Democrats: Cuccinelli’s conflict of interest costs Virginians

AFP

Today is the deadline for pre-trial motions in former Governor’s Mansion chef Todd Schneider’s criminal trial. Republican gubernatorial nominee and sitting Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli recused himself and his office from this case as questions mounted about his ethics scandal with Star Scientific and CEO Jonnie Williams, who paid Schneider for $15,000 in catering for Gov. Bob McDonnell’s daughter’s wedding.

president obama

Earth Talk: Barack Obama’s climate change initiative

Roddy Scheer

In what’s being billed as the greatest environmental initiative of his presidency, Barack Obama announced on June 25, 2013 that his administration is instituting stringent mandatory restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions by power plants, factories and other industrial sources. These sources combined account for roughly 40 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions across the U.S. The goal is to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions nationally by four percent below 1990 levels within the next seven years.

Earth Talk: The sequester’s impact on the environment

Roddy Scheer

The sequester that went into effect March 1 is a budget measure that cuts federal spending across the board to the tune of $85 billion, meaning every federal agency is affected and must reduce discretionary spending. Indeed, the cuts are already having a negative impact on everything from air quality monitoring to extreme weather response capability to staffing at national parks.