"House Republicans approved legislation Friday that would slash nearly 40 percent of the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The funding bill, passed by a 213-203 vote, cuts 39 percent of the EPA’s budget and would be the smallest budget the agency has had in three decades."
The mining of the ocean floor has stirred up significant debate, much of which clouds the realities of whether and to what degree it would cause ecological harm to one of the world’s greatest resources. This week’s TipSheet looks more closely at the controversy, which may well come to a head in the coming year. The latest entry in SEJournal’s 2024 Journalists’ Guide to Environment and Energy.
"America’s stewardship of one of its most precious resources, groundwater, relies on a patchwork of state and local rules so lax and outdated that in many places oversight is all but nonexistent, a New York Times analysis has found."
"Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and 22 other Democratic senators sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan on Wednesday demanding an investigation of two major proposed oil industry mergers and warning that the consolidations could hurt consumers."
"Insurers are already pulling back from California, Florida and Louisiana. Senate Democrats are trying to find out which states could be next."
"For more than a year, the Environmental Protection Agency investigated whether Louisiana officials discriminated against Black residents by putting them at increased cancer risk. Federal officials said they had found evidence of discrimination and were pressuring the state to strengthen oversight of air pollution from industrial plants."
"The United Auto Workers has notched a lot of wins in the last few days in standoffs with the Detroit automakers over electric vehicles and their batteries — but with an asterisk."
"Dozens of governmental, educational, cultural and environmental organizations across the city of Pittsburgh have hired lobbying firms who work with planet-heating fossil fuel companies, new research shows."
"The White House on Monday issued veto threats against two GOP-led House appropriations bills expected to come up for a vote this week as lawmakers seek to avoid a government shutdown in November."
"The need for agreement to tackle global warming is "higher than ever", but it has never been harder as the geopolitical backdrop complicates international cooperation, the European Union's climate chief said on Monday ahead of next month's COP28 summit."
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