https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ryan-zinke-trump-war-on-department-of-interior-700218/
"From gutting the Endangered Species Act to opening off-shore drilling – inside the Trump administration’s crusade to hand America’s public lands to the fossil-fuel industry"
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Accidentally-released documents show Interior agency prioritized industry over public lands
https://thinkprogress.org/interior-zinke-public-lands-oil-drilling-d8a4cc51c5d2/
"Under Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the agency intentionally tailored a survey of protected sites, emphasizing instead the value of fossil fuel extraction and other industry endeavors."
"Under Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the agency intentionally tailored a survey of protected sites, emphasizing instead the value of fossil fuel extraction and other industry endeavors."
Saturday, July 28, 2018
Mike Pence's Family Business Is Still in the Indiana Soil, Literally
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22487247/mike-pences-family-business-indiana-pollution/
"We begin in Indiana, where the legacy of Vice-President* Mike Pence and his family business remains alive in the soil and the water, even if certain other things do not. Pence’s father got rich by helping to develop a chain of gas stations all over the Midwest. In 2004, the business went bust, but it’s still costing the taxpayers. From the AP: The collapse of Kiel Bros. Oil Co. in 2004 was widely publicized. Less known is that the state of Indiana—and, to a smaller extent, Kentucky and Illinois—are still on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up more than 85 contaminated sites across the three states, including underground tanks that leaked toxic chemicals into soil, streams and wells. Indiana alone has spent at least $21 million on the cleanup thus far, or an average of about $500,000 per site, according to an analysis of records by The Associated Press. And the work is nowhere near complete."
"We begin in Indiana, where the legacy of Vice-President* Mike Pence and his family business remains alive in the soil and the water, even if certain other things do not. Pence’s father got rich by helping to develop a chain of gas stations all over the Midwest. In 2004, the business went bust, but it’s still costing the taxpayers. From the AP: The collapse of Kiel Bros. Oil Co. in 2004 was widely publicized. Less known is that the state of Indiana—and, to a smaller extent, Kentucky and Illinois—are still on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up more than 85 contaminated sites across the three states, including underground tanks that leaked toxic chemicals into soil, streams and wells. Indiana alone has spent at least $21 million on the cleanup thus far, or an average of about $500,000 per site, according to an analysis of records by The Associated Press. And the work is nowhere near complete."
Monday, July 23, 2018
Trump Just Nominated a Pesticide Exec to Oversee Science at the USDA
https://www.motherjones.com/food/2018/07/trump-just-nominated-a-pesticide-exec-to-oversee-science-at-usda/
"If approved by the Senate, Scott Hutchins will be the third major player from Dow Chemical’s pesticide/seed division—now known as Corteva, after Dow’s 2017 merger with DuPont—to hold a high post in Trump’s USDA. Back in April, the administration tapped Ken Isley, a 30-year Dow Agroscience/Corteva veteran, to lead the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. In October 2017, another former Dow man, Ted Mckinney, was confirmed by the Senate as undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs. McKinney had served for 19 years on Dow Agroscience’s government affairs (read: lobbying) team."
"If approved by the Senate, Scott Hutchins will be the third major player from Dow Chemical’s pesticide/seed division—now known as Corteva, after Dow’s 2017 merger with DuPont—to hold a high post in Trump’s USDA. Back in April, the administration tapped Ken Isley, a 30-year Dow Agroscience/Corteva veteran, to lead the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. In October 2017, another former Dow man, Ted Mckinney, was confirmed by the Senate as undersecretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs. McKinney had served for 19 years on Dow Agroscience’s government affairs (read: lobbying) team."
Scott Pruitt Can’t Escape His Investigations Just Because He Resigned
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/07/scott-pruitt-cant-escape-his-investigations-just-because-he-resigned/
"Scott Pruitt may be out at the Environmental Protection Agency, but he left in the midst of more than a dozen federal investigations into his conduct."
"Scott Pruitt may be out at the Environmental Protection Agency, but he left in the midst of more than a dozen federal investigations into his conduct."
Sunday, July 22, 2018
Russian Asbestos Company Puts Trump's Face, Seal of Approval, on Pallets of Its Products
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/11/russian-asbestos-company-puts-trumps-face-seal-approval-pallets-its-products
"Praising the Trump administration's new asbestos policies, which were announced last month, the company's post thanked the president for supporting recently-resigned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt, "who declared that his agency would no longer deal with matters related to side effects potentially caused by asbestos," according to a translation by Guardian."
"Praising the Trump administration's new asbestos policies, which were announced last month, the company's post thanked the president for supporting recently-resigned Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt, "who declared that his agency would no longer deal with matters related to side effects potentially caused by asbestos," according to a translation by Guardian."
So Long, Scott Pruitt. We Knew You All Too Well.
https://theintercept.com/2018/07/06/epa-scott-pruitt-resignation-andrew-wheeler/
"In Oklahoma, where he sided with poultry companies in Arkansas to subvert environmental protections for a river in his own state and suppressed a report on corruption at a Superfund site, what he wanted was the political support of a wealthy industry. In Washington, where he had recently expressed interest in Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s job, he wanted the approval of the president. (Pruitt’s resignation letter even seemed to be aimed for the president’s good side: “Truly, your confidence in me has blessed me personally,” he wrote, adding that he believed God “brought me into your service.”) For his part, Trump didn’t care about Pruitt’s scandals as long as he was doing the bidding of industry, which is why it took so long for his tenure to end. When it did, Democrats and environmentalists rejoiced as if the house had fallen on the wicked witch. “Finally,” was the headline quote of a press release from Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who, just hours before, had called for a criminal investigation into Pruitt’s secret calendar. A Washington, D.C., restaurant whipped up a special cocktail for the occasion. Even Republicans joined in the post-Pruitt celebration. The party will be brief. The president has another loyal industry servant primed for service. Former coal lobbyist and current EPA deputy administrator Andrew Wheeler will take over as the agency’s acting director on Monday. His views on climate change, the rollback of the Clean Power Plan, and the ongoing evisceration of other environmental protections are virtually indistinguishable from Pruitt’s. In several ways, Wheeler is a more daunting adversary. He has more experience working to undermine environmental regulations and deeper ties to industry than his predecessor."
"In Oklahoma, where he sided with poultry companies in Arkansas to subvert environmental protections for a river in his own state and suppressed a report on corruption at a Superfund site, what he wanted was the political support of a wealthy industry. In Washington, where he had recently expressed interest in Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s job, he wanted the approval of the president. (Pruitt’s resignation letter even seemed to be aimed for the president’s good side: “Truly, your confidence in me has blessed me personally,” he wrote, adding that he believed God “brought me into your service.”) For his part, Trump didn’t care about Pruitt’s scandals as long as he was doing the bidding of industry, which is why it took so long for his tenure to end. When it did, Democrats and environmentalists rejoiced as if the house had fallen on the wicked witch. “Finally,” was the headline quote of a press release from Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., who, just hours before, had called for a criminal investigation into Pruitt’s secret calendar. A Washington, D.C., restaurant whipped up a special cocktail for the occasion. Even Republicans joined in the post-Pruitt celebration. The party will be brief. The president has another loyal industry servant primed for service. Former coal lobbyist and current EPA deputy administrator Andrew Wheeler will take over as the agency’s acting director on Monday. His views on climate change, the rollback of the Clean Power Plan, and the ongoing evisceration of other environmental protections are virtually indistinguishable from Pruitt’s. In several ways, Wheeler is a more daunting adversary. He has more experience working to undermine environmental regulations and deeper ties to industry than his predecessor."
GOP-Controlled House Passes Bill to Eviscerate Nation's Marine Ecosystems, Fisheries
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/07/12/gop-controlled-house-passes-bill-eviscerate-nations-marine-ecosystems-fisheries
"Conservations, scientists, and members of fishing communities and industry expressed outrage and disappointment after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that experts warn will set the nation's fishing industry back decades by eviscerating protections that have made U.S. fisheries more sustainable and undermining the health of marine ecosystems as well as the communities that live off the ocean."
"Conservations, scientists, and members of fishing communities and industry expressed outrage and disappointment after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that experts warn will set the nation's fishing industry back decades by eviscerating protections that have made U.S. fisheries more sustainable and undermining the health of marine ecosystems as well as the communities that live off the ocean."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)