Environment/Energy

House approves shale plan

By Troy Hooper | 02.17.12 | 9:17 am | More from The Colorado Independent

A bill designed to encourage oil shale development cruised through the House on Thursday evening. But a wind production tax credit didn’t fly, and now layoffs and abandoned projects loom.
The Republican-controlled House approved U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn’s bill to increase oil shale development on public lands in addition More…

Rubio bill would force EPA to adopt state-drafted water rules

By Virginia Chamlee | 02.16.12 | 7:00 pm | More from The Florida Independent

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., today introduced a bill that would force the EPA to scrap its set of Florida water quality standards and instead accept rules drafted by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The bill is the Senate companion to a measure introduced in the U.S. House in More…

Green groups sue U.S. government over proposed Rocky Flats land swap

By Troy Hooper | 02.15.12 | 5:06 pm | More from The Colorado Independent

Two environmental groups filed a lawsuit in a Denver federal court Tuesday to try to stop a proposal to turn the eastern side of the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge into a four-lane, high-speed tollway.

Lamborn’s excuses blowing in the wind while Polis sets sights on oil shale ‘boondoggle’

By Troy Hooper | 02.15.12 | 4:03 pm | More from The Colorado Independent

Asked why he was Colorado’s lone congressional holdout in calling for the extension of the wind tax credit, U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn responded that his “preference is to help industry grow by reducing federal regulations and mandates as opposed to carving out special interests in the tax code.” More…

Earthjustice: Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission violated open meeting laws

By Virginia Chamlee | 02.15.12 | 1:07 pm | More from The Florida Independent

Environmental law firm Earthjustice yesterday announced that it has filed suit against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, alleging that the agency “illegally held closed-door meetings to craft a plan which would cut off the public’s boating access to part of Fisheating Creek in Glades County” and therefore violated

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(VIDEO) On Valentine’s Day, lingering questions about flower industry labor violations

By Marcos Restrepo | 02.14.12 | 11:50 am | More from The Florida Independent

Sixty-five percent of the roses, carnations, lilies, pompons and crysanthemums Americans give on Valentine’s Day will come through Miami International Airport from farms in Colombia, the world’s second-largest flower exporter and a country with which the U.S. recently signed a free trade agreement despite outcry from labor and social organizations over More…

Environmental Protection Agency unveils budget

By Virginia Chamlee | 02.13.12 | 6:52 pm | More from The Florida Independent

The federal government on Monday released a proposed $8.344 billion budget for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for fiscal year 2013. Florida environmental groups applauded the announcement, arguing the money would help ensure that job-creating restoration projects (like some under way in the Everglades) will not come to a

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EPA says water rules will save Florida money ‘in the long run’

By Virginia Chamlee | 02.13.12 | 12:38 pm | More from The Florida Independent

In a new statement to The Florida Independent, the Environmental Protection Agency defends its Florida-specific water pollution rules against charges in a new ad by the group Free Market Florida that the standards will cost the state “billions” and “eliminate 14,000 farming jobs.” Instead, according to the EPA,

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