The landscape from Plaquemines Parish, south of New Orleans, through to Biloxi and North into Selma is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in my life. Continue reading
Tag Archives: emissions
ALEC uses Indiana Regulator to help Coal Companies Stall Climate Change Action
You’re probably familiar with the old “fox in the hen house” story, but what about when a hen joins the fox den?
This is the case with the recent American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) meeting in Washington, DC. Leaked documents obtained by Greenpeace reveal that ALEC’s anti-environmental jamboree was inundated with coal money and featured an Indiana regulator advising coal utilities on delaying US Environmental Protection Agency rules to control greenhouse gas emissions and hazardous air pollution.
Bottom of blog: View contents of the ACCCE USB drive from ALEC's 2012 States & Nation Policy summit.
At ALEC’s coal-sponsored meeting, where state legislators and corporate representatives meet to create template state laws ranging from attacks on clean energy to privatization of public schools, Indiana’s Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Management Tom Easterly laid out a plan to stall the US EPA global warming action in a power point clearly addressed to coal industry representatives at ALEC’s meeting.
In a USB drive branded with the logo of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), a folder labeled “Easterly” contains a presentation titled “Easterly ALEC presentation 11 28 12” explaining current EPA air pollution rules and how Tom Easterly has worked to obstruct them. The power points is branded with the Indiana Department of Environmental Protection seal. In the latter presentation, Easterly ended his briefing to ALEC’s dirty energy members with suggestions for delaying EPA regulation of greenhouse gas emissions at coal plants. Continue reading
VIDEO: Greenpeace Activist Confronts Coal Lobbyist at Energy Event
Today at a well-attended energy forum hosted by Politico, I shed some light on the role of coal lobbyist Jeffrey Holmstead in blocking pollution reductions for his coal utility and mining clients after he said we can’t “regulate our way to clean energy.” Here’s the video:
(Click for transcript of interruption)
UPDATE 11/16: Holmstead was later confronted on camera by Gabe Elsner of the Checks and Balances Project after the disruption at the Politico forum. Watch Holmstead re-write the history of his attacks on mercury pollution laws:
Greenpeace's Climate Crimes Unit distributed WANTED posters of Jeff Holmstead.
As I waited inside for Mr. Holmstead to step on stage, members of Greenpeace’s Climate Crime Unit stood outside handing out WANTED posters of both Holmstead and chief oil lobbyist Jack Gerard of the American Petroleum Institute, who was also present.
Jeff Holmstead, who is often quoted in newspapers as a former Air and Radiation Administrator for the George W. Bush Environmental Protection Agency or a “partner” (read: lobbyist) at Bracewell & Giuliani’s corporate law firm here in DC, is rarely credited as an influence peddler for some of the most notorious polluters in the country.
Polluters like Duke Energy, Southern Company, and Arch coal are paying Holmstead’s bills. Continue reading
Is Pulp Mill Pollution Aggravating You Or Someone You Know?
A fix is at hand for reducing air pollution from pulp mills all across the nation — if you will pitch-in with a short comment to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Kraft paper mill in South Carolina
Although every eight years EPA is required by the Clean Air Act to review and improve its regulations controlling air emissions from these mills, it has missed all three of the required reviews since 1986! The regulations now in force date to 1978, and being based on the 34-year old technology they need a thorough overhaul.
We now have a strong foothold for setting this right. Last month EPA tentatively agreed to a good settlement of a lawsuit Greenpeace and two co-plaintiffs filed against EPA in December over the agency’s neglect. Continue reading