Conservation groups today notified the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of their intent to challenge its decision that no permits are required under the federal Clean Water Act before the development of approximately 500 acres of South Carolina wetlands in Black Tom Bay.
Consistent with the latest scientific data about the growing health threat from breathing smog pollution, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed to strengthen the national limit for allowable ozone levels. The move would mean that more areas, such as some mid-size cities, will come under Clean Air Act requirements and deadlines leading to more people breathing cleaner air in the future.
A federal judge declined to enjoin construction of a container shipping terminal in North Charleston for now, but agreed to expand a lawsuit challenging approvals of the terminal to include the FHWA as a defendant.
The U.S. EPA agreed to adopt rules reducing toxic air pollution from the nation¹s coal- and oil-burning power plants by November 2011, according to a settlement agreement reached in a federal lawsuit brought against the agency by a coalition of public health and environmental groups.
Senators Mark Warner and Jim Webb of Virginia and Senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina, along with 17 members of the Southeast's congressional delegation are joining more than 150 colleagues from across the country and from both sides of the aisle to introduce a bill in the House and Senate today that would permanently protect 58.5 million acres of America's premiere public land.
SELC welcomed EPA's announcement on a proposal to establish nationwide standards for controlling largest sources of heat trapping gas pollutants.
SELC today filed comments that urged the Obama Administration to protect the Atlantic coast and beaches of the South rather than drilling for the small amount of oil offshore.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced it will re-evaluate the national limit for ozone pollution.
The S.C. Supreme Court will review a challenge to state permits for the proposed container terminal at the Charleston Navy Base brought by the SELC on behalf of the Coastal Conservation League.
SELC hailed today’s unanimous vote by Santee Cooper’s board to suspend permits for the state-owned utility’s proposed Pee Dee coal plant.
The Southern Environmental Law Center and S.C. Coastal Conservation League today asked a federal court in Charleston to delay construction of a container cargo terminal until the Federal Highway Administration evaluates whether 10,000 vehicles a day can be added safely to I-26, and whether rail options could divert cargo and prevent interstate gridlock.
Passage of this House bill signals a seismic shift in U.S. policy on climate change—from ignoring the problem to attempting to solve it—but the bill needs strengthening by the Senate.
In a major step toward reversing years of attacks on wetlands and water protections, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee today passed the Clean Water Restoration Act (S.787) by a 12-7 vote.
Environmental organizations today reached an agreement with Duke Energy Carolinas and North Carolina Utilities Commission Public Staff under which the company agrees to meet an aggressive energy savings target and cap earnings from energy efficiency programs at levels that protect customers’ interests in fair rates while still encouraging strong performance.
For decades, the Clean Water Act has broadly protected America’s lakes, rivers, streams, and drinking water sources from unregulated pollution and destruction, rescuing them from the dire straits they were in during the late 1960s and early 1970s. But because of a concerted effort by polluters and developers, and muddied rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court, up to 60 percent (at least 15,000 important waters) have lost these vital protections and countless other waters (including more than 50 percent of our streams and 20 million acres of wetlands) are at risk of losing protections.
South Carolina’s environmental agency illegally permitted coal-fired power plant.
SELC has challenged a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers go-ahead to fill one of the largest remaining intact wetlands in an area near Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.
The South Carolina Public Service Commission today rejected Duke Energy Carolinas’ “Save-a-Watt” proposal.
In a meeting with South Carolina's Congressional delegation today, a state committee failed to put forward solutions to increase South Carolina's access to innovative, clean renewable energy and reduce the costs of climate change.
Following Congressional pledges for EPA regulation of coal waste after the catastrophic waste spill in Tennessee and a second spill in Alabama, the Southern Environmental Law Center today outlined the minimum safeguards necessary to protect the environment and public health and safety from coal waste.
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), the largest environmental advocacy organization dedicated solely to protecting the Southeast, today announced a list of ten special places in the South that face immediate, potentially irreparable threats in 2009.
Today, a coalition of public health and environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal court here, seeking a firm and enforceable new deadline for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to require deep reductions in mercury and other toxic air pollutants emitted from coal- and oil-fired power plants.
A federal appeals court refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging South Carolina Department of Transportation studies endorsing a controversial bridge proposed for the Upper Santee Swamp.
Despite the rain from recent hurricanes that has fallen across the Southeast, much of the region remains firmly in the grip of drought conditions
The U.S. Senate today began much-anticipated debate on the Climate Change Security Act of 2008, also known as the Warner-Lieberman bill. The U.S. has lagged well behind other industrial nations in addressing the threat of global warming.
A federal court ruling today will mean that the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) must re-evaluate Santee Cooper’s plans to control mercury at the utility’s proposed Pee Dee coal plant near Pamplico, SC.
The Environmental Protection agency must require power plants, the leading source of mercury pollution in the U.S, to better control their emissions of the dangerous toxin, a federal court ruled today.
