#policyidea

[environmentalpoliciesposts]

Keystone XL Pipeline

The Department of State from TransCanada was presented with a proposed pipeline that would run from the Canadian border to connect to a pipeline in Texas (about 2,000 miles). Giant oil corporations are counting on this to benefit from Canada's tar sands to make more profit. The expansion of the pipeline has been trying to get approved many times in Congress and has failed again on Tuesday by being one vote short in the Senate. The new shift in Congress means that this certainly won't be the last time we hear about this legislation

[environmentalpoliciesposts]

Carbon Emissions from Power Plants

President Obama made an agreement with China at the 2014 Climate Summit of this year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from coal plants (which would go into effect in 2017). The United States' goal is to reduce carbon emissions by 26 percent to 28 percent (from 2005 levels) by 2025 Experts have said that it will be easy to cut emissions without much costs. The new Republican Congress has already promised to shoot down the proposal even before it's introduced in June.