Barbara Boxer: In The News

Senate debate a sign of readiness to tackle global warming

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Barbara Boxer
San Jose Mercury News

Last week, the United States Senate had a landmark moment in the fight against global warming when 54 senators came down on the side of tackling this issue now.

While the floor debate on the Climate Security Act was ultimately cut short by a Republican filibuster, our strong vote proves that we are moving in the right direction.

When a comprehensive global warming bill last came to the floor in 2005, only 38 senators voted in favor of it. Today, our nation is poised to confront this challenge and once again become an environmental leader in the world.

In remarkable contrast to President Bush - who fiercely defends the status quo and threatened to veto the bill even before he saw the final product - both presidential candidates said they are in favor of addressing the issue now.

It is imperative that we move forward - not just for the sake of our planet, our children and grandchildren, and all of God's creatures threatened by global warming, but also for the sake of our economic security.

The best hope we have for affordable energy is to pass a bill like the Climate Security Act, which will allow the free market to put a price on carbon and send a signal that it is time to invest in alternative energy and new technology. Continuing to rely on big oil and conventional coal would be the worst scenario for the American people, who are paying more than $4 a gallon at the pump and being held captive by hostile Middle East regimes that have too much control over our energy policy.

What better time to encourage the development of alternative fuels and energy efficient technology than when oil is nearly $140 a barrel?

Silicon Valley leaders have told me that when we enact a strong, federal cap-and-trade law, they anticipate billions of dollars in investment in green technology, which will create millions of "green jobs" here in America. And, if we take those steps now, we will be able to export that technology to other nations.

The Senate debate, however abbreviated, gave us a road map for the future. But until we have a new president who is willing to work with us to confront this challenge, we must continue to push policies forward at the state level.

One of the central fronts in that battle is California's efforts to obtain a waiver from the Clean Air Act so that we can implement standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

California has been granted a waiver from the Clean Air Act more than 50 times by both Republican and Democratic administrations, but President Bush and political operatives at the Environmental Protection Agency for the first time outright denied California's request for a waiver, overruling the unanimous opinion of EPA's career scientists and lawyers.

EPA's decision means that California, and at least 14 other states that adopted California's standards, cannot act. The states, led by California's attorney general, are suing EPA, and I will file an amicus brief supporting them in their efforts.

I hope the courts will act quickly to reverse EPA's outrageous decision so that California can get started on this problem and continue to set an example for the federal government.

Our generation has been handed a tremendous challenge. Legislation to combat global warming will not happen overnight; it took 10 years to pass major Clean Air Act legislation. We started voting on comprehensive global warming legislation in the Senate five years ago. We must get there - scientists have told us clearly that time is not on our side.

We must convince the negative voices that we need to act now to avert the dangers of global warming.

BARBARA BOXER, a Democratic U.S. senator from California, is chairwoman of the Senate environment and public works committee and a sponsor of the Boxer-Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act. She wrote this article for the Mercury News.

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Barbara Boxer wants federal funding for Great Park

Tue, 27 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

IRVINE – Sen. Barbara Boxer on Tuesday got a first-hand look at the future home of the Great Park, announcing her intention to seek federal assistance in making several parts of the ambitious project a reality.

Boxer (D-CA), who serves as chair of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, said the funds would go toward the creation of a 30-to-50-acre community farm, the refurbishment of a historic WWII hangar for public use and a storm water reclamation and management system.

"I'm going to fight to get these appropriations for you, right now, this year," Boxer said. "I want to be a part of this adventure."

Lead designer Ken Smith gave Boxer a brief update on the parks master plan, which is approaching the 70 percent completion mark. The ambitious plans call for the transformation of the former El Toro Marine Base into the $1.1 billion, 1,374-acre Great Park.

Boxer praised park designers' plans to restore natural and agricultural land to the area, as well as efforts to retain and celebrate the site's military heritage. She was unaware of how much federal money is available for the park, but indicated that it would be tied to matching local funds.

"I don't look at this as subsidizing anything," Boxer said. "I look at it as an investment."

Boxer's ties to the Great Park effort date back nearly a decade, said Larry Agran, chairman of the parks board of directors, who first approached her to weigh in on the battle between those who wanted to turn El Toro into a commercial airport and Great Park proponents. Boxer said it was important that the issue was decided on a local level.

"This has not been easy. This has been hard fought. But the fight is over," Boxer said. "We need to stick together and get this done."

Boxer's visit comes a little more than a month before local leaders are scheduled to celebrate the third anniversary of the Great Park's approval. The celebration on July 12, known as the "Festival of Flight," is also scheduled to include the return of the Great Park balloon ride, and the unveiling of the first section of a 27.5 acre preview park.

Agran acknowledged the sometimes difficult road in creating the Great Park – from the initial airport battles to the current housing crunch that has delayed adjacent development – but expressed optimism for the park's future.

"We faced challenges in the past. We continue to face challenges," Agran said. "But fundamentally this is a great opportunity."

By Sean Emery

Source OC Register

Lawmakers question dismissal of EPA official

Tue, 13 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By Ken Thomas
Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- Two lawmakers pressured the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday for information surrounding the resignation of a top EPA administrator in the Midwest.

Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., asked the EPA for any documents related to the departure of Mary Gade and her work to enforce the clean up of dioxin contamination near Dow Chemical Co.'s headquarters in Midland, Mich.

Gade, the regional administrator of EPA Region 5, told the Chicago Tribune earlier this month that she resigned after two top EPA officials stripped her of her powers and told her to quit or be fired by June 1.

Gade told the newspaper her resignation was connected to the Dow case.

The senators asked the EPA if Gade was asked to resign and whether the White House or Dow Chemical were involved in any discussions surrounding Gade's potential departure. They also want Gade's most recent job performance evaluation.

"It is important for there to be a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding Ms. Gade's allegedly forced resignation," Boxer and Whitehouse wrote in a letter to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson.

EPA spokesman Jonathan Shrader said the agency "will review and respond to the letter appropriately." The agency has said Gade was placed on administrative leave until June 1, but has declined further comment.

John Musser, a Dow spokesman, said the company was "surprised as anyone else" over Gade's resignation.

Dow and government regulators have debated for months about how to cleanse a group of waters and wetlands.

The company has acknowledged tainting the Tittabawassee and the adjoining Saginaw River, their floodplains, portions of the city of Midland and Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay with dioxins -- chemical byproducts believed to cause cancer and damage reproductive and immune systems.

But Dow has said it needs to finish measuring how much pollution exists -- and where -- before devising a cleanup plan.

Government officials have urged Dow to move faster. The EPA in October ordered Dow to develop a plan that would show its willingness to design and pay for a comprehensive solution to clean up contamination near the Midland plant. In December, a deadline to reach a deal was extended but talks broke off in January.

Gade was appointed in 2006 to lead the federal agency's Region 5, which covers the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio.

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White House blocked EPA studies, GAO reports

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Zachary Coile
San Francisco Chronicle

A congressional watchdog agency has found that White House officials repeatedly intervened in the government's scientific process for assessing the health risks of toxic chemicals, prompting Sen. Barbara Boxer to threaten giving Congress control of the program.

The Government Accountability Office reported Tuesday that the White House's budget office, the Pentagon and other agencies had delayed or blocked efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency to list chemicals as carcinogens by requesting more research or more time to review the risks.

Boxer, D-Calif., who is chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and requested the report, called the findings scandalous. If EPA does not speed up its assessments of toxic chemicals, she warned that Congress might step in and start banning substances that threaten the public health.

"If we don't see that happen, colleagues of mine are going to take matters into their own hands," Boxer said.

A top EPA official, who was grilled at a hearing before Boxer's committee Tuesday, responded that it was helpful to have more input from the White House and other agencies.

"Ultimately, at the end of the day, it's EPA's decision," said James Gulliford, EPA's assistant administrator for pesticides, prevention and toxic substances.

GAO officials also faulted the administration for setting new rules that keep secret any involvement by the White House or a federal agency in a decision about the risks of a chemical.

"In the risk assessment program, you don't want anyone but the scientists involved," John Stephenson, GAO's chief investigator for environmental programs, told lawmakers.

The issue involves major changes the administration has made to an EPA program called "IRIS" - the Integrated Risk Information System - which allows the agency to determine safe levels of exposure to chemicals to protect the public health. The program has been used to set limits on arsenic in drinking water and benzene in the air, and foreign nations and states like California often use the data for their regulations.

Influencing risk assessment

Since President Bush took office in 2001, the White House has sought to take more control of a process that has long been led by EPA scientists, the report found. The Office of Management and Budget, the Defense Department, the Energy Department and even NASA have taken steps to influence risk assessments that could affect those agencies or hurt U.S. industries, the report said.

For example, the EPA started a risk assessment of naphthalene, a chemical used in jet fuel, in 2002, and agency scientists have been moving toward listing it as a likely human carcinogen. But many military sites are contaminated with naphthalene, which could lead to major cleanup costs for the Pentagon. So, White House budget officials slowed the process, repeatedly requesting more analysis. Six years later, the risk assessment is back at the drafting stage.

"The series of delays has limited EPA's ability to conduct its mission," the GAO report concluded.

The study also found irregularities in the agency's risk assessment of formaldehyde, a colorless gas used in plywood and many other household products, which the World Health Organization has listed as a known human carcinogen but EPA classifies only as a probable carcinogen.

In 2004, the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation decided to bypass the risk analysis of its own scientists and use data by an industry-funded group when it issued new rules for formaldehyde - even though EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment identified a number of problems with the group's data. A federal appellate court struck down the rules last year.

"It was fairly unprecedented," testified Lynn Goldman, who was assistant EPA administrator for prevention, pesticides and toxic substances during the Clinton administration and is now an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University.

Only 4 approved

Stephenson, the GAO investigator, told lawmakers the risk assessments had slowed to a crawl because of the prolonged inter-agency review. Out of 32 draft risk assessments prepared by the EPA over the last two years, only four were approved.

The program, Stephenson said, "is at serious risk of becoming obsolete."

Public health advocates warned that the results are years-long delays in regulating harmful chemicals that scientists have linked to rising cancer rates in some groups.

Dr. Linda Giudice, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UCSF, pointed to the growing evidence that a child exposed to chemicals in the womb is not only at higher risk of birth defects and learning disabilities, but also at risk of lower fertility, cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease as an adult.

Giudice noted that scientists are just now learning of the effects of some chemicals, such as bisphenol A, a compound found in baby bottles and other products. Manufacturers of BPA insist it is safe, but it's been linked to breast and prostate cancer, early puberty in females and behavior disorders in laboratory animals.

"There are many chemicals where we have no scientific data," Giudice said. "The absence of scientific data does not mean the chemical is safe."

Senate Democrats have introduced a bill to ban children's products with BPA, and California lawmakers are considering a similar bill. San Francisco was the first jurisdiction in the world to outlaw BPA in kids' products, but it repealed the ban in 2007 after a court fight with plastics manufacturers.

Boxer said the United States should consider shifting to the European Union's new system, known as REACH, which requires all manufacturers seeking to sell their chemicals in Europe to register and prove the chemical will not hurt human health or the environment. She said the program "puts the burden on the chemical industry, where it should be, to show that their chemicals are safe."

E-mail Zachary Coile at zcoile@sfchronicle.com.

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Boxer named 'Environmental Legislator of the Year'

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Erica Solvig
Desert Sun

The South Coast Air Quality Management District is naming U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer as its "Environmental Legislator of the Year."

This marks the first year the district has given the award.

Boxer, a Rancho Mirage resident, will be honored Saturday during a ceremony at the Santa Monica Library, 601 Santa Monica Blvd.

"Sen. Boxer's commitment to the environmental clean-up of ocean-going ships will help protect the health of millions of Americans and is crucial to achieving health-based air quality standards in many areas of the nation," district governing board Chairman William Burke said in a news release today.

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Sen. Barbara Boxer urges air passengers' bill of rights

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

James Hohmann
Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- Seizing on the public's frustration with airline delays, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) called on her colleagues Thursday to finally approve an air passengers' bill of rights.

The legislation, introduced last year, would require airlines to provide food, drinking water, cabin ventilation, toilet facilities and access to medical treatment to passengers stuck on planes waiting to take off.

Airlines would be required to develop contingency plans for allowing passengers to deplane within a specific time frame. In the absence of such a plan, passengers would have the option, as long as safety was not compromised, of getting off a grounded plane three hours after the aircraft doors had closed.

"All of us know that delays happen," Boxer said. "What we are concerned about is how people are treated after the delays happen."

The proposal would not protect passengers from the kinds of flight cancellations seen this week, Boxer acknowledged.

The Senate Commerce Committee approved the measure in May 2007 as part of legislation reauthorizing funding for the FAA. Its co-sponsor, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), said a dispute between members of the Finance and Commerce committees over airline fees and unrelated funding questions was preventing the bill from coming to a vote in the full Senate.

A renewed push for federal legislation came last month after a federal court struck down a 2007 New York state law -- similar to the one being considered in the Senate -- on grounds that only the federal government has the right to regulate air travel.

"They put the ball in our lap, and here we are -- led by quarterback Boxer," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

Elizabeth Merida, a spokeswoman for the Air Transport Assn. of America, which represents airlines and opposes the proposal, said carriers need flexibility to address situations on a case-by-case basis.

"We believe that a strict law set forth by Washington would actually inconvenience passengers even more in the end."

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Boxer: Explanation Needed on Polar Bears

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Matthew Daly
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The chair of the Senate Environment Committee on Wednesday slammed Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne for failing to appear before her panel to explain why the Bush administration has delayed a decision on whether to protect polar bears under the Endangered Species Act.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., criticized Kempthorne for declining her invitation to appear before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

"It's wrong that Mr. Kempthorne is not here," Boxer said after the hearing, which went on without an appearance from Kempthorne or any other administration official. "I like him, but it's wrong."

The deadline for a decision on listing Alaska's polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act was Jan. 9. Conservation groups petitioned to list polar bears as threatened more than three years ago because their habitat, sea ice, is shrinking from global warming, many scientists say.

Boxer said Kempthorne and other administration officials were "ducking their responsibility to the American people" by delaying a decision on the bears -- and then failing to appear at a hearing to explain why.

Boxer said she was especially troubled because the administration did not hesitate to open a major bear habitat to oil leases. The Interior Department opened a large area of the Chukchi Sea to oil and gas leases in early February, despite sharp criticism from environmentalists who note that one-fifth of the Arctic's polar bears depend on sea ice in their hunt for food.

"There's a rush to drill, and no rush to list" polar bears as threatened, Boxer said.

In a letter to Boxer, Kempthorne said he "respectfully" declined her invitation to appear at the hearing, since he is a named defendant in a lawsuit over the polar bear listing filed by an environmental group.

Kempthorne, a former Idaho governor and senator, said he understands that the delay in the polar bear decision is frustrating to Boxer and others who advocate additional protections for the bear.

But he said the oil and gas leases opened up in February do not pose a threat to the bear, citing the "localized nature" of the proposed oil and gas developments. If the bear is listed as threatened, any oil and gas exploration would be subject to the Endangered Species Act, regardless of when the leases are sold, Kempthorne said.

"Careful deliberation will not imperil the survival of the polar bear," he said.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., said he spoke with Kempthorne this week, and Kempthorne expects a decision on polar bears "before early summer."

Critics say listing polar bears as threatened could hamstring oil and gas exploration and development in the Arctic, and that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an agency of the Interior Department, is not equipped to handle duties that would go along with the change. A polar bear recovery plan could force the agency to review new sources of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

"It's a professional wildlife agency, not an air-regulating agency," said William Horn, an attorney and former assistant Interior secretary for Fish and Wildlife in the Reagan administration.

The Interior Department's inspector general, responding to conservation groups, said last month it is investigating why the department had not made its listing decision.

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Boxer Urges Support for Foreclosure Protection Act

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

KCBS

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Senator Barbara Boxer urged public support for legislation which addresses the home mortgage foreclosure crisis.

Speaking in San Francisco Wednesday, Boxer said California is on the front line of the mortgage meltdown.

"We're too far behind the curve here on this crisis. We need to get out in front of it. We need to restore confidence," she said.

Boxer said her legislation, titled the Foreclosure Protection Act, would increase funding for counseling and legal services for homeowners in danger of losing their homes.

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AP Water Probe Prompts Senate Hearings

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0700

By MARTHA MENDOZA
Associated Press

Two veteran U.S. senators said they plan to hold hearings in response to an Associated Press investigation into the presence of trace amounts of pharmaceuticals in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.

Also, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., has asked the EPA to establish a national task force to investigate the issue and make recommendations to Congress on any legislative actions needed.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, who heads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Sen. Frank Lautenberg, chairman of the Transportation, Safety, Infrastructure Security and Water Quality Subcommittee, said Monday the oversight hearings would likely be held in April.

Boxer, D-Calif., said she was ''alarmed at the news'' that pharmaceuticals are turning up in the nation's drinking water, while Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat who said he was ''deeply concerned'' by the AP findings, both represent states where pharmaceuticals had been detected in drinking water supplies, but not disclosed to the public.

''I call on the EPA to take whatever steps are necessary to keep our communities safe,'' said Boxer in a statement.

Added Lautenberg, whose subcommittee has jurisdiction over drinking water issues: ''Our families deserve water that is clean and safe. Our hearing will examine these problems and help ensure the EPA and Congress take the steps necessary to protect our residents and clean up our water supply.''

EPA spokesman Timothy Lyons said the agency is ''committed to keeping the nation's water supply clean, safe and the best in the world. We encourage all Americans to be responsible when disposing of prescription drugs.''

The Lautenberg-Boxer announcement came just 24 hours after the AP's release of the first installment of its three-part series, titled PharmaWater.

The five-month-long inquiry by the AP National Investigative Team found that while water is screened for drugs by some suppliers, they usually don't tell their customers that they have found medication in it, including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones.

The series shows how drugs — mostly the residue of medications taken by people, excreted and flushed down the toilet — have gotten into the water supplies of at least 24 major metropolitan areas, from Southern California to northern New Jersey. The stories also detail the growing concerns among scientists that this pollution has adversely affected wildlife, and may threaten human health.

In a letter to EPA administrator Stephen Johnson, Schwartz said, ''Like many Pennsylvanians, I was especially taken aback by the finding of 56 different pharmaceuticals discovered in the drinking water for the City of Philadelphia. . . The Associated Press report raises serious questions about the safety and security of America's water system.''

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EPA Chief's Final Decision On California CO2 Ruling Scorned

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

CNNMoney.com

WASHINGTON - (Dow Jones) - Environmentalists scorned the Environmental Protection Agency's final decision Friday that rejects California's request to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

The decision, a controversial ruling made by EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson against the advice of senior agency staff, has been branded by many Democratic lawmakers and environmentalists as politically motivated and followed strong lobbying pressure from auto manufacturers.

William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, called Johnson's decision "a direct attack on the rights of states to protect the health and welfare of its citizens."

"Never before has EPA denied California and other states the ability to enforce more stringent vehicle emissions standards," Becker said.

[...]

EPA Decision Also Under Scrutiny In Congress

Johnson is also coming under fire in two congressional investigations into his decision, one conducted by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the other by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Chairwoman of the Senate environment panel Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said earlier this week that she would be working together with Rep. Henry Waxman, D- Calif., chairman of the House oversight panel, to subpoena emails and records of discussions between the executive branch and the EPA.

"Those documents will be subpoenaed," Boxer said at an EPA budget hearing. " The law requires Mr. Johnson to turn over this information....The fact is that this is not privileged information...and we want to know who influenced your decision."

On Friday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, called for the Government Accountability Office and the EPA's Inspector General also to investigate the decision.

Johnson has said he received a "wide range of recommendations" from his staff on how to respond to California's petition. But internal EPA documents made public this week by Senate Democrats also show that several top EPA staffers supported California's request and tried to warn Johnson that a rejection could mean he would have to resign.

The EPA chief has also faced criticism for delaying the decision, waiting for a Supreme Court ruling that forced the agency to make a decision. In May last year, President George W. Bush directed the EPA to craft rules for greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles by the end of 2008, following an April Supreme Court decision that said the EPA has the authority to regulate the pollutant carbon dioxide.

Johnson has previously said his agency is also studying the impact of vehicle greenhouse gas regulations on stationary sources such as power generators, refiners and chemical plants.

Although federal regulation for greenhouse gases from vehicles might initially affect car manufacturers such as Ford Motor Co. (F), General Motors Co. (GM) and Chrysler LLC, ultimately, EPA carbon dioxide rules could also hit utilities such as American Electric Power Co. (AEP) and TXU Energy,refiners such as Tesoro Corp. (TSO) and Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) and most chemical companies, oil companies and other major greenhouse gas emitters.

Johnson was careful to note in his rationale that while he recognizes global warming is a serious challenge, the document doesn't reflect a judgment of whether greenhouse gas emissions cause or contribute to air pollution "which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare." Such a determination -- which the EPA says it is continuing to evaluate -- would have implications on stationary sources too.

-By Ian Talley, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9285; ian.talley@dowjones.com

-By Stephen Power, The Wall Street Journal

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Sen. Barbara Boxer's work on water bill earns award

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

The Desert Sun

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barbara Boxer received a leadership award Tuesday for her work on a water bill that became law last year despite a presidential veto.

The Association of California Water Agencies gave Boxer, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, its 2007 legislative leadership award for her efforts.

Timothy Quinn, the association's executive director, said the passage of the Water Resources Development Act was crucial for the water agencies across the state.

"Senator Boxer deserves our thanks and recognition for taking on this issue," Quinn said in a statement.

The bill, which Boxer helped write, authorized about $30 million for restoration of the Salton Sea, along with about $1 billion in California water projects. The $23 billion water bill became law late last year after Congress overrode a veto by President Bush.

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Boxer ready for round 2 in global warming fight

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By Diana Marrero
Desert Sun

WASHINGTON - Barely 5 feet tall, Barbara Boxer used a wooden box to reach the microphone at a global warming rally here. But her voice was big.

"We are putting global warming on the map," she told faithful supporters outside the Capitol last winter. "We are saying to our friends in the world, we understand America has to step up to the plate."

Boxer, a California Democrat who had just taken control of the Senate's environment committee, spoke to a crowd that didn't need convincing. She now faces a tougher audience inside the Capitol.

The Rancho Mirage resident is shepherding legislation through the Senate that would cut carbon dioxide emissions by two-thirds nationwide by 2050.

Scientists say the United States, the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, must significantly reduce its carbon footprint soon or face the planetary consequences of a warmer climate.

California could see dramatic changes under the most dire predictions. The California desert could become even hotter and drier, increasing the frequency of wildfires and destroying the Joshua trees that dot the landscape. Farmers in the Coachella Valley and across the state could see their water supplies dwindle. And cities along the state's 1,340 miles of coastline could be swamped by rising sea levels.

A fierce environmentalist, Boxer has the passion to push a global warming bill into law. But it takes more than one person's passion and hard work to make laws in Washington.

The bill faces long odds - election year politics that tend to stall major bills, opposition from powerful industry groups and Republicans in the Senate who say the bill would hurt the U.S. economy. At the winter rally, however, Boxer was optimistic.

"All it takes is some political will," she told the crowd. "With the ever expanding number of Americans who are waking up to this, we will do it."

No passing fancy

It was March and climate change was the topic of the moment. Sports Illustrated had just devoted its cover story to global warming. Former Vice President Al Gore had been nominated for the Nobel Prize for his tireless lecturing on the subject. His PowerPoint speech-turned-documentary about climate charts and drowning polar bears was being considered for two Oscars.

Boxer had reached the peak of her power. The Democrats controlled the Senate, albeit by a slim margin. And, after a quarter of a century on Capitol Hill, Boxer could set the agenda as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Her goal: to pass global warming legislation that would set up a cap-and-trade system requiring U.S. companies to trade credits in order to release carbon into the atmosphere.

When the legislative session ended in December, Boxer had fallen short of that goal. The bill passed her committee, but it was less stringent than she wanted. And the Senate leadership showed no sign they would bring her bill to the floor for a full Senate vote. Her experience so far offers a glimpse into the tough fight she has ahead.

Boxer, 67, has been in the Senate for 15 years. She spent a decade in the House before that.

In that time, she has tackled mercury emissions, toxic Superfund sites and arsenic in drinking water supplies. She credits Gore with giving her a sense of urgency about global warming in recent years.

"This isn't just a passing fancy," she said in a recent interview. "It involves the survival of the planet as we know it."

The world's leading scientists agree that greenhouse gases, the bulk of which is carbon dioxide, is largely responsible for global warming. Its effects, they say, are already being felt, as snowcaps melt and parts of the world become drier.

The United States signed the Kyoto climate accord to reduce greenhouse gases a decade ago but, unlike 177 other countries, the U.S. never ratified the treaty.

President Bush argues such limits could harm the U.S. economy and that the treaty does not impose similar constraints on China, India and other developing nations. China could soon surpass the United States in emissions.

Environmentalists say developed nations have the responsibility to show leadership on the issue and that other countries eventually will follow.

That's what Boxer had in mind when she asked Gore to testify before her committee in late March.

Gore praised Boxer's work on the committee. "There is really hardly any way to overstate the degree of hope that people out in our country have because of what you're doing," he told her.

At times blunt, the grandmother of two wins applause from supporters who see her as an ardent environmental advocate.

Boxer has frequently sparred with Stephen Johnson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, over California's request for a federal waiver to regulate its own car emissions in the state. At one point, she accused him of putting politics before science, saying he was not in charge of the Environmental Pollution Agency. Johnson eventually denied California's request.

Some say Boxer's bluntness makes it tough for her to work with Republicans. With a 51-49 majority, Democrats must often work with the GOP to get to the 60-vote threshold needed to pass controversial legislation.

If there's one thing she's good at, however, it's making a statement. During a meeting with members of the British parliament this summer, Boxer paused to ask aides to open the curtains so the lights could be turned off.

Small gestures, she said, can make a difference in the fight against climate change. By the end of the year, Boxer's committee had held nearly two-dozen global warming hearings but had not approved a bill.

With a new round of climate talks scheduled for December in Bali, Indonesia, Boxer set aside her own bill to gather support for a more viable cap-and-trade bill by Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and John Warner, R-Va.

Republicans were not the only members of her committee she had to worry about. Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who co-sponsored Boxer's bill, felt the Lieberman measure was not strong enough. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., worried about the impact of the bill on his state, a major coal producer.

Both eventually voted for the bill - which passed largely on a party line vote - after Boxer convinced Sanders to allow the measure to go to the floor and Baucus got a break for his state's rural electric cooperatives in the legislation. Boxer said the vote showed international negotiators that many U.S. lawmakers want to address global warming and the fight was just beginning.

The United States, which has the largest coal reserves in the world, gets nearly half of its electricity from coal-fired power plants that spew carbon into the air. Luke Popovich, a spokesman for the National Mining Association, argues the bill would increase energy costs while not making a dent on climate change.

"It's called global warming. It's not American warming," said Popovich, adding that technology to reduce emissions has not caught up with political rhetoric.

He says Boxer may be well intentioned but misguided. "Costs to consumers will certainly go up under the bill she favors," he said.

A place to start

Environmental and scientific groups agree the bill doesn't do enough to reduce the threat of a warming planet, but call it a framework they can work with to make larger reductions in the future.

"Sen. Boxer knows it's going to be a difficult challenge and she's trying to move something forward that's going to be achievable but also real," said Lexi Shultz, a lobbyist for the Union of Concerned Scientists, which estimates the U.S. needs to cut emissions by 80 percent by mid-century to slow the effects of global warming.

Even if the Senate fails to act on the bill this year, Boxer vows to keep the pressure on, saying she stands to gain support after the elections. Democrats are expected to gain seats in the Senate.

"This is an issue the American people care about," she said. "Anyone who stands in the way will be held responsible."

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Barbara Boxer: Why is EPA standing in way of state law?

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By Barbara Boxer
Sacramento Bee

Since the Clean Air Act was amended 30 years ago to allow California and other states to work together to clean the air, we in California have always been given the green light to go further than the federal government, until now.

On more than 50 separate occasions, Democratic and Republican administrations have granted waivers to California so that our state can be on the cutting edge of clean air technology and law. Californians understand firsthand the need to clean up the air. We know how harmful air pollution is because we face so many challenges in our own state.

On Dec. 19, after two years of foot-dragging, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency turned down California's request to implement tougher standards to curb global warming pollution from motor vehicles.

As chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee with responsibility for overseeing the EPA, I asked EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to provide all the information behind his unprecedented decision, including the advice he received from his professional staff, the role of the White House and the influence of special interests.

After weeks of missed deadlines, the EPA finally gave up a handful of documents. But page after page was whited out with masking tape.

When I insisted that EPA provide unedited documents, my staff was permitted to peel off the masking tape from a few of the documents -- under the watchful eyes of EPA officials -- and transcribe what had been hidden. Afterward, EPA returned the documents to the agency.

It was immediately evident why the administrator had made it so difficult to see what was in those papers. Johnson has testified that he personally doesn't believe California has any "compelling and extraordinary conditions" that would have justified granting the waiver under the law. But under the masking tape we found his staff had compiled no less than seven pages of examples -- from wildfires and endangered species to dwindling water supplies, agricultural lands at risk and coastal communities threatened by sea level rise.

The same documents warned the administrator that by denying the waiver, he would face a lawsuit from California and other states – and that the agency would likely lose that suit.

Why should the taxpayers be forced to pay to defend the administrator's decision, when EPA's own lawyers explained to the administrator the EPA would likely lose in the end?

The administrator claims that he denied the waiver to avoid a "confusing patchwork" of state laws for vehicle pollution. That's simply wrong, and I would like to set the record straight.

There will be no patchwork of laws. There will be only two standards: a weaker federal rule and a California standard. States are free to choose whichever standard they prefer. More than 150 million Americans -- a majority of the U.S. population -- live in the states that have already either adopted or taken steps toward California's standards to do more to fight global warming pollution. The federal government should get out of the way of the states' pioneering efforts.

Every day that we wait makes it more difficult to address global warming. Yet the EPA administrator's every move seems calculated to postpone any real action to curb global warming pollution.

The mission of the EPA is to protect human health and the environment.

The administrator's decision does neither.

One way or another, this unjustified, unprecedented and illegal decision must be overturned. On Jan. 24, I introduced bipartisan legislation, with 18 of my colleagues, to reverse the denial of the waiver. I also plan to file an amicus brief in the state of California's lawsuit against the EPA. And I will continue the investigation. There remains much to be done as we work to uncover the facts behind this indefensible decision.

The people who pay the administrator's salary have a right to know how he came to a decision that is so far removed from the facts, the law, the science and the precedent.

EPA staff documents say boss should OK California's emissions waiver

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Zachary Coile
San Francisco Chronicle

Top Environmental Protection Agency officials withheld documents from Congress showing that the agency's staff sought to convince EPA administrator Stephen Johnson not to reject California's efforts to enforce the nation's strongest greenhouse gas rules for cars and trucks.

California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, requested the documents last month, when Johnson denied California's request, but EPA officials had stonewalled. On Friday, EPA officials gave Boxer copies of heavily redacted documents in which most key sections were whited out.

But on Monday, EPA officials allowed Boxer's staff to review -- but not photocopy -- a highly sensitive PowerPoint presentation in which EPA staffers told Johnson that he would likely lose in court if he refused the state's request for a waiver.

Most of the sensitive portions were covered in white tape, Boxer said. EPA officials would not allow the documents to be taken out of the room, and Senate staffers had to hand copy them under the eye of EPA lawyers, who claimed they were protected by executive confidentiality.

"This information belongs to the American people," Boxer said, who released excerpts of the documents to reporters Tuesday. "It's shameful that we've had to go through such a tortuous process to get it."

EPA officials did not immediately respond for a request for comment Tuesday.

When Johnson rejected California's request, he said new federal rules, passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, that raised fuel economy standards to 35 mpg by 2020 made the state's waiver request unnecessary.

He is expected to testify before Boxer's committee tomorrow on why he made his decision, and he's sure to be grilled by lawmakers.

The new details about the PowerPoint presentation appear to bolster the case of California and 18 other states that are seeking to implement than new tailpipe emissions rules.

The documents show that EPA staff had concluded that California likely met the "compelling and extraordinary conditions" required under the Clean Air Act for granting waivers to states. The documents cited unique risks to California from climate change including wildfires, threats to coastal communities, water shortages and air pollution.

"California continues to have compelling and extraordinary conditions in general (geography, climatic, human and motor vehicle populations -- many such conditions are vulnerable to climate change conditions) as confirmed by several recent EPA decisions," the agency's staff wrote.

California has had long history in battling the smog-forming pollutant, ozone, and EPA's staffers wrote: "Legislative history, case law, and past waiver practice acknowledge that California's ozone problem is 'compelling and extraordinary.'"

The document also confirmed a revelation -- first reported in the Washington Post last month -- that EPA lawyers believed the agency was "likely to lose" if it denied California's request.

If the agency granted the request, the staffers said the automakers would be likely to sue to overturn it. But the EPA's lawyers concluded that the agency "is almost certain to win such a suit."

Boxer said the documents will help California's case in court by undermining the credibility of Johnson's argument.

"Clearly this decision is not supported by the facts, by the law, by the precedent...it's not going to stand," Boxer said.

"You have to raise the question: Who is Mr. Johnson listening to? Who is he listening to besides the advice of his well-qualified staff?"

The EPA has also alerted Boxer that there is e-mail between the White House and EPA staff, but the agency has said it will not turn over the information until next month.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D--Los Angeles, is preparing to interview EPA staffers and has vowed to use his subpoena power to obtain other documents related to how Johnson made his decision.

E-mail Zachary Coile at zcoile@sfchronicle.com.

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EPA waiver denial not supported by staff, Boxer says

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By David Whitney
Sacramento Bee

WASHINGTON -- EPA head Stephen Johnson was told by staff members that California had a compelling case for the federal Clean Air Act waiver that he later denied -- and that if sued, the agency was likely to lose in court, according to Sen. Barbara Boxer.

Johnson's denial of the waiver halted California from moving ahead with its tough laws to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Sixteen other states were prepared to follow California's lead if the waiver had been issued.

Boxer, D-Calif., heads the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which is investigating the EPA's rejection of the waiver. Under the Clean Air Act, California is the only state that can obtain a waiver allowing it to have tougher emission standards than those imposed by the federal government; but once the waiver is granted, other states can follow with similar rules.

Johnson denied the California request in December, saying there was nothing unique about California's situation that supported issuance of a waiver. A briefing document prepared for Johnson was handed over last week to Boxer's investigators, but virtually all the text was blotted out.

Investigators were permitted to look at the full documents and take notes from them, however. At a press conference Wednesday, Boxer released excerpts from the notes showing that EPA staffers apparently believed California had a solid case for the waiver.

The notes directly quoting from the redacted text of Johnson's briefing memo said that the agency was likely to be sued regardless of what decision it reached. But it said "EPA is almost certain to win" if the lawsuit was brought by the auto industry because the waiver had been granted, and "EPA likely to lose suit" brought by California if the waiver was denied.

"California continues to have compelling and extraordinary conditions in general (geography, climatic, human and motor vehicle populations -- many such conditions are vulnerable to climate change conditions) as confirmed by several recent EPA decisions," Boxer staff quoted the memo as saying.

Boxer said in a statement that she will closely question Johnson about his decision when her committee holds a hearing on the waiver denial Thursday.

"His decision was not supported by the facts, by the law, by the science or by precedent," Boxer said. "It will not stand."

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Boxer ready to fight for climate

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By Diana Marrero
Visalia Times-Delta

WASHINGTON -- Barely 5 feet tall, Barbara Boxer used a wooden box to reach the microphone at a global warming rally outside the Capitol.

But her voice was big.

"We are putting global warming on the map," she told faithful supporters last winter. "We are saying to our friends in the world, we understand America has to step up to the plate."

Boxer, a California Democrat who had just taken control of the Senate's environment committee, spoke to a crowd that didn't need convincing.

She now faces a tougher audience inside the Capitol.

The three-term senator is shepherding legislation through the Senate that would cut carbon dioxide emissions by two-thirds nationwide by 2050.

Scientists say the United States, the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, must significantly reduce its carbon footprint soon or face the planetary consequences of a warmer climate.

California could see dramatic changes under the most dire predictions. Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley and across the state could see their water supplies dwindle. The state's climate could become hotter and drier, increasing the frequency of wildfires. And cities along the state's 1,340 miles of coastline could be swamped by rising sea levels.

A fierce environmentalist, Boxer has the passion to push a global warming bill into law. But it takes more than one person's passion and hard work to make laws in Washington.

The bill faces long odds after the Senate returns from its holiday recess today -- election year politics that tend to stall major bills, opposition from powerful industry groups and Republicans in the Senate who say the bill would hurt the U.S. economy.

At the winter rally, however, Boxer was optimistic. It was March and Boxer had reached the peak of her power. The Democrats controlled the Senate, albeit by a slim margin. And, after a quarter of a century on Capitol Hill, Boxer could set the agenda as chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

Her goal: to pass global warming legislation that would set up a cap-and-trade system requiring U.S. companies to trade credits in order to release carbon into the atmosphere.

When the legislative session ended last month, Boxer had fallen short of that goal. The bill passed her committee, but it was less stringent than she wanted. And the Senate leadership showed no sign they would bring her bill to the floor for a full Senate vote.

The world's leading scientists agree that greenhouse gases, the bulk of which is carbon dioxide, are largely responsible for global warming. Its effects, they say, are already being felt, as snowcaps melt and parts of the world become drier.

The United States signed the Kyoto climate accord to reduce greenhouse gases a decade ago but, unlike 177 other countries, the U.S. never ratified the treaty.

Points of contention

Environmentalists say developed nations have the responsibility to show leadership on the issue and that other countries eventually will follow.

Some say Boxer's bluntness -- she once questioned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's truthfulness -- makes it tough for her to work with Republicans. With a 51-49 majority, Democrats must often work with the GOP to get to the 60-vote threshold needed to pass controversial legislation.

"It makes it difficult to move her agenda forward," said Jennifer Duffy, a Senate analyst for the Cook Political Report.

By the end of the year, Boxer's committee had held nearly two-dozen global warming hearings but had not approved a bill.

Environmental and scientific groups agree the bill doesn't do enough to reduce the threat of a warming planet. But they call it a framework they can work with to make larger reductions in the future.

Even if the Senate fails to act on the bill this year, Boxer vows to keep the pressure on, saying she stands to gain support for the bill after the 2008 elections. Democrats are expected to gain seats in the Senate.

"This is an issue the American people care about," she said. "Anyone who stands in the way will be held responsible."

Link to article

Ballyhoo in Bali

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By William J. Kelly
LA CityBeat

There's an old saying in politics: "Tell 'em what they wanna hear." This conventional wisdom explains why politicians often say one thing and do another, often completely contradictory.

The Bush Administration is no exception, of course, particularly when it comes to global warming. Senator Barbara Boxer learned that when she held a field briefing of the U.S. Senate Environment & Public Works Committee in Los Angeles last week. The committee, which she chairs, delved into the Administration's recent denial of permission for the state to enforce its ambitious greenhouse gas tailpipe standards for new cars.

What Boxer learned, was that December was a month when there was a major conflict between the Administration's rhetoric and action. In Washington, Bush's U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson subverted California's standards by denying permission to enforce them.

Meanwhile, Bush dispatched a senior White House official to go halfway around the world to the United Nations conference on climate change in Bali, Indonesia, to assuage international anger about U.S. inaction on global warming. There, the official -- James Connaughton, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality -- actually touted California's tailpipe standards as evidence to the world that the U.S. is working diligently to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

In his latest performance, Connaughton appears to have become the master of ballyhoo on global warming, an old Irish term for "sensational advertising" and "propaganda." Connaughton is the White House operative who had non--scientists tone down government scientific reports on climate change and then control press contacts with scientists on their research.

In Bali, he sung another tune, telling "the entire world one of the pieces of evidence of American 'leadership' on climate change, evidence we were getting 'real results,' was that eleven states had adopted California's clean car standards," Carl Pope, Sierra Club executive director, told the committee. "The slide he presented actually quantified the carbon dioxide emissions which California's standards would achieve and took credit for them."

Pope, who attended the Bali meeting, went on to explain that Connaughton's presentation was based on an official State Department report to the United Nations, entitled the Fourth Climate Action Report to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. In explaining myriad efforts underway in the U.S. that will help meet the President's 2002 goal of reducing the carbon intensity of the U.S. by 18 percent by 2012, the document highlights California's tailpipe standards and the plans of other states, which now number 15, to enforce them within their borders.

Boxer noted that four more states are moving to adopt the standards, which would bring the total to 19. "More than 150 million Americans, a majority of the U.S. population, live in these 19 states," Boxer said.

The occasion for her field briefing was that last month U.S. EPA Administrator Johnson denied needed permission under the federal Clean Air Act for California and these other states to even enforce the tailpipe standard for automakers. They are supposed to take effect in 2009 and cut greenhouse gases by 30 percent by 2016 from cars, pickup trucks, vans, and sport utility vehicles, former Assemblywoman Fran Pavley testified to the Senate panel.

Johnson's decision on the standards, which would effectively raise average vehicle mileage to 44 miles per gallon, came after Congress voted last month to boost the federal fuel economy standard for autos to 35 miles a gallon by 2020. He said that the federal increase eliminated the need for California's standard and will prevent a patchwork of state standards for the auto industry.

The result is that California will come up short on meeting its own greenhouse gas law, which calls for the state to cut the carbon emissions that are causing global warming to their 1990 level by 2020, according to Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board. "It would get us half of what we need," she told the Senate committee.

Moreover, Nichols said that because California's standard would "yield a better fuel efficiency" it would save drivers money within a year of buying a new car at today's gas prices. At the same time, she said, it would not restrict choice in vehicle models so drivers would still be able to buy everything from pickup trucks to sport utility vehicles.

Finally, she noted that since the other states are planning to enforce the California requirements, automakers really would not face a patchwork of standards, just two, a national benchmark and a California requirement.

California on January 2 sued the federal EPA to overturn Johnson's decision. Meanwhile, Boxer plans to haul Johnson before her committee in Washington January 24, potentially under oath, to explain his decision.

"This is nothing more than a backroom deal and Stephen Johnson nothing more than a tool in Washington politics," concluded Jerry Brown, California attorney general, who is leading the state's legal battle to overturn the decision. "Sooner or later we're going to discover real corruption."

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U.S. denial of California emissions waiver criticized

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By Margot Roosevelt
Los Angeles Times

Congressional critics launched an offensive against the Bush administration Thursday for denying California and other states the right to adopt strict curbs on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said she would consider issuing a subpoena for documents that might show White House interference in the Dec. 19 decision to deny California a waiver to enact its own rules under the Clean Air Act.

"This outrageous decision...is completely contrary to the law and science," Boxer said in a briefing with state officials at Los Angeles City Hall. She held up an empty cardboard box as a symbol of the Environmental Protection Agency's refusal so far to provide the hefty technical and legal backup that normally accompanies air pollution waiver decisions and are usually published in the Federal Register.

The EPA's decision was in part based on the assertion that global warming, caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, is a worldwide problem rather than a California issue, and therefore requires a national, rather than a state-led, solution. EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson said an energy bill signed by President Bush last month would adequately control greenhouse gas emissions by requiring a 35-mph fleet-wide fuel economy average by 2020.

But the air board has calculated that more greenhouse gas would be emitted under the federal plan than under California's blueprint.

California already has the nation's most severe smog and soot. And scientists have found that by warming the air and increasing humidity, carbon dioxide emissions increase concentrations of ozone and fine particulates, which are linked to heart attacks, asthma and other diseases. A Stanford University study released last week calculated that California would have several hundred additional deaths each year due to the effects of global warming.

Using a computer model to simulate global pollution changes and factoring in the health effects confirmed by previous studies, Mark Jacobson, a Stanford professor of civil and environmental engineering, concluded that about 21,600 people worldwide could die each year for each degree Celsius of temperature increase.

"With six of the 10 most polluted cities in the nation being in California," Jacobson said, "that alone creates a special circumstance for the state."

California's landmark 2002 law requires new automakers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle tailpipes by 30% by 2016. Under the Clean Air Act, the state is allowed to issue its own rules, because it had a pollution program before the act was passed.

States may choose to follow the federal model or California's rules, but only if the EPA issues a waiver to California. The agency has done so in more than 50 other cases over three decades

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown, who sued the EPA last week in an effort to overturn the decision, said the agency was delaying the issuing of legal and technical documents to stall court action.

"Subpoena these guys," he urged Boxer. "Send the marshals out. Get them to tell us under oath. They are not going to get away with this. Sooner or later, we are going to uncover real corruption...that is dangerous to California and to the whole world."

Brown said that the Bush administration may be able to delay court action a year, until the president's term is over, but that Congress may be able to speed the process. "What you have is a bunch of scofflaws in the White House," he said. "This fellow Johnson is becoming a stooge in a really pathetic drama that hopefully will not play out much longer."

Johnson is scheduled to testify before the Senate committee in Washington on Jan. 24. An EPA spokesman said, "The official decision documents are being prepared, and they will be released soon."

Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the state Air Resources Board, said that if the court did not act quickly, the board would outline other options for requiring greenhouse gas cutbacks from automobiles, including fees and incentives. She said the California standards, which are scheduled to begin to take effect in 2009, could be met by auto companies with existing technology. So far, she said, 12 states have chosen to adopt California's standards, pending a waiver approval. Others are in the process of doing so. If all 50 states adopted California's law, it would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions by 1.4 gigatons, about twice what the federal standards would achieve by then, Nichols said.

The outcome of the tailpipe issue may be determined by the next administration, said Brown, who added that he had written the presidential candidates to ask their positions on the waiver. All the Democrats support California's position, but only one Republican, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), answered Brown's letter in the affirmative.

Testifying Thursday, Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, urged Californians to focus on the Feb. 5 primary and demand that all candidates endorse the waiver. Although polls show that Americans overwhelmingly support strong measures to curb global warming, and 150 New Hampshire town halls approved resolutions urging candidates to address global warming, the issue has been largely dormant in the presidential campaign, Pope said.

margot.roosevelt@latimes.com

Times staff writer Marla Cone contributed to this report.

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California leaders take aim at EPA at Senate committee briefing

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

By Noaki Schwartz
Associated Press Writer

A panel of outraged state and environmental leaders met Thursday to examine why the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency denied a waiver that would have allowed California and 16 other states to regulate emissions from cars, trucks and SUVs.

The denial was the first time the EPA had refused California a waiver under the Clean Air Act since Congress gave the state the right to obtain such waivers in 1967. In response, California sued the federal government.

"I think it is fair to say that in the intervening...years, no administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency has issued a decision which more flagrantly violated the clear language and intent of the Clean Air Act, or more fundamentally threatened the American people," Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra Club, told a Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works during the field briefing.

Last month EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson rejected the state's arguments that it faced unique threats from climate change. Johnson said the federal government has a national plan to raise fuel economy standards that would be more effective than a patchwork of state regulations.

The EPA's denial angered members of Congress, including Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Henry Waxman, California Democrats who chair the committees that oversee the EPA. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., called on the agency's inspector general to investigate allegations that Johnson acted against recommendations from his technical and legal staff in denying the waiver.

The EPA said it would turn over all documents about its decision, but Boxer's committee was unable to get the paperwork in time for Thursday's hearing.

"Where's the work? Where's the beef behind this decision?" Boxer asked as she waved around an empty cardboard box with the label "EPA Documents."

Before her was an empty chair reserved for Johnson, who did not attend the hearing. EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar said Johnson had a busy schedule and was preparing to address the waiver issue before a full hearing of Boxer's committee in Washington on Jan. 24.

On either side of that chair sat Pope, California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr., state Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols and Natural Resources Defense Council senior climate adviser Fran Pavley.

California officials have argued that their more aggressive law would require the auto industry to cut emissions by one-third in new vehicles by 2016, boosting efficiency to about 36.8 mpg. An analysis released by state air regulators showed their 2004 tailpipe regulation would be faster and tougher than the federal fuel economy rules.

Twelve other states -- Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington -- have adopted California's emissions standards, and others have said they plan to do so. The 12 states, along with Arizona, Delaware and Illinois, said Wednesday they plan to intervene in support of California.

The EPA's Dec. 19 decision was a victory for automakers, which argued that they would be forced to reduce their selection of vehicles and raise prices in states that adopted California's standards.

Brown railed against the EPA and the Bush administration, calling the refusal a "backroom deal" with automakers.

"Sooner or later we're going to uncover real corruption," he said.

Associated Press Writer Erica Werner contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

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Senator Boxer Questions EPA Decision

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0800

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- The battle between California and the federal Environmental Protection Agency went into another round this week with a lawsuit, joined by 15 other states, challenging the Bush administrations' refusal to let allow vehicle emissions standards to go into effect next year which would limit gases that contribute to global warming. Now Senator Barbara Boxer is questioning why she can't get more information about why the waiver to exceed federal standards was denied.

Sentor Barbara Boxer gave EPA administrator Stephen Johnson a Monday deadline to let her Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works have a look at documents that might explain how the decision to turn down the request for a waiver was made.

"The letter they sent back to us says, 'sorry we can’t meet your deadline. We will get back to you in another week.' And Mr. Johnson not handing over the documents, which, by the way, we can subpoena," said Boxer. The EPA claims a national approach to auto emissions standards is better than state-by-state regulations.

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Boxer blasts EPA chief over briefing no-show

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

By Matthew Hay Brown
Baltimore Sun

A Senate panel investigating EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson's decision to deny California the authority to regulate automobile emissions of greenhouse gases apparently will have to proceed without Johnson himself.

The agency chief has denied an invitation by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer to discuss his decision at a "field briefing" next month in San Francisco, the committee said today.

"Rather than looking in the eyes of the people he is affecting, Mr. Johnson is hiding out in Washington, D.C.," Boxer said in a statement. "His shameful decision denying the California waiver must be overturned."

California, which has unique authority under federal law to develop its own air quality standards subject to EPA approval, had sought permission to begin limiting tailpipe emissions of the gases that scientists say contribute to global warming. A dozen other states, including New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Maryland, stood ready to enforce the California standards.

But Johnson denied the request last week, reportedly against the unanimous recommendations of the EPA's legal and technical staffs. Johnson said fuel efficiency standards signed into law by President Bush last week rendered the California proposal unnecessary.

Scheduled to appear in San Francisco Jan. 10 are former California Gov. Jerry Brown, now the state's attorney general, and the heads of the California Air Resources Board and the Sierra Club. But Johnson was to have been the guest of honor.

"As you know, Californians are shocked by your decision," Boxer wrote to Johnson last week. "I am requesting that you appear...so you can come before the people of the State of California to explain the legal and technical basis for your decision."

In a release this afternoon, the Environment and Public Works Committee said Johnson had declined the invitation.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform also is investigating Johnson's decision; Chairman Henry A. Waxman -- like Boxer, a California Democrat -- has warned Johnson against destroying any documents related to his ruling.

Link to article

Senators Aim to Keep Telemarketers Away from Consumers' Cell Phones

Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

By Raju Shanbhag
TMCnet

If the three U.S senators have their way, it might be nearly impossible for telemarketers in the country to call mobile phones. Ohio's Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., have introduced the Wireless 411 Privacy Act to protect cell phone customers from unwillingly having their numbers listed in directories.

According to the bill, your permission will have to be explicitly gained to list your cell number in any directories. Also, the phone companies need to provide their customers clear notice about their rights of not getting listed. According to a report in msnbc.com, Brown spokeswoman Bethany Lesser said in a statement, "The goal of the legislation is to prevent anybody from doing this. We want to nip it in the bud rather than fight these things as they come up again and again."

According to the new act, any company other than wireless providers cannot assemble and publish directories of private cell phone numbers. Also, numbers should be removed from the directories at no extra expense to the customers. For the senators who want this act, this is not only about the intrusion of privacy. If the phone number of children or women get into wrong hands, then the consequences could be more dangerous than the intrusion of privacy.

The senators also claim that the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association are collecting a national cell phone directory, which is vehemently denied by the association. The association says that although some companies wanted to put together a directory, the decision was then called off.

In the U.S, land-line telephone customers have a national Do Not Call registry aimed at limiting telemarketing calls. But the same facility is not available to cellular customers. Although some companies like Verizon have a policy against providing the cell phone numbers of their customers to telemarketing companies, these companies say that they are always fighting an uphill battle against those companies who are keen on getting the numbers of their subscribers.

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Boxer says EPA head ducking her as greenhouse gas deadline nears

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

By Erica Werner
San Jose Mercury News

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barbara Boxer said Tuesday that EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson is ducking a meeting with her as the deadline nears for the agency to decide whether to allow California to implement its landmark tailpipe emissions law.

The Environmental Protection Agency's self-imposed deadline for making the decision is the end of December.

Boxer, D-Calif. and chairwoman of the Senate's environment committee, told reporters she's been trying to meet with Johnson to see where things stand but he's refused.

Johnson's spokeswoman, Jennifer Wood, said Johnson would meet with Boxer after the waiver decision is issued. "The senator has already made her position clear in her statements to the media and to the agency," Wood said.

Boxer said she has "little hope" that EPA will grant the federal waiver required to allow California to slash greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks by some 30 percent by 2016.

More than a dozen other states plan to enact the same limits if California gets the waiver.

Wood said Johnson is following the statutory process laid out in the Clean Air Act to reach his decision.

The Bush administration opposes mandatory limits on greenhouse gases and Boxer said she's concerned politics is playing a role in Johnson's decision. California has been waiting for a decision since 2005 and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sued earlier this year to try to force a quicker answer.

"Politics is alive and well in relation to this waiver," said Boxer, citing a Transportation Department lobbying campaign against the waiver that was brought to light earlier this year by House investigators.

Boxer also expressed concern about whether EPA is actually doing all the legal analysis to support the waiver decision and whether agency staff might be resisting what political appointees are trying to do. Wood declined to comment on that.

"They're really going to be in trouble if they deny it and they have nothing to back it up," said Boxer.

Link to full article

Major global warming bill headed for Senate

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

By Frank Davies
Mercury News Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- In a landmark effort to tackle global warming, a Senate committee Wednesday approved a sweeping program to slash greenhouse gas emissions through the first half of this century and mandate a low-carbon future for the U.S. economy.

"This is the most far-reaching global warming bill in the world," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, chair of the Environment Committee, who was jubilant and tearful after the 11-8 vote that sends the bill to the Senate floor next year.

The measure still faces significant obstacles in the Senate and the House, and the Bush administration disagrees with some of the bill's mandates. But the bill's backers say political and moral momentum are on their side.

"This is historic, and it sends a message to the Senate, White House and the world that the United States is ready to get into this fight and lead," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., one of the co--sponsors of the 300-page measure.

The 10 Democrats and independents on the committee were joined by one Republican, John Warner of Virginia -- the other co-sponsor -- who predicted the bill would force members of Congress and presidential candidates "to do their homework and take a stand."

The measure would establish a cap-and-trade program, administered by two new federal boards, and set emissions limits that get tougher every year after 2012. Utilities and industries would be granted allowances to stay under the cap, and could sell or trade those allowances.

Each year, more of the allowances would be auctioned, with some of the proceeds going to investment in clean technology, and to states such as California, which already have adopted efficiency mandates and emissions controls.

The ambitious goal is to use a combination of market forces and government mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent by 2050. The bill's backers also say it would accelerate international efforts to enact a global cap-and-trade program.

The Bush administration has adamantly opposed any mandatory emissions controls.

The bill's passage resulted from what Boxer called "a delicately balanced coalition" of lawmakers, environmental and religious groups and some corporations that favor the certainty of long-term carbon caps. Incentives in the bill might benefit nuclear power and could prod the coal industry to adopt new, cleaner technology.

"Through this pull and tug, we're trying to push industry and help industry, especially through a transition period," Boxer said.

Immediately after the vote, Boxer took congratulatory calls from Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had lobbied for the bill.

With the exception of Warner, Republicans on the committee attacked the bill as a threat to the economy that would send more jobs and businesses overseas, where tough regulations don't exist, and boost energy prices, especially in the short term.

"This is all pain and no gain," complained Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who preceded Boxer as committee chairman. He predicted a 35 percent increase in home electricity bills.

Supporters of the bill pointed to the example of California, which has some of the highest electricity rates in the nation, but household bills that are less than the national average because of stringent efficiency standards.

Republicans failed to amend the bill with a provision that would end the emissions caps unless China -- about to become the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases -- adopted similar restrictions within 10 years.

"You're naive if you think this bill will have some sort of impact on China through osmosis. They won't do it," Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, said.

But Boxer and Lieberman said the bill, if adopted, would add to pressure on China to act as part of a new international agreement. The bill would impose extra fees on China if it did not act and U.S. businesses were put at a disadvantage.

"This sends a message to China to get with it," Lieberman said. Several Democrats noted that nations attending the climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, are looking to U.S. leadership.

Another independent on the committee, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, complained that the bill was not strong enough and contained "too many giveaways" to industry. He also wanted to set a higher target of 80 percent reductions by 2050.

The historic all-day session attracted every senator on the 19-member committee except presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., who was campaigning in the Northeast. Clinton said she would follow Boxer's lead on the bill, and Boxer cast several proxy votes on Clinton's behalf -- including the final vote.

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Boxer set to tackle climate change bill

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

By David Whitney
Sacramento Bee

WASHINGTON -- After 20 hearings and countless speeches on the Senate floor warning of the risks of failure, a key committee starts work today on historic legislation to dramatically reduce global warming.

It's a tall order. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee's chair, Sen. Barbara Boxer, the chamber's leading liberal, said she was up to the task.

"This is the biggest week of my life," the California Democrat said Monday.

Republican critics, led by the committee's senior Republican, Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, also are energized for the fight. Inhofe is a global warming skeptic who believes that rising temperatures have more to do with cyclical changes and not with the burning of fossil fuels such as oil and coal.

By midday Tuesday, Republicans had filed more than 150 possible amendments. Inhofe has complained bitterly that the sweeping legislation intended to cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than half by 2050 will impose huge costs on consumers and hurt oil- and coal-producing states such as his own.

But Matthew Dempsey, spokesman for the Republican minority on the committee, said Republicans will not be maneuvering to delay or kill the legislation.

"It's a foregone conclusion it's going to pass," he said. Rather, he said, the committee meeting "will provide Senator Inhofe and committee members the opportunity to raise major concerns about the bill, including the severe economic harm this bill will place upon American families and the American economy."

The legislation was introduced by Sens. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, and John Warner, R-Va. It would cap emissions and reduce them by 60 percent by 2050 through an allocation system under which companies are assigned pollution credits that can be bought, sold and traded.

While the Lieberman-Warner bill has the endorsement of leading industry and environmental groups, it also has critics. Among the complaints is that it doesn't reduce greenhouse gas emissions enough and rewards the coal industry by initially offering cost-free emission credits based on historic pollution levels.

Boxer said she will try to fix some of these complaints in a rewrite of the bill she will offer at the start of today's session.

The changes would add additional controls on emissions by companies burning natural gas, thus improving the 2050 goal to an overall 70 percent reduction, and shorten by five years the period that industry would be assigned no-cost pollution credits to trim the advantage of coal-burning companies. Her version also will add to the billions of dollars in benefits that states will draw on from the sale of the emission credits to cover such things as transportation improvements and help for low-income families on their higher fuel bills.

While the legislation will not be as aggressive as California's landmark global warming law, it has broad backing among environmentalists and won the endorsement of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week.

"We are well aware that our goals for climate stabilization cannot be achieved without similar efforts by the rest of the country," he said in a letter to Boxer.

Committee action comes as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is opening in Bali, Indonesia. Boxer hopes to lead a Senate delegation to the Bali talks with the legislative victory in hand. "If this gets out of committee, it will send a powerful signal to the nation and the world that change is indeed coming," Boxer said. "This will be the most far-reaching global warming bill in the world."

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Sen. Boxer releases bills aimed at preventing oil spills

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0800

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON—Sen. Barbara Boxer has released two bills in Washington aimed at preventing future oil spills like the one in the San Francisco bay last month.

One of the bills would give more authority to the U.S. Coast Guard to control ships entering and exiting ports during emergency or hazardous conditions.

The bill would also authorize 20 million dollars to upgrade the Coast Guard's vessel traffic service.

The other piece of legislation would raise the liability limit for cargo ships. The bills have not yet been formally introduced.

The Cosco Busan cargo ship spilled 58,000 gallons of oil into the bay on Nov. 7.

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Senator Barbara Boxer Tours Devastation

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0800

Lake Arrowhead Mountain-News
By Sam H. Clauder II

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., visited Running Springs last Friday, Nov. 2, to get a firsthand look at the devastation caused by the Slide and Grass Valley Fires. During a press conference with local media, Boxer reported public hearings will be held during the course of investigations to be conducted into the cause of the fires and the fight against them.

Boxer was the first elected federal representative to make an official visit to the mountains since the fires began on Monday, Oct. 22. She met firefighting officials at Fire Station 51, took a tour of burned homes in Running Springs, Fredalba and Smiley Park, and returned to the fire station to speak and take questions from local reporters.

When the entourage of vehicles on the tour made its first stop, Boxer was the first person to step out and walk onto the ashes of a home on Fredalba Road. As the phalanx of officials and reporters followed her, and she was told some of the burned homes in the area were more than 100 years old and on the National Registry of Historic Places, Boxer was visibly moved.

During her statement, Boxer said she recently spoke to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said investigations would be conducted into the cause of the fires, as well as how they were fought, in order to determine what can be learned from this firefighting effort to help prevent and fight future fires.

When asked about the timeline of investigations, Boxer deferred to Chief Zacaris, one of the firefighting officials standing behind her. Zacaris explained the investigations and public hearings would be executed quickly enough to complete reports on the fires within the next 60 to 90 days.

Boxer said more attention needs to be given to what can be done to prevent and mitigate disastrous fires such as these.

"There has been a lack of prioritization of mitigation and prevention efforts," she said, "and mitigation should be a huge part of what we should be doing.

"I've often been asked why we build in areas like this," Boxer said. "It's because California is a beautiful place and we love it. We can and will rebuild on federal land and all across California.

"We're going to do everything we can to help you get your lives back together. Before I left Washington, Sen. Lieberman and Sen. Collins wrote a letter to me saying tell us what you need and what we can do.

"If you were denied help by your insurance company, stick with it because FEMA or the SBA can help," she said. "So far we haven't had any complaints about insurance agencies, but if you're having trouble, call my office at (909) 888-8525 and tell me if your insurance company is not coming through for you and I will."

Boxer said the national exposure the fires received showed people how our firefighters work together in a unified command team with egos and department protocols set aside. She said people from all over the country have asked her how they could help.

Boxer emphasized a need to make a commitment to the men and women who fought these fires because, she said, "the least we can do is stand behind these firefighters, many of whom are volunteers and some have no health insurance of their own."

Boxer announced she would again try to get her healthy firefighter and healthy forests act passed by the Senate.

"It almost got through the Senate last time," she said. And I will be pushing it again because, if a firefighter participates in a national disaster, such as these or the one that happened when the twin towers came down on 9/11, we must follow their health for the rest of their lives."

The 21 fires in Southern California burned 2,180 homes and five businesses. Of those, 450 homes and two businesses were lost in the Grass Valley and Slide Fires. The estimated cost of the fires was $79 billion across the state.

There were 130 firefighters injured across the state and 14 deaths, all civilian. Seven deaths were caused by the fires and seven others were indirectly related to the fires. To date 12,476 Californians had registered with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for emergency assistance and 2,523 had registered with the Small Business Administration (SBA).

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Boxer calls for aid

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0700

Andrew Edwards
San Bernardino County Sun

RUNNING SPRINGS -- Sen. Barbara Boxer praised the firefighters who battled October's wildfires during a Friday visit to the San Bernardino Mountains.

"Throughout these fires, which are only now being subdued...these brave men and women were there selflessly doing their duty," she said.

Boxer, D--Calif., spoke at a news conference on Friday outside the headquarters of the Running Springs Fire Department.

She spoke to reporters after a quick tour of Fredalba, a community south of Running Springs where several homes were lost last week in the Slide Fire.

Boxer said she supports efforts -- also backed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, also D--Calif., and Rep. Jerry Lewis, R--Redlands -- to obtain $1 billion in federal money for fire--protection efforts.

As Boxer called for more money for fire programs, she made a swipe at the war policies of President Bush.

"The problem is, we don't have the right priorities," she said. "We seem to have everything we need for excursions abroad -- that's an open checkbook -- but when it comes to our own country, we have to fight."

In a telephone interview on Friday, Lewis spokesman Jim Specht said that of the $1 billion Lewis sought, a significant chunk of those resources would be dedicated to fire--prevention efforts such as vegetation removal.

Specht also said $200 million of the desired money would be needed to reimburse Forest Service programs that had funds siphoned from their intended purposes this year to pay for firefighting.

Boxer also said emergency workers injured while responding to a nationally declared disaster should receive federal help.

"The least we can do is follow you and make sure you're healthy," she said.

Fredalba, the area Boxer visited, is part of the site of the Slide Fire, which burned 12,759 acres and destroyed 272 structures -- most of them homes -- in the Running Springs and Green Valley Lake areas.

Dave and Sharon Fogal, who lost the home they lived in for 17 years, didn't see Boxer in their neighborhood on Friday, but they did find Chatterbox, their noisy Himalayan cat, alive in the debris that used to be their house.

The Fogals, who are renting a place to live in Redlands, had not seen Chatterbox since they evacuated from their home as the Slide Fire raged.

This is the first time that the couple faces the task of rebuilding their home after a forest fire.

"We thought we'd make it out," Sharon Fogal said. "We always had before. We never dreamed it would burn."

Fire crews across the state on Friday were bracing for another round of winds.

Local, state and federal agencies have people ready in the area in case of an emergency, said Kim Zagaris, chief of the state Office of Emergency Services' Fire and Rescue Branch.

"The numbers would stagger you," Zagaris said.

Intense "devil winds" that reached hurricane force at the start of last week whipped the Slide Fire, Grass Valley Fire and several other blazes into catastrophes.

The National Weather Service has predicted gusts to 40 mph today will blow through Running Springs.

In the San Bernardino Mountains, fire information officer Angela Goldman said five hand crews and eight engine companies are standing by in case another fire breaks out or flames from the Grass Valley or Slide fires breach containment lines.

Six helitankers have also been assigned to the local mountains.

"Everybody's on high alert anywhere they're expecting high winds," Goldman.

andrew.edwards@sbsun.com

(909) 335--9520

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Sen. Boxer tours local fire damage

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0700

By Adam C. Hartmann
The Press-Enterprise

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, wearing a yellow Forest Service fire jacket, toured the fire-ravaged Fredalba area of Running Springs this morning.

Running Springs Fire Chief Bill Smith told Boxer that 166 homes were destroyed and 39 damaged in that area.

They also lost the old Brookings Mill.

"You lost a legacy," Boxer said.

At a news conference after the tour at the Running Springs fire station, San Bernardino County Supervisor Dennis Hansberger said he's been so frazzled that he's lost track of what day it is because these fires have been in his district.

"It comes real close to home for me," Hansberger said, referring to his district.

Boxer said of fires, "We know they're part of life here in California."

She also talked about lessons learned from the Old Fire and the Esperanza fires and said she imagines we'll learn lessons from this one, too.

Boxer said she took a picture of firefighters in their safety fire shelters to the floor of the Senate. She wrote a letter for the Congressional Record, which is in the form of a letter to the president of the Senate.

She said in the letter that she hopes everyone will recognize firefighters' valor and that the government will stand up to the health problems firefighters will face for the rest of their lives.

Boxer also has sponsored legislation, which failed once in the Senate, encouraging the federal government to work with county agencies to help monitor firefighters who suffer long-term injuries or medical problems resulting from their services at a nationally declared disaster.

Reach Adam C. Hartmann at 909-806-3055 or ahartmann@PE.com

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Boxer Announces Date for EPW Hearing on Yucca Mountain

Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0700

YubaNet.com

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, announced today that the Committee plans to hold an oversight hearing on the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project on October 31st, 2007 at 10:00am EDT.

The Environment and Public Works Committee has jurisdiction over the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency that will act on the Department of Energy's Yucca Mountain license application. The Committee also has oversight over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is charged with setting radiation standards for the site.

Chairman Boxer and other Senators, including Majority Leader Reid and Senator Hillary Clinton, a member of the Committee, have expressed a high level of interest in the issues surrounding the Yucca Mountain project.

Additional details about the hearing, including the list of witnesses, will be announced on October 24th.

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