The National League of Cities (NLC) and Value of Water Coalition (VWC) held a briefing on water infrastructure and security across the United States on May 19, 2016, with examples of solutions from multiple cities.
Resources for the Future (RFF) and Duke University co-hosted a seminar on how oil and gas development impacts local governments and communities, highlighting several recently released reports.
The Advances in Earth Science Coalition (AES), a consortium of professional geoscience societies and federal agencies, held a briefing on offshore energy (oil, gas, and wind) in the United States.
Along the Ohio River in Kentucky and West Virginia, 4 dams originally built for passage of large ships in the 1960s and 70s are being retrofitted for hydroelectricity production.
After floods hit the Houston area hard on April 17 and 18, forcing road and school closures and causing the death of eight people, Texas Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) recognized the need for better emergency preparedness in the region.
On May 21, the Senate Appropriations Committee allocated $30.01 billion to the Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies to cover funding for the Department of the Interior (DOI), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Forest Service, and other agencies for fiscal year (FY) 2016.
On May 12, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (ENR) held a hearing to consider the American Mineral Security Act of 2015 to increase support for minerals science, information, and forecasting within the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Resources Program.
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