Budget & Policy

Former Texas Governor and recent reality television star Rick Perry seems to have taken “if you can’t beat them, join them” to heart. Perry, who during the latest Republican presidential campaign called now President-elect Donald Trump “a cancer on conservatism,” was tapped Wednesday to lead the Department of Energy under Trump’s incoming administration. Meanwhile, DOE […]

President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday morning he will nominate former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to lead the Energy Department. Perry, who served 14 years as governor of Texas, famously suggested eliminating DOE during his 2012 presidential bid, only to blank on the agency’s name during a nationally televised debate. Perry also ran for president in […]

The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump has the opportunity to reshape U.S. energy and environmental policy, but it should keep a few things in mind when doing so, the Manhattan Institute said in a report Monday. “An agenda that maximizes the potential of America’s natural resources while striking a better balance between industry and […]

The nongovernmental Resources for the Future (RFF) will receive $700,000 annually for the next five years to and evaluate the socioeconomic benefits of NASA’s Earth science activities. “The five-year agreement will enable experts to advance the valuation of the applied benefits linked to information from space-based observations of Earth, catalyze a community of research and […]

U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) is leading a group of Democratic lawmakers in urging reconsideration of plans to modernize all three legs of the U.S. nuclear triad. The proposed Senate resolution, filed Friday, calls on the president to ensure that the modernization program for weapons and delivery systems being carried out by the Departments of […]

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team wants to know how much money the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management needs for its national nuclear cleanup program, and what the office’s staffing priorities are in the coming year. “What is the right level of funding for EM to make meaningful progress across the complex and meet milestone […]

Rep Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) is expected to be named secretary of the interior in the Trump administration, The Hill reported Friday. President-elect Donald Trump “will tap McMorris-Rodgers, a five-term Republican who represents eastern Washington and is the chair of the House GOP Conference, to lead the department,” the paper reported, citing a source close […]

Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) has said he would be happy to serve in President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet, local media reported Saturday. “I would say yes. Obviously, I would be very honored to do it,” he said in a Minot Daily News article. Cramer is reported to be in the running to become secretary of energy, […]

At the last minute Friday, the Senate passed a stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government open and funded at fiscal 2016 levels through April 28. An earlier stopgap bill, known officially as a continuing resolution, was set to expire at midnight Friday. A small group of Senate Democrats had threatened to push […]

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) on Wednesday signed into law the Future Energy Jobs Bill, an energy subsidy package intended to stave off closures at Exelon’s Quad Cities Generating Station and the Clinton Power Station. “The Future Energy Jobs bill protects taxpayers, ratepayers, and the good-paying jobs at the Clinton and Quad Cities’ plants,” Rauner […]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Wednesday approved the $110 million sale of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in New York from Entergy to Exelon, while also dismissing Public Citizen’s challenge to the deal. The consumer rights’ group in an October filing asked FERC to reject the application, claiming it will adversely affect […]

A government shutdown loomed Friday as some Senate Democrats held hostage a stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government and its Cold War nuclear cleanup work funded through late April. The House passed the so-called continuing resolution Thursday, then adjourned for the week. In the Senate, however, Democratic lawmakers led by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) […]

With just a handful of days left until the end of the 114th Congress, a number of bills filed this year on U.S. nuclear security and nonproliferation are on the precipice of failure. Many of the bills made little progress through the legislative process – though in a couple instances this was seemingly intentional. Amid Republican […]

The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted 92-7 to approve the conference version of the fiscal 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, sending it to the White House for President Barack Obama’s signature. The compromise bill authorizes nearly $619 billion in spending through the end of the budget year on Sept. 30, the vast majority at the […]

A government shutdown loomed Friday as some Senate Democrats held hostage a stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government and its Cold War nuclear cleanup work funded through late April. The House passed the so-called continuing resolution Thursday, then adjourned for the week. In the Senate, however, Democratic lawmakers led by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) […]

Slashing the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal is one option to save tens of billions of dollars in the coming decade for efforts to reduce the growing federal deficit, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday. The CBO’s latest analysis of deficit-cutting opportunities covers the 2017 to 2026 fiscal years and encompasses 115 options to […]

Celebrating what he called the end of the era of overregulation under the Obama administration, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) suggested Thursday that the incoming Trump administration could launch with the revival of Congressional Review Act legislation against existing executive actions. The Senate attempted to use the CRA to overturn the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, […]

The nomination of Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to the post of administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is a positive sign that the Trump administration will respect state’s rights, according to a number of Republican lawmakers speaking at an event hosted Thursday by the Heritage Foundation. “This is a man who understands federalism and […]

President-elect Donald Trump will soon learn that governing with campaign rhetoric instead of facts is not a good idea, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday. “The President has, himself, observed that it’s one thing to make grand pronouncements on the campaign trail, but once you enter the Oval Office and you’re responsible for […]

More than 150 members of the United Kingdom’s Parliament have signed a pledge committing to continue working to protect the environment after the nation leaves the European Union. “I believe that following the EU referendum, the UK government, working with administrations in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, must build a healthy and prosperous future for all,” […]

Last month was 6.3 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than average in the United States, making it the second-warmest November in recorded history, according to temperature data released Wednesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “The average U.S. temperature in autumn was 57.6 degrees F (4.1 degrees above average) and surpassed last fall as the warmest […]

Avoiding the worst economic impacts of climate change will require roughly $320 billion in national private sector investment annually through 2050, but the rewards would be significant, the Risky Business Project said in a report this week. “Investments in clean energy could yield on average up to $366 billion in savings per year from reductions […]

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency has had a robust relationship with the organization, in court at least. Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma’s attorney general, has sued the EPA a number of times attempting to halt regulations He is currently representing Oklahoma in a federal lawsuit in which 27 states and a number […]

Having a Republican in the White House does not mean action against climate change must stop, State Department Special Envoy for Climate Change Jonathan Pershing suggested Wednesday. “In my mind there are a few areas that I think [President-elect Donald Trump] might be interested in, certainly as I look back on prior Republican administrations that […]

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) on Wednesday signed into law the Future Energy Jobs Bill, an energy subsidy package intended to stave off closures at Exelon’s Quad Cities Generating Station and the Clinton Power Station. “The Future Energy Jobs bill protects taxpayers, ratepayers, and the good-paying jobs at the Clinton and Quad Cities’ plants,” Rauner […]

President-elect Donald Trump has worried Earth scientists and energy experts with his assertions that climate change is a hoax, so Tuesday several hundred signed an open letter urging him to address the issue while in office. “At this crucial juncture in human history, countries look to the United States to pick up the mantle of […]

The United States no longer must choose between a healthy environment and a robust economy, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy said Tuesday. “The challenges of the past have really been about not having solutions, it’s asking people to sacrifice in order to make progress moving forward. I think that dynamic has changed considerably; people […]

Implementing the Paris Agreement will require many different actions by many different players, but everyone seems up to the task, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa told former U.S. Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday during his annual 24 Hours of Reality event. “The implementation of the commitments under the […]

Surprising many, climate activist and former Vice President Al Gore met with President-elect Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka on Monday at Trump Tower in New York City. “The bulk of the time was with the president-elect, Donald Trump. I found it an extremely interesting conversation, and to be continued, and I’m just going to […]

Unable to offer many details about the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy on Monday emphasized the lasting nature of the EPA’s mission. “We have a great mission that I know will sustain because people kind of like clean air and clean water and healthy land,” McCarthy said during […]