Environment
Burning, polluted rivers and visibly polluted air were some of the factors that led to the first major environmental laws in our country. Environment and public health are closely linked and although the days of pouring chemicals into waterways and air pollution as thick as pea soup have passed there are still many challenges facing our environment and affecting public health. Aging transportation and water systems should be replaced to improve air and water quality. We need to protect our National Parks and other American public lands in order to preserve the unique diversity of plant and animal life, as well as our cultural heritage. And we should work to develop our cities, communities and rural areas more sustainably, including with more sustainable agricultural practices.
More on Environment
WASHINGTON, D.C – Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6082, the tongue-in-cheek named Congressional Replacement of President Obama’s Energy-Restricting and Job-Limiting Offshore Drilling Plan by a vote of 253-170. President Obama has issued a veto threat for this bill.
The bill will unnecessarily open nearly every last piece of our public lands to drilling. It forces East and West Coast states to permit drilling off their shores, even if the state opposes doing so. The bill also rushes additional leasing permit scrutiny in sensitive environments in the Arctic.
WASHINGTON, D.C – Today, the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) released the following statement after the House passed a so-called energy bill that provides more subsidies to the oil industry:
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, members of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) called on House Leadership to stop consideration of H.R. 7, the “worst transportation bill ever.” The bill would kill jobs, undermine safety, eliminate important funding for public transit and other transportation options, and destroy environmental protections. The House GOP bill is the first transportation bill in recent history to have been developed without bipartisan support, and now faces a delay on the House floor due to an apparent lack of Republican support.
On Friday, February 10 sixteen environmental organizations sent a letter to House Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) members thanking them for their leadership protecting safeguards for clean air, water, and the environment, and promoting federal policies supporting an American clean energy future.
WASHINGTON, DC – The House of Representatives Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) blasted this week’s House Republican agenda, which does not yet call for consideration of a bipartisan solution to prevent a default crisis, or to create American jobs, but instead will see the House GOP try to use a federal spending bill to overturn important pollution controls and public health protections.
WASHINGTON, DC - Today the House of Representatives Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) blasted Republican legislation that makes enormous cuts to Department of Energy (DOE) programs that support American innovation and economic competitiveness in growing clean energy industries.
WASHINGTON, DC - On the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the members of the House of Representatives Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) again called for congressional action to implement the recommendations of the Presidential Commission on the BP Oil Spill. The commission’s report, released in February, urged the Congress to strengthen oversight of offshore drilling, and indicated that congressional action was necessary in order to avoid the possibility of another disastrous spill. SEEC co-chairs Reps.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today Reps. Jay Inslee (D-WA), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Lois Capps (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Paul Tonko (D-NY), and Steve Cohen (D-TN) - members of the House Sustainable Energy & Environment Coalition (SEEC) - joined with representatives from the Union of Concerned Scientists, American Lung Association, and Operation Free in calling for the House to reject the Dirty Air Act - H.R. 910. SEEC released the following statement opposing the legislation: