What We Learned This Week - "We'll Always Have Paris"

EPA Administrator McCarthy told farmers and ranchers that her agency could have done better rolling out its clean water proposed rule.  County government and state agriculture representatives agreed with her.   Meanwhile, the EPA's water chief told lawmakers that "it's time for us to go final with the rule." The Ohio River once again tops the nation for industrial releases into that water body. It's dry and it's getting drier in the northern Corn Belt.  That could mean increased and more intense wild fires.   Minnesota Governor Dayton asked farmers to support his state stream buffer plan, but some farmers view the proposal as a land taking.  In a blow to the companies, federal judges returned seven environmental damage lawsuits filed against oil and gas companies by Jefferson and Plaquemines parishes to Louisiana state courts. Eighteen Mississippi River mayors visited Washington, DC to talk about River issues of mayoral importance.  Some of those Mississippi River mayors are going to Paris.  House and Senate Budget Committee Republicans released and then approved their respective budget plans for next year. Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock will leave Congress at end of March.  The House passed the EPA "Science Advisory Board Reform Act" and the "Secret Science Reform Act;" both mostly along party lines. And last but not least, Americans are more upbeat than people in other wealthy nations about how their day is going, and are more likely to believe that hard work pays off.