Cassidy: Put new restrictions on EPA In the next several days, The House is scheduled to take up a bill by Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, which would require the Energy Department to block environmental rules that cause "significant adverse effects to the economy" and require notification of Congress for any energy rules projected to cost over $1 billion....
Cassidy: Put new restrictions on EPA
In the next several days, The House is scheduled to take up a bill by Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, which would require the Energy Department to block environmental rules that cause "significant adverse effects to the economy" and require notification of Congress for any energy rules projected to cost over $1 billion.
Cassidy said excessive Environmental Protection Agency regulation is killing high paying energy and industrial jobs and his bill aims at requiring more oversight and more consideration of the economic costs.
The Obama White House said the legislation would require agencies to perform duplicative studies, wasting time and money.
Aaron Viles, deputy director of the Gulf Restoration Network said Cassidy's legislation would slow EPA's efforts to decrease global warming, which is linked to rising sea levels that directly impact Louisiana.
"It's the height of hypocrisy to work to increase the amount of money the state of Louisiana receives to protect and restore our coast while at the same time stalling efforts which would help secure those projects into the future," Viles said.
The money keeps flowing
The 2014 election is more than 14 months away. But the candidates are busy raising money.
Here's a rundown on the fund-raising hauls by some Louisiana House incumbents:
- Rep. Steve Scalise, raised $541,344 during the first six months of 2013, giving him $765,912 in cash available for his 2014 campaign. The only other candidate filing, Republican Timothy Burns, reported raising $3,750, jumping his available cash total to $5,251.
- Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, raised $327,158 for the first six months of the year, which leaves his campaign with $235,839 available for 2014. The only other candidate in the 2nd district to report any fund-raising efforts, so far, was Democrat James J. Carter, with $810 raised.
- In the third Congressional District, Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, who in 2012 survived a tough challenge from fellow GOP incumbent Jeff Landry, raised $486,026. Landry, who raised $5,000 in the first six months of 2013, isn't expected to challenge Boustany again.
- In the sixth Congressional District, incumbent, Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, is running for the Senate. The only two candidates to file campaign reports for the 2014 race are Republican Paul Dietzel, who raised $57,098 in 2013, and Republican Louis Jenkins, who reported no fund-raising activity to date.
Right to Life pushes Landrieu on House abortion bill
Now, that the House passed a bill banning late term abortions 20 weeks after fertilization, some anti-abortion groups are pushing the Senate to do the same. The bill includes exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
Benjamin Clapper, executive director of Louisiana Right to Life, said that Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., informed his group that she is undecided on the legislation, though it is unlikely Senate Democratic leaders will bring it up for a vote. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., is a longtime abortion opponent.
"The babies at question here could live outside the womb," Clapper said. "They are almost completely developed. It is unfortunate that a senator from our pro-life state would have to think hard about this common-sense legislation."
In an interview with the conservative Weekly Standard, Landrieu noted that has voted previously to bar late-term abortions - a measure that was aimed at what anti-abortion advocates call partial-birth abortion.
"I do support...the current constitutional outline which provides for decisions to be made which are very private, in...the early stages of pregnancy," said Landrieu, according to the Weekly Standard. "So, I'm going to have to look at that bill and make a decision. I've opposed last-term abortion, but 20 weeks is midterm."
Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood Federation of America president, condemned the House-passed bill.
"Abortions later in pregnancy are extremely rare, with nearly 99 percent taking place before 21 weeks, but when they do happen it's often in heartbreaking and unusual circumstances and women and their doctors need to have every medical option available to them," she said.
McCarthy finally on the job
Now, that Gina McCarthy has been confirmed and sworn in as Environmental Protection Agency administrator, she's going to explain her vision for the agency at a speech Tuesday at Harvard University.
According to EPA, McCarthy will discuss her commitment to carrying out President Barack Obama's Climate Action Plan to reduce carbon pollution and address the impacts of climate change.
Don't be surprised if Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who blocked her confirmation until McCarthy agreed to a series of transparency, demands to react negatively - perhaps a few short hours after the address is completed. During the long confirmation process, Vitter, top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said the president is going much too far in his efforts to reduce carbon emissions, potentially disrupting the economy. But Vitter also said he recognizes that Obama won the 2012 election, and therefore, his personal preferences for environmental polices aren't likely to prevail.
Obama said the need to act on climate change is urgent, given the impact of carbon emissions on health and contribution to increased sea surge that threaten coastal communities like Louisiana.
You can watch McCarthy's swearing in here.
Delta Queen and Congress
Should the Delta Queen be allowed to return to transporting travelers along the Mississippi? The Delta Grassroots Caucus is hoping Congress will restore an exemption to the Safety of Life at Seas Act (SOLAS) to allow that to happen.
The exemption was discontinued in 2008 after management and other concerns about the historic steamboat.
Supporters are encouraged after a bill made it through the House Transportation Committee, and picked up bipartisan support, including from Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and David Vitter, R-La.
"With the American Queen having returned to the Mississippi last year, and the most famous of all the steamboats, the Delta Queen, now enjoying a resurgence of support, steam boating on the Mighty Mississippi is making a big comeback," said caucus director Lee Powell.
Due to management concerns and other complications, the exemption was discontinued in 2008, and the Queen has been a floating hotel in Chattanooga, Tennessee the last few years.