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Tribal advocates keep up legal pressure for fair political maps; 12-member jury sworn in for Trump's historic criminal trial; the importance of healthcare decision planning; and a debt dilemma: poll shows how many people wrestle with college costs.

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Civil rights activists say a court ruling could end the right to protest in three southern states, a federal judge lets January 6th lawsuits proceed against former President Trump, and police arrest dozens at a Columbia University Gaza protest.

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Rural Wyoming needs more vocational teachers to sustain its workforce pipeline, Ohio environmental advocates fear harm from a proposal to open 40-thousand forest acres to fracking and rural communities build bike trail systems to promote nature, boost the economy.

Will Byrd’s Replacement Follow His Lead on Energy Legislation?

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Monday, July 12, 2010   

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The last important vote the late Senator Robert Byrd made before his death was to ensure that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency kept the right to regulate climate change pollution. And Byrd would likely have been a key vote on energy legislation expected to reach the Senate floor this month.

Dan Weiss, senior fellow at the Center For American Progress Action Fund, says it will be important to see if Byrd's temporary replacement pursues the late senator's goals there.

"He wanted to reduce global warming pollution as well as protect West Virginia jobs. Whoever Senator Byrd's replacement is will have a big role to play in determining the outcome of that legislation."

Weiss says Byrd was more willing to negotiate on the issue than many in the state, because he saw the changes as vitally needed.

"The other members of Congress from West Virginia are trying to hold off the future, while Senator Byrd was trying to adapt to it."

Public pressure for energy legislation that puts a price on carbon has increased in the last month, according to Jim Kotcon with the Sierra Club in West Virginia. He says the offshore oil spill is reminding everyone of the need to shift to cleaner forms of energy.

"There has been some significant momentum that's been created due to the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, that has highlighted just how dependent we are on dirty sources of fossil fuels."

Conservatives have criticized the "polluter pays" part of energy bills as a new kind of tax. Getting sixty votes to overcome a Republican filibuster will not be easy, but Dan Weiss says an up-or-down vote may be more likely if language is added to address the Gulf oil spill.


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