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E&E News
15 hours ago
- Climate
- E&E News
Bipartisan House lawmakers launch group on extreme heat
An Arizona Democrat and a New York Republican are teaming up to form the Congressional Extreme Heat Caucus in an attempt to find bipartisan solutions for deadly temperatures. 'We hope this caucus can make sure the United States is better prepared for the inevitable increase in temperatures, not just in Arizona and the Southwest but all across the country,' Arizona Rep. Greg Stanton (D) said in an interview. He's creating the caucus with New York Rep. Mike Lawler, a moderate Republican who bucked his party last year by expressing support for the nation's first proposed regulation to protect workers from heat by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Advertisement 'Extreme heat kills more Americans each year than any other weather event — over 1,300 lives lost, including 570 in New York alone — and it's a growing threat to the Hudson Valley,' Lawler said in a statement. 'That's why I'm co-chairing the Heat Caucus to drive real solutions, raise awareness, and protect our communities from this deadly risk.'
E&E News
27-05-2025
- Climate
- E&E News
Lawmakers form Heat Caucus: ‘We've had too many deaths'
An Arizona Democrat and a New York Republican are teaming up to form the Congressional Extreme Heat Caucus in an attempt to find bipartisan solutions for deadly temperatures. 'We hope this caucus can make sure the United States is better prepared for the inevitable increase in temperatures, not just in Arizona and the Southwest but all across the country,' Arizona Rep. Greg Stanton (D) said in an interview. He's creating the caucus with New York Rep. Mike Lawler, a moderate Republican who bucked his party last year by expressing support for the nation's first proposed regulation to protect workers from heat by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Advertisement 'Extreme heat kills more Americans each year than any other weather event — over 1,300 lives lost, including 570 in New York alone — and it's a growing threat to the Hudson Valley,' Lawler said in a statement. 'That's why I'm co-chairing the Heat Caucus to drive real solutions, raise awareness, and protect our communities from this deadly risk.'
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Canadians could stay visa-free longer in U.S. under proposed bill
Canadian snowbirds could stay longer in the United States without a visa if a bill recently proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives becomes law. The bipartisan bill put forward by Reps. Elise Stefanik of New York, Laurel Lee of Florida and Greg Stanton of Arizona proposes to extend the time Canadian citizens can stay in the U.S. without a visa from 180 days to 240. The Canadian Snowbird Visa Act, introduced at the end of April, would provide the longer timeframe for those aged 50 and over who both maintain a home in Canada and either own or lease a U.S. residence. The proposal comes as many Canadians are choosing not to travel south because of U.S. President Donald Trump's ongoing trade war and threats of annexation, while a lower loonie and rising insurance rates have also pushed Canadian snowbirds to sell their U.S. homes. Lee says in a news release that extending the amount of time Canadians can stay in the U.S. would support local communities and job growth, as well as strengthen bonds with their closest neighbours. The bill comes as the U.S. has also moved to require Canadians who are in the U.S. for more than 30 days to register with the government. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2025. Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's funding freeze muddies water outlook on the drought-stricken Colorado River
An apparent freeze of funds the former Biden administration promised Arizona water users to leave water in Lake Mead has heightened uncertainty over Colorado River negotiations and led some in the state's congressional delegation to press for the money's release. Facing a dwindling supply that provoked emergency actions to keep the river flowing past Hoover Dam, Congress directed $4 billion to Western drought relief, most of it aimed at shoring up Colorado River water storage. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation signed deals with irrigators, tribes and other rights holders to forgo deliveries and save 1.5 million acre-feet of water over three years through 2025, with some extensions beyond this year. A second round of funds, which members of Congress say is also frozen, is intended to make long-term efficiency improvements, such as lining canals to stop losses when water is delivered to farms. Without the water or the agreements, some officials fear the ongoing negotiations among the seven river states could fall apart. 'I urge you to immediately lift the short-sighted funding freeze on the Lower Colorado System Conservation and Efficiency Program funded under the Inflation Reduction Act,' Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Arizona, wrote to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, 'and fulfill the system conservation agreements the federal government has signed with nearly two dozen entities to conserve water and protect critical levels in Lake Mead.' Officials with the Bureau of Reclamation did not respond to requests for comment or to confirm the freeze or how long it is intended to last. The administration has frozen various congressionally appropriated funds as cost-cutting aide Elon Musk's team searches for fraud and savings. The president has not yet appointed a commissioner for the Reclamation Bureau, which manages the dams on the Colorado. Arizona's two senators, Democrats Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, jointly wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Feb. 11 asking for the freeze to be lifted. Reclamation is a part of the Interior Department. They said their constituents had reported the pause. 'The Colorado River is in the midst of a historic drought, and our constituents are working on solutions to keep the river flowing,' the senators wrote. 'This winter snowpack accumulation is below average, so we need to do everything we can to improve conservation. This means making sure projects receive support and funding.' Western water: At odds over water cuts, Colorado River states still seek consensus as deadline nears Lake Mead holds the key to water distribution in Arizona, California, Nevada and Mexico, with distributions shrinking as its elevation sinks toward levels that would disrupt hydroelectric power production or even the dam's river outlet. Arizona already has given up nearly 600,000 acre-feet a year from its 2.8 million acre-foot share of the river because of declines that have left the reservoir 35% full. The loss represents more than a third of the Central Arizona Project's canal capacity to deliver water to the Phoenix and Tucson areas. Projections for likely reservoir storage by the end of next year put Mead dangerously close to 1,050 feet above sea level, or the trigger that would cause Arizona to lose another 80,000 acre-feet, Arizona Water Resources Director Tom Buschatzke said this week. Failure to save water with the contractual deals that Reclamation made for 2025 could tip the region into that next shortage tier, he said, because the projections already assume that the water will have been saved. An acre-foot is roughly 326,000 gallons and is enough to support about three southwestern households, though the majority of Arizona's water goes to farms. 'I have advocated strongly to my Arizona (congressional) delegation — the entire delegation — that that money in both the upper and lower basins that was committed needs to be spent,' Buschatzke said. 'Those projects are critical to stabilizing the system as we continue to work toward a post-2026 world.' That year, 2026, is when the seven states that share the river must either adopt a negotiated set of new shortage guidelines, accept what the Bureau of Reclamation prescribes for them or go to court to fight for their shares. It's when the last round of river management guidelines, adopted in 2007, expire, and the outlook for water volumes is now much worse than it was back then. So far, the states have been unable to reach consensus on the future. Until the Trump administration makes its political appointments to Reclamation, Buschatzke said, there's no one for him to lobby either for resumption of the conservation funds or for a favorable outcome in the post-2026 guidelines. Water rights: As tribal leaders sign water deals, they demand equal standing in Colorado River talks It was the promise of federal funding that caused water users to accept reductions of nearly 500,000 acre-feet in the coming year, Stanton noted in his letter to Trump. 'Withholding this funding not only jeopardizes this necessary and critical water conservation that is needed now to protect the system,' the congressman wrote, 'but it will also make it more difficult for the seven (Colorado River) basin states to reach a consensus agreement on the system's long-term operations.' The Biden administration inked three-year deals with about two dozen water users, including the cities of Phoenix, Tucson, Scottsdale and others, at a rate of $400 per acre-foot. California's Imperial Irrigation District got a sweeter deal, at $777 for a one-year contract in 2023, but also has among the river's safest rights against reductions when reservoir levels fall. Most of the water users who signed on were in Arizona, though the biggest deal, a four-year pact to leave 351,000 acre-feet in Mead, was with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Paloverde Irrigation District of California. Arizona's largest deal was with the Gila River Indian Community, for 341,000 acre-feet, according to a chart provided by Stanton's staff. The contracts in the Lower Basin states — those downstream of Glen Canyon Dam — totaled nearly $664 million. Mohave Valley Irrigation District in northwestern Arizona signed on to save nearly 40,000 acre-feet over three years. Reached by phone, district General Manager Kerri Hatz said Mohave Valley had since agreed to extend its conservation through 2026. Hatz had not received any notice that the funding had been frozen. The district had received three of four expected payments for 2024 conservation as of Wednesday, Hatz said, but the final payment was not expected until government employees could verify water savings on the ground this spring. A second batch of federal conservation funds, also reportedly frozen, is intended to make lasting water savings by, for instance, putting $87 million toward an advanced water purification plant in Tucson that will enable 56,000 acre-feet to stay in Lake Mead over a decade. A $107 million investment in the Gila River Indian Community, south of Phoenix, is projected to save 73,000 acre-feet over 10 years. Brandon Loomis covers environmental and climate issues for The Arizona Republic and Reach him at Environmental coverage on and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Sign up for AZ Climate, our weekly environment newsletter, and follow The Republic environmental reporting team at and @azcenvironment on Facebook and Instagram. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona farmers and public officials left wondering about river deals
