E2-Wire

Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) said climate change has factored into recent increases in allergies, asthma and tropical diseases.

Congressional Republicans charge the Environmental Protection Agency gives preference to environmental groups on information requests.

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) Action Fund named a new interim executive director on Friday.

Andy Buchsbaum will lead the environmental organization’s political arm while continuing to serve as regional executive director for NWF’s Great Lakes Regional Center.

The Energy department approved a proposal to send 1.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas overseas. 

Sen. Ron Wyden wants the attorney general to probe whether alleged price manipulation spilled into the United States.

A federal judge in Arizona declined to reconsider an earlier ruling affirming the Interior Department’s authority to block new hard-rock mining on public lands.

U.S. District Judge David Campbell shut down a request for a rehearing by mining industry groups on Thursday. They’re protesting whether the federal government can unilaterally withdraw public lands from mining claims, according to The Associated Press.

At issue is an action by former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in which the ex-Interior chief banned mining on more than 1 million acres of uranium-rich land near the Grand Canyon.

The House will vote next week to allow construction of the northern portion of the Keystone XL oilsands pipeline.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, didn't pollute groundwater near an Arkansas well, according to a new study. But the geology there might make the area more resistant to pollution, The Associated Press explains. Read more...

STATE OF PLAY: President Obama's nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving closer to Senate approval, but there's still heavy lifting ahead for her supporters.

Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee advanced Gina McCarthy’s nomination Thursday in a 10-8, party-line vote. The absence of GOP support signals a tough road ahead for McCarthy, the EPA’s top air quality regulator.

Committee ranking member Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) laid out conditions for preventing a Republican filibuster of McCarthy’s nomination.

Vitter said the EPA would need to demonstrate progress on answering GOP questions regarding transparency at the agency. Republicans also want to know more about the data and information it uses to design pollution regulations they and industry oppose.

On another front, Sen. Roy Blunt said Thursday that his office is scheduling a meeting with McCarthy to discuss the procedural hold the Missouri Republican has on her nomination. Blunt has said the Obama administration has missed a deadline for an update on a levee project in his state. 

While Republicans demand more information from the EPA, McCarthy's allies are ramping up their campaigns on her behalf.

Claudia Malloy, national outreach director with the National Wildlife Federation, said chapters across the country are already writing letters to newspapers and planning to meet with editorial boards. Phone calls to lawmakers, radio time and social media are also involved, she said.

Read more...

The drilling method is enabling a U.S. oil and gas production boom but bringing fears of water and air pollution.