WASHINGTON – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will testify before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on EPA’s proposed Fiscal Year 2013 budget at 10 a.m., Thursday, March 22. The Obama Administration proposed a budget of $8.344 on February 13, $105 million below last year’s budget, reflecting a government-wide effort to reduce spending and find cost-savings, according to a press release announcing the hearing in Room 406 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
Meanwhile, according to Frank O’Donnell of Clean Air Watch, the EPA has declined to set tougher new clean air standards aimed at reducing the damage caused by acid rain
“It comes as no great shock – though it is disappointing,” he said in an e-mail blast.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The dogwoods, azaleas and cherry blossoms are in full bloom a full three weeks before Easter here, but of course that’s no sign of global warming and climate change, according to the Republicans and the media in Alabamaland.
The so-called Christians could care less. It must all be part of god’s plan. Right.
Nevermind that if there was a god, even the people who know a little about science yet believe say he gave the human species free will, which has led him to greedy pursuits that in fact do impact the climate.
Now if I was a Christian and I was searching for an answer to this riddle, I would conclude that if there were any such thing as a plan based on a “creation” event, if there was a god he would hold man in contempt for screwing up that creation.
An armadillo, all the way from Texas, paid us a visit at the campsite
Secret Vistas
by Glynn Wilson
CAMP GUNTER HILL, Ala., March 9 — You know, when I published the first column in this space nearly seven years ago in Takoma Park, Maryland, I never thought I would find myself back in Montgomery Alabama. Nor did I foresee the Republican take over of all three branches of government in my home state — while the people either slept, failed to organize sufficiently, or went right along with it as if it was “THE WAY” written in the book of Genesis.
Anyone who likes the direction this state government in Alabama is going is either brain-washed or not paying attention. Those who have an eye and can see say we are witnessing the last great Confederate gasp of white male plantation-style spoils politics. Technology and demographic data from opinion polls shows on the national level we have already moved beyond that to a more merit-based democratic world.
It will just take a few more years down here in Alabamaland.
So I feel almost like I felt back in D.C. going after the Bush regime. It was in some ways scarier along the Potomac River. The Bush security forces were organized against the left. We have some relief from that now, thanks to the election of Barack Obama as president in 2008. Around here, what’s left of the Klan is too embedded in the Republican power structure to be disgruntled enough to commit high profile death threats and actions.
But I have a feeling Bentley and Co. are about to be in for a series of shockers that will have them reeling in their sleep in their old age.
On this weeklong trip to Selma and back and forth to Montgomery, after Googling around, calling around and driving around looking, I finally found the perfect campground to navigate coverage of the events in Montgomery. Since we are still on the reluctant Civil War theme, for a few more years, we will call it an encampment to take on the evil forces aligned against workers, women, minorities and anybody else who doesn’t go to church on Sunday and vote Republican.
British Petroleum company has reached a tentative settlement agreement with a large number of people along the Gulf of Mexico coast who are suing for damages from the largest and most devastating environmental disaster in U.S. history. If the plaintiffs agree to the final settlement and it is approved by the court and the government, it will prevent a prolonged court trial and members of the public who suffered damages may receive compensation much sooner, although the amount they receive would be reduced.
According to the Associated Press, BP expects to pay out $7.8 billion to 100,000 victims. The settlement calls for ending the separate claims fund run by Ken Feinberg, who was hired by the Obama administration to handle paying out $20 billion the administration seized from BP.
Questions remain, however, about whether all of those damaged by the spill will agree to the settlement. Those waiting for money from Feinberg’s Gulf Coast Claims Facility can take what the settlement vehicles offer or opt out and make a claim directly to a BP-run entity. Or they can file separate lawsuits and hold out for more, but that could take many years to work its way through the courts and then there is no guarantee the amounts won’t be thrown out of court by conservative judges in the South.
According to a press release put out by BP Saturday morning, the company has reached a settlement with the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee (PSC), subject to final written agreement, to resolve the substantial majority of legitimate economic loss and medical claims stemming from the Deepwater Horizon accident and oil spill. The PSC acts on behalf of individual and business plaintiffs in the Multi-District Litigation proceedings pending in New Orleans.
“From the beginning, BP stepped up to meet our obligations to the communities in the Gulf Coast region, and we’ve worked hard to deliver on that commitment for nearly two years,” Bob Dudley, BP Group CEO, said in the press release. “The proposed settlement represents significant progress toward resolving issues from the Deepwater Horizon accident and contributing further to economic and environmental restoration efforts along the Gulf Coast.”
Wildlife investigators are offering a $5,000 reward for help in finding out who shot a bald eagle in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama.
The bald eagle was found next to the Sipsey River on Upper Columbus Road and X-rays showed it had been shot in the wing and skull. The eagle is recovering at the Southeastern Raptor Center in Auburn, Ala. It is expected to be released into the wild after recovering from its’ injuries.
The Service is offering a reward of up to $2,500, with an additional $2,500 from the Humane Society of the United States and The Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust, for information that leads to a conviction.
To provide information, contact, John Rawls, Special Agent, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, in Millbrook, Ala. (phone) 334-285-9600, John_Rawls@fws.gov, or call Alabama’s Operation GameWatch : 800-272-GAME(4263), or e-mail: DCNR.GAMEWATCH@DCNR.ALABAMA.GOV
ASHEVILLE, NC — Regional conservation nonprofit organization Wild South announced the finalist nominees for the 2011 Roosevelt-Ashe Society Conservation Awards on Monday and the list includes Glynn Wilson of The Locust Fork News-Journal as one of three finalists in the “Outstanding Journalist” category.
The awards recognize “conservation heroes” across the South and honor outstanding conservation work in 2011 to protect wild places.
“The nominees represent six states and exemplify dedication and passion for environmental conservation,” Tracy Davids, Wild South’s Executive Director, said in the press release announcing the finalists. “Conservation groups know that we cannot realize our vision with staff and volunteers alone. Success requires the support of each citizen who believes in the power of a South with healthy, intact ecosystems.”
The winners will be announced and awards presented at the Fourth Annual Green Oscars — the Roosevelt-Ashe Society’s Green Tie Gala — held March 23, 2012 in Asheville, North Carolina.
Greg Palast’s BBC crew of journalist-detectives chase down British Petroleum bag men, CIA operatives, nuclear power con men — and “The Vultures,” billionaire financial speculators who, through bribery, flim-flam and political muscle, take entire nations hostage for mega-profits.
The action begins when the Deepwater Horizon explodes in the Gulf of Mexico and a confidential cable arrives on Miss Badpenny’s desk from a terrified insider. He has the real, hushed-up facts of the disaster — which can only be found hidden in the files of a Central Asian dictatorship.
Palast sets off for Baku to investigate the sexiest Muslim woman on Earth and the whereabouts of millions of dollars in a brown valise. Then he jumps the globe to an Alaska Eskimo village after receiving an extraordinary note from the Chief of Intelligence of the Free Republic of the Arctic.
While the board members of the University of Alabama system were meeting at UAB’s Alumni Hall on Thursday, Feb. 2, a coalition of environmental, civic and student organizations gathered across the street to demonstrate opposition to a proposed coal mine along the Shepherd’s Bend portion of the Black Warrior River.
Thirteen whooping cranes follow an ultra-light through West Jefferson County three years ago as they passed over Alabama Power’s Miller Steam Plant on the Locust Fork of the Black Warrior River
The ultralight-led migration of nine whooping cranes, on hold in Franklin County, Alabama, pending clearance by the Federal Aviation Administration, has been given the green light, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Operation Migration, a member of the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership, is now mobilizing resources to continue guiding the young cranes to their wintering sites at St. Marks National and Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuges in Florida.
“As soon as the weather clears, we will be back flying,” said David Sakrison, Operation Migration Board Member. “We appreciate the work FAA has done to help us get back in the air.”
During the Bush years, we specialized in covering the politicization of the U.S. justice system as much as any news organization. Our archives are about the most comprehensive for anyone researching the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, and the original case against Richard Scrushy, which Glynn Wilson covered for The New York Times.
