The Clean Air Act requires U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards for pollutants that are considered harmful to the public and environment. In order to do this, the EPA has a long history of including the advice of independent groups of scientists. However, in October of 2018, Trump’s EPA administrator, Andrew Wheeler, appointed a […]

As I have been saying on this site and on our podcast for over two years, all of the chaff created by Donald Trump’s reckless chaos is masking the long-term damage he’s doing to our country and our planet. While we worry he’s violating the Emoluments Clause or being the Racist in Chief, his administration is inexorably undoing nearly every […]

The following post was contributed by my good friend Frank Houston. Frank is the Michigan Regional Program Manager of the BlueGreen Alliance, a group that encompasses a variety of progressive values: labor, environmental, and political action. For this reason, it’s a group that I’m happy to share this platform with. The gains made in federal environmental policy under the Obama […]

On January 20th, 2009, scientists (and anyone who values science) in the USA breathed a collective sigh of relief. After eight years of President George W. Bush, a Democratic president – Barack Obama – was taking over and science once again took its rightful place in American society as a force for good and an asset to policy making. It’s […]

“There is no more beautiful sight than an American made car,” Pr*sident Trump said while he was in Michigan today, and that’s why he’s “going to fight to keep vehicle production in the United States.” “During my first week in office I brought automobile industry leaders to the White House,” Trump said. He went on to say that no president […]

Unfair as it may be, there are certain things we northerners think of when you think of southern states. The first is bigotry and intolerance. Another is a near worshipful devotion to guns and anything related to guns. Hunting is part of it but just walking around with a big weapon strapped to your body is a much bigger part […]

This guest post was written by Sue Browne, Regional Program Manager for the BlueGreen Alliance. On Tuesday at the Michigan AFL-CIO offices in Lansing, labor and environmental leaders called on Governor Snyder and state and local lawmakers to take the lead in crafting a flexible state plan to help Michigan meet its emissions reduction targets, as laid out in EPA’s […]

Just like with Obamacare, the key is playing offense The Environmental Protection Agency is going to release rules next week limiting the amount of carbon dioxide pollution that can be released from power plants. Amidst a lot of worry about the impact this will have on Democrats in an off-year election, apparently the optimistic take on this among Washington Democratic […]

Corporatism is alive and well in state governments across the USA The Guardian newspaper has a blockbuster piece out today that shows how the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), has turned to working through state Attorneys General to stop any efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The Guardian has learned that the American Legislative […]

Earlier this week the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Environmental Protection Agency’s rulemaking regarding pollutants from coal-fired power plants. The ruling allows the EPA to put tighter controls on the plants to prevent pollution in one state from having negative impacts on the health and safety of residents of another state. Michigan Attorney General was one of […]

Working together with health officials, vehicle manufacturers, refiners, states, and with input from the general public, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized new emission standards for vehicles and fuels that will have a huge impact on public health and the quality of the air we breathe. The new rules, signed by President Obama EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy today, call for a […]