Department of Homeland Security shifts focus from homeland security to "environmental justice strategy"

We can all sleep easier now.

Via the Washington Examiner

President Obama's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) outlined an "environmental justice strategy" that would review how a variety of DHS activities, from interaction with local governments to granting regulatory permits, affect poor and minority populations.

DHS defines environmental justice as "the commitment of the Federal Government . . . to avoid placing disproportionately high and adverse effects on the human health and environment of minority populations and low-income populations."

Efforts to implement environmental justice will influence "our own operations, financial assistance to state and local governments, and [DHS'] regulatory permitting activities," DHS explained in the draft strategy. Read more here...

Environmental Group Sues to Stop Solar Plant. What?

You read the headline right. A conservation group has sued the federal government because they approved construction of a solar plant in the desert. Would these people be happy if mankind completely gave up technology and returned to the paleolithic age?

(Reuters) - A U.S. conservation group has sued the federal government over its approval of a major solar power plant in the California desert, the latest in a string of challenges to the nation's renewable energy goals from the environmental community.

According to court papers, the non-profit Western Watersheds Project alleged U.S. regulators approved Brightsource Energy's 370-megawatt Ivanpah solar energy plant without conducting adequate environmental reviews, and asked the court to order the defendants to withdraw their approvals.

Democrats called Bush shameful for having lobbyist help write environmental legislation. Now, they are having lobbyist help draft theirs.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. During the Bush administration, Democrats said it was shameful that business lobbyists helped write environmental legislation. Now, they are having lobbyist help draft their own sweeping climate bill. The Washington Times reported:

Democratic lawmakers who spent much of the Bush administration blasting officials for letting energy lobbyists write national policy have turned to a coalition of business and environmental groups to help draft their own sweeping climate bill.

And one little-noticed provision of the draft bill would give one of the coalition's co-founders a lucrative exemption on a coal-fired project it is building.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman, both of California, were among the Democrats -- then in the minority -- who slammed Vice President Dick Cheney for holding closed-door meetings to draft energy policy early in the Bush administration.