skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

CT Turns Out for Hearing on Offshore Drilling

play audio
Play

Tuesday, February 13, 2018   

HARTFORD, Conn. – Hundreds of Connecticut residents are in Hartford today to speak out against a proposal to open coastal waters to oil and gas drilling.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of the Interior proposed opening 90 percent of the nation's coastline to drilling. That would include Atlantic waters vital to Connecticut's economy.

The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees offshore oil leases, has promised the environment would be protected.

But according to Martha Klein, chair of the Sierra Club Connecticut Chapter, concerns over the risk of spills have generated broad, bipartisan opposition to the proposal.

"Potentially we stand to lose billions because of our coastal tourism industry and our fishing industry," Klein says. "And environmentally, it's a terrible concern because of the high risk of accidents."

In 2013 Connecticut's ocean economy contributed almost $4.5 billion to the state's GDP. Supporters of the proposal say it would help ensure the nation's energy independence.

Klein points out that spills are not the only risks. The process of deciding where to drill also is hazardous to marine life. Seismic surveys using underwater explosions to map suspected oil deposits are especially harmful to marine mammals like whales and dolphins.

"We've already seen hundreds or thousands of beachings, animals basically committing suicide because they have to get out of the water because the sound is destroying them," she adds.

She notes that oil transport - by tanker or pipeline - and other oil and gas infrastructure, add further risks.

"We believe that collectively these activities would significantly damage the environment, marine wildlife and coastal economies," she warns.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is accepting public comments on the proposal through March 9.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021