State
Palazzo supports bill to shutter EPA
Clarion Ledger
WASHINGTON — Despite its slim chances of passing, Rep. Steven Palazzo is one of only four Republican congressmen supporting a bill to shut down the Environmental Protection Agency, a federal agency he said is "strangling American businesses."
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/10/palazzo-supports-bill-shutter-epa/97696670/
Permit for Chevron Pascagoula Refinery would allow more pollution
Sun Herald
PASCAGOULA
It is very difficult to understand what Chevron is asking for in its latest request for a state pollution permit.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/local/counties/jackson-county/article131913754.html
Justices: Utility regulators can't set rule on water groups
AP
JACKSON, MISS.
The Mississippi Supreme Court says state utility regulators don't have the power to set a rule affecting rural water associations.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/business/article132002084.html
RECIEVE MONEY FOR BEING ENERGY EFFICIENT
WCBI
ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI)- Food Giant in Aberdeen received a large check for making its store more energy efficient!
http://www.wcbi.com/video-recieve-money-energy-efficient/
Meridian Arbor Day 2017
WTOK
MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - Started in the state of Nebraska back in 1872, Arbor Day has become a national event to showcase the importance that trees have on communities.
http://www.wtok.com/content/news/Meridian-Arbor-Day-2017-413427643.html
Barnett bass strong, wildlife bill passes
Clarion Ledger
At a Thursday meeting with Barnett Reservoir bass anglers, Ryan Jones, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks fisheries biologist, presented some welcome findings.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/sports/2017/02/11/barnett-bass-strong-wildlife-bill-passes/97751386/
Revenue outlook not getting any better for state budget writers
By Bobby Harrison
Daily Journal Jackson Bureau
JACKSON – Legislative budget writers, looking for positive revenue trends, as they work during the 2017 session to develop a budget for the next fiscal year, starting July 1, are not getting much encouragement.
http://djournal.com/news/revenue-outlook-not-getting-better-state-budget-writers/
Oil Spill
WLOX News This Week: BP Money
WLOX
But we begin with, the state's BP settlement dollars. This week that money got one step closer to coming to our community, the area in our state the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico directly impacted. The State Senate passed a bill that creates the Gulf coast New Restoration Reserve Fund. State Senator Brice Wiggins is the force behind that bill that Senators passed and he joins us to talk about what's next.
http://www.wlox.com/clip/13097704/wlox-news-this-week-bp-money
Regional
Bills would create regional aquifer board, require notice for wells
Commercial Appeal
Memphis-area lawmakers this past week introduced two bills aimed at protecting water supplies, with one establishing a nine-member regional board to oversee the Memphis Sand aquifer and the other requiring a 14-day notice before wells are drilled.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/government/state/2017/02/12/bills-would-create-regional-aquifer-board-require-notice-wells/97716392/
Alabama leads the nation in crayfish species; get to know some of them
Al.com
Alabama has more species of crayfish than any other state, and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is making an extra effort to let people know about it.
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/02/alabama_leads_the_nation_in_cr.html
Anti-mining group says state ignored water level spike before sinkhole
Bradenton Herald
MANATEE
A local anti-phosphate mining group contends the Florida Department of Environmental Protection didn’t do its job in investigating a sharp increase of water levels detected near a phosphogypsum stack at the Mosaic Company’s New Wales facility in 2015 before a sinkhole formed the following year.
http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/article131976289.html
Woman arrested after gun discharges inside Atlanta federal building
AJC
A woman was arrested after she took a security officer’s gun, causing it to discharge inside the Sam Nunn Federal Center in downtown Atlanta, authorities said Friday.
http://www.ajc.com/news/crime--law/woman-arrested-after-gun-discharges-inside-atlanta-federal-building/StsvsngYjGc5WDQBWQA02M/
National
Will Scott Pruitt Come to Love EPA Leniency He Once Opposed?
Bloomberg
Scott Pruitt’s mission to roll back Obama EPA regulations, particularly on climate, could be as simple as rereading the Clean Air Act.
https://www.bna.com/scott-pruitt-love-n57982083616/
Week ahead: GOP looks at 'modernizing' environmental laws
The Hill
Republicans on both sides of Capitol Hill will start looking into "modernizing" key, long-standing environmental laws.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/318969-week-ahead-gop-looks-at-modernizing-environmental-laws
GOP bill would gut EPA
The Hill
A House Republican is sponsoring legislation to do away with large portions of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including environmental justice and greenhouse gas programs.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/318931-gop-bill-would-gut-epa
GOP begins public land overhaul
The Hill
Conservatives, industry groups and reformers pushing to overhaul public land policy say there's a lot to like from the first month of GOP control in Washington.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/319017-gop-begins-public-land-overhaul
Evacuation orders for nearly 200K amid flood worries
AP
OROVILLE, CALIF.
Nearly 200,000 people remained under evacuation orders Monday as California authorities try to fix erosion of the emergency spillway at the nation's tallest dam that could unleash uncontrolled flood waters if it fails.
http://www.sunherald.com/news/business/technology/article132370134.html
Biggest Driver of Cleaner-Car Rules Is California, Not Washington
State has power to set mandate on zero-emissions separate from U.S. efforts
WSJ
Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Mark Fields used a recent White House breakfast with President Donald Trump to argue for relaxing U.S. car-emissions standards.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/biggest-driver-of-cleaner-car-rulesis-california-not-washington-1486904401
Opinion
Who (wheeze) needs (wheeze) the EPA, anyway? (wheeze)
Paul Hampton
Sun Herald
Sometime this year, an iceberg the size of Delaware will be born at the bottom of the world.
http://www.sunherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/paul-hampton/article132006904.html
Column: Coherent energy policy needed for coming growth
Patrick Sullivan
Clarion Ledger
Today’s 24-hour news cycle keeps people in fits over the daily reasons the sky is falling. Stories on trivial matters, while often entertaining, distract from the important issues, mainly the economy. Much needs doing at the federal level, and time and cooperation will be required. Big ships don’t turn on a dime.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2017/02/10/column-coherent-energy-policy-needed-coming-growth/97737726/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Other views: A serious GOP idea on climate change
USA Today
Maybe it was just a coincidence, but the high temperature in Washington hit a record-shattering 74 degrees on Wednesday, the day a bevy of Republican elder statesmen pitched White House officials on an appealing plan to combat global warming.
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/editorials/2017/02/12/other-views-serious-gop-idea-climate-change/97748580/
Bryant tackles bureaucracy, but it fights back
Geoff Pender
Clarion Ledger
Gov. Phil Bryant is trying to tackle state bureaucracy, but he’s seeing firsthand the wisdom of Ronald Reagan’s adage: “A government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth.”
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/opinion/columnists/2017/02/11/pender-licensing-agencies/97763190/
Press Releases
17 More Fish, Mussels, and Other Species Don't Need the ESA's Protection
Call this the story of the one that got away – not by wiggling out of a net or snapping a line, but by prospering.
Scientists recently proposed that Ouachita madtom, a whiskery fish found in Arkansas, be removed from a petition that had called for its protection under the Endangered Species Act.
The Center for Biological Diversity seven years ago proposed that the fish be protected. It said recently it would remove that fish and 16 others species it had sought to be protected.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (the Service) recently removed them from its work plan – proof that the species are doing far better than originally thought.
The species’ removal is but the latest indication that scores of plants and animals across the Southeast are maintaining – and, in some cases, thriving.
In the past five years, the Service has discovered that 95 species – fish, wildlife and plants – don’t need the federal act’s protection. In addition, the populations of 13 species have so improved that they’re now classified as threatened rather than endangered. Some including the Louisiana black bear have stepped off the list fully recovered.
In the latest decision, the recommendations grew from two meetings – one that reviewed the status of 10 plants, the other focusing on animals.
Last fall, the Southeast Partners in Plant Conservation, a group comprising specialists from a handful of southern states, took a hard look at the 10 plants. Biologists in the National Fisheries Council reviewed the remaining animal species.
Their recommendations: The 17 species were okay, and didn’t need federal protection. The Service concurred, happily.
“Withdrawal of species from the petition reduces the Service’s workload and frees up resources for higher-priority species,” said Mike Harris, the At-Risk Species Coordinator for the Service’s Southeast Region.
Striking the species from the petition means good things can happen when agencies share their expertise, said Jennifer Cruse-Sanders, Vice President of Science and Conservation at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. The garden hosted the SePPCon meeting.
“It just goes to show how important it is to bring everyone together in one place to build our conservation network, share information and set priorities,” she said. “I think this network will continue to grow.”
Jon Ambrose, of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, shares his opinion.
‘It’s a good thing,” said Ambrose, who heads the department’s Nongame Conservation Section. “It’s an encouraging sign that we can work together and get an actual picture of the status of these species.”
The species range from finned to leafy, beginning with Ouachita madtom.
Only scientists call it that. Nearly everyone else calls it by a more universal moniker: catfish.
It’s more kitten than cat. The Ouachita madtom doesn’t reach 3 inches in length. It’s found only in the upper forks of the Arkansas’ Saline River.
Other species removed from the petition are three types of freshwater mussels – the Apalachicola floater, warrior pigtoe and Savanna Lilliput.
In addition, the Saline burrowing crayfish and the Succarnoochee River crayfish no longer are on the petition.
Rounding out the animal species is the one-toed Amphiuma. True to its name, this amphibian, found from Georgia to Mississippi, has but one toe on each foot. They aren’t big: One longer than 8 inches is a bragging-size find.
The plants removed from the petition are narrowleaf Carolina scalystem, bighorn hornwort, gorge leafy liverwort, Cumberland reed grass, bear tupelo, west Florida cow lily, variable leaf Indian plantain, southern racemose goldenrod, Piedmont barren strawberry and Sharp’s leafy liverwort.
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