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The Florida House of Representatives just gutted the power of ordinary citizens to challenge decisions made by environmental regulators. In a 79-36 vote, members approved changes Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, made to a rulemaking bill that is now headed to the governor

InsideDefense has a good story about a bureaucratic change pushed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to resolve a recurrent problem between his department and

Governor Susana Martinez yesterday appointed Santa Fe energy consultant Doug Howe to fill the vacancy on the state’s Public Regulation Commission. Replacing the indicted Jerome Block Jr. on the embattled commission, Howe steps into the position having worked as vice president for regulatory policy at General Public Utilities Service Corp., a multinational utility company, and as a consultant to the U.S

Rep. Andy Nuñez accused Speaker Ben Luján of slowing down Gov

The region’s fishing catch is expected to fall by hundreds of millions of pounds, costing hundreds of millions of dollars.

A prayer at Friday’s session of the Minnesota House given by anti-gay preacher Bradlee Dean erupted a firestorm of criticism among DFL legislators and some in the GOP . Dean, whose fiery brand of anti-LGBT preaching riled opponents of GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer last fall, led the House in prayer, asserting that President Obama was not a Christian.

The city of Aspen is planning to drill a hole 1,000 feet deep in a gravel parking lot this fall to explore whether there is enough heat underground to provide affordable and sustainable carbon-neutral energy. The test well, projected to be 6 to 8 inches wide, would test whether temperatures beneath Aspen are between 90 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit, as preliminary studies in recent years have suggested. The parking lot next to Prockter Open Space has been selected for the project

The National Resources Defense Council responds to the most recent spill of tar sands oil — from the very pipeline that the proposed Keystone XL line will connect to — and point out that this is just the latest in a long line of spills from a line that is less than a year old. Over the last year we’ve had many recent indications of the risks of tar sands diluted bitumen pipelines – an 840,000 gallon spill in Michigan, a 250,000 gallon spill outside Chicago, a 1.3 million gallon spill in Alberta, as well as our recent report examining the safety of tar sands pipelines . On May 7 , the Keystone tar sands pipeline provided yet another warning when it spilled approximately 21,000 gallons of crude in North Dakota. This is its eleventh and most significant spill.

Missed this over the long holiday weekend, but The Washington Post on Friday published a biting op-ed from Robert Kennedy Jr. in which the prominent

To no one’s surprise, a bill that would force the Obama administration to make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline by Nov. 1 passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep

The Colorado Senate killed a bill that would have established a legal limit in Colorado to the amount of THC drivers can have in their system. Lawmakers on the right and left who voted against the bill felt they were attempting to make policy without adequate information. House Bill 1261, sponsored in the Senate by Grand Junction Republican Steve King, died 20 nays to 15 ayes

The U.S. Department of Education has announced the latest round of grants for the Investing in Innovation, or i3, fund. The $150 million will be distributed to

The school choice debate is unique in the often-dichotomous format of American policy discourse. State progressive legislators who have signed off on expansive

Blogs lit up late last week, when it became apparent that even though the American Family Association’s (AFA) Bryan Fischer is not listed as a scheduled

In comments made to Tallahassee’s North East Business Association Tuesday, Associated Industries of Florida CEO Barney Bishop called environmental law firm EarthJustice a “liberal, left-leaning, communist-inspired environmental organization” and said that EPA chief Lisa Jackson “talks to God,” according to the Florida Tribune. # EarthJustice represented several of Florida’s leading environmental organizations in a 2008 lawsuit against the EPA, which alleged that Florida was in violation of the Clean Water Act, because it has a lack of strict water-pollution standards. After they won, the EPA agreed to propose a set of numeric nutrient criteria, which would set levels of phosphorus and nitrogen allowed in Florida waterways

As GOP presidential prospects prepare to announce their candidacies and eye the Hawkeye State for supporters, members of Iowa’s tea party movement are vetting which candidates will best carry their message of regaining fiscal responsibility and limiting government. Yet, a highly decentralized movement and diversity of political interests within Iowa’s tea party may prove difficult for Republican candidates to make solid waves in Iowa, a key 2012 early contest.

This winter, the Air Force, as the Pentagon’s point agency for Internet operations –“cyberwarfare,” in military jargon – banned access from

The first of five abortion-restricting bills passed by the state Legislature was signed into law yesterday by Gov.

Normally, TWI’s strength is not in spot news coverage. We’re better suited for our mantra national news in context. But sometimes, the enormity of the event

State establishment political progressives, including the staff at gay rights group OneColorado, seem cool on Aurora college student Mark Olmestead’s plan to introduce a 2012 ballot initiative that would overturn the state’s gay marriage ban . There’s a sense that financial and human resources would be better spent pressing lawmakers to pass legislation securing equal rights for LGBT citizens here

An immigration enforcement bill recently signed into law by its governor has triggered threats of boycotts and other forms of protest by groups that led an unsuccessful campaign calling for a veto. # A national group called Somos Republicans (whose name translates to “we are Republicans”) sent a letter to Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company asking it stop contributing to elected officials who voted for Georgia’s immigration enforcement bill, which was signed into law last week by Republican Gov. Nathan Deal.