Articles by Kate Sheppard

Source: Mother Jones

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) wants to expand access to abortion for servicewomen who are raped. Only a few Republicans are willing to help.

Republican Senators John McCain, Scott Brown, and Susan Collins all support an effort by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat from New Hampshire, to expand abortion access for military women who are raped. But despite bipartisan support in the Senate, Shaheen’s proposal may not make it into the final version of the 2013 defense authorization bill—because House Republicans oppose it. read more

Source: Mother Jones

So much for the May 26 directive from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Coast Guard calling for BP to slash dispersant use in the Gulf. According to records recenty released by the Coast Guard, BP has exceeded the limits on an almost daily basis since the directive took effect—with the express approval of the federal government.

BP was supposed to limit subsea use to 15,000 gallons per day and “eliminate the surface application of dispersants” except in “rare cases when there may have to be an exemption.” But as we reported several weeks ago, the company is still regularly exceeding both those limits. BP also hasn’t reduced its average use much at all—just 9 percent from the pre-directive average. read more

Source: Mother Jones

– Photo by arbyreed, via Flickr.

In the weeks following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, regulators at the federal Minerals Management Service granted approval for 27 new drilling plans in the region-and exempted 26 projects from environmental review. While the Obama administration has put the brakes on new drilling, a number of exploration plans already in the works appear to have been green-lighted.

MMS, the division of the Department of Interior responsible for overseeing oil and gas development, has been criticized in recent weeks for its many regulatory failures that may have contributed to the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon spill. Last week, documents emerged that revealed that the agency waived environmental review for BP’s Deepwater exploration plan, a finding that has alarmed environmental advocates. read more

Source: Mother Jones

– Flickr/Chris Keegan (Creative Commons).

Throwing open vast swaths of the outer continental shelf to offshore drilling is the latest effort by the Obama administration to grease the way forward on comprehensive energy and climate reform. But the administration’s conciliatory approach-which has largely entailed the administration giving and its congressional opponents taking-is looking increasingly like a gamble that’s going to backfire. Meanwhile, as the president extends olive branches to his critics, he’s alienating allies in the environmental community, who say his policies are reminding them more and more of those of his predecessor, George W. Bush. Some enviros are even likening Obama to Alaska’s oil-loving ex-governor, Sarah Palin. read more