Dianne Feinstein

Set Vehicular Emissions Standards

May 19, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. -- U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today applauded the announcement by the Obama Administration that it intends to issue a proposed rule-making to increase fleetwide fuel economy standards for automobiles and light trucks to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

The deal will align, or ensure functional equivalence between, the vehicular emission standards and fuel economy standards issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA), respectively.    » read more »

Proposal would achieve 32 to 38 percent greater oil savings than House compromise

May 19, 2009 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) today jointly announced an alternative ‘Cash for Clunkers’ proposal to encourage consumers to buy more fuel efficient vehicles.

Specifically, the Feinstein-Collins-Schumer counter proposal would require that the newly purchased vehicle have above-average fuel economy for its class of vehicles. The proposal would also require that the trade-in vehicle have a fuel economy of 17 miles per gallon (mpg) or less, instead of the 18 mpg in the House compromise.

In enacted, the Feinstein-Collins-Schumer proposal would:    » read more »

Sets Vehicular Emissions Standards

May 19, 2009 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) today applauded the announcement by the Obama Administration that it intends to issue a proposed rule-making to increase fleetwide fuel economy standards for automobiles and light trucks to 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

The deal will align, or ensure functional equivalence between, the vehicular emission standards and fuel economy standards issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHTSA), respectively.    » read more »

May 19, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today voted in favor of H.R. 627, legislation that strengthens oversight of the credit card industry. The bill, which passed the Senate by a vote of 90-5, includes an amendment sponsored by Corker and U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.), which places restrictions on marketing credit cards to college students.    » read more »

State bill would ban use of Bisphenol A in baby bottles and other feeding devices

August 11, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein (both D-Calif.) today called on the California State Assembly to pass legislation that would prohibit the use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in baby bottles, sippy cups and other feeding devices for children ages three and younger.

Senators Feinstein and Boxer have co-sponsored federal legislation that would ban BPA from children’s products as well as require the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the health effects of BPA in children and adults.    » read more »

Measure creates single uniform standard for all government interrogations, complies with U.S. law and international obligations

August 4, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) have introduced legislation requiring the CIA to follow the Army Field Manual’s rules when conducting interrogations. The manual specifically prohibits the use of waterboarding and seven other coercive techniques.

The Restoring America’s Integrity Act would:    » read more »

June 17, 2008 -- “There are some who believe that the only solution to our skyrocketing energy crisis is to drill, drill, and drill. And one of their primary targets is the Outer Continental Shelf.

Congress chose to protect these federal waters from oil exploitation in 1981. And Congress has voted to renew that ban every year since then.

Offshore oil drilling rig: Photo by Beau Wade (CC)

But today, these federal protections are under attack.

Let me be clear: lifting the moratoria is a false promise and an unnecessary risk.    » read more »

June 17, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today testified before the Energy and Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on National Parks on the Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park Wilderness Act, legislation she introduced to protect nearly 115,000 acres of pristine public land within the Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park as wilderness. The bill is cosponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).

Sequoias at Sequoia National Park, California: Photo by Phil (CC)    » read more »

June 16, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – Today, the Senate adopted a resolution by Senator Barbara Boxer and Senator Dianne Feinstein (both D-CA) honoring the life of Robert Mondavi, a pioneer of the California wine industry who passed away in May at the age of 94.

Mondavi wine barrels: Photo by IanL (CC)    » read more »

Measure would level the playing field in energy futures markets

June 13, 2008 -- Washington, DC – In the wake of growing concerns about the impact of speculation, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) have introduced legislation to require the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to impose the same position limits on institutional investors to which other investors now are subject. This legislation would essentially level the playing field in energy futures markets.

Under current law, CFTC is required to impose speculation limits on the size of energy trader positions. However, in practice, CFTC regularly exempts institutional investors from position limits, when investors execute their trades through brokers or dealers.    » read more »

June 12, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – United States Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government, introduced legislation today to increase the resources and authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The CFTC is the federal agency responsible for regulating oil and commodity futures markets. The legislation is cosponsored by Senators Harry Reid (D-NV), Carl Levin (D-MI), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM).    » read more »

Senators push to put a ‘cop on the beat’ to crack down on manipulation and excessive speculation

June 12, 2008 -- WASHINGTON – Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) today introduced, along with Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), the Close the London Loophole Act, [PDF] which would ensure that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has the same authority to detect, prevent, and punish manipulation and excessive speculation for traders in the United States who trade crude U.S. oil or other energy commodities on foreign commodity exchanges as the CFTC has for traders who trade on U.S. exchanges.    » read more »

Senator Feinstein Joins Democratic Senators, Labor and Business Leaders to Discuss Efforts to Create Green Jobs and Protect Middle-Class from Rising Energy Costs

June 3, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today joined Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Bob Casey (D-N.J.) at a news conference with labor and business leaders to discuss the need for comprehensive climate change legislation.

The Lieberman-Warner legislation now under consideration on the floor of the United States Senate, the “Climate Security Act of 2008,” will help create green jobs and protect Middle-class Americans from rising energy costs – while helping to prevent catastrophic climate change.    » read more »

Senators Feinstein and Leahy and Representative McGovern Introduce Joint Resolution Calling on the United States to Sign International Treaty Banning Cluster Bombs

June 3, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), and Representative James P. McGovern (D-Mass.) today introduced a joint resolution calling on the United States to sign on to a new treaty to ban the vast majority of cluster munitions.

The resolution specifically calls on the United States to “embrace efforts to protect innocent civilians from cluster munitions and sign the Convention on Cluster Munitions when it becomes open for signature in December 2008.”    » read more »

May 23, 2008 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today called on California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to push the parties responsible for perchlorate pollution in the Rialto-Colton Basin to pay for water replacement, until the cleanup of the contaminated water in the area has been completed.

The responsible parties in the Inland Empire include: Goodrich Corporation, America Promotional Events, Inc. - West, County of San Bernardino, Emhart Industries/Black & Decker, PyroSpectaculars, Inc. and Zambelli Fireworks Manufacturing Co.    » read more »