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A lot can happen in 30 days.
Presidential Proclamation -- National Foster Care Month, 2014http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024910923
New price transparency rules for hospitals
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/204868-new-price-transparency-rules-for-hospitals-under-o-care
Employers Must Notify Laid-Off Workers of Health-Care Options, New Rule Says
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024910841
"Obamacare saved consumers billions, new report finds"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024968196
ACLU: An Important Review of Big Data
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024910850
President Obama to Pardon/Commute "Hundreds, Perhaps Thousands" of Nonviolent Drug Offenders
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/21/1293503/-President-Obama-to-Pardon-Commute-Hundreds-Perhaps-Thousands-of-Nonviolent-Drug-Offenders
U.S. Approves Two Huge Solar Projects On Public Lands In California
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024547836
President Obama Announces New Truck Efficiency Standards
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024521194
Obama’s Move On Solar Is Equivalent To A Year Without 80 Million Cars
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024929575
President Obama designates Organ Mountains - Desert Peaks National Monument
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024982391
EPA Hails Big Victory At Supreme Court
http://betterment.democraticunderground.com/10024885861
EPA Is On A Winning Streak In Court Battles Over Clean Air
By Rebecca Leber
For the third time in three weeks, a panel of judges has ruled against industry groups’ attempts to overturn Environmental Protection Agency protections against air pollution.
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the EPA’s standards cracking down on soot pollution from vehicles and power plants, siding with the EPA over the National Association of Manufacturers. According to the court decision, “EPA’s decision and explanation are at least reasonable,” given the authority granted by the Clean Air Act.
“Today’s court ruling strongly upholds Americans’ 44-year legal right to breathe clean, healthy air based upon what health and medical science tell us is protective, rather than based upon jaded economics or political interference,” John Walke, Clean Air Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told ThinkProgress. “That right to breathe clean air is under attack in Congress, however, with Republican Senator John Thune just this week introducing a bill to eliminate Americans’ right to breathe clean air and replace it with a weak substitute that polluters and extreme politicians find more to their liking.”
According to Walke, the latest court decision marks the fifth time the industry groups have lost legal challenges to the Obama administration’s EPA air pollution health standards. The four other cases upheld standards that crack down on smog, lead, sulfur dioxide that forms acid rain, and nitrogen oxides that contribute to smog.
Last month, the Supreme Court upheld a regulation that limits pollution crossing state lines and the Court of Appeals sided with the EPA on cutting mercury and air toxics.
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/09/3436221/epa-winning-clean-air-court-battles/
By Rebecca Leber
For the third time in three weeks, a panel of judges has ruled against industry groups’ attempts to overturn Environmental Protection Agency protections against air pollution.
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the EPA’s standards cracking down on soot pollution from vehicles and power plants, siding with the EPA over the National Association of Manufacturers. According to the court decision, “EPA’s decision and explanation are at least reasonable,” given the authority granted by the Clean Air Act.
“Today’s court ruling strongly upholds Americans’ 44-year legal right to breathe clean, healthy air based upon what health and medical science tell us is protective, rather than based upon jaded economics or political interference,” John Walke, Clean Air Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told ThinkProgress. “That right to breathe clean air is under attack in Congress, however, with Republican Senator John Thune just this week introducing a bill to eliminate Americans’ right to breathe clean air and replace it with a weak substitute that polluters and extreme politicians find more to their liking.”
According to Walke, the latest court decision marks the fifth time the industry groups have lost legal challenges to the Obama administration’s EPA air pollution health standards. The four other cases upheld standards that crack down on smog, lead, sulfur dioxide that forms acid rain, and nitrogen oxides that contribute to smog.
Last month, the Supreme Court upheld a regulation that limits pollution crossing state lines and the Court of Appeals sided with the EPA on cutting mercury and air toxics.
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/09/3436221/epa-winning-clean-air-court-battles/
Ben Chou’s Blog
Water Resources Development Act Looks Promising for Making Water Infrastructure More Resilient
The U.S. Senate and House conference committee’s report on the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), or the Water Resources Reform Development Act (WRRDA) as it’s known this time around, has been approved by the House and Senate after months of negotiations. As my colleagues Alex Adams and Scott Slesinger have written about, the conference report helps to address some of the problematic provisions that were in the earlier bills passed by the Senate and House. The conference report also includes several provisions related to water infrastructure funding that will help communities become more resilient to droughts, floods, and a range of other extreme events.
As I’ve written about previously, integrating climate resiliency measures into EPA’s State Revolving Funds can better protect public health and critical infrastructure from climate change risks and extreme weather events. Many of the solutions that we’ve been advocating for, such as increased investments in water conservation and maximizing the use of green infrastructure techniques to manage stormwater, are included in the conference report. Several provisions in the report help to modernize these funding programs, specifically the Clean Water SRF (CWSRF), allowing these funds to be better utilized to prepare local communities for climate risks:
These recent actions demonstrate that legislators from the state-level to the federal-level recognize that climate change is threatening the health, safety, and well-being of communities across the country. This threat requires greater investments in sustainable solutions like water efficiency and green infrastructure, which provide multiple benefits from making water supplies more resilient to reducing water pollution, among many others. We look forward to working with EPA, Illinois, and other states to implement these infrastructure funding changes, which will help make our nation more resilient to the climate impacts already being felt and those looming in the years and decades ahead.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/bchou/water_resources_development_ac.html
Water Resources Development Act Looks Promising for Making Water Infrastructure More Resilient
The U.S. Senate and House conference committee’s report on the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), or the Water Resources Reform Development Act (WRRDA) as it’s known this time around, has been approved by the House and Senate after months of negotiations. As my colleagues Alex Adams and Scott Slesinger have written about, the conference report helps to address some of the problematic provisions that were in the earlier bills passed by the Senate and House. The conference report also includes several provisions related to water infrastructure funding that will help communities become more resilient to droughts, floods, and a range of other extreme events.
As I’ve written about previously, integrating climate resiliency measures into EPA’s State Revolving Funds can better protect public health and critical infrastructure from climate change risks and extreme weather events. Many of the solutions that we’ve been advocating for, such as increased investments in water conservation and maximizing the use of green infrastructure techniques to manage stormwater, are included in the conference report. Several provisions in the report help to modernize these funding programs, specifically the Clean Water SRF (CWSRF), allowing these funds to be better utilized to prepare local communities for climate risks:
- Beginning in FY16, CWSRF project applicants are required to maximize water use efficiency and reuse, as well as energy efficiency. (Sec. 5002)
- Projects for managing and reusing stormwater, recycling wastewater, and that reduce the need for wastewater treatment through water conservation and reuse measures are now specifically called out by Congress as eligible for funding assistance, codifying a practice that is already allowed under EPA guidance. (Sec. 5003)
- Wastewater treatment projects applying for assistance must develop and implement a fiscal sustainability plan that, among other things, certifies that the applicant has evaluated and will be implementing water and energy conservation efforts as part of the plan. (Sec. 5003)
- States are also now specifically allowed to provide additional subsidization through loan forgiveness and negative interest loans for projects that address water-efficiency and energy-efficiency goals, mitigate stormwater runoff, or encourage sustainable project planning and construction. (Sec. 5003)
- Apart from the CWSRF, the conference report authorizes EPA to fund municipalities to undertake watershed pilot projects, such as green infrastructure initiatives to reduce stormwater pollution; integrated management plans for surface water, groundwater, and stormwater resources; municipality-wide plans to reduce stormwater discharges to impaired waters; and efforts to increase the climate resiliency of wastewater treatment infrastructure. (Sec. 5011)
These recent actions demonstrate that legislators from the state-level to the federal-level recognize that climate change is threatening the health, safety, and well-being of communities across the country. This threat requires greater investments in sustainable solutions like water efficiency and green infrastructure, which provide multiple benefits from making water supplies more resilient to reducing water pollution, among many others. We look forward to working with EPA, Illinois, and other states to implement these infrastructure funding changes, which will help make our nation more resilient to the climate impacts already being felt and those looming in the years and decades ahead.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/bchou/water_resources_development_ac.html
ACLU: New Department of Education Guidance Offers Clear Protections to Transgender Students [/b
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024886020
White House statement on Adam Smith amendment to close Guantanamo Bay detention facility
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024983568
18 replies
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Uninsured rate hits 25-year low in New Jersey thanks to Obamacare
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024990121
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024990121
wooooooooooooo!
Now let's read the post about how Saint Greenwald, the Archangel Snowden & Rand Paul their profit will save the world. Again.