By now, you’ve probably heard a thing or two about the Circ, a proposed frivolous $60 million dollar highway project that threatens to rip through some of our state’s most pristine farmlands and wetlands. It’s unnecessary and destructive—and there are cheaper and cleaner alternatives.

What you may not have heard is that fewer than 20 people (according to the Burlington Free Press) have submitted comments voicing their opinion. No, that’s not a typo. Fewer than 20 people have spoken up about the Circ. We need to change that, and we need to change it now.

Here’s what we need you to do:

1. Submit a comment online against the proposed highway before the Friday, August 27 deadline.
2. Share this blog post via Twitter and Facebook with your family, friends and neighbors, asking them to submit a comment.

Not sure what to say in your comment to decisionmakers? Feel free to copy and paste the sample comment below:

The proposed Circ project is a bad idea for Vermont. The Circ will contribute harmful greenhouse gases, destroy farmlands and fragile wetlands, limit transportation choices, increase congestion—all while providing little benefit in travel time saved. Fixing existing roads and providing alternatives to driving—like freight rail, buses, carpooling and bike lanes—is cleaner, cheaper and more effective than the proposed Circ Highway project.

Comments are due by August 27—that’s this Friday! So please don’t wait. Our decisionmakers are listening, and we need as many people to speak up as possible. After you take action, please share this blog post far and wide to help get the word out.

Thank you for helping us put the breaks on the Circ project: Vermont deserves better!

Click the “like” button below to share this post on Facebook.

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Today is the day that the Senate will vote on Senator Lisa Murkowski’s (R-AK) highly controversial resolution to block the EPA’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions as dictated by the 40-year-old Clean Air Act. If the last 40 years weren’t proof enough, the EPA’s authority was reaffirmed in the 2007 Massachusetts v. EPA Supreme Court decision.

Without the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, the EPA would be unable to dictate the fuel efficiency of vehicles on our roads or control the pollution output of power plants and refineries that supply our energy–a major step back in the national movement to develop and employ a clean energy economy that will mitigate the effects of climate change. We need to tell our senators to defend the power of the Clean Air Act and just say NO to the Murkowski resolution.

With big oil still in the picture and the effects of global warming continuing to worsen, not to mention the BP disaster still raging in the Gulf,  we need the enforcement of the Clean Air Act now more than ever–so what’s the real story behind Murkowski’s proposed legislation?

The bill, not surprisingly, is backed by oil industry lobbyists and others who have a stake in keeping polluters polluting for the foreseeable future and, as the authors of Unearthed (the blog of environmental law non-profit EarthJustice) write, “is at the center of a fury of political positioning and partisan politicking.” It’s not the first bill designed to maintain the momentum of an industry of which public opinion is clearly waning, and it won’t be the last. But here’s the kicker. The resolution–and the discourse among industry representatives that is surrounding it–takes as a matter of opinion what has already been proven a scientific fact. The ill effects of greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention the very existence of global warming, are not up for debate.

“We need to make a distinction between a political debate about policy and a political debate about science. When the science is politicized and we end up having a congressional vote to disapprove of what is already a scientific conclusion–that is absurd,” CLF’s Seth Kaplan told Elizabeth McGowan of Solve Climate in a June 8 article.

At this critical turning point for our environment and our economy, CLF asks you to take action RIGHT NOW and tell your New England senators to vote NO today to Senator Murkowski’s resolution–NO to weakening the Clean Air Act, NO to escalating the effects of global warming and NO to allowing oil industry lobbyists to control the environmental health of our country.

There’s no time to waste. Join CLF today in asking your senators to vote NO and defend the Clean Air Act.

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One month ago today, a massive explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico took an immediate and devastating toll on the lives of 11 families. Today, we are grappling with an environmental crisis bigger and more severe than anyone could have imagined—one that is endangering Gulf Coast residents, threatening the health of our oceans and marine life and costing billions of dollars in cleanup efforts.

You can help.

Send a message to President Obama asking him to halt new proposals for oil and gas drilling in U.S. waters and focus our resources on building a clean energy economy that means more jobs, less pollution and real energy independence.

Click here to participate in CLF’s action alert and ask President Obama to halt new oil and gas drilling and invest in a clean energy economy. There’s no time to wait.

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Salem Harbor Station in Salem, MA is one of the coal-fired power plants in New England still in operation.

The recent debacle that unfolded in the Senate last weekend over climate change legislation in the pipeline makes our message loud and clear–now more than ever, our senators need our support to pass energy and climate change legislation.

For those of you who haven’t been following this story, here’s the gist: On Sunday, Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) were set to introduce bipartisan climate change legislation until Graham pulled out at the last minute,  sending climate change advocates into a tailspin.

The new legislation would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote the development of alternative energy sources, and create an innovative cap and trade program. Without it, our country will remain dependent on foreign oil and dirty power sources that pollute our communities and prohibit us from creating millions of new jobs in the clean energy sector.

But it’s not too late. Senators have spent months laying the groundwork for the passage of the climate bill, and we won’t let their hard work go to waste. As New Englanders, we’re accustomed to leading the nation in environmental efforts, from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to clean cars legislation. Now is our time to become leaders again, and YOU can help by sending a letter to your senators and ask them to stand up for the environment in your region by passing clean energy and climate legislation.

Click here to send a message to your senators to pass federal climate change legislation>>

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U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens’ announcement that he will retire from the United States Supreme Court will bring some much needed attention to the larger issue of judicial nominations under the Obama Administration. 

These days, it is hard to  find a good word to say about the ultraconservative majority of the United States Supreme Court that Justice Stevens has tried, with limited success, to counterbalance.  That’s especially true for those who care about clean water (query: because clean water is fundamental to human survival and prosperity, shouldn’t we all care about clean water?)  In a few short years, the Roberts’ Court’s rulings have managed to seriously undermine and restrict one of America’s most important and successful laws–the Clean Water Act. 

For example, the NewYork Times recently reported on the chaos one of the Court’s rulings has created:

Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators.   As a result, some businesses are declaring that the law no longer applies to them.  And pollution rates are rising.

A majority of these Justices seems intent on handing down a death sentence to the Clean Water Act

In another example from 2009, Coeur Alaska v. Southeast Alaska Conservation Corps., the Court badly misinterpreted the CLEAN WATER ACT to reach the conclusion that a gold mining operation was entitled to a permit allowing it to discharge “210,000 gallons per day of mining waste into Lower Slate Lake, a 23-acre subalpine lake in Tongass National Forest,” even though the ” ‘tailings slurry’ ” would “contain concentrations of aluminum, copper, lead, and mercury” and would “kill all of the lake’s fish and nearly all of its other aquatic life.” 

President Obama has an important opportunity, actually I would argue it’s a responsibility, to rebalance the federal judiciary after years of ultraconservative domination and transformation.  (If you want to understand how the judiciary was so effectively radicalized by the right, read Jeffrey Toobin’s book “The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court.”).  The administration’s slow pace and cautious character in nominating people to fill court vacancies has been drawing criticism since November of last year as evidenced by this New York Times editorial.  Unfortunately, recent reporting in the L.A. Times indicates that President Obama still hasn’t made much progress due to a combination of White House inattention and timidity and Republican obstructionism in the Senate.

Terrible judicial decisions, like those discussed above, are turning this country’s essential environmental protection laws on their heads and at the same time putting the public health and environmental sustainability of this country at great risk.  America has some excellent environmental laws.  To be sure, we need to make them stronger to deal more effectively with newly-understood challenges like global climate chaos.  But when we have judges who are ideologically unwilling to affirm the pollution-controlling principles set forth in the laws, we have no hope of achieving the level of environmental protection essential for our continued national prosperity.  

If we want to ensure that our environmental laws work to keep us healthy and happy, we must urge President Obama to follow the lead of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in appointing judges like the late Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas. 

Former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas understood the purpose of our environmental laws and the values that motivated their enactment by bi-partisan majorities of Congress

Justice Douglas truly understood the values that informed Congress’ adoption of such successful laws as the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and the Wilderness Act.  In his 1961 memoir “My Wilderness; East to Katahdin,” Douglas expounded on the value of rivers as public resources:

“Rivers are choice national assests reserved for all the people.  Industry that pours its refuse into rivers and the other commercial interests that use these water highways do not have monopoly rights.  People have broader interests than moneymaking. Recreation, health, and enjoyment of aesthetic values are part of man’s liberty.  Rivers play an important role in keeping this idea of liberty alive.”

For this and all the other ideas of liberty that are threatened by a judiciary dominated by radical conservatives, we must take action.  Call or email the White House and ask president Obama to find us the men and women who will follow in the tradition of Justice Douglas, and help the president fight to get them appointed to the federal courts.

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Ms. Merrifield's fourth graders, Plummer Motz School, Falmouth, ME

As many of you already know, the New England region often emerges as a leader on environmental issues–and environmental solutions. So we weren’t surprised to find that three of the top 10 finalists in the nationwide  ”America’s Greenest School” contest hail from the New England states.

Participants were asked to submit a video or other media project explaining what they would do to make their school more environmentally friendly. But to win, they need your help. Until April 2, any member of the public can vote up to once a day for the entry of their choice.

The winning team’s school will receive the clean, green IC Bus™ Hybrid Bus (valued at $150,000); a School Audit by LEED Accredited Professionals and Green Makeover (valued at $20,000); a free concert by The Maine, the official band of America’s Greenest School; a $3,000 scholarship for the winning student and/or classroom; and $500 in class supplies for the winning sponsor/teacher. If that’s not enough motivation, the contest is also giving away a $100 Visa gift card every day to one participating voter.

New England’s finalists are:

• Ms. Merrifield’s fourth grade class, Plummer Motz School, Falmouth, ME
• Ms. Roberts’ third and fourth grade classes, South Shore Charter Public School, Norwell, MA
• Billy and Maddy S., 8 and 10 years old, Kathleen E. Goodwin Elementary School and Old Saybrook Middle School, Old Saybrook, CT

Support these students and their efforts to make the world a greener place by VOTING TODAY for America’s Greenest School! Voting ends April 2.

For more information, go to http://www.americasgreenestschool.com/ or check out this article by Judith Van Hamm, president of Sustainable South Shore.

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I hope the band-aids used to fix leaks at Vermont Yankee hold.  I wish I had faith in the statement “they’ve stopped a leak.”  Perhaps this is one statement from Entergy’s out-of-state corporate executives that acutally is true and reliable.  Unfortunately, the public’s confidence in Vermont Yankee is badly torn, and not easily mended. 

Even if the broken pipes are repaired, all the problems are not fixed.  Vermont Yankee and regulators allowed leaks to pollute the enviornment for over two months. 

Uncontrolled and unmonitored releases of radioactiviely contaminated water are illegal.  The pollution from these leaks is still in the ground and in our water.  This is unacceptable.

There are still old, underground pipes at Vermont Yankee.  The fact that there were leaks in these old pipes that Energy denied even existed, indicates there are bigger problems.  Lax oversight, sloppy management, and poor performance allowed problems to sit and fester.  These old pipes and this old plant are not safe or reliable.

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The Massachusetts’ Water Resource Authority’s decision to release 15 million gallons of untreated sewage into Boston Harbor’s Quincy Bay during last weekend’s storm felt to many like a giant step backward in the decades-long fight to clean up Boston Harbor. The good news is that there are actions that can be taken today that could have kept MWRA officials from having to make that decision in the future—implementing green stormwater infrastructure to reduce the burden on our sewer pipes, reduce flooding and make communities more resilient to climate change.

Many of our state’s aging sewer systems become overwhelmed with a mix of rainwater and sewage during large storms. That’s why MWRA officials were stuck between a rock and a hard place, forced to choose between quietly releasing 15 million gallons of untreated sewage into Quincy Bay or letting the water flood the station and release that sewage into basements, but sparing the Harbor. The problem runs deeper than this one incident—during last week’s storm, there were equally damaging releases of raw sewage into neighborhoods and into the Mystic and Charles Rivers as well. (See video footage here).

Massachusetts can stop these incidents by investing in green stormwater management techniques to enable communities to better prevent sewer overflows and save money over the long term. Some of these techniques include the use of permeable pavement, green roofs, rain barrels, even gravel—anything that will absorb stormwater and diminish runoff from hard surfaces. These actions can be taken by homeowners in and around their homes, at the city scale by greening streets, parking lots, and alleys, and at the state level, by greening state highways and universities.  Massachusetts residents can urge their towns to adopt bylaws requiring green stormwater and green building techniques to be used in all new construction or infrastructure projects. Cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York are already rolling out these techniques and finding that they are both cost-effective and environmentally sustainable.

Fortunately, we have a chance RIGHT NOW to tell the state of Massachusetts how important it is to us to keep stormwater in check. The U.S. EPA is currently working on a stormwater permit that will govern the stormwater management of communities across Massachusetts for the next five years.

Help Massachusetts prepare for the next storm before it happens. Tell our government that we need a stronger stormwater permit to govern Massachusetts waterways and keep our communities pollution-free.

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Vermont Yankee will be allowed to continue to leak and pollute.  On March 10, 2010, the Vermont Public Service Board held an initial hearing on CLF’s request to close the plant until the leaks are repaired.  

Unfortunately, Yankee will continue to operate at least until it shuts down for refueling in late April.  I have little doubt that when it does shut down for refueling, the leaks will be found and repaired.  The sad part is that since early January, Vermont Yankee has been allowed to continue to operate with ongoing leaks of radioactive waste from pipes Yankee told regulators never even existed.  The leaks and the lies should stop.  Entergy should not get a free pass to pollute.

If my car is leaking oil, I stop the car and fix the leak.  We should expect the same from an operator of a nuclear power plant.

Entergy — the owner of Vermont Yankee — claimed yesterday it should not be required to give regulators accurate information on the leaks, the impacts of the leaks and its efforts to stop them.  They are busy trying to fix the leaks and the requested reporting apparently would be some sort of distraction.  CLF responded that a company as large as Entergy should be able to “walk and chew gum at the same time.”  If Entergy has time to make daily public announcements about what is going on, why can’t they make those statements under oath?  And if they can’t, what are they hiding?

Join CLF in asking the VT Public Service Board, the NRC and the VT health Department to shut Vermont Yankee down until the leaks are repaired.

Learn more about CLF VT Yankee Advocacy

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Yesterday’s Boston Globe editorial in response to Monday’s New York Times article on the Clean Water Act makes the point that Massachusetts is in a unique position because the state’s waterways are regulated under a more flexible state water act enforced by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). However, that’s not a panacea. Massachusetts must still support and enforce the terms of the federal Clean Water Act to keep pollution at bay.

While the DEP may enforce discharge permits in Massachusetts, it’s the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that has primary responsibility for issuing them. Two US Supreme Court decisions in 2001 and 2006 have undermined the authority of the EPA by calling into question what defines a waterway eligible for protection under the Clean Water Act.  The confusion over which of these waterways are legally protected has left 52% of Massachusetts’ waterways at risk for increased pollution, because EPA is no longer asserting its jurisdiction to regulate pollution flowing into them.

Congress needs to act quickly convey that the Clean Water Act applies to all waterways and must be enforced broadly and effectively.

The Clean Water Restoration Act, first introduced in Congress in April 2009, would amend the Clean Water Act to clarify that the Act applies to all US waterways as it did prior to the Supreme Court decisions. Passing the CWRA will send a message to polluters that all waterways merit equal protection under the law, and that the EPA will continue to enforce the terms of the CWA to prevent further environmental damage.

If we want clean waterways, not just for Massachusetts but throughout New England, here’s our chance to make sure that the EPA has full authority to do its job right, by passing the Clean Water Restoration Act.

Support the Clean Water Restoration Act

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