ENVIRONMENT

Norfolk Southern Policy Lets Officials Order Crews to Ignore Safety Alerts

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By Topher Sanders and Dan Schwartz – ProPublica – ProPublica learned of the policy after reviewing the rules of the company, which is engulfed in controversy after one of its trains derailed this month, releasing toxic flammable gas over East Palestine, Ohio. The policy applies specifically to the company’s Wayside Detector Help Desk, which monitors…

Biden Administration Announces $48.6 Million in Spending to Combat Climate Change and Fight Wild Fires

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Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Biden administration announced new spending of $48.6 million Tuesday on projects to mitigate wildfire risks across the country, which will also improve water quality, restore forest ecosystems and combat climate change. The announcement comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which along with the Natural Resources Conservation…

Biden Administration Announces Details of Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund

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Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden administration announced guidelines for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund program this week created under the Inflation Reduction Act, which will dole out $27 billion in federal spending over the next few years to mobilize billions more in private capital to reduce pollution and improve public health, lower…

State of the Union Followup: Biden Administration Rolls Out First Electric Buses at Kansas School

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EPA Administrator Regan Marks Delivery of Kansas’ First Electric School Buses, Announcing Electric Utility Pledge to Support Electric School Buses Nationwide – EPA Highlights Progress to Invest in America Through Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Just on the heels of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address, with…

EPA to Accelerate Lead Pipe Replacement and Protect Underserved Communities

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Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Biden administration announced a major national initiative on Friday to begin work to replace lead pipes across the country using funding provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Environmental Protection Agency, which is still trying to recover from being gutted and corrupted by the Trump administration, will lead…

Biden Administration Launches Efforts to Fight Wildfire Crisis

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Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — To reduce the threat of wildfires in the American West, the Biden administration announced new spending measures this week through the Department of Agriculture to improve forest health and reduce fuel for fires by the U.S. Forest Service. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced expanded efforts to reduce wildfire risk…

Senator Angus King of Maine Presses Biden Administration on ‘Inadequate’ Maintenance Budget and Staff Shortages at National Parks

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Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Anyone who works in national parks, volunteers with the National Park Service or visits the parks can attest to the fact that staff shortages and maintenance backlogs have plagued the parks for years, through the administrations of Republicans and Democrats. If there is any truth to documentary filmmaker Ken…

Biden Administration Announces Tough New Pollution Standards for Trucks

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Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Biden Administration announced the strongest-ever national clean air standards to cut emissions from trucks, vans and buses beginning with model year 2027, the first update to clean air standards for trucks in more than 20 years. According to the announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency, the new standards…

Biden Administration Announces the Release of $6 Million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funds to Support Tribal Nations in Reducing Nutrient Pollution in the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin

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Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — In case you were wondering how the administration was spending the money allocated under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in November, 2021, the availability of $6 million in funds was announced Monday to support Tribal Nations across the Mississippi/Atchafalaya River Basin to reduce nutrient pollution in the third largest…

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Conserve Ecosystems, Clean Up Legacy Pollution Sites Across the Country

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About $10 million committed to 17 project sites – Staff Report – WASHINGTON, D.C. — New federal spending of $10 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will go to fund 17 projects to address legacy pollution and conserve ecosystems around the country, according to an announcement on Wednesday from the Department of the Interior,…

America Plans Return to the Moon For the First Time in 50 Years

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By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. — All things being stable, the United States of America will launch a rocket to the moon this Wednesday for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, 50 years ago. While many critics say the billions of dollars being spent on this Artemis moon mission that…

Biden Administration Announces $65 Million Investment from Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill in Clean Water Projects, Roads and Trails

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Staff Report – The Biden administration announced more than $65 million in spending this week for the U.S. Forest Service to invest in projects nationwide to prepare for climate change by improving roads, trails, fish habitat and water quality. Made possible by President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the first round of a $25.5 million…

Artemis: We Are Going Back to the Moon, Onto Mars…

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NASA to Stream Artemis I Rollout, Briefings on Science, Tech Payloads – Staff Report – It’s true. No BS, according to NASA. We are going back to the Moon, and setting up a base to launch the trip to Mars. NASA will hold three media teleconferences the week of August 14 to preview the science…

Forest Service Takes Emergency Measures to Protect Giant Sequoia Trees on Federal Land

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Staff Report – The U.S. Forest Service is initiating emergency measures to provide for the long term survival of giant sequoia groves on public land against immediate wildfire threats. The agency, under the authority of the Department of Agriculture’s existing framework and the National Environmental Policy Act, will conduct emergency fuels reduction treatments as expeditiously…