SEATTLE, Washington, June 15 (TNSPol) -- The Center for Biological Diversity issued the following news release on June 14, 2021: In response to a petition and litigation by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed today to protect the Mt. Rainier white-tailed ptarmigan as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Following a Trump administration regulation, the Service declined to identify and protect critical habitat for the ptarmigan. "The  more

HARTFORD, Connecticut, June 15 -- Connecticut Attorney General William Tong issued the following news release on June 14, 2021: Attorney General William Tong today joined a coalition of 22 states and 4 cities in urging the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) to repeal a Trump-era rule, known as the "Preemption Rule," that purported to preempt California's greenhouse gas and zero-emission-vehicles (ZEV) standards. California's standards have been adopted by states repre  more

WASHINGTON, June 8 -- The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce issued the following testimony by Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo as part of a virtual hearing entitled "The Fiscal Year 2022 Department of Commerce Budget": * * * Chair Schakowsky, Ranking Member Bilirakis, and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to discuss President Biden's Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Budget Request for the U.S. Department of Commerce. The priorities inc  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Rep. David B. McKinley, R-West Virginia, ranking Republican member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change, issued the following news release: House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment and Climate Change Republican Leader David B. McKinley (R-WV) spoke at the beginning of Monday's forum on Capitol Hill on the Biden administration's environmental agenda. The forum, "Mounting Costs: The Real Harm of the Biden Administratio  more

JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri, June 15 -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources issued the following news release: A partnership between the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the University of Kansas will receive $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to study the feasibility of recovering critical minerals from coal and associated strata in the Cherokee-Forest City Basin, which encompasses Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and the Osage Nation. The Department of  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- Oil Change International issued the following statement on June 14, 2021: * * * A three-judge panel of the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 decision to uphold the Minnesota state Public Utilities Commission (PUC)'s issuance of a certificate of need and route permit for the Line 3 oil pipeline to pipeline builder Enbridge. Judge Peter Reyes dissented, noting that the PUC "committed legal errors and acted arbitrarily or capriciously by granting [Enbridge] a certif  more

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, June 15 -- Gov. Tom Wolf, D-Pennsylvania, issued the following news release on June 14, 2021: As Pennsylvania moves forward towards reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions by participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), Governor Tom Wolf today joined state Sen. Carolyn Comitta and state Rep. Dianne Herrin, who are introducing legislation that would target funding from RGGI proceeds to communities impacted by climate change. "Participating in RGGI   more

WASHINGTON, June 15 (TNSPol) -- Public Citizen issued the following news release on June 14, 2021: More than 30 environmental organizations submitted a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency today with recommendations for three possible candidates for the EPA Region 6 Administrator position. The recommendations follow several weeks of interviews and discussion by a coalition of advocates mostly located in Texas, but with participation from Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.   more

WASHINGTON, June 14 -- The U.S. State Department issued the following transcript of an interview on June 13, 2021, of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on ABC's This Week with Martha Raddatz: * * * QUESTION: Let's take all of this to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He is accompanying the president overseas. Good morning, Secretary Blinken. Great to see you. As Ian just mentioned, there was reportedly some tension over China in the G7 meetings with the President urging leaders to offer   more

BRUSSELS, Belgium, June 14 -- The U.S. State Department issued the following transcript of an interview on June 13, 2021, of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken on CNN's State of the Union with Dana Bash: * * * QUESTION: Joining me now is the U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken. Thank you so much for joining me. Let me first ask about one of President Biden's key goals in this summit - uniting the Western democracies around countering China's influence, especially around the goal of buildin  more

BRUSSELS, Belgium, June 14 -- The U.S. State Department issued the following transcript of an interview on June 13, 2021, of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken with Chris Wallace of Fox News Sunday: * * * QUESTION: And joining us now, the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. Mr. Secretary, welcome back to Fox News Sunday. SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks, Chris. It's great to be with you. QUESTION: This trip is building up to I guess the climax, the meeting with Russian President Putin in Geneva o  more

BRUSSELS, Belgium, June 14 -- The U.S. State Department issued the following transcript of an interview on June 13, 2021, of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken with John Dickerson of CBS's Face the Nation: * * * QUESTION: We begin this morning with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in Brussels. Good morning, Mr. Secretary. SECRETARY BLINKEN: John, good to see you. QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, the President wrote in The Washington Post that one of the purposes of this meeting would be t  more

SAINT PAUL, Minnesota, June 15 (TNSPol) -- The Sierra Club issued the following news release: The Minnesota Court of Appeals announced it will uphold the Public Utilities Commission's 2020 approval of Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline. The Red Lake, White Earth, and Mille Lacs Bands, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Honor the Earth, the Youth Climate Intervenors, Friends of the Headwaters, and the Sierra Club had challenged the PUC's illegal permit approvals by filing an appeal. Pipeline opponen  more

BASEL, Switzerland, June 14 -- Water, a peer-reviewed open access journal on water science and technology, published research articles, including the following topics, in its Vol. 13, No. 12 edition: Articles: * Indigenous Water Ontologies, Hydro-Development and the Human/More-Than-Human Right to Water: A Call for Critical Engagement with Plurilegal Water Realities * Recent Changes in Hydroclimatic Patterns over Medium Niger River Basins at the Origin of the 2020 Flood in Niamey (Niger) * D  more

WASHINGTON, June 15 -- The White House issued the following transcript of a news conference with President Biden on June 14, 2021: * * * THE PRESIDENT: Well, good afternoon. And let me start by thanking Prime Minister Johnson for the incredible hospitality and welcome that he provided for all of us at the G7. I'd like to take -- thank Yael Lempert, who is our charge at the embassy, filling in for the ambassador -- an ambassador; we'll have one soon. But she did a great job supporting the entir  more

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, June 15 -- The White House issued the following transcript of a news Gaggle by Press Secretary Jen Psaki and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan while en route Brussels, Belgium on June 13, 2021: * * * MS. PSAKI: Thank you for joining us on Air Force One, on our trip to Brussels. And we have joining us our National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who will give us a preview of NATO, take some questions, and I'm also happy to take some once he's done. MR. SULLIVAN: Th  more

WASHINGTON, June 12 -- The White House issued the following fact sheet entitled "G7 to Announce Joint Actions to End Public Support for Overseas Unabated Coal Generation by End of 2021": * * * President Biden and fellow G7 Leaders agreed to a set of concrete actions to accelerate the global transition away from coal generation as part of our efforts to combat the climate crisis. Accelerating Decarbonization and Transition from Unabated Coal: Confronting the climate crisis presents a historic  more

WASHINGTON, June 14 -- The World Resources Institute issued the following statement: * * * G7 leaders met in the U.K. over the weekend, where they discussed a broad agenda including next steps for climate action. Together, they agreed to reach net zero emissions no later than 2050 and to halve their collective emissions by 2030. These and other commitments were noted in a new Communique (https://www.g7uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Summary-of-Carbis-Bay-G7-Summit-Communique-PDF-248KB-2-pa  more