The California Wildlife Center named a rescued elephant seal pup Callie, in honor of Environment California. That's because Environment California helped raise more than $30,000 to help the Center rescue stranded sea lion pups and elephant seals and to enhance our own ocean protection efforts.  For more about what Environment California is doing about the more than 1,100 sea lion pups washing up on California's shores, read this: http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/page/cae/sea-lion-rescue

The Oregonian reported May 8th: "Oregon officials have filed just six of 18 required reports detailing an estimated $665 million in subsidies, a study released Wednesday shows. Of the documents, only one showed what's expected of recipients and whether they met those benchmarks. Most reports were incomplete or missing altogether, according to Portland-based OSPIRG Foundation, which bills itself as an independent think tank that pushes for government transparency." Read the full article here:  http://bit.ly/17a6yRF

It's illegal to bury or burn paper glass, metal or other recyclable materials in Massachusetts.  But trash haulers, landfill owners and incinerator operators ignore the law and the state is letting them get away with it. MASSPIRG is canvassing support for a crackdown on the trashy practices.

A local NPR affiliate covered the story Thursday, listen here: http://bit.ly/10pqYn8

This issue is not new for MASSPIRG.  They, along with allies including Toxics Action Center, have been working since 2008 to drive the state toward zero waste, so all the state's trash is reused or recycled instead of buried or burned. In 2010, they gathered 20,000 postcards to the state calling for zero waste. More recently, MASSPIRG student chapters gathered 12,000 public comments against a state plan to lift a 23-year moratorium on new trash incinerators. On Wednesday, the state's top environmental official called MASSPIRG's Janet Domenitz to say that "despite your tremendous advocacy efforts," the state was moving forward on lifting the incinerator moratorium. But we can still win. If we can convince the state to do a better job of keeping recyclable trash out of landfills and incinerators, we can reduce the need for new incinerators.

The House Agriculture Committee is expected to consider a new Farm Bill as early as next week. PIRG aims to talk to more than 250,000 people this summer through their canvass outreach to build support and get action on ending subsidies for crops used in junk food, which is fueling the rise in childhood obesity.  U.S. PIRG is working to end many of the wasteful subsidies going to huge, profitable corporations like Cargill and Monsanto that have pocketed $18 billion in the last 16 years and turned subsidized crops into junk food ingredients — including high fructose corn syrup.  Many of these wasteful subsidies are set to expire this year, but industry lobbyists are urging Congress to keep them. In 2008 alone, big agribusinesses spent $200 million on lobbying and campaign contributions.  Getting out into the community and talking to constituents will be key in making sure the interests of the American people are drowned out by these lobbyists who will no doubt be at it again this time around.  
Read more about PIRG's campaign here: http://bit.ly/xQTjwN

WISPIRG, working with the Sierra Club and 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, proposed an alternative transportation plan to the state's plan, earning positive reviews May 2 from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.  The plan would cut 10 percent from the state's $3 billion highway budget, shift money to transit and local streets, and reduce state borrowing by 22%. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel calls the idea "promising."  Read their coverage here: http://bit.ly/17u7tu6

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation has sprung a leak, according to a Feb. 16 announcement by Gov. Jay Inslee. WashPIRG has been for decades a vocal critic of the government's failure to clean up the reservation. KXLY in Spokane quoted WashPIRG's Michaela Preskill on the issue saying,  "it's another reminder that there is no proven way to safely dispose of radioactive waste" and stressing the toxic waste as "something that we must address."
 http://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-news/Alarming-leak-announced-at-Hanford...

U.S. PIRG's Ed Mierzwinski spoke for the defense in two recent head-to-head media debates over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. One was on NPR: http://onpoint.wbur.org/2013/02/18/cfpb The other was on NBCNews.com: http://redtape.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/12/17273278-why-consumer-agency...

As Congress reels from one budget crisis to the next, Environmental Action is highlighting the billions of dollars in tax subsidies still enjoyed by big oil companies. To put the issue on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's radar screen, Environmental Action took to Facebook. In less than three hours, more than 400 supporters posted comments on the senator's Facebook page, urging the leader to end Big Oil's Billion-Dollar Bonanza.

Maryland is now all but certain to become one of the first states to build an offshore wind farm, after the state Senate approved new legislation on March 8. The bill, strongly backed by Environment Maryland, puts in place incentives that will pave the way for a wind farm off the coast of Ocean City as early as 2017. Environment Maryland staff lobbied for the bill, and our supporters sent emails, wrote letters to the editor, and attended hearings and rallies in favor of the bill. http://colesville.patch.com/articles/offshore-wind-ready-for-gov-o-malle...