ENVIRONMENT POLICIES, ANALYSIS, AND RESOURCES
Latest Environment Posts
Leasing Federal Land to Big Oil is a Slippery Political Tightrope
Brief #141 – Environment
By Todd J. Broadman
The Interior Department will put up for auction 144,000 acres of federal land to oil and gas companies. The Department says that this lease sale is actually scaled back by 80 percent of the original acreage slated for potential drilling. 90 percent of the land to be leased is located in Wyoming. In tandem with the sale, royalties paid to the federal government on any revenue that result from new drilling will go up from 12.5 percent to 18.75 percent.
SEC Proposes Climate Change-related Corporate Disclosure Requirements
Brief #140 – Environmental Policy
By Stephen Thomas
The administration of President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala D. Harris is attempting to hold public corporations accountable for their impacts on global warming, ensuring in the process that investors know whether the firms in which they have a financial stake are taking climate change seriously.
Agroforestry: An Ancient Agriculture for a Modern Farm Bill
Brief #139 – Environment
By Jacob Morton
Agroforestry is an ancient agricultural system that not only produces food, but “supports biodiversity, builds soil horizons and water tables, and sequesters carbon from the atmosphere.” In 2023, our current Farm Bill will be up for renewal, meaning Federal legislators will have the opportunity to reevaluate how we choose to financially support our food and agricultural industries and services. As legislators prepare to craft and vote on the next Farm Bill, we must press our representatives to support funding for agroforestry projects and farm system transitions.
New IPCC Report Indicts Failed Climate Leadership Around the World
Brief #138 – Environment Policy
By Todd J. Broadman
Since March 10, 2022, nearly all Americans can go without their masks indoors per new Center Disease Control guidance. Nearly for the entirety of the pandemic, different guidance has been given about masks – which has led to a lot of confusion and misinformation. Local, state, and federal government look to the CDC for guidance on how and when to guide their citizens on mask mandates.
Biden Administration Plans to Construct an Alternative Fuel Corridor Across the Country
Brief #137 – Environment Policy
By Jacob Morton
he Biden administration announced its plan to spend $5 billion to install electric vehicle (EV) charging stations along the nation’s highways. Biden’s plan will extend over five years, providing funding directly to states that submit their own plans for developing their portion of what the administration calls an “Alternative Fuel Corridor,” that would connect forty states along interstate highways across the country. The plan seeks to build half a million charging stations by 2030 so that owners of electric vehicles will be able to find a charging port anywhere within 50 miles of their location across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
The Far-Right Insists That Even Butterflies Recognize Borders
Brief #136 – Environmental Policy
By Todd J. Broadman
The politics of immigration along the border between Texas and Mexico now involves the National Butterfly Center (NBC). The NBC is a 100-acre nature preserve located in Mission, Texas. Since 1993, the NBC has served as a protected migratory refuge for the monarch, the rare pale sicklewing, and over 80 other butterfly species.
New Study Shows Americans are Dying Early from Air Pollution
Brief #135 – Environment Policy
By Jacob Morton
A new study published by the Health Effects Institute shows that Federal air pollution regulations are not doing enough to protect our elders from serious illness and death. The recent report published by HEI shows that Americans 65 and older are still at risk of death from exposure to fine soot pollution in the air, even at the levels allowed by the Federal government.
A Judge’s Gavel Keeps the Oil Drills from Spinning – for the Time Being
Brief #134 – Environmental Policy
By Todd J. Broadman
On January 27, the country’s largest ever oil and gas lease sales were canceled by a federal judge. A total of 308 tracts totaling nearly 1.7 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico had been auctioned to thirty-three oil companies – Shell, BP, Chevron and Exxon Mobil among them. $192 million had been paid to the government for drilling rights.
Electric Vehicles and a Collision Course with Public Lands Management
Brief #133 – Environmental Policy
By Timothy T. Loftus
The race to electrify the transportation sector, now the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the US, will entail controversial decisions and tradeoffs involving the use and management of America’s public lands.