According to the latest figures [3] released by the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA), the average monthly residential electric bill is $111.08. The state with the lowest average bill is New Mexico ($76.56) and the highest is Hawaii ($190.36). To see how your state ranks, click here [4]. How does your electricity usage impact the environment? Well, the less energy you consume, the less …
SCOTUS Rules Against Limiting Mercury Pollution from Power Plants – Robert Harrington
The Supreme Court has issued yet another ruling that has many people up in arms. Environmental activists and health advocates alike are especially unhappy with their most recent decision concerning power plant emissions. Permitting mercury and other highly toxic air pollutants emitted from plants to remain insufficiently regulated will ultimately translate to higher healthcare costs around the country. The degree of …
Chevron’s Lobbyist Now Runs the Congressional Science Committee By Lee Fang
For Chevron, the second largest oil company in the country with $26.2 billion in annual profits, it helps to have friends in high places. With little fanfare, one of Chevron’s top lobbyists, Stephen Sayle, has become a senior staff member of the House Committee on Science, the standing congressional committee charged with “maintaining our scientific and technical leadership in the world.” Throughout much of …
Coal is dying all by itself – Tim McDonnell
Coal, the No. 1 cause of climate change, is dying. Last year saw a record number of coal plant retirements in the United States, and a study last week from Duke University found that Even China, which produces and consumes more coal than the rest of the world put together, is expected to hit peak coal use within a decade, in order to meet its promise to President …
The Coal Industry Is Imploding. Why Is it Still So Powerful in Washington?
As its battle against the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan intensifies, Big Coal is getting a lot of help from friends in high places. Leading the rush to the industry’s defense is Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, who has launched an underhanded campaign to undermine the Environmental Protection Agency’s new rules for greenhouse gases from power plants. In a March 3 op-ed, McConnell …