Climate Change and the Environment

Today, the Congressional Safe Climate Caucus sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler urging him to rescind the Agency’s proposed so-called Affordable Clean Energy Rule, or at least allow for additional public hearings and time to comment. The Members cited the abundance of scientific evidence, including EPA’s own analysis, which indicated… Read more »

Associated Press |  Galvanized by court rulings protecting grizzly bears and gray wolves, Congressional Republicans on Wednesday pushed sweeping changes to the Endangered Species Act despite strong objections from Democrats and wildlife advocates who called the effort a “wildlife extinction package.” Republicans began with a morning vote in the House Natural Resource Committee to… Read more »

Today, Reps. Don Beyer, Debbie Dingell, and Raúl M. Grijalva led a group of 105 Democrats in a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross urging them to withdraw recently proposed changes that weaken the Endangered Species Act. The changes would weaken protections for endangered species and their habitats and impair the consultation process between federal… Read more »

The Hill |  The EPA’s Office of the Inspector General will not investigate weather EPA’s former head of Superfunds was unqualified for the job, according to a letter sent by IG head Arthur Elkins to Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) dated Sept. 13. Beyer first requested the IG look into EPA’s Albert Kelly in late April. It was first reported last December that Kelly was banned from working in… Read more »

POLITICO | Democrats pounded the Trump administration on Friday for ignoring climate change, warning that failing to take action would leave the U.S. at the mercy of more extreme weather events like Hurricane Florence. Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry and Al Gore all ripped the Trump administration for gutting the efforts to curb the burning of fossil fuels and reneging on U.S. promises to… Read more »

U.S. Senators Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) and U.S. Representatives Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), and Don Beyer (D-Va.) joined scientists, faith leaders, environmental advocates and the public to gather in support of the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the nation’s most effective tool to safeguard wildlife facing extinction. The… Read more »

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its plan today to gut safeguards on methane and other pollutants from the fossil fuel industry. Safe Climate Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Don Beyer (VA-08) and Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) released the following statement in response:  “Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler confirmed that an EPA under his leadership will not miss a beat in… Read more »

Today the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a report which found that over $3.5 million was spent on the personal security detail (PSD) of former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, without justification. Rep. Beyer issued the following statement: “This IG report leaves no doubt that Scott Pruitt wasted huge amounts of taxpayer money… Read more »

The Hill |  “This IG report leaves no doubt that Scott Pruitt wasted huge amounts of taxpayer money on his own protection without justification,” said Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). “The Pruitt saga illustrates how sorely real oversight is needed as a check on the president, and how the GOP-led Congress has acted as a rubber stamp for the Trump administration’s worst excesses.” Click here… Read more »

Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) released the following statement after the Trump Administration released its proposal to gut the Clean Power Plan: “President Trump and Acting EPA head Andrew Wheeler teamed up with their friends in the fossil fuel industry to release a plan that would open the floodgates to more carbon pollution across the country. The Administration’s proposal is a betrayal of the… Read more »