by Kit Fox | Feb 8, 2012 | Environment
WASHINGTON — Cheryl Cook squinted toward the wine glass in her outstretched hand to scrutinize the liquid inside. She swished the contents, took a sniff and brought the glass to her lips. “This tastes better than my tap water,” she said Wednesday after taking a sip...
by Ed Demaria | Feb 8, 2012 | Environment, Politics
WASHINGTON – A blue-ribbon commission Wednesday recommended creation of a new government agency to control nuclear waste and a new consent-based strategy to deal with the issue. Members of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future advised a House...
by Chris Kirk | Feb 7, 2012 | Environment, Politics
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives has never been less concerned with the environment, a leading environmental organization said Tuesday after scoring congressmen based on their voting records last year. Led by House Republicans who dismiss environmental...
by Ben Kamisar | Feb 7, 2012 | Environment
Ben Kamisar / Medill WASHINGTON — A House committee toughened a controversial bill that would authorize construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, recently rejected by the Obama administration. The amendment, added Tuesday by Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., forces the Federal...
by Chris Kirk | Feb 1, 2012 | Environment
WASHINGTON — A Republican-led House committee Wednesday criticized as “unnecessarily alarming” a report from the Environmental Protection Agency that concluded natural gas drilling contaminated groundwater in Wyoming. The EPA released a draft in December of a...
by Ed Demaria | Feb 1, 2012 | Environment, Politics
WASHINGTON — After two years of deliberations, a presidential commission told a House subcommittee Wednesday what has been undoable for the past 30 years — the United States needs a new agency with the authority to dispose of nuclear waste. Members of the Blue Ribbon...
by Jaclyn Skurie | Jan 31, 2012 | Business, Environment, Politics
WASHINGTON — Political and economic turbulence in oil-producing nations may threaten a “great revival” in future U.S. energy production, according to a Senate hearing Tuesday. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee reviewed energy supplies, global market...
by Jaclyn Skurie | Jan 30, 2012 | Environment, Politics
WASHINGTON— It seems counter-intuitive that a 76-year-old gynecologist with plans to wipe out federal environmental agencies has the highest proportion of youth support among GOP presidential candidates. However, Ron Paul defies the odds. Paul, a 14-term congressman...
by Jaclyn Skurie | Jan 25, 2012 | Environment
WASHINGTON–The nation’s Alaska Native and American Indian population has increased by 26.7 percent since 2000, a rate that is nearly three times as large as the overall population growth rate, Census Bureau officials said Wednesday. “In all likelihood, there are...
by Chris Kirk | Jan 24, 2012 | Environment
WASHINGTON — About 100 demonstrators dressed up like referees and blew whistles outside the Capitol Tuesday to “call foul” on Congress, which they said has been bought by big oil companies that spend millions on lobbying and campaign contributions....
by Jaclyn Skurie | Jan 18, 2012 | Environment, Politics
House Republicans expressed their disapproval of President Barack Obama’s decision to reject the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. (Mattias Gugel/Medill)Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-Ohio, said, “The president is selling out American jobs for...
by Chris Kirk | Jan 17, 2012 | Environment, Health & Science
WASHINGTON —IBM Chief Financial Officer Jeff Katz said Tuesday that the country is undergoing a “leap” forward in smart grid technology, but cautioned that this leap would introduce new security challenges. At a smart grid technologies conference at a Washington...