Stories are powerful. They help us relate to other individuals and communicate complex issues. They are an essential ingredient to making policy change in Washington. That’s why we’re asking for your help. The Heritage Foundation is seeking examples of individuals, entrepreneurs and business owners who have been negatively affected by the federal government’s regulatory overreach. We want to spotlight Americans’ experiences with Washington’s red tape. You can help us by filling out the form below. Our goal at Heritage is to reduce government interference and eliminate unwarranted government intrusion into …
Mike and Chantell Sackett just wanted to build their dream home in the Idaho panhandle. Instead, they’re headed to the U.S. Supreme Court in a long-running dispute with the Environmental Protection Agency, which claims their property is wetlands. The case is among the most watched before the court this year. Justices will hear the Sacketts’ case Monday. At issue is whether citizens like the Sacketts have recourse to challenge the EPA’s actions in a court of law. Lower courts have said they don’t, but Supreme Court justices want to settle …
Before he became president of MF Global, the bankrupt brokerage firm that lost $1.2 billion in client money, Bradley Abelow spent time as New Jersey’s treasurer and former Gov. Jon Corzine’s chief of staff. In those roles, Abelow served alongside Lisa Jackson, who led the state environmental protection department and eventually succeeded Abelow as Corzine’s chief of staff. Jackson now directs the Environmental Protection Agency in the Obama administration, and Abelow, despite a full-time job at MF Global, is still serving alongside her. The former Goldman Sachs executive holds the title …
Federal authorities have ruled that the drinking water in Dimock, Pennsylvania, which some claimed had been contaminated by nearby natural gas drilling efforts, is safe to drink. The statement lends some factual weight to a political debate wrought with emotion and more than the occasional doom-and-gloom proclamation. Dimock has become a lightning rod in the fight against the natural gas extraction technique hydraulic fracturing. Anti-natural gas activists have used the town in a years-long campaign to prevent the practice, which they insist contaminates drinking water supplies. But the Environmental Protection …
Catching you up on clips, commentary and news of the day. Sign up for the daily email update from Scribe. Sorting out the Postal Service’s future – Rep. Darrell Issa, The Washington Times Minimum Wage – Another Example of Good Intentions Gone Wrong – James Sherk, FoxNews.com Pakistan must pay – Peter Brookes, The New York Post Japan Muddies Water in South China Sea Debate – Simon Roughneen, The Irrawaddy Declaring Haqqanis Terror Organization May Backfire on U.S. – John Walcott and Viola Gienger, Bloomberg Businessweek Not all Google employees …
It was sadly ironic that Texas energy company Luminant announced it would lay off 500 employees on the same morning that President Obama unveiled legislation designed to promote job growth. The company said that a new rule from the Environmental Protection Agency will force it to cease operations at two electricity generating plants, and close three coal mines. “We have hundreds of employees who have spent their entire professional careers at Luminant and its predecessor companies,” Luminant CEO David Campbell said in a news release. “At every step of this …
Bloomberg reported Friday on the latest developments in the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory push against the fossil fuel industry. Southern Co., the largest American utility owner in terms of market share, now says it will lose up to $18 billion as a result of new EPA regulations. The planned regulations “are misguided in their content and timing,” Southern Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Fanning said today in a statement. Southern, based in Atlanta, is among energy companies that say new rules from President Barack Obama’s EPA will force some …
Here’s a simple test for whether the President is serious about jobs and the economy: Does he rein in the Environmental Protection Agency? With the debt ceiling issue resolved for the time being, President Obama has stated his intention to “pivot” to focus on jobs and the economy. Economic growth is stagnant, and unemployment is at unacceptable levels—and that’s not even including millions of discouraged people who have dropped out of the workforce altogether. Jobs and economic growth are the right focus. But there is, understandably, some skepticism that the …
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it has finalized a pair of new regulations on power plants expected to produce massive economic damage and unemployment in coming years. The regulations aim to reduce pollution in down-wind states, and replace similar regulations created by George Bush’s EPA in 2005 and struck down by a federal court. President Obama was quite clear on the campaign trail that under his cap and trade plan, “electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” The EPA resumed the effort to regulate emissions after cap and trade died …
America’s trucking industry is on pace to pay a whopping $138.7 billion for fuel in 2011 — an increase of $37.2 billion over last year due to higher energy prices. That’s a lot of money for gas. And unfortunately for consumers, they’re likely to pick up the tab. A new study from the Consumer Energy Alliance blames the lack of a national energy policy for America’s economic woes. Higher prices are costing jobs and putting a strain on families struggling to make ends meet. Higher costs for the transportation sector …
