March, 25 2022, 12:40pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Emma Searson, Environment America Research & Policy Center 100% Renewable Campaign Director, 828-545-7300, esearson@environmentamerica.
Krista Early, Environment North Carolina Research & Policy Center Advocate, 703-598-5265, kearly@
Taran Volckhausen, Communications Associate, 720-212-9955, tvolckhausen@
Offshore Wind Lease Sale Provides Big Boost for Renewable Energy in the Carolinas
Announcement will open up more than 110,000 acres off the coast of the Carolinas to offshore wind.
WASHINGTON
Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced Friday that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold a wind energy auction on May 11 for more than 110,000 acres in the Carolina Long Bay area off the coast of North and South Carolina. This move comes only one month after the Department of Interior concluded a record-breaking offshore wind lease auction for 488,000 acres in the New York Bight.
The auction will allow offshore wind developers to bid on two lease areas. Leases offered in this sale could result in 1.3 gigawatts or more of offshore wind energy for electricity customers in the Carolinas and beyond - enough to power nearly 500,000 American homes.
In response, Environment North Carolina Research & Policy Center Advocate Krista Early issued the following statement:
"Today's announcement is an exciting step forward. The Carolinas have an incredible renewable resource blowing off our shores, and it's high time we take advantage of it. The Old North State alone has enough offshore wind technical potential to meet our electricity needs more than four times over. Tapping into even just a small fraction of that immense natural resource will allow us to stand out amongst our peers as a true leader in clean and renewable energy.
"Our state stands to benefit tremendously from the growth of clean and renewable energy right here in our front yard. Clean and renewable offshore wind energy will help ensure a cleaner, healthier future for North and South Carolinians, with less harmful pollution from dirty fossil fuels. Extreme weather events are becoming more common and our coastline is increasingly vulnerable. This offshore wind will help slow global warming and protect our communities in the long run. Now is absolutely the time to lock in these benefits, and I look forward to cheering on Carolina offshore wind as this lease sale moves forward."
Environment America Research & Policy Center's 100% Renewable Campaign Director Emma Searson released the following statement:
"The coastlines of this country are bursting at the seams with clean, renewable offshore wind potential just waiting to be captured and used to power our lives without pollution. With each new offshore wind lease or project, we move one step closer to realizing the benefits of this remarkable resource and accomplishing the Biden administration's national goal of reaching 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.
"With offshore wind alone, the Atlantic region could produce almost four times as much electricity as the region used in 2019. That's more than enough to transform how we produce energy. Offshore wind has a substantial role to play in our transition to a future society that runs entirely on clean and renewable energy. Today's announcement is an exciting step towards that cleaner, brighter future."
With Environment America, you protect the places that all of us love and promote core environmental values, such as clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and clean energy to power our lives. We're a national network of 29 state environmental groups with members and supporters in every state. Together, we focus on timely, targeted action that wins tangible improvements in the quality of our environment and our lives.
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‘Yeah, That’s Illegal’: USPS Chief Says States Won't Receive Mail Ballots Unless They Hand Voter Rolls to Trump
"You're making a decision that people cannot vote by mail. That's unacceptable," said US Sen. Gary Peters.
Jun 25, 2026
Postmaster General David Steiner drew the ire of Democratic senators and voting rights advocates on Wednesday when he said that the US Postal Service would not deliver mail-in ballots in states that do not hand their voter files to the Trump administration.
During a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), the panels ranking member, asked Steiner if USPS would deliver ballots in a state whose government had refused the Trump administration's request for access to its absentee voter list.
"Under our proposed regulation, no," Steiner replied. "We would tell the state that we need the manifest."
Peters responded by accusing USPS of creating a rule that "coerces" states into handing their voter files to the federal government even though they are under no legal obligation to do so.
"You're making a decision that people cannot vote by mail," Peters said. "That's unacceptable."
PETERS: Yes or no, if a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under this proposed rule?
POSTMASTER GENERAL STEINER: No.
PETERS: So the proposed rule basically coerces states to hand over their… pic.twitter.com/5bnJb5Atnr
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 24, 2026
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also sparred with Steiner during the hearing, informing the postmaster general that USPS had absolutely no role to play in determining how states conduct their elections.
"You run the Postal Service, you deliver the mail," Blumenthal said. "You don't review ballots or registration. Nobody said you should... This proposed rule is bogus."
Blumenthal demanded Steiner commit to deliver all mail-in ballots to voters in his state regardless of whether it complied with the Trump administration's demands, but the postmaster general said he would not make such a commitment.
"Our proposed rule is subject to litigation," Steiner told him. "We'll see how that all turns out."
"Well, I guess we will see," Blumenthal replied, "but it will probably be in court."
The Founding Fathers didn’t envision USPS reviewing voting ballots or registration. Trump’s Postmaster General refuses to commit to deliver mail-in-ballots without fulfilling Trump’s new bogus, sham review. pic.twitter.com/V3jiBMyGOY
— Richard Blumenthal (@SenBlumenthal) June 24, 2026
Some observers reacted with shock to Steiner's willingness to go along with Trump's latest election-rigging scheme, which they said was patently unconstitutional.
"Yeah, that's illegal," said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. "The Post Office can’t refuse to deliver mail to try and get policy concessions."
"We have a Postmaster General who should not be in any position of trust or influence," commented political scientist Norman Ornstein, "a disgraceful traitor to American values."
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signaled his state would challenge the proposed USPS rule.
"Illinois expanded vote-by-mail because we believe voting should be easier, not harder," Pritzker wrote. "Now, Trump’s handpicked Postmaster General is threatening to withhold mail ballots unless states turn over voter rolls. That's not election security. It’s voter suppression."
Political scientist Robert E. Kelly argued that Trump's attack on mail-in voting was a "deeply malign gimmick which makes it so hard to accommodate MAGA within the US political order."
"No one thought to use the mail as a partisan weapon," Kelly wrote. "The laws and norms around mail are poorly known, because no one ever thought to try this gambit before. But now, because Trump insists on politicizing the bureaucracy, this whole thing will go to court just months before the election."
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Thousands Feared Dead After Back-to-Back Earthquakes Devastate Venezuela
One resident of Venezuela's capital described the scene in her area as "like a horror movie" as rescue teams searched the rubble of collapsed buildings for survivors.
Jun 25, 2026
Emergency workers rushed to search the rubble of collapsed buildings in and near the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Thursday after back-to-back powerful earthquakes rocked the country, killing at least 164 people—a toll that's expected to reach the thousands as victims' bodies are recovered from the wreckage.
The disaster began on Wednesday afternoon local time as a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit around 100 miles west of Caracas. Just 39 seconds later, a 7.5-magnitude quake struck, compounding the damage. One Caracas resident told Reuters that the aftermath of the quakes "was like a horror movie."
The Associated Press reported that rescue teams were seen "using power tools to work their way into piles of rubble where buildings once stood."
"Panicked residents of the capital were sent pouring into the streets, and after the quakes many people walked among the debris searching for the missing among collapsed buildings and toppled electric poles," the outlet added. "Footage on state TV showed three children, covered in dust but alive, pulled from the rubble in La Guaira state... one of the areas hardest hit by the quakes because of the large number of collapsed buildings."
Video captured the first moments of two powerful earthquakes striking Venezuela, triggering panic as people fled for safety as buildings collapsed around them. pic.twitter.com/ZadZ6VNrNo
— Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) June 25, 2026
Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez, who took charge following the US abduction of President Nicolás Maduro in January, said that "dozens of buildings have collapsed" in La Guaira.
"We are currently carrying out intensive rescue operations to save lives," Rodríguez added.
Venezuela looks like it was BOMBED after two MASSIVE 7.1 and 7.5 magnitude earthquakes.
Pray for the people, this is really bad pic.twitter.com/pIw8ywXzYe
— Ryan Rozbiani (@RyanRozbiani) June 25, 2026
US President Donald Trump, who authorized the illegal assault on Venezuela and kidnapping of Maduro earlier this year, wrote on social media that his administration "stands ready, willing, and able to help."
"I have instructed all agencies of our government to get ready to move quickly," Trump wrote. "We will be there for our new and great friends. Early reports are not good!!!"
Tom Fletcher, the United Nations' emergency relief coordinator, said in a statement Thursday that "we are fully mobilized to support the people of Venezuela following the deadly and devastating earthquakes that hit the country."
"The coming days will require a massive collective effort to support the government-led response and help communities," Fletcher added. "Even before these earthquakes, nearly 8 million people in Venezuela were in need of humanitarian support. This disaster risks deepening existing vulnerabilities. Sustained international support for humanitarian organizations responding on the ground is essential and urgent."
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Caving to Trump 'Temper Tantrum,' Two Republicans Flip to Block Iran War Powers Resolution
Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost reelection last month and said he would not be "bullied," switched his vote to no after the president berated him during a closed-door lunch hours earlier.
Jun 25, 2026
Two Senate Republicans who supported a previous resolution calling for an end to the US war on Iran changed their votes late Wednesday after President Donald Trump publicly and privately berated GOP lawmakers, calling them "losers" who provided "aid and comfort to the enemy."
In Wednesday's procedural vote, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.)—who reportedly got into a shouting match with Trump over the Iran war during a closed-door lunch hours earlier—sided with virtually every other Republican in opposing the war powers resolution, just a day after he supported a separate, symbolic resolution calling for the removal of US forces from the conflict. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) also switched, changing his vote to "present" at the urging of the president.
Senate Republicans forced late Wednesday's vote in a clear effort to placate Trump, who fumed at "Republican losers" who backed the symbolic war powers resolution that passed the upper chamber earlier this week. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), the lead sponsor of the resolution that Republicans blocked on Wednesday, said the vote was held to "appease [Trump's] temper tantrum."
"After both Republican-majority Houses took the historic step of voting that additional war against Iran is illegal without congressional authorization, President Trump came to the Capitol and tried to browbeat Republican senators for upholding their oaths of office," said Kaine. Wednesday's vote, the senator added, "does not undo the expressed position of Congress that further war against Iran is illegal unless Congress votes for it."
Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to resume attacks on Iran if negotiations collapse, celebrated Wednesday's vote in a late-night post on his social media platform, thanking Senate GOP leaders and highlighting that Cassidy and Paul changed their votes.
Cassidy, who lost reelection last month and insisted hours before the vote that he would not "be bullied" by the administration, subsequently thanked the White House for giving him a "thorough briefing" on Iran to "address many of my concerns." Trump reportedly called Cassidy a "lunatic" during Wednesday's private lunch.
"This president is telling the American people there’s no money for healthcare, housing, or childcare—but there should be endless taxpayer dollars to fund wars they don’t support."
Wednesday's vote came amid tenuous negotiations between the US and Iran on a diplomatic resolution to end the illegal war that Trump launched in late February, killing thousands of Iranians, throwing the global economy into chaos, and driving up prices at home.
On Wednesday, prior to the Senate war powers vote, the White House asked Congress to approve an $87.6 billion supplemental funding package that includes nearly $70 billion for military programs to address "operational costs incurred" during the war on Iran.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said in a statement that "the tens of billions in military spending requested by the Trump administration could be used to protect Americans’ healthcare, feed hungry children, and help working families afford everyday life."
"Instead, Trump wants taxpayers to continue footing the bill for his reckless war in Iran, which has sent the cost of gas and everyday goods skyrocketing, put our brave men and women in uniform at risk, and left the region no safer than before," Boyle added.
Senate Democrats' top appropriator, Patty Murray of Washington, said she would not "rubberstamp tens of billions more for this disastrous war of choice."
“This president is telling the American people there’s no money for healthcare, housing, or childcare—but there should be endless taxpayer dollars to fund wars they don’t support," said Murray.
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