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What Philadelphia Can do to Reduce Our Risk from Oil Trains
Every year during the first weeks of July, thousands of people across North America participate in the Stop Oil Trains week of action to commemorate the 47 people who tragically lost their lives in Lac Megantic, Quebec when a runaway oil train derailed and exploded. This July 6 marks the third Anniversary of the disaster and reminds us all of the threat oil trains pose to our communities. Yet we don’t need to look that far back to be reminded.
Just last month, on June 3, a train carrying crude oil derailed in the majestic Columbia River Gorge in Oregon. Several cars caught fire and one
MA Senate Releases Energy Infographics and Also Passes Great Legislation
On Thursday, June 30, the Massachusetts Senate released a bunch of really cool infographics and also voted unanimously to pass S2372, omnibus energy legislation that significantly increases our state’s use of clean power. The Senate’s legislation will now be “conferenced” with an earlier, narrowly tailored House energy bill, and legislative leaders from each chamber must come to compromise by the end of July (Clean Water was quoted in Mass Live and the Worcester Business Journal, and also check out a synopsis of the bill and process from here on by reporter Jon Chesto).
The ramifications of
Water as a Human Right
The Human Right to Water, passed by the legislature in 2012 and signed by Governor Brown, was a great policy idea with almost no teeth. Community members and advocates worked for years to gain recognition for water as a human right, with our first bill, AB 1242 (Ruskin, 2009) vetoed by then-Governor Schwarzenegger and its successor, AB 685 (Eng, 2012) taking the full 2-year session to pass. The legislation was short and to the point:
It is hereby declared to be the established policy of the state that every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for
Newark Makes History With First-In-The-Nation Environmental Justice Ordinance
On July 13th, the City of Newark made history when the Newark Municipal Council passed a first-in-the-nation Environmental Justice and Cumulative Impacts Ordinance which seeks to address the problems that have led to unhealthy levels of pollution in the region’s poorest communities.
The ordinance requires developers requesting environmental permits to inform the city of any environmental impacts. This information is to be submitted to the City’s Environmental Commission along with the developer’s initial site-plan application so that the Commission can advise the Central Planning Board