remember that point I gave to the epa, yesterday? taking it back….

So, yesterday, The White House approved a plan that allows for debris from coal mining to be dumped into nearby streams and valleys.

Edward C. Hopkins, a policy analyst at the Sierra Club, said: “The E.P.A.’s own scientists have concluded that dumping mining waste into streams devastates downstream water quality. By signing off on this rule, the agency has abdicated its responsibility.”

The issue at hand is that this opens the doors for coal companies to blast the tops off of mountains, hauling the debris into valleys, with no concern for dumping on top of streams and blocking their flow. Which, of course, can have a negative impact to the ecosystems downstream.

And, as if that isn’t enough:

The Environmental Protection Agency is trying to finish work on a rule that would make it easier for utilities to put coal-fired generating stations near national parks. It is working on another rule that would allow utility companies to modify coal-fired power plants and increase their emissions without installing new pollution-control equipment

The Bush Administration argues that these allowances means a lessening on our dependency to foreign oil. Although, critics argue that there are much more environmentally safe ways to mine with out blowing the tops off mountains. The Bush Administration is sending a message that you can’t have both an environment and choosing clean coal, which many argue is just not the case.

This is also a slap to the face of the new administration. President-elect Obama has stated many times that he does not agree with this ruling. The Bush Administration has stated it would participate in a smooth transition from one administration to the next; then turns around and creates these “midnight” rulings, that the next administration now has to spend time overturning.

Why does it not surprise me that Bush and Cheney would much rather support energy industries, then stay true to their word?

You can find the full article HERE, via the New York Times

did you see that fool at the UN talks?… what do you mean he’s one of us?

Today was the start of the two week United Nations Climate Change Conference. This is the precursor to the Kyoto Protocol revisions. President Elect Obama issued a press release, shortly after he was elected, that expressed his support for such a conference and his regrets in not being able to attend.

But some of us ‘mericans were there:

Lead U.S. negotiator, Ambassador Harlan Watson, representing the outgoing administration of President George W. Bush, dodged reporters’ questions about whether or not the United States would commit to emissions targets or funding for developing countries to address global warming.

“It’s an embarrassment,” said Jamie Henn, 350.org co-founder and a U.S. youth delegate. “With the election of Barack Obama we showed the world we were ready to commit to real action on climate change. All this lame-duck delegation is offering is more of the same.”

From the article, which you can find HERE, it appears as though every nation represented backs the science and is committed to change. And, then there is our guy. Or, rather, George Bush’s guy. I guess the timing of the event is unfortunate. We elect a man who supports everything going on at this conference, who is in a position to make us the world leader when it comes to climate issues, and he can’t be there.

And, don’t you find it embarrassing that a youth delegate has to say this:

Henn asked delegates from other countries to ignore the current U.S. delegation and focus on the next administration’s commitments.

“Thanks in large part to the work of young people across the United States, President-elect Obama has committed the U.S. to 80 percent cuts in carbon by 2050,” Henn said. “That’s the type of serious action scientists are saying is necessary to stabilize atmospheric C02 at the safe upper limit of 350 parts per million.”

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