Latest from E&E News
E&E News
3 hours ago
- Business
- E&E News
California officials approve 6 highway projects after enviro-union spat
California transportation officials approved funding for six highway construction projects Thursday that have become a source of tension between labor unions and environmental groups. What happened: The California Transportation Commission signed off on over $600 million in funding for six highway expansion projects ranging from the Bay Area to Los Angeles County, following heated debate between union construction workers and clean transportation groups during public comments. Why it matters: Environmental groups have increasingly organized opposition against highway expansion projects over the last year, arguing that the construction is a waste of taxpayer money that won't solve congestion issues and that the state needs to more aggressively reduce emissions to meet its climate goals. Advertisement That opposition has drawn the ire of construction unions, which say they support building public transit and infrastructure for walking and biking, but that canceling highway projects would cost workers jobs.
E&E News
7 hours ago
- Business
- E&E News
Farm industry lobbyist, MAHA critic to head EPA pesticides office
EPA announced that a farm industry lobbyist will take over as the agency's top pesticides officer, deepening the number of appointees at the agency poached from industry groups. Kyle Kunkler on Monday will start as the deputy assistant administrator for pesticides in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, the office's principal deputy assistant administrator, Nancy Beck, said in an email to staff obtained by POLITICO's E&E News. Kunkler has spent the past five years directing government affairs for the American Soybean Association, an agriculture trade group advocating against regulations on pesticides targeted by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his coalition of 'Make America Healthy Again' supporters. Advertisement Prior to joining the trade group, Kunkler led federal government relations for the Biotech Innovation Organization's food and agriculture team. He also previously served as an aide for Rep. Dan Newhouse and former Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, both Washington Republicans.
E&E News
7 hours ago
- Politics
- E&E News
White House finalizes African mineral, peace deal
President Donald Trump on Friday finalized an agreement to quell fighting across Africa and boost U.S. access to the mineral-rich Congo amid congressional concerns and demands for more information. The president, flanked by foreign ministers from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, signed a peace treaty that he said will end more than three decades of conflict that's led to about 6 million deaths. 'I think both of you have said 'that's enough,'' Trump said at the White House ceremony, nodding to the ministers of the two countries. Advertisement Noticeably missing were Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the two leaders would be in Washington to sign the deal at a ceremony later this month. Trump signed letters inviting the leaders to the White House.
E&E News
7 hours ago
- Automotive
- E&E News
Calif.'s low-carbon fuel standard gets green light to ratchet up stringency
Amendments to California's hot-button emissions trading program for transportation fuels will take effect early next week, state regulators announced Friday, following approval by the state Office of Administrative Law. What happened: The California Air Resources Board said that the Office of Administrative Law has approved changes to the low-carbon fuel standard, days before they're set to take effect and days after state Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill to roll the program back. Why it matters: The program — which requires fuel producers to reduce the carbon intensity of their products or buy credits from other companies that generate them by producing cleaner fuels — has become a political hot potato in Sacramento over its impact on gasoline prices. Advertisement The amendments set to take effect July 1 are aimed at increasing the program's stringency and driving up credit prices for lower-carbon fuels that had fallen to record lows since a glut of renewable diesel started flooding the market in 2021.
E&E News
16 hours ago
- Politics
- E&E News
Supreme Court declines to further sap agencies' authority
The Supreme Court on Friday sidestepped reviving a legal doctrine limiting the power lawmakers can give to federal regulators, delivering relief to environmentalists and others who had feared the case would be used to further shackle federal agencies like EPA from addressing issues like climate change. In a 6-3 decision in Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers' Research, the court agreed to uphold a telecommunications service fee that supports phone and internet services for rural and low-income communities. But the court opted not to revive the nearly century-old nondelegation doctrine, with Justice Elena Kagan writing for the majority that 'under our nondelegation precedents, Congress sufficiently guided and constrained the discretion that it lodged with the FCC.' Advertisement 'Today's decision rejected a revival of the nondelegation doctrine — at least for now,' said Andrew Twinamatsiko, director of the Center for Health Policy and the Law at the O'Neill Institute at Georgetown Law. 'But challenges to agency authority will still be an issue to watch.'
