Environmental Politics

Omnibus 2008 Appropriations Bill (PL 110-161) signed by President Bush Dec. 26, 2007, ordered him to reopen EPA libraries shuttered by his administration and earmarked some $3 million to restore them.

Henry Waxman (D-CA), the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, has vowed to investigate EPA's decision to prohibit states from regulating greenhouse emissions.

EPA has proposed exempting farms from a law protecting the public from toxic air pollutants. Environmental groups have objected.

President Bush has signed into law a measure aimed at strengthening the Freedom of Information Act.

Five federal agencies that are responsible for management of a high percentage of US lands and waters are doing a poor job preparing for the effects of climate change.

Scientists advising the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on air pollution issues are criticizing EPA higher-ups for ignoring their scientific counsel. Specifically, they are accusing the Bush Administration of excising science from the process the agency uses to determine how clean the air we breathe should be. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) challenges EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

One of the BLM's first actions under new director James Caswell was a final rule defining how the agency will implement portions of the National Environmental Policy Act.

On June 11, the US Supreme Court unanimously decided to allow polluters who engage in voluntary Superfund site cleanups to recoup costs from other responsible parties.

After more than four years of work, EPA has released what may be its final draft of its Report on the Environment.

The third of four reports that comprise the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's "Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change" is scheduled to be released May 4, 2007, in Bangkok.