Energy and Environment
EPA Chief Looks Past November To Environmental Future
Carol Browner, the longest-serving administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), says she used to describe the relationship between state and federal environmental regulators as something like an arranged marriage. “We had to stay together for the children,” she quipped this week to an audience of journalists, environmentalists and representatives of government, labor and […]
States Showcase Successes, Pitch New Vision
Confronted with a new set of environmental challenges, states are leading the public policy charge toward a cleaner, healthier America. But the current structures of cooperation linking environmental protection authorities are doing more harm than good to their efforts, a handful of top state officials and analysts told a Congressional panel Wednesday (9/13). Environmental regulators […]
Persistent Drought Prompting New State Action Plans
Barring a series of unforeseen spring soakers, states in the Midwest and Sunbelt face a drought that could be just as harsh as the one that devastated the eastern U.S. last year, offering many of them the chance to test their drought action plans for the first time. Drought itself is not worsening, but the […]
Gas Prices To Challenge Records Over Holiday Weekend
Gasoline prices are poised to challenge record highs as motorists head for the highways for the Memorial Day weekend, new figures produced by the American Automobile Association show. A gallon of regular unleaded will cost drivers an average of $1.52 and could top two dollars in Chicago. “Everybody’s saying that we’re going to pay the […]
States Planting Seeds Of Farmland Protection
State agricultural officials and anti-sprawl forces won a small but significant victory in their campaign to preserve U.S. farmland May 2 when the Ohio House of Representatives voted unanimously to put Gov. Bob Tafts $400 million brownfields cleanup and open space preservation bond initiative on the November ballot. Last year, Ohio, Montana, North Carolina and […]
Western Governors Wary of Federal Road-Free Forest Plan
Imagine a forest totally free of roads, a conservationist’s paradise without logging and mining, but available for hilers and fishermen to enjoy. Now, wrap this road-free idyll around existing state and private lands that generate state tax revenue and provide livelihoods for local communities — in many instances through logging, mining and tourism. That’s what […]
Support Swells For Governor-Backed Conservation Funding Bill
Legislation that would dramatically expand federal aid to state and local governments for a wide array of conservation and environmental impact endeavors took a long stride forward this week when 165 more members of Congress signed on as co-sponsors, bringing the total to 292 — a level of support that guarantees House passage of the […]
Transient Trash – A Garbage Issue In 33 States
WASHINGTON – Tired of talking trash with garbage-exporting New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and not wanting Virginia to become the nation’s pre-eminent landfill, Gov. Jim Gilmore signed laws this week capping his state’s intake of municipal solid waste. The issue, which fired up Virginia voters and united the Legislature, is also confronted by 32 […]