Douglas Johnson

October 28, 2011

1. A group of students from the University of Vermont met with President and CEO of Seventh Generation to encourage the company's leader to find ways in which the company can cut down on its use of Canadian tar-sand-derived fuels. Seventh Generation's President John Replogle welcomed the opportunity to have an open discussion, and stated that he is opposed to burning fossil fuel. Recently, President Obama has come under criticism from environmentalists opposed to his administration's proposal to build a new pipeline--the Keystone XL--that would run from Texas to Canada, and which would more than double the current proportion of tar-sand fuel in the Unites States' transportation fuel, from five percent to over ten percent.

Joel Banner Baird, Group challenges Seventh Generation on tar-sand oil, BurlingtonFreePress.com, Oct. 26, 2011, http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20111025/NEWS02/110250306/Group-challenges-Seventh-Generation-tar-sand-oil.

2. While addressing an audience in Pittsburg on October 27, in complete reversal of his previously stated position on the possibility that global warming was at least partly man-made, Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney stated, "My view is that we don't know what's causing climate change on this planet." The former Massachusetts governor has--as recently as 2005--supported a cap-and-trade program among Northeastern states, which suggests that he had previously made the connection between climate change and the need to lower carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel combustion.

Jean Chemnick, Romney makes full transition to climate skeptic, Greenwire.com, Oct. 28, 2011, http://stevens.vermontlaw.edu:2069/Greenwire/2011/10/28/1.

3. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced on Thursday an agreement to cooperatively manage over 10,000 acres of parkland in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, which stretches across Brooklyn and Queens, New York. Jamaica Bay is a stop along the migratory route for over 300 bird species. Along with the management plan, the Environmental Protection Agency will declare most of the bay a "no-discharge zone," which means that boats will be prohibited from dumping sewage in the waters of the bay.

Lisa W. Foderaro, U.S. and N.Y.C. Unite to Aid Jamaica Bay, N.Y.Times, Oct. 27, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/nyregion/united-states-and-nyc-to-coordinate-jamaica-bay-parkland.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y.

4. An environmental non-profit has teamed with the Natural Resources Defense Council to file suit in federal district court in California using a new and unique application of the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) to try to force a group of railroad yards to clean up their diesel particulate matter emissions. The litigants' are using an unconventional law to combat air pollution, citing ineffective use of the Clean Air Act in fighting mobile sources of pollution. RCRA is normally reserved for fighting releases of toxic or solid wastes.

Dawn Reeves, Novel RCRA Lawsuit Aims To Cut Diesel Emissions From Railroad Yards, InsideEPA.com, Oct. 28, 2011, http://stevens.vermontlaw.edu:2094/201110282380597/EPA-Daily-News/Daily-News/novel-rcra-lawsuit-aims-to-cut-diesel-emissions-from-railroad-yards/menu-id-95.html.

5. In an effort to reinforce the Office of Surface Mining's (OSM) ability to maintain oversight of coal mining and reclamation projects, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed an order on Wednesday that would merge the OSM with the larger Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The move is so far proving unpopular with some lawmakers in Congress, who see little point in intertwining the two bureaus. However, BLM Director Bob Abbey hopes the "complementary responsibilities" of the two bureaus can bring about a positive outcome from the reorganization.

Manuel Quinones & Phil Taylor, BLM, OSM merger aimed at improving efficiencies, cutting costs, Land Letter, Oct. 27, 2011, http://stevens.vermontlaw.edu:2069/Landletter/2011/10/27/3.