{"id":28370,"date":"2012-02-18T10:00:44","date_gmt":"2012-02-18T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=28370"},"modified":"2012-02-18T10:00:44","modified_gmt":"2012-02-18T15:00:44","slug":"politics-activism-news-democrats-stand-up-to-gop-poison-pills-epa-sued-oil-shale-fail-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/politics-activism-news-democrats-stand-up-to-gop-poison-pills-epa-sued-oil-shale-fail-video\/","title":{"rendered":"Politics & Activism News (Democrats Stand Up to GOP Poison Pills, EPA Sued, Oil Shale Fail Video,…)"},"content":{"rendered":"

 
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Democrats Stand Up to House GOP<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Senate Democrats have stood up to the constant assault on the environment a bit and told the House GOP<\/a> to “stop polluting [a] middle-class tax bill with poison pills,” as Brad Johnson of Think Progress writes.<\/p>\n

“Instead of finding commonsense solutions, the Republicans are talking about things that have\u00a0nothing to do with middle-income taxes \u2014 like the Keystone pipeline, rolling back regulations to keep our air safe and our water clean and pure<\/strong>,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this week. “These tactics are stalling \u2014 more evidence the Republicans don\u2019t want to extend this tax cut. They talk about extending it but simply are unwilling to do anything to make it a reality.”<\/p>\n

EPA Sued<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The American Lung Association and the National Parks Conservation have sued the EPA (did so on Valentine’s Day, actually)\u00a0in order to try to force it “to complete the required review of the need for stronger limits on the amount of soot, smoke, and other airborne particles that endanger public health,” Earthjustice, the public interest law firm that filed the suit, reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“The Clean Air Act requires EPA to review the science and update the National Ambient Air Quality standards every five years to ensure the public is protected by the best available science. The agency failed to meet the deadline in October 2011. EPA\u2019s failure to update these standards nationwide means that outdated limits remain in place even though they fail to protect public health. Those particularly hard hit by particulate pollution include children, seniors, people with lung disease, heart disease and diabetes, and low income communities. Without updated standards, millions of Americans will face continued risk from unhealthy levels of particle pollution. Stronger standards would drive cleanup measures nationwide that could prevent thousands of premature deaths annually, according to an analysis published in 2011.”<\/p>\n

#oilshalefail<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Checks & Balances Project made this great video this last week on House Speaker Boehner and Rep. Lamborn’s oil shale boondoggle<\/a> (enjoy):<\/p>\n