NOTE: Our Earth is in trouble since the “climate change” problems which became a “climate crisis” are now a “climate emergency”

From the Announcement, White House, U. S. Government, Washington, DC, July 20, 2022

President Biden now emphasizes that climate change is a clear and present danger to the United States. Since Congress is not acting on this emergency, President Biden will. In the coming weeks, President Biden will announce additional executive actions to combat this emergency.

President Biden announced his latest set of executive actions to turn the climate crisis into an opportunity, by creating good-paying jobs in clean energy and lowering costs for families. His actions will protect communities from climate impacts already here, including extreme heat conditions impacting more than 100 million Americans this week, and expand offshore wind opportunities and jobs in the United States.

The President announced at a former coal-fired power plant in Brayton Point, Massachusetts that will host a cable manufacturing facility to support the flourishing offshore wind industry – representing how the President’s leadership is accelerating the nation’s transition away from the pollution, environmental injustice, and volatile price swings of the past toward good-paying jobs and energy security for the future.

President Biden’s new executive actions will:

1. Protect Communities from Extreme Heat and Dangerous Climate Impacts: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is announcing $2.3 billion in funding for its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program for Fiscal Year 2022— the largest BRIC investment in history, boosted by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This funding will help communities increase resilience to heat waves, drought, wildfires, flood, hurricanes, and other hazards by preparing before disaster strikes. BRIC is among hundreds of federal programs that the Biden-Harris Administration is transforming to support the Justice40 Initiative and prioritize delivering benefits to disadvantaged communities.

2. Lower Cooling Costs for Communities Suffering from Extreme Heat: Today, the Department of Health and Human Services is issuing guidance that for the first time expands how the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) can promote the delivery of efficient air conditioning equipment, community cooling centers, and more. In April, the Biden-Harris Administration released $385 million through LIHEAP to help families with their household energy costs, including summer cooling—part of a record $8 billion that the Administration has provided, boosted by the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

3. Expand Offshore Wind Opportunities and Jobs: The Department of the Interior is proposing the first Wind Energy Areas in the Gulf of Mexico, a historic step toward expanding offshore wind opportunities to another region of the United States. These areas cover 700,000 acres and have the potential to power over three million homes. President Biden is also directing the Secretary of the Interior to advance wind energy development in the waters off the mid- and southern Atlantic Coast and Florida’s Gulf Coast —alleviating uncertainty cast by the prior Administration. These actions follow the President’s launch of a new Federal-State Offshore Wind Implementation Partnership that brought together Governors to deliver more clean, affordable energy and new jobs.

The 42 inch MVP is excessive in diameter and length

From an Article by Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette Mail, Jun 1, 2021

The Mountain Valley Pipeline faces a consequential summer. So do the streams and wetlands that the pipeline’s developers are seeking permission to cross.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will decide by July 2 whether to grant or deny additional time to West Virginia and Virginia environmental regulators to consider water permit requests from the joint venture that owns the pipeline, according to Corps Huntington District spokesman Brian Maka.

Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC, the joint venture that owns the pipeline, still has applications pending with West Virginia and Virginia state environmental regulators for about 300 water crossings while it seeks approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to tunnel under 120 additional waterbodies.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection asked last month for an additional 90 days beyond the 120 days the Corps of Engineers gave the agency to review Mountain Valley Pipeline’s water permit request. In March, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality requested an additional year to review the pipeline permit application. Both departments previously said that they hadn’t heard back from the Corps.

The pipeline already has had adverse impacts on West Virginia’s waters. State environmental regulators proposed a consent order earlier this year requiring Mountain Valley to pay a $303,000 fine for violating permits by failing to control erosion and sediment-laden water.

“Based on what I’ve seen thus far, I don’t know how they can permit this activity knowing that there are going to be additional impacts to water resources because of MVP’s track record,” West Virginia Rivers Coalition staff scientist Autumn Crowe said.

Asked about the Rivers Coalition’s arguments, Natalie Cox, spokeswoman for Equitrans Midstream, the Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based lead developer of the project, argued that the claims placed specific policy agendas above that of environmental protection. “Mountain Valley welcomes the opportunity to work with all stakeholders to address environmental protection concerns and ensure that best practices are implemented,” Cox said. Cox noted that Mountain Valley is seeking individual water permits after legal challenges from environmental groups prompted it to abandon a blanket water permit issued by the Corps.

The Rivers Coalition and other project opponents have said the pipeline’s greenhouse gas emissions make it a bad idea, especially given the International Energy Agency’s call last month for no new investments in fossil fuels.

The West Virginia DEP will hold a virtual public hearing June 22 on whether it should approve a water permit for the project. The pipeline has sought and received water permit approval from West Virginia before. “The WVDEP will consider whether the components of the activity, resulting in a discharge to waters and contemplated by the federal [Corps] permit and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license, will comply with the state’s water quality requirements and what conditions may be necessary to ensure that compliance,” acting department spokesman Terry Fletcher said in an email.

This article has been edited for length. See full story HERE

350Pittsburgh.org

Contact: Action Network — Pittsburgh

On September 8, thousands of rallies will be held in cities and towns around the world to demand our local leaders commit to building a fossil free world that works for all of us.

Yes, we will be marching in Pittsburgh! Join 350Pittsburgh, Interfaith Power and Light, Breathe Project. We will march from downtown Pittsburgh, across the Rachel Carson Bridge, and then proceed up the North Shore to join up with the OnePA Environmental Justice Community Cookout in West Park (Ridge & Brighton). A little over a mile walk.

We are marching to focus attention specifically on the climate crisis and to demand that our elected leaders take concrete actions to address it. We will be inspired by the memory of Rachel Carson as we walk over the bridge that honors her work and legacy, we’ll give everyone on the North Shore something to look at, and then we will have lots of fun at the Environmental Justice Community Cookout, where there will be tabling, food, games, and, speakers. Speakers will need to see the signs we bring!

The best way get to the cookout is to take a bus downtown and then march over the bridge with us! Email: 350Pittsburgh@gmail.com

Meet at the Rachel Carson Bridge, end of 9th St. at Ft. Duquesne Blvd. at 11 am.

Rise for Climate Pittsburgh March — Facebook Page

https://m.facebook.com/events/539554589809098/

“Trump’s budget a mixed bag for energy sector”

From an Article by James Osborne, Houston Chronicle, May 23, 2017

WASHINGTON – From selling off oil in the strategic petroleum reserve to cutting funding for renewable energy research, the Trump administration on Tuesday proposed a new course for financing the nation’s energy sector as it seeks to balance the federal budget.

At the Department of Energy, where Secretary Rick Perry has promised an “all of the above” strategy to developing the nation’s energy supply, research funding would plunge by 18 percent overall. Neither nuclear nor fossil fuel research was spared in the Trump plan, but Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy took a disproportionate hit, with its $636 million proposed budget representing an 70 percent drop from 2016.

“This budget delivers on the promise to reprioritize spending in order to carry out DOE’s core functions efficiently and effectively while also being fiscally responsible and respectful to the American taxpayer,” Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a statement.

The cuts are part of a $4.1 trillion budget plan that looks to reduce spending into researching new forms of energy while simultaneously growing federal revenues from domestic oil and gas production. Among the ways it seeks to boost those revenues is to stop sharing royalty payments from offshore oil and gas drilling with Texas and other states along the Gulf of the Mexico.

The funds are set aside under the law to protect the Gulf coastline, with money directed toward maintaining levees, providing hurricane relief and preventing further erosion of wetlands that are fast disappearing along the Gulf. It drew an angry reaction not just from Gulf Coast politicians, but from the oil and gas industry itself.

“This budget robs Louisiana of financial resources promised to us for coastal restoration,” said Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat.

“Eliminating Gulf state revenue sharing for offshore energy production would punish coastal states that support and host the development of home-grown energy and jobs,” said Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, a trade group representing the offshore energy industry.

The White House estimated the move would save $275 million next year and $3.6 billion over the next decade. But some officials expressed uncertainty whether eliminating royalty sharing would save the government as much as the White House claimed.

Texas was slated to receive up to $80 million of next year’s allocation, but an official from the Texas General Land Office, which administers the funds, said the agency is only budgeting $12 million because of low oil prices.

The president’s budget is considered a starting point from which to begin a lengthy budget process that will ultimately be decided by the House and Senate.

Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, said he did not expect the president would receive much support for the proposal to stop royalty sharing. ”That’s probably the worst thing on a bipartisan basis we would propose,” he said. “I don’t think it will be considered.”

The energy proposals come as part of a Trump budget that seeks to slash discretionary spending while lowering federal taxes. White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Monday described the proposal as a “taxpayer first budget.”

Within the administration, increasing the federal share of oil and gas royalties is viewed as a necessary tool towards balancing budget over the next decade. The administration hopes to generate an additional $1.8 billion over the next decade by opening up oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Alaska.

Over the same period they hope to add another $16.6 billion in revenue by selling off oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

The prospect of drilling for oil and gas in ANWR, one of the country’s last untouched wilderness areas, has drawn fierce opposition since it was first proposed by former President George W. Bush. That provided another reason for environmentalists to fight the White House budget, which included a 31 percent cut at the Environmental Protection Agency

“President Donald J. Trump should keep his hands off the clean air and water, majestic public lands, and thriving wildlife that communities across the country expect our government to safeguard,” said Gene Karpinski, president of the League of Conservation Voters.

One theme: "Oil & Money"

U.S. Senate panel clears Tillerson’s path to be secretary of state

From an Article by Patricia Zengerle,  Reuters News Service, January 23, 2017

U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil Corp. Chairman Rex Tillerson, narrowly won approval from a Senate committee on Monday, but is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 11-10 to approve Tillerson, with every Republican backing the former oil executive and every Democrat opposing him.

His approval by the panel, a victory for Trump, had been in doubt until earlier on Monday, when Senator Marco Rubio, a committee member who had been Tillerson’s most vocal Republican critic, said he would back the nominee.

Tillerson’s confirmation by the 100-member Senate, where Republicans hold 52 seats, is not expected before next week. Democrats want more time to debate and the chamber may not be in session all this week.

Rubio’s backing had been in doubt after his tough questioning during Tillerson’s confirmation hearing, focusing on issues including concerns about Tillerson’s support for human rights. Rubio ultimately decided he would approve the nominee in deference to Trump, as well as to fill a critical top job.

Democrats said they voted against Tillerson over fears he might lift sanctions on Russia, where he did business for years, questions about his views on human rights and his refusal to recuse himself from matters related to his former employer during his entire term as the top U.S. diplomat.

Tillerson pledged to recuse himself only for the year required by law.

Amid Democratic anger over allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, Tillerson also raised committee hackles by saying he did not know Exxon Mobil lobbied against sanctions on Russia while he was running the company.

Senator Ben Cardin, the committee’s top Democrat, said Tillerson’s “business orientation” and responses at his hearing “could compromise his ability as secretary of state to forcefully promote the values and ideals that have defined our country and our leading role in the world for more than 200 years.”

The Senate confirmed only two of Trump’s Cabinet nominees on Friday, his Inauguration Day, a relatively low number among recent presidencies.

Democrats have been unable to block any of his choices because they changed Senate rules in 2013 to allow nominees to be confirmed with just a majority, not 60 votes. Instead, they have used Senate rules to slow the confirmation of nominees they say hold extreme views, are unqualified or have not completed ethics disclosures.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Photo Displays of Mountain Destruction

WV Mountain Party:  “Resolution to Ban Extreme Extraction”

From Tom Rhule, Mountain Party of WV, October 26, 2014

On September 30, 2014, a quorum of the State Executive Council for the Mountain Party of West Virginia passed the following Resolution to ban extreme extraction by unanimous vote*:

WHEREAS in the wake of the West Virginia American Water Crisis the pollution in streams, rivers, and other source waters from the mountain top removal of coal and associated operations, as well as the high pressure high volume hydrofracking of the Marcellus have caused the serious decline of public health and the economies of communities across the State; and

WHEREAS WV Lawmakers continue to allow the injection of coal prep slurry into abandoned coal mines despite the mounting evidence that doing so has poisoned the source waters for a number of our rural communities; and

WHEREAS there is official government documentation that the State of West Virginia has improperly permitted wastewater containing toxic amounts of radium along with other hazardous waste byproducts from horizontally hydrofracking the Marcellus to be injected into Class II underground wells; and,

WHEREAS Class II underground injection wells were never designed for hazardous wastes and therefore are insufficient to properly sequester such wastes from our drinking water sources; and,

WHEREAS there are currently over seven hundred Class II underground injection wells as documented by the EPA within the borders of our State; and,

WHEREAS since 2007, improperly marked tanker trucks are known to have dumped hazardous Marcellus drilling waste fluid onto roadways, into rural streams, rivers, and abandoned coal mines within the borders of our State; and,

WHEREAS in 2011 it was reported to the Joint Legislative Oversight Commission on State Water Resources that many millions of gallons of the waters of the State were being diverted for use to high pressure horizontally hydrofrack the Marcellus, but 62 percent of which is not being properly accounted for by that industry; and,

WHEREAS in Sept. of 2011, when passing into law governor Tomblin’s Horizontal Well Act (H.B. 401), WV Lawmakers wrongfully assigned the WV Department of Environmental Protection to measure, regulate and report on the radioactive waste byproducts produced by high pressure horizontal hydrofracking, and,

Whereas the aforementioned HB 401 remains in direct conflict with West Virginia Code of State Regulations §64-23-16, the proper title being “Radiation Safety Requirements for Technologically Enhanced Radioactive Materials (TENORM),” which mandates all oversight and regulatory authority including measurement, storage, and disposal for such radioactive waste to West Virginia’s Department of Health and Human Resources where that agency’s health experts must be mandated to be properly trained to protect West Virginia’s citizens and their future generations from the ravages caused by the mishandling of TENORM; and,

WHEREAS during the last regular session of year 2013,, WV lawmakers passed Senate Bill 243 to amend governor Tomblin’s Horizontal Well Act which now grants drilling companies the right to keep from public scrutiny the countless proprietary chemicals which are known to be used during the hydraulic fracturing process; and,

Whereas SB 243 now enacted essentially prevents well owners and public water providers from knowing which particular chemicals may be in their source waters thus preventing proper monitoring against contamination; and,

WHEREAS by 2014, numerous water wells both private and publicly owned are now known to have been compromised by the careless mishandling of toxic chemicals and associated waste byproducts of high pressure high volume horizontal hydrofracking operations across the State; and,

WHEREAS the Bill of Rights to the West Virginia Constitution prominently places the health, safety and welfare of the People of the State above all corporate right to profit from the aforementioned fossil fuel industries as they are presently permitted by State and Federal regulators and their respective governments:

BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Citizens of the Great State of West Virginia and members of the Mountain Party call for the ban of all surface mine and high pressure horizontal hydrofracking operations within our borders because every chemical associated with these extraction industries must be safely handled, properly identified, registered, prominently labeled, and regulations enforced. This moratorium resolution shall include every chemical substance, whether used or produced, organic or inorganic, in every phase of each industrial process including mixing. use. storage, transport and disposal.

Be it further resolved that the Mountain Party believes that the long term negative economic and environmental consequences of the aforementioned extreme extraction fossil fuel industry techniques dwarf the short term economic benefits to the Great State of West Virginia, and that all political and legal means must be implemented to protect the health, safety, and welfare of her Citizens.

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*After the above Resolution to ban extreme extraction was passed, the following informational paragraph was proposed to be appropriately inserted in accordance with the timeline of the Resolution:

Whereas, in 2009, tests by the State of New York of 24 samples of Marcellus flowback from West Virginia and Pennsylvania hydrofracked wells revealed the presence in toxic quantities of 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide, one of the most cancer-causing toxins known to man, for which the State of WV has not, and is not currently testing in any drinking water source; and, …

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Contact:  Tom Rhule,  Communications Director,  at:  mountainpartywv@gmail.com