Today's Liberal News

April Siese

We need to rethink our relationship with plastic

Recently, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works convened for a hearing titled “Examining the Impact of Plastic Use and Identifying Solutions for Reducing Plastic Waste.” The final hearing for the committee of the 117th Congress began with Sen. Jeff Merkley discussing the plastic problem, ranging from how plastic does not break down to the ways it has infiltrated seemingly everything through that process.

‘Big Oil will stop at nothing’: Advocacy groups, lawmakers call out companies’ clean energy lies

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform released findings from an investigation into Big Oil companies showing that giants like Chevron, BP, Shell, and Exxon will seemingly do everything they can to keep the U.S. reliant on fossil fuels—no matter the environmental cost. Chevron, for instance, wants to remain in the oil and gas industry to take advantage of “retreating” competition. Much of the companies’ claims also amounted to greenwashing.

Interior Department will relocate three tribal communities threatened by climate change

The Interior Department announced on Wednesday that three tribal communities will be relocated due to climate change-worsened erosion effectively making their homes uninhabitable. The Newtok Village and Native Village of Napakiak in Alaska will receive $25 million a piece from the agency for the move, as will the Quinault Indian Nation in Washington. Around $135 million will be spent in these efforts, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contributing $17.7 million.

Breakthrough battery technology able to charge average EV battery in just 10 minutes

A project funded in part by the Defense Department, Energy Department, and other federal agencies sure looks like it was worth the money. Researchers were able to develop a charging device that can recharge a standard electric vehicle battery in just 10 minutes. Such swift charging helps alleviate what’s known as “range anxiety,” defined as the fear that an EV will run out of power before reaching a charging station.

Studies finds EPA lagging on power sector accountability rules, utilities falling short of goals

The climate advocacy group Evergreen Action wants the Environmental Protection Agency to take a good, hard look at the 10 crucial rules it must finalize in order to hold the power sector accountable. According to Evergreen Action’s latest report, six rules—including carbon standards for new and existing power plants, stronger standards for air toxins, and stronger national smog and soot standards—have been delayed.

Finally, a BP subsidiary will finish cleaning up the former smelting site it acquired in 1977

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department announced on Friday that the Atlantic Richfield Company (AR) agreed to finish cleaning up the site of a former copper smelting site that the BP subsidiary had assumed control over all the way back in 1977. The Anaconda Co. Smelter was in operation for nearly a century. It closed in 1980; three years later it was deemed a superfund site by the EPA.

I found my people at Netroots (and Daily Kos) fighting the climate crisis

I can’t help but keep thinking about how much different my life was a year ago as one of the only named storms of this hurricane season begins to form in the Atlantic right now. Exactly a year to the day ago, I was sweating my ass off making sandwiches with World Central Kitchen before switching to their plating team where I worked some of the hardest days I’ve ever experienced.

‘They even broke into my safe!’: Trump confirms FBI raided Mar-a-Lago in whining statement

If you were wondering if the rumblings of a search warrant carried out by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago were true, look no further than the club’s owner—Donald Trump—to confirm this latest development. Florida Politics’ Peter Schorsch first got the scoop from two sources that the former president’s beachfront estate was in the process of being raided early Monday evening.

Having trouble keeping up with Florida Power & Light’s scandals? Here’s their latest misdeeds

Forgive me for being unserious at a time when companies like Florida Power & Light (FPL)—the nation’s largest utility—keep racking up scandals, but it’s kind of hard to keep track of the latest outrageous episode because the next one immediately overshadows it. Surely, FPL could take part of its 2022 Q2 net income of $989 million and just put out a greatest hits record of its standout incidents.

2020 Colonial Pipeline spill revealed to be largest gasoline spill in U.S. history

New estimates of the damage caused by a crack 5 feet long in a section of Colonial Pipeline Co.’s 5,500-mile pipeline shows its 2020 spill was the worst in U.S. history, sending nearly 2 million gallons of gas into the Oehlet Nature Preserve near Hunterville, North Carolina. It took 18 days before teenagers discovered the rupture on Aug. 14, 2020, and to this day, Colonial Pipeline still hasn’t completely cleaned up its mess.

Shocking SCOTUS leak shows abortion rights overturned under draft opinion from Justice Alito

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A draft opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito shows that the Supreme Court could overturn abortion rights in the U.S., essentially nullifying the landmark Roe v. Wade, which Alito called “egregiously wrong from the start.” The document, obtained by Politico, spans 98 pages and was apparently drafted in February. It marks an unprecedented leak for the nation’s highest court.

U.S. Postal Service sued over massive gas-guzzling mail truck order

EarthJustice and the Center for Biological Diversity have teamed up to sue the U.S. Postal Service over its Next Generation Delivery Vehicle (NGDV) order of 50,000 mail trucks, just 10,019 of which will be electric. The order has been controversial since it was initially announced, though the USPS initially requested that just 10% of its NGDVs be EVs and has since ordered a slightly larger amount amid public outcry.

Trans rights: How to center trans voices and tips for allies (VIDEO)

Transgender rights are consistently being threatened, with a record number of anti-trans bill being filed in just the first few months of this year alone. According to NBC News, nearly 240 such pieces of legislation have been filed, ranging from bills that target trans athletes and youth to restricting health care access and barring students from learning about LGBTQ issues.

Penguin Random House announces ‘The Climate Book,’ compiled by Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg is already a published author, having co-written the family memoir Scenes from the Heart and released the collection of speeches No One is Too Small to Make a Difference, along with being the subject of the biography Our House is on Fire. Now, she’s curating the handbook on climate change. The 19-year-old has compiled essays and advice from a host of luminaries for the forthcoming The Climate Book, to be published in the U.K.

Biden administration releases orphaned well guidance in bid to address rampant methane emissions

The Biden administration on Thursday released its draft guidance on addressing the more than 130,000 orphaned oil wells across the country—a number the government admits reflects a massive undercounting of wells whose former operators cannot be located. The guidance includes what is required when states apply for initial grants, such as detailed budget proposals and disclosure of any lobbying activities, along with best practices like state plugging standards.

SEC will soon require disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions from publicly traded companies

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will soon adopt a rule requiring all publicly traded companies to disclose just how much greenhouse gas they emit while doing business, the Washington Post reports. The rule, which is likely to be announced on Monday, will include climate risk disclosure—something that SEC Chair Gary Gensler has previously discussed adopting and that President Biden touted as a goal during his 2020 campaign.

Arizona’s Wendy Rogers extremely desperate to be on the wrong side of history

Wendy Rogers claims she speaks for the people, yet she’s released just three paltry letters of support on her website, all of which slam the Arizona senate for censuring her in a historic 24-3 vote over her speech at a Nazi conference, plus her exhaustingly divisive social media presence. The folks who aren’t her constituents are somehow eating up her extremism, having donated nearly $2 million to a candidate they can’t even cast a ballot for.

Tributes pour in for late American Indian Movement co-founder Clyde Bellecourt

Throughout his 85 years of life, Clyde Bellecourt lived up to his Ojibwe name of Neegawnwaywidung. Its translation, “the thunder before the storm,” became the title of his brilliant autobiography released in 2016—nearly five decades after he and other community activists led a meeting on pressing issues like discrimination, police brutality, and the many federal policies that directly target Native Americans.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz puzzlingly sets his sights on overturning vaccine mandates for kids … in D.C.

On Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz’s office emailed a press release indicating that the Texas Republican would propose a bill to overturn the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for schoolchildren—not in his adopted home state, but in the nation’s capital. A particularly ironic quote at the beginning of the press release shows Cruz misconstruing what it means to listen to science when it comes to public health.

New York City announces street name changes honoring Frances Perkins, Eric Garner, and others

The City Council for New York City cast its final vote in 2021 in favor of renaming and co-naming 199 streets in honor of prominent New Yorkers from the past, including Frances Perkins and Eric Garner. Some groups like Avenues for Justice, which provides services to at-risk youth who may be facing incarceration, were also honored. The block named Avenues for Justice Way on Avenue B includes the organization’s Robert Siegal Community Center.

Three companies indicted for negligence in Orange County oil spill

A federal grand jury indicted three companies on Wednesday for their role in the October pipeline rupture in Orange County, California that spewed 25,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean near Huntington Beach. Amplify Energy Corp. and two subsidiaries—Beta Offshore and San Pedro Bay Pipeline Co.—face one misdemeanor count of negligent discharge of oil.

New Orleans sheriff desperate to keep predatory prison phone call rates for sake of budget

Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman is facing his first major challenger in years. The sheriff, who’s been in power for 17 years and automatically won his 2017 re-election bid because no one challenged him, has found himself in a runoff with former police monitor Susan Hutson. The two could not be more different in their approach to running the office that oversees Orleans Parish Prison.