Monthly Archives: May 2015

Federal Regulation (U.S.), High Hazard Flammable Trains (HHFTs), Rail Safety, Tank car design

VIDEO of U.S. Dept. of Transportation & Transport Canada announcing new oil train safety rules

DOT / Transport Canada Press Conference 5/1/15:  VIEW VIDEO HERE

Repost from US DOT Media Advisory
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Contact: Office of the Secretary (OST) Press Office
Tel: 202-366-4570  

MEDIA ADVISORY

U.S. Department of Transportation and Transport Canada to Make Rail Car Safety Announcement

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Friday, May 1 at 10:30 a.m., U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Canada’s Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt will hold a press conference to announce the next generation of stronger, safer rail tank cars for the transportation of flammable liquids in North America. Secretary Foxx will also announce other aspects of DOT’s final rule. The press conference will be streamed live online here.

WHO:      U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx
                       Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt

WHAT:    Press Conference

WHERE: U.S. Department of Transportation
                       Media Center
1200 New Jersey Ave, SE
Washington, D.C.

WHEN:    Friday, May 1, 2015
10:30 a.m. EST

RSVP: Credentialed media who plan to attend the event, please RSVP to: PressOffice@dot.gov to receive additional details. If you’re unable to attend, the press conference will be streamed live here.

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Clean energy, Climate Change, Electoral politics, Fossil fuels, Fracking, Oil industry lobby, Research and development

US House approves $279 million renewable energy cut; raises funding for fossil fuel research by $34 million

Press Release from Friends of the Earth
[Editor:  As you might expect, this travesty was passed on a nearly complete party line vote, with 230 Republicans and 10 Dems in favor.  Dems voting FOR the bill included:  A. Dutch Ruppersberger MD, Ami Bera CA, Brad Ashford NE, Collin Peterson MN, Doris Matsui CA, Filemon Vela TX, Gene Green TX, Henry Cuellar TX, Jim Costa CA, and William Keating MA.  Republicans voting AGAINST the bill included: Christopher Gibson NY, James Sensenbrenner Jr. WI, Joseph Heck NV, Justin Amash MI, Mo Brooks AL, Thomas Massie KY, Walter Jones Jr. NC.   Track the bill here.  – RS]

House approves $279 million renewable energy cut

By: Kate Colwell, May. 1, 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House of Representatives passed H.R. 2028, “The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2016,” by a vote of 240-177.

The bill sets funding levels for important programs within the U.S. Departments of Energy, Interior, and the Army Corps of Engineers. While staying within the limits set by the sequester, the bill manages to raise funding for fossil fuel research by $34 million from 2015 levels while cutting renewable energy and efficiency research by $279 million. Simultaneously, it is packed with policy riders that undermine bedrock environmental laws like the Clean Water Act and limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to study the dangers of hydraulic fracturing.

Friends of the Earth Climate and Energy Campaigner Lukas Ross issued the following statement in response:

Shoveling more of our tax dollars into the pockets of ExxonMobil and the Koch Brothers while defunding clean energy is climate denial at its worst. Fossil fuel interests don’t need more money. Solutions to the climate crisis do.

From hobbling the Clean Water Act to limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to even study fracking, House Speaker John Boehner is continuing his assault on the air we breathe and the water we drink.

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Expert contact: Lukas Ross, (202) 222-0724, lross@foe.org
Communications contact: Kate Colwell, (202) 222-0744, kcolwell@foe.org