Tag: Friends of the Earth

It is a common refrain in this Republican House of Representatives that Congress should not "pick winners and losers" in the energy marketplace. The comment is usually made while debating subsidies for alternative energy. Today, though, Congress may go against the odds to try and pick a winner by voting on a measure that would allocate $25 million to oil shale research and development.

The environmental group Friends of the Earth released more emails between the U.S. State Department and TransCanada that they say shows a “smoking gun” proving an unethical relationship between the two.

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall's new streamlined Good Samaritan legislation, designed to encourage volunteer water cleanup projects, may yet become law. It is the 11th piece of Good Samaritan legislation to be introduced in Congress in the last 15 years. Udall's bill, however, is drawing more support and less opposition than the previous bills, all of which failed to gain traction on Capitol Hill.

U.S. Sen. Mark Udall announced Wednesday that he introduced "Good Samaritan" legislation that would provide legal protection for non-profit and other groups who would cleanup water contamination issuing from abandoned mines across Colorado.

In the last 15 years, Washington lawmakers have introduced no fewer than 10 pieces of so-called Good Samaritan legislation-- the majority of those laws introduced by Colorado legislators. The legislation is designed to provide legal protection for groups who take it upon themselves to clean up toxic waste. In Colorado, that means cleaning up acid mine drainage. Why has none of the legislation passed? Good Samaritan groups say the most stringent opponents include major environmental groups with Washington lobbyists.