Free Republic

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, announced Friday he will block a key Department of Interior (DOI) nominee from moving forward over her climate activism. Manchin noted that his decision — which effectively kills President Biden's nomination of Laura Daniel-Davis to serve as DOI's assistant secretary for land and minerals management — came in response to an internal agency memo that was leaked last week. The memo showed that Daniel-Davis, who holds a lower position at DOI, signed off on an explicit decision to prioritize climate policies over energy security. "Today, I...

WASHINGTON--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will early next week, possibly as soon as Monday, officially declare carbon dioxide a public danger, a trigger that could mean regulation for emitters across the economy, according to several people close to the matter.Such an "endangerment" decision is necessary for the EPA to move ahead early next year with new emission standards for cars. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has said it could also mean large emitters such as power stations, cement kilns, crude-oil refineries and chemical plants would have to curb their greenhouse gas output.The announcement would also give President Barack Obama and his...

Sarah Palin is receiving praise from some unusual quarters lately. Some environmental groups are saying positive things about the conservative governor’s announcement of her statewide energy plan, which proposes that 50 percent of Alaska’s power be produced from renewable resources by 2025. Pat Lavin of the National Wildlife Federation described the governor’s announcement as a defining moment in Alaska’s history. Alaska Conservation Alliance director Kate Troll characterized Gov. Palin’s energy proposal as a very forward-thinking energy plan.

Larry Schweiger, President of the National Wildlife Federation, has e-mailed supporters that Sarah James, spokesperson for the Gwich'in tribe of native Alaskans, is in Washington to tell Congress the "truth" about proposed oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and will stay there until Congress votes. Gwich'in objections to drilling have been the centerpiece of environmentalist opposition for years. It's a compelling story. A poor Alaskan native tribe, calling itself "the Caribou people," fights desperately to save the Porcupine Caribou herd, which roams the region, providing the tribe's sustenance. But that is not the whole story; it is...

MISSOULA, Mont. — As the Bush administration prepares to remove Yellowstone's grizzly bears from the endangered-species list, a schism has emerged in the environmental movement over whether the bears remain at risk. The nation's largest environmental group, the National Wildlife Federation, supports delisting the bears, whose numbers have bounced back impressively after three decades of federal protection. But other powerful organizations, including the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Earthjustice, are threatening to sue the Bush administration if, as expected, it removes Yellowstone grizzlies from the list. "The recovery has been a huge success, but removing federal protection...

A National Wildlife Federation poll of Wisconsin's hunters and fishermen shows the solid majority are Republicans who voted for George Bush in the last election. Results of the nationwide poll conducted by Bellwether Research & Consulting that were released Wednesday show while sportsmen are opposed to some of Bush's conservation policies, 68 percent voted for Bush in 2000 and 66 percent identified themselves as conservatives this time around. In Wisconsin, 72 percent of the sportsmen surveyed said there are "very" or "somewhat" conservative, while only 19 percent said they're liberal. That may come as bad news to Massachusetts Sen. John...