Farron Cousins Posts

It simply wouldn’t be an election year in the United States without the fictitious “war on coal” talking point rearing its ugly head. But something is different this year. In years past, the “war on coal” was admittedly fake, but today we really do have presidential candidates who have expressed interest in making the industry a thing of the past, and those quotes are being used as a catalyst to rally voters in coal-dependent states like West Virginia and Kentucky.

Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia has always been at odds with the majority of his fellow Democrats in terms of environmental protection, but his statements a few weeks ago show that he might have actually become an enemy to the environment.

In early October 2015, a jury awarded $1.6 million to Carla Bartlett after attorneys presented ample evidence to prove that a kidney tumor that Ms. Bartlett had developed was a result of ingesting a chemical known as C8. The chemical was discharged into the Ohio River by DuPont, and it was used for decades as a chemical in the development of Teflon.

Few issues have as much impact on the future as climate change. Sadly, the issue of climate change has taken a backseat to economic policy, divisive cultural issues, and the threat of terrorism. The main reason for this is the media coverage of these issues.

Environmental victories are rare. Even with mounting scientific evidence that reckless human activities are endangering our future, politicians and corporations have continued to run roughshod over the planet, destroying the very home that sustains our lives. For too long, environmentalists were seen as a small part of a political movement that focused on an issue that most Americans greeted with a yawn. After all, the most damning climate science has emerged at a time when the threat of global terrorism and economic downturns were grabbing all of the headlines.

The agreement that was hammered out in Paris at the recent climate talks will be a great step forward towards addressing the growing threat of climate change. But lost amongst the applause for the accord is a question that needs to be answered: Why did it take so long, and are we too late? Two weeks ago, memos from the George H.W. Bush administration were released that detailed conversations between Bush Sr.’s cabinet members, where they discussed the growing threat of global climate change…27 years ago.

With its nickname “The Sunshine State,” it would make sense for Florida to lead in solar energy in the United States. But industry opposition and a climate change-denying governor have allowed the state to fall dangerously behindwhen it comes to harnessing the power of the sun.

A week after their electoral victories in the 2014 midterms, Senate Republicans have already set their sights on one of their all-time favorite targets: the Environmental Protection Agency. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who will become the Senate majority leader when the 2015 Congress convenes, announced last week that one of his main goals was to “rein in” the EPA. One of the main items that McConnell has problems with is the agency’s power plant emissions standards that would cut down on the amount of allowable air pollution from coal-fired power plants.

Two Republican members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will be releasing a white paper later this week that will allegedly make the case that “regulations” and legislation that “raises energy costs” are damaging America’s underclass. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Tim Scott have teamed up with the conservative Manhattan Institute for Policy Research to once again push the bogus theory that government regulations and environmental safeguards are costing American consumers too much money and destroying jobs.

Coal ash from a dump nearby is the most probable culprit in a spike of cancer and respiratory illness at a prison in LaBell, Pennsylvania. A report put together by the Abolitionist Law Center and Human Rights Coalition exposes the details.

Republican Florida governor Rick Scott has always had a huge problem when it comes to the environment. To begin with, he has repeatedly made it clear that he does not believe in climate change, and certainly not the role that human beings play in exacerbating the problem. But, facing a fierce opponent with a stellar environmental record in this year’s gubernatorial race, Scott has had to swallow his pride and open up to the idea that he is wrong on climate change. The truth, however, is that the entire experience was more of a publicity stunt than a science lesson

For all of his administration’s tough talk on protecting our environment, President Obama doesn’t seem to have any problem increasing the nation’s dependence on dirty energy. Earlier this year, the Obama administration announced plans to open up an astounding 112 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas exploration, setting a bidding war in motion for some of the worst environmental offenders in America. It should come as no surprise then to find out that the big winner in the lease auction was BP, the main culprit behind the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and subsequent leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to a new government report, oil and natural gas production in the Gulf has been steadily declining for the last decade. Since 2010, the annual yield of oil from the Gulf has fallen by almost 140 million barrels. While the Gulf region still accounts for 69 percent of U.S. oil produced on federal lands, the dramatic decline in production tells a story that the oil industry doesn’t want us to hear: Peak oil is clearly beginning to play a role in U.S. exploration.

Congress has less than a week left to finish delivering promises for their donors before they head out for a month-long August recess undoubtedly filled with campaigning, and members aren’t wasting any time in their attempts to suck up to the dirty energy industry. It is simple math: Congress currently has a 15 percent approval rating, and every single seat in the House of Representatives is up for election this year. Reports show that the candidate with the most money wins 91 percent of the time.

The House Appropriations Committee is currently debating a spending bill that would set America back decades when it comes to energy policy and environmental protection. The 2015 Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill will designate money to everything from nuclear waste cleanup to renewable energy investments, and the Appropriations Committee has made sure that neither of those particular items get the funding they need. The bill, if passed by the full House, will cut $113 million from renewable energy projects, dropping the yearly total to $1.8 billion.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio isn’t convinced that human beings are responsible for climate change. However, he continues to trot out a semantic trick to admit that the climate is changing, that it "is always changing." While Rubio's ploy might allow him to stay on the right side of the argument once his constituents accept the realities of science, vast portions of the state he represents might already be under water.

The EPA scored a huge court victory recently, with the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that the agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS) is within the its realm of enforcement. Estimates show that almost 60 percent of the coal-fired power plants in the country are either using mercury capture and cleaning technology, or their emissions are so low that they do not qualify. And contrary to industry claims, the cost of the new equipment has almost no effect on consumer electricity prices and the companies’ bottom line.

History has taught us nothing if not to distrust oil companies when they tell us not to worry, that they'll "self-police." Nowhere is this wariness more important than in the Arctic, where global warming is providing access to new oil reserves under the melting ice.

When a judge ruled that Duke Energy must pay stiff penalties for its part in the Dan River coal ash spill, we all knew industry-backed affiliates would come swarming to the rescue – including North Carolina's own Environmental Management Commission, the regulatory agency that's supposed to be on our side.

Not quite four years after BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico — not nearly long enough to clean up the mess or even gauge its impact — the area is once again open for major dirty-energy business. President Obama's "all of the above" energy policy will free up 40 million acres of water space in the Gulf next month, on top of the 72 million acres already leased in 2014 — pulling in more than $1 billion for the federal government and untold damage on the environment.