The Obama budget proposes charging tiny royalties for hard-rock minerals owned by the U.S. taxpayers that have been given away free to large, profitable corporations for more than a century. Will the GOP deficit hawks go along?
"The attorneys general of New York, Connecticut and Vermont sued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday, challenging a new commission policy stating that nuclear waste can be safely stored at a nuclear power plant for 60 years after a reactor goes out of service."
"The U.S. Forest Service believes proposed revisions to its forest planning rule will accelerate timber sales and provide rural jobs while protecting watersheds, wildlife and quiet spaces for recreation."
"Author Wendell Berry and 13 other environmental activists emerged from the [Kentucky] state Capitol on Monday to roars of approval and applause, ending their four-day occupation of Gov. Steve Beshear's outer office."
The cleanup of radioactive contamination at the massive Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky faces a major delay, even as contaminated groundwater continues to escape the 5.5-square mile property, likely reaching the Ohio River. One problem: money.
"Leaked documents indicate that the US Chamber of Commerce hired a private firm to gather information about the families and children of its progressive political opponents."
"In an unusual scenario that raises questions of conflict of interest, a company that conducts research on behalf of the pesticide industry has paid a U.S. government agency to help prove some controversial chemicals are safe."
"President Obama’s budget, released Monday, essentially treads water on energy and the environment, trying to maintain momentum for alternative energy research even as it cuts deeply into some environmental protection programs."
"Thawing permafrost is triggering mudslides onto a key road traveled by busloads of sightseers. Tall bushes newly sprouted on the tundra are blocking panoramic views. And glaciers are receding from convenient viewing areas, while their rapid summer melt poses new flood risks. These are just a few of the ways that a rapidly warming climate is reshaping Denali, Kenai Fjords and other national parks comprising the crown jewels of Alaska's heritage as America's last frontier."
Three House Republicans have asked newly installed Appropriations chairmen to zero out NASA climate research. This would effectively end scientists' ability to measure changes in climate.
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