: Boycott Florida, Ohio, and Wisconsin

That is, if you can afford to vacation at all

(Newser) - A Chicago-based federal employees union is urging its members to put off their vacations, stop going out to dinner, and otherwise tighten their belts in the face of a two-year pay freeze and Washington’s general newfound zeal for spending cuts. And it’s adding that if they are going...

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