Today, 13 environmental and social justice groups announced the creation of the Reclaim Renewable Energy Coalition (Reclaim REC); formed to clean up Maryland’s Renewable portfolio standard (RPS). Maryland’s RPS was created by the state legislature in 2004 as a way to ramp up the supply of emission-free electricity on our grid, and reduce the use of polluting...

While wolf advocates await a decision from USFWS, some wildlife activists are pursuing a parallel strategy of trying to use financial pressure to compel states to drop their anti-wolf laws. The Global Indigenous Council, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the Center for Biological Diversity, and 25 other Native American, conservation, and animal welfare organizations have petitioned...

“We are encouraged that CDPHE is developing guidance that includes the expertise of their modeling staff,” Chandra Rosenthal, head of the Rocky Mountain PEER Council, said in an email. “However, in the current draft there are a couple of provisions that are backdoor exits for industry.” For example, an applicant can opt out of the...

A coalition of advocacy groups are panning EPA’s pesticides work and calling on the agency to adopt a number of reforms geared toward bolstering science and minimizing industry input. In a letter sent today, 37 organizations asked the Biden administration and key officials managing EPA’s pesticides efforts to “to re-think its application of current standards in law...

“The overwhelming percentage of sites that “may be handling PFAS” in Colorado (around 86%) are associated with the oil and gas industry. The number of oil and gas sites listed, around 18,000, dwarf the next most frequent industry, waste management, accounting for less than a thousand sites,” a PEER press release states. The data comes as the...

Some activists lauded the roadmap as a win for environmental justice; PFAS tends to contaminate impoverished neighborhoods and communities of color. Geoff Gisler, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said in a statement that the roadmap could help “change the landscape in our efforts to protect communities from PFAS pollution.” But other environmental...

There are at least 5,000 types of PFAS, which are specifically manufactured or are the byproducts of industrial processes. PFAS are found in many consumer products, including fast food packaging, pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags, carpeting, furniture, fire-fighting foam, Teflon cookware, and stain- and water-resistant materials. PFAS are widespread in the environment in the U.S....

High levels of toxic PFAS chemicals have been found in fish in Piscataway Creek in Prince George’s County, a popular waterway for recreational fishing. State officials are warning residents to limit consumption of certain fish from the creek — the first such fish consumption advisory for PFAS in the state. … “I think people in...

EPA imagines the OCSPP Science Policy Council as providing an “advisory perspective” on scientific integrity, looking at issues at are of “broad interest within OCSPP for informal review” while also fostering informal opportunities for scientific collaboration. Advocates see the move as a step in the right direction but note that problems within OCSPP run deep....

Across the country, around 120,000 industrial facilities may be handling PFAS, according to Environmental Protection Agency documents released this week by the organization Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER. About one-sixth of those sites, or about 21,000, are in Colorado, more than any other state. “The overwhelming percentage of sites that “may be handling PFAS” in...