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The Fraud of “Clean” Natural Gas
The provided text consists of appendices to a report by the Center for Climate Integrity. Appendix A lists trade associations, research institutes, and PR firms—such as the American Gas Association (AGA), the Gas Research Institute (GRI), and J. Walter Thompson—that collaborated to promote natural gas. Appendix B outlines a timeline from 1968 to 1996, detailing how the industry was alerted to methane's climate impact as early as 1968, launched a "clean energy" marketing campaign in 1972, and later promoted gas as a "bridge fuel" in 1990 despite internal uncertainties regarding methane leakage rates. It specifically highlights a 1996 GRI/EPA study that reported a 1.4 percent methane emission rate, which the document claims was heavily influenced by the industry and lacked independent technical review by the EPA.
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Document type: Report
Toxic Inequality: Latine Communities Face Rising Air Pollution
The document highlights the systemic environmental inequality facing Latino communities in the U.S., who are nearly three times more likely than white communities to live in areas with the worst air pollution. It identifies fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ground-level ozone as primary threats, exacerbated by methane emissions and wildfire smoke. The text warns that rollbacks of EPA protections, including the dismantling of the Good Neighbor Rule and the erasure of the 2009 Endangerment Finding, threaten public health. It concludes by demanding enforceable air quality standards, investments in green infrastructure, and a transition to renewable energy.
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Document type: Statement
Earthjustice Statement on FY26 Interior-Environment Appropriations Bill
Earthjustice condemns the FY26 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill, highlighting a proposed 23% budget cut to the EPA and the inclusion of industry-friendly policy riders. The organization argues that the bill undermines agencies responsible for protecting the climate, public health, and wildlife in favor of a deregulatory agenda.
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Document type: Statement
Illinois Coal Ash Victory Models the Protections We Need Nationwide
The policy brief highlights a legal victory in Illinois where a court ordered the removal of 3 million cubic yards of coal ash near the Vermilion River. It argues that this case demonstrates the need for the EPA to close loopholes in its 2015 coal ash regulations, which excluded numerous sites often located in low-income communities and communities of color. While a May 2023 draft rule extends regulations to some previously excluded sites, the document asserts that all toxic coal ash dumps must be regulated to prevent groundwater contamination and health risks.
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Document type: Policy brief
The U.S. oil patch is the Wild West. We need regulation to control the sector’s methane emissions.
The U.S. oil and gas sector exhibits extreme variability in methane emissions, with some small producers and specific large companies contributing disproportionately to totals. The author argues that the EPA must implement a regulatory floor mandating best practices to reduce leaks and flaring, noting that existing technology could reduce sector methane emissions by 65% at little to no cost.
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Document type: Statement
Rescinding the Executive Order on Evaluating and Improving the Utility of Federal Advisory Committees
The document argues that the Executive Order on Evaluating and Improving the Utility of Federal Advisory Committees arbitrarily reduces essential expert advice and public transparency without providing a sufficient rationale or evidence of cost savings.
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Document type: Statement
The Environmental Case for a Trump Impeachment Inquiry
Friends of the Earth and Friends of the Earth Action have passed a resolution calling for an impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. The organization argues that Trump poses a fundamental threat to environmental protection by allowing self-dealing within his administration and obstructing the enforcement of environmental laws. Specifically, they cite the conduct of former officials Scott Pruitt and Ryan Zinke, as well as a dramatic decline in EPA inspections and prosecutions, as evidence of a systemic failure to uphold the rule of law in favor of fossil fuel interests.
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Document type: Statement
Budget deal marks latest surrender to Trump, GOP
Friends of the Earth condemns a two-year US budget deal that increases the Pentagon budget by $160 billion while providing only $128 billion for social and environmental spending, alongside tax subsidies for fossil fuels and biomass.
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Document type: Statement
CATF Statement on XTO Support for Methane Regulations
The Clean Air Task Force (CATF) highlights XTO's support for "jurisdictionally appropriate" methane regulations, including those for existing equipment, to argue against the Trump Administration's efforts to discard current EPA and BLM rules. CATF asserts that these rules are based on proven, low-cost measures used in Colorado and Wyoming and should be preserved rather than removed for the convenience of a few operators.
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Document type: Statement
CATF Statement on Pruitt Recusal Letter on CPP Rulemaking
The Clean Air Task Force and 10 other organizations, following 19 states and cities, have requested that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt recuse himself from the rulemaking process to repeal the Clean Power Plan. The groups argue that Pruitt's public assertions that the repeal is a "done deal" demonstrate a "closed mind," effectively turning the public comment period, which runs until late April, into a "pro forma exercise."
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Document type: Statement
Mes de la Herencia Hispana: Tiempo de Celebrar y de Cuestionar
A statement by Earthjustice emphasizing the intersection of Hispanic heritage and environmental justice, citing a survey that shows strong Latino support for environmental protection despite facing disproportionate pollution and health risks.
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Document type: Statement
Are Partisanship and Industry Influence Compromising the Mission of the House Committee on Science?
An analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology has seen a steady increase in industry witnesses and a decline in substantive science policy hearings. By the 112th Congress, industry representatives became the most frequent witness category, while hearings focused on legislative or science policy issues dropped to less than 40%. The report suggests that the committee has become more partisan, particularly when the House majority differs from the White House party, leading to a higher proportion of oversight hearings aimed at federal agencies.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Stacking the Halls of Justice
The document highlights a 'historic vacancy crisis' in the U.S. federal courts, focusing on the D.C. Circuit where four of 11 seats remain vacant due to political obstruction. It argues that these vacancies obstruct the judiciary's ability to enforce landmark environmental statutes such as the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. The text specifically cites the blocked nomination of Caitlin Halligan and the court's role in cases such as the EPA's veto of the Spruce No. 1 mountaintop removal coal mine in West Virginia.
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Document type: Statement
COAL ASH WALL OF SHAME
The document criticizes 260 U.S. House members who voted on June 21, 2012, to include a provision in a transportation bill that allows coal ash ponds to operate without basic safety standards and prevents the EPA from establishing national health and safety regulations. It highlights that these members represent districts containing the vast majority of the U.S.'s hazardous coal ash sites and notes a correlation between these votes and campaign contributions from the electric utility and mining industries.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Tr-Ash Talk: Gearing Up for a Nasty Coal Ash Vote
The document opposes H.R. 2273, a bill that would prevent the EPA from designating coal ash as hazardous waste and limit federal oversight of coal ash management. It highlights the 2008 Kingston coal ash disaster in East Tennessee as evidence of the risks associated with poor management and alleges that the bill's sponsors have received significant financial donations from coal interests.
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Document type: Statement
H. R. 2401
H.R. 2401, the 'Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation Act of 2011', seeks to create a multi-agency committee chaired by the Secretary of Commerce to assess the impacts of EPA regulations. The bill mandates analyses for the years 2016, 2020, and 2030, focusing on global competitiveness, electricity and fuel prices, employment, and power supply reliability. It specifically targets rules related to air quality, hazardous pollutants, and climate change, and proposes deferring the final action of certain EPA rules until after the committee's final report is submitted.
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Document type: Report
Senate Bill Threatens Public Safety: Fails to Protect Communities from Toxic Coal Ash
The fact sheet contends that S.3512 is a threat to public health and safety because it lacks firm deadlines for state permit programs, fails to mandate engineering standards for coal ash ponds, and strips the EPA of its authority to regulate the nation's second largest industrial waste. The author asserts that the bill ignores the 2008 Kingston disaster and discourages recycling by permitting the continued use of water-based ash ponds. Furthermore, the document highlights a lack of public participation guarantees and the potential for utilities to withhold groundwater monitoring data as 'Confidential Business Information'.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Appendix D. Summary of Key Climate Related Votes in Congress
The document lists key climate-related votes in the U.S. Congress between 2003 and 2011 used to determine if legislators support or reject climate science. In the House, votes on the Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, and various amendments regarding EPA authority and intelligence estimates were used. In the Senate, criteria included votes on the Climate Security Act, the Climate Stewardship Act, and resolutions concerning the EPA's Endangerment Finding and global warming pollution limits.
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Document type: Report