Weekly News Roundup – March 9, 2012

Aislinn Maestas | Last Updated: January 8, 2016

Want to know what National Wildlife Federation was up to this week? Here is a recap of the week’s NWF news:

RESTORE Act a Victory for Gulf’s Ecosystems and Economy

March 8 – The U.S. Senate today passed an amendment to add the RESTORE Act and the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to the Senate transportation bill. The RESTORE Act would ensure that 80 percent of fines and penalties from the Gulf oil disaster would be dedicated to Gulf Coast restoration.

“Today’s bipartisan vote is a ray of hope for the people, wildlife and ecosystems hurt by the Gulf oil disaster that began nearly two years ago,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “It’s now up to the House to follow through on promises to make the Gulf whole again by passing this critical legislation to restore the Gulf Coast’s wetlands and ecosystems, the lifeblood of the Gulf economy. Final passage would represent one of the great conservation achievements in recent memory, protecting and restoring land, water and wildlife along our coasts, in our oceans and our public lands across the country.”

Read NWF’s joint statement with our Gulf Coast restoration partners here.

Court Protects Taxpayers and Environment from Yazoo Pumps

March 7 – The National Wildlife Federation and the Mississippi Wildlife Federation celebrate the recent federal appeals court decision upholding the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stop construction of the Yazoo Pumps in the Mississippi Delta.

“Today, taxpayers, wildlife and wetlands are safer from the endless drain of the Yazoo Pumps,” said Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “While the Pumps were touted as a flood control project, they would have drained the taxpayers’ wallets to make flooding worse and destroy valuable habitat for fish and wildlife. We would have been burdened with the environmental and economic damage of this bad investment for generations,” said Schweiger.

And here are highlights from NWF in the News: