Keep it Up!Bill Price My message to you this week is to keep it up. Even though it may seem that it’s not making a difference; that your one phone call to your Senator, who might not be on your side, isn’t changing their mind, do believe that collectively we make a difference. Do believe that unity can overcome money, just as de Tocqueville observed back in 1835. More But wait! there’s moreConni Lewis While your intrepid lobby team and allied groups have been focused on water issues, there are other environmental concerns as well. Let me mention a few that are not receiving much attention. Sen. Carmichael is the lead sponsor of SB 482, a potentially dangerous bill regarding permits for stationary sources of air pollution, which would be a gift to the oil and gas industries. Among its worst provisions is the requirement to approve an air pollution permit within 45 days of receiving a completed permit application. DEP opposes it and so do we. More Hoping for a Flying LEEP!Vickie Wolfe Energy Efficient West Virginia, the WVEC and others have been working on a bill that would authorize local governments to adopt local energy effiency partnership (LEEP) programs, which are funding mechanisms to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings. Bonds backed by savings on energy costs would pay for the efficiency upgrades, and the bonds would be repaid by commercial building owners on their tax assessments. Currently thirty states have similar programs in place, and Kentucky's House of Representatives approved a bill to authorize such a program. More “Accidental Activists”Vickie Wolfe There are plenty of stories of people who became “activists” after last year’s water crisis. One of those is Jeni Burns, whose Charleston catering business, Ms. Groovy’s Kitchen, was forced to shut down for several days because of the chemical spill. During the 2014 session, Jeni spent many hours pounding the marble halls advocating for S.B. 373, the landmark water protection bill that was passed unanimously last year in response to the spill. More In the press recently:Vickie Wolfe Pertaining to the "Coal Jobs and Safety Act:" W.Va. lawmakers tweaking environmental, safety regs to aid flailing coal sector (SNL Financial). Pertaining to the Fayette County train derailment: Derailment highlights crude oil train, water safety issues (by Ken Ward, Jr. in the Gazette). Pertaining to "Category A" status for the Kanawha River: Lawmakers consider change for the mighty Kanawha (MetroNews), Lawmakers urged to keep drinking water protections (by Ken Ward, Jr. in the Gazette), Kanawha drinking water rule advances (by Ken Ward, Jr. in the Gazette) More Bills We Are TrackingVickie Wolfe Share on Facebook Tweet Share on Share Share via Share on Facebook Like Tweet Pinterest LinkedIn Digg Del Tumblr VKontakte Print Email Reddit Buffer Love This Weibo Pocket Xing Odnoklassniki iconOdnoklassniki WhatsApp Meneame Blogger Amazon Yahoo Mail Gmail AOL Newsvine HackerNews Evernote MySpace Mail.ru Viadeo Line Flipboard Comments Yummly SMS Viber Telegram Subscribe Skype Facebook […] More |
