RSS Feed
Author Archive
Poll: Voters Want Next President to Favor Climate Policies
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on April 6th, 2015
Hill: Most voters want the next president to favor policies to fight climate change, outnumbering those who want a president who opposes such policies by nearly 2-to-1. The Washington Post-ABC News poll released Friday said that 59 percent want a president who “favors government action to address climate change,” compared with 31 percent who want someone who opposes government action. The poll matches other recent surveys showing that voters care about fighting climate change and want the government...
Posted in 
EPA: Nearly 700 Chemicals Used in Fracking
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on March 30th, 2015
Hill: The Environment Protection Agency on Friday released a new analysis that concludes almost 700 chemical additives are used in hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas.
Ninety-eight percent of the fluid injected into wells is water mixed with sand, which is used to keep fractures open so that oil and gas can be removed from shale.
But the EPA’s analysis released Friday provides a more comprehensive look at the remainder of the fracking chemicals, which the industry says are used to protect...
White House: Climate change threatens national security
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on February 6th, 2015
Hill: The Obama administration looks at climate change as a threat to national security on par with terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and disease outbreaks.
President Obama’s national security strategy released Friday updates the previous plan published in 2010, with focuses on Russia, Islamic militants and health.
“Climate change is an urgent and growing threat to our national security, contributing to increased natural disasters, refugee flows, and conflicts over basic resources like food...
Interior Secretary criticizes fracking bans
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on January 3rd, 2015
Hill: Interior Secretary Sally Jewell criticized local and state bans on hydraulic fracturing, saying they create confusion for the oil and natural gas industries.
Jewell, who oversees the federal government’s various public land agencies, also said fracking bans often come as a result of what she sees as bad scientific decisions that incorrectly find safety or health problems associated with fracking, radio station KQED reported.
“I would say that is the wrong way to go,” Jewell told KQED Friday...
EPA methane rules won’t hit gas utilities, industry predicts
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on December 12th, 2014
Hill: Natural gas utilities aren’t expecting to be affected very much by potential methane leak regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Leaders from the American Gas Association (AGA) said that utilities, also known as the downstream part of the supply chain, account for less than a quarter of a percent of all methane leaks in the country.
And the costs of reducing leaks from utilities would outweigh many of the benefits of reducing the potent greenhouse gas.
“Down at our end...
White House pushes climate protections for natural resources
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on October 9th, 2014
Hill: The White House launched a set of initiatives aimed at protecting natural resources like landscapes and water from the effects of climate change.
The actions center around making natural resources resilient to climate change, improving plants and ecosystems that capture carbon dioxide and better incorporating natural systems into infrastructure and communities, the White House said Wednesday.
The plan “identifies a suite of actions the federal government will take to enhance the resilience...
Sierra Club Poll Finds Support for Coal Ash Rules in North Carolina
Posted by Hill: Timothy Cama on March 26th, 2014
Hill: In the wake of a February incident that caused coal ash from a Duke Energy Corp. plant to flow into the Dan River, the Sierra Club released a poll Tuesday showing the state’s residents want officials to do more to protect the environment the pollutant.
The poll, commissioned by the Sierra Club and completed by Hart Research Associates, showed that a strong majority of North Carolina residents want regulations to prevent coal ash spills. Majorities of North Carolina residents also think the state...