CLINTON VS. BLANKENSHIP: Hillary Clinton slammed convicted former coal CEO Don Blankenship on Tuesday for protesting her campaign stop in West Virginia this week.
“Let’s act on coal miner safety so people like Don Blankenship are held accountable for blatantly disregarding it,” she tweeted Tuesday.
{mosads}Blankenship will soon head to federal prison on counts of conspiracy stemming from a 2010 mine disaster that killed 29 workers.
He was spotted alongside protesters — many of whom were coal miners — at a Monday rally in Williamson, W.Va. They were demonstrating against Clinton’s environmental policies, which she previously said would “put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.”
Talley Sergent, the West Virginia state director for Clinton’s campaign, said the former secretary of State is “proud” not to have an endorsement from Blankenship.
“It was a pretty outrageous … to see Don Blankenship, of all people, apparently rallying against Hillary Clinton’s plans and commitment to help our coal communities,” Sergent said in a statement.
“As president, Hillary Clinton will prioritize federal legislation to make sure the likes of Don Blankenship can never again get away with showing such blatant disregard for our miners and their safety.”
Read more here.
Blankenship fires back: Blakenship responded on Tuesday, saying Clinton is “choosing to promote her presidential campaign by demonizing me” and questioning the results of a federal investigation into the Upper Big Branch explosion.
“I do hope that whoever is elected will demand a truly independent investigation of the UBB explosion, the cover-up of the facts by [the Mine Safety and Health Administration], the disappearance of emails and the destruction of government documents,” he said in a statement to The New York Times’ Amy Chozick.
“Someday the truth about MSHA’s failure at UBB and its frantic effort to protect itself in the aftermath will have to be told.”
A jury found Blankenship guilty of conspiring to violate mine safety laws while heading Massey. He received a one-year sentence, the maximum allowable under the law.
BARRASSO, MCCAIN WANT CRIMINAL PROBE INTO EPA MINE SPILL: Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) want the Department of Justice to probe last year’s mine waste spill for potential criminal violations on the part of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or its contractors.
In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch on Tuesday, the senators said EPA employees may have broken the law by moving forward with clean-up work at the Gold King Mine last August before spilling 3 million gallons of waste into the nearby Animas River.
“We ask that you review the circumstances surrounding the Gold King Mine spill to determine specifically whether evidence warrants the prosecution of any EPA manager, employee or contractor for the criminal violation of federal environmental law, criminal negligence, obstruction or any other crime,” the pair wrote.
“With the conduct of EPA employees and contractors having been stipulated as causing the Gold King Mine spill, DOJ’s involvement is necessary to affirm that the government is willing to hold itself to the same level of accountability as it holds private companies whose negligence results in serious environmental damage.”
Two reports have found the mine waste spill was preventable and faulted the EPA for causing it. The EPA has taken responsibility for the incident, and officials, including Administrator Gina McCarthy, have testified before Congress on the matter.
The agency noted Tuesday its Inspector General is conducting another study into the spill and said, “these reports will help inform EPA’s ongoing efforts to work safely and effectively at mine sites as we carry out our mission to protect human health and the environment.”
Read more here.
QUAKER LOBBYIST TALKS PEACE, CLIMATE AND MORE: The Hill sat down with Diane Randall, executive secretary of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), to talk about what Quakers lobby about in Washington, D.C.
While Randall’s group sticks to peace-building — long a main goal for Quakers — as its top priority, FCNL has branched out into climate change, justice, immigration and more.
She spoke at length about the group’s involvement with Rep. Chris Gibson’s (R-N.Y.) proposed resolution introduced last year on conservative environmental conservation.
“It was clear that if you’re going to make change, you have to figure out where there’s common ground, and there wasn’t a lot of common ground on climate change with Republicans,” Randall said.
Read more here.
OBAMA TO FLINT ON WEDNESDAY: President Obama visits Flint, Mich., to hear about recovery work related to a local water contamination outbreak.
Obama will meet with embattled Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), the governor’s office said on Tuesday, and the two will participate in a briefing on the city’s lead water outbreak. Obama will also meet with Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, hold a roundtable discussion on the matter and deliver a speech to Flint residents at the city’s Northwest High School.
ALSO ON WEDNESDAY’S AGENDA: Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) will speak at a University of Maryland event on climate change.
AROUND THE WEB:
The Virgin Islands’ investigation into climate science at Exxon Mobil Corp. so far focuses on the company’s communications with universities, academics and think tanks, The Washington Times reports.
Jimmy Kimmel mocked Sarah Palin’s climate change skepticism on his Monday night show, bringing on numerous scientists to tell her, in a vulgar way, that they aren’t screwing with her.
The Los Angeles Times looks into how the government got BP to agree to its $20.8 billion settlement over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Check out Tuesday’s stories…
-Watchdog dings EPA on facility inspection data
-GOP senators call for criminal probe of EPA mine waste spill
-Clinton slams convicted ex-coal chief
-Feds ask judge to end coal lawsuit against EPA
-Michigan gov to meet with Obama in Flint
-UN head nominates new chief for climate agency
-Google gives $250K to Flint crisis
-Man emotionally confronts Clinton on coal remarks
Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@digital-release.thehill.com; and Devin Henry, dhenry@digital-release.thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @dhenry, @thehill