https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a19849658/pruitt-zinke-environment-public-spending/
"There's something of a dark irony in turning the Interior Department into an open sewer of greed and corruption. It is consistent with the entire administration*, which is run at the top by a conspicuous glutton. There are seven deadly sins. Gluttony is one of them. I’d say we have a clean sweep, probably the only clean thing involved in this whole mess."
Monday, April 30, 2018
While China Picks Winners, Trump Picks Losers
While China Picks Winners, Trump Picks Losers:
"Republicans who for years have voted against subsidies for solar and wind power—arguing that the “free market” should decide our energy future—are now eager to have government subsidize coal. Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency is also scrapping rules for disposing coal ash, giving coal producers another big helping hand. As if this weren’t enough, a former coal lobbyist has just become No. 2 at the EPA. If Scott Pruitt leaves (a growing possibility), the coal lobbyist will be in charge. Meanwhile, Trump is imposing a 30 percent tariff on solar panels from China, thereby boosting their cost to American homeowners and utilities. The Trumpsters say this is because China is subsidizing solar. To Trump and his merry band of climate-change deniers, boosting coal is fine. Helping solar is an unwarranted interference in the free market. As with so much else, Trump is determined to Take America Backwards Again. Until about a decade ago, the United States was the world leader in solar energy. Federal tax credits along with state renewable electricity standards helped fuel the boom. Then China decided to boost its own solar industry. State-controlled banks lent Chinese solar companies tens of billions of dollars at low interest rates. Chinese firms now produce three-quarters of the world’s solar panels. China’s success in solar has inspired China’s new high-tech industrial policy—a $300 billion plan to boost China’s position in other cutting-edge industries, called “Made in China 2025.” Besides subsidizing these industries, China is also telling foreign (usually American) companies seeking to sell in China that they must make their gadgets in China. As a practical matter, this often means American firms must disclose and share their technology with Chinese firms. “We have a tremendous intellectual property theft situation going on,” said Trump, just before upping the ante and threatening China with $100 billion in tariffs."
"Republicans who for years have voted against subsidies for solar and wind power—arguing that the “free market” should decide our energy future—are now eager to have government subsidize coal. Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency is also scrapping rules for disposing coal ash, giving coal producers another big helping hand. As if this weren’t enough, a former coal lobbyist has just become No. 2 at the EPA. If Scott Pruitt leaves (a growing possibility), the coal lobbyist will be in charge. Meanwhile, Trump is imposing a 30 percent tariff on solar panels from China, thereby boosting their cost to American homeowners and utilities. The Trumpsters say this is because China is subsidizing solar. To Trump and his merry band of climate-change deniers, boosting coal is fine. Helping solar is an unwarranted interference in the free market. As with so much else, Trump is determined to Take America Backwards Again. Until about a decade ago, the United States was the world leader in solar energy. Federal tax credits along with state renewable electricity standards helped fuel the boom. Then China decided to boost its own solar industry. State-controlled banks lent Chinese solar companies tens of billions of dollars at low interest rates. Chinese firms now produce three-quarters of the world’s solar panels. China’s success in solar has inspired China’s new high-tech industrial policy—a $300 billion plan to boost China’s position in other cutting-edge industries, called “Made in China 2025.” Besides subsidizing these industries, China is also telling foreign (usually American) companies seeking to sell in China that they must make their gadgets in China. As a practical matter, this often means American firms must disclose and share their technology with Chinese firms. “We have a tremendous intellectual property theft situation going on,” said Trump, just before upping the ante and threatening China with $100 billion in tariffs."
Lawmakers seek investigation into Scott Pruitt’s friend with no toxic site cleanup experience
https://thinkprogress.org/lawmakers-want-inquiry-into-scott-pruitt-superfund-adviser-345dbffd4ea4/
"Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt selected an old friend to oversee the nation’s toxic waste cleanup program. The friend, Albert Kelly, had no experience in environmental regulation, although he had invested in fossil fuel companies responsible for toxic waste that led to the designation of official Superfund sites. Two lawmakers are now calling on the EPA’s internal watchdog to investigate why Pruitt’s friend was hired to serve as his top adviser for the agency’s Superfund program. They want to find out if Kelly — a former banker who was banned from the profession — was properly vetted before getting appointed to his high-level position and whether Kelly has violated federal rules since joining the EPA."
"Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt selected an old friend to oversee the nation’s toxic waste cleanup program. The friend, Albert Kelly, had no experience in environmental regulation, although he had invested in fossil fuel companies responsible for toxic waste that led to the designation of official Superfund sites. Two lawmakers are now calling on the EPA’s internal watchdog to investigate why Pruitt’s friend was hired to serve as his top adviser for the agency’s Superfund program. They want to find out if Kelly — a former banker who was banned from the profession — was properly vetted before getting appointed to his high-level position and whether Kelly has violated federal rules since joining the EPA."
Opponents decry Scott Pruitt’s plan to roll back groundwater protections at coal ash sites
https://thinkprogress.org/scott-pruitt-sides-with-coal-ash-utilities-16fb6702c930/
"Residents have not been clamoring for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to weaken the nation’s coal ash waste rules. No local communities have stood up and said they want less protection from coal ash. And yet Pruitt — at the behest of coal-fired power plant owners — proposed changes in early March to an Obama-era rule that would allow power plant owners to avoid cleaning up their coal ash deposit sites that were found to be leaking and contaminating groundwater."
"Residents have not been clamoring for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to weaken the nation’s coal ash waste rules. No local communities have stood up and said they want less protection from coal ash. And yet Pruitt — at the behest of coal-fired power plant owners — proposed changes in early March to an Obama-era rule that would allow power plant owners to avoid cleaning up their coal ash deposit sites that were found to be leaking and contaminating groundwater."
Sunday, April 29, 2018
EPA plans to end California’s fuel economy waiver despite Pruitt’s claims to the contrary
https://thinkprogress.org/epa-end-california-waiver-freeze-fuel-economy-standards-2020-ea5ac66b8fed/
"Just one day after Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the agency did not have plans “at present” to target California’s special fuel economy waiver, the Trump administration announced that it would be putting a six-year hold on Obama-era standards for fuel efficiency, starting in 2020, while at the same time revoking California’s waiver to set its own standards. The move undercuts the Obama administration’s attempt to reign in carbon emissions from the transportation sector, and tees up a fight between the federal government and a state that has challenged Trump’s deregulatory agenda at nearly every turn. According to the Los Angeles Times, the EPA plans to submit a draft for fuel economy targets to the White House within the next few days. Pruitt had previously announced that the agency was reconsidering the Obama administration’s fuel economy standards, which dictate how much a car can emit."
"Just one day after Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the agency did not have plans “at present” to target California’s special fuel economy waiver, the Trump administration announced that it would be putting a six-year hold on Obama-era standards for fuel efficiency, starting in 2020, while at the same time revoking California’s waiver to set its own standards. The move undercuts the Obama administration’s attempt to reign in carbon emissions from the transportation sector, and tees up a fight between the federal government and a state that has challenged Trump’s deregulatory agenda at nearly every turn. According to the Los Angeles Times, the EPA plans to submit a draft for fuel economy targets to the White House within the next few days. Pruitt had previously announced that the agency was reconsidering the Obama administration’s fuel economy standards, which dictate how much a car can emit."
With 'Merger From Hell' Reportedly Approved by DOJ, Warnings of Agrichemical Chokehold on Food System
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/09/merger-hell-reportedly-approved-doj-warnings-agrichemical-chokehold-food-system
"Watchdog groups sounded alarms on Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the proposed mega-merger of Bayer and Monsanto has cleared its final regulatory hurdle in the United States."
"Watchdog groups sounded alarms on Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the proposed mega-merger of Bayer and Monsanto has cleared its final regulatory hurdle in the United States."
Scott Pruitt's lie about pay raises unravels, emails reveal he was behind scheme all along
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/4/9/1755690/-Scott-Pruitt-s-lie-about-pay-raises-unravels-emails-reveal-he-was-behind-scheme-all-along
"Pruitt sought massive raises for two of his favorite aides who came with him from Oklahoma. Those raises were large enough that they required approval from the White House. He was turned down. Undaunted, Pruitt determined that he could tap into money that was intended for consultants on the Clean Water Act and instead funnel it to his friends. He ordered it done. When he was caught, he took the standard Donald Trump method to handle it: bald-faced lies."
"Pruitt sought massive raises for two of his favorite aides who came with him from Oklahoma. Those raises were large enough that they required approval from the White House. He was turned down. Undaunted, Pruitt determined that he could tap into money that was intended for consultants on the Clean Water Act and instead funnel it to his friends. He ordered it done. When he was caught, he took the standard Donald Trump method to handle it: bald-faced lies."
Trump Interior Department Issues 'Death Sentence to Nearly 300 Threatened Species'
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/04/04/trump-interior-department-issues-death-sentence-nearly-300-threatened-species
"In a "disgraceful" move that conservationists warn will amount to "a death sentence to nearly 300 threatened species," the Trump administration is attempting to kill a portion of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Interior Department on Monday submitted a proposal to rescind the section of the law that extends all protections afforded to endangered species to those that are classified as threatened. Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, says the Trump administration's new proposal, in enacted, "could be the end for iconic wildlife like the northern spotted owl and southern sea otter." In addition to granting "crucial protections" to theatened species, the 1978 "blanket" 4(d) rule—which the administration is trying to rescind—and enables (pdf) the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to increase or decrease certain protections based on the needs of individual species."
"In a "disgraceful" move that conservationists warn will amount to "a death sentence to nearly 300 threatened species," the Trump administration is attempting to kill a portion of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Interior Department on Monday submitted a proposal to rescind the section of the law that extends all protections afforded to endangered species to those that are classified as threatened. Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity, says the Trump administration's new proposal, in enacted, "could be the end for iconic wildlife like the northern spotted owl and southern sea otter." In addition to granting "crucial protections" to theatened species, the 1978 "blanket" 4(d) rule—which the administration is trying to rescind—and enables (pdf) the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to increase or decrease certain protections based on the needs of individual species."
Scott Pruitt’s ethics scandal hasn’t stopped him from rolling back environmental protections
https://thinkprogress.org/scott-pruitts-ethics-scandal-environmental-rollbacks-continue-51b720d36f2c/
"Despite news that Pruitt had gone around the White House to approve raises for two political appointees, using a little-known provision in the Safe Water Drinking Act that allows the EPA administrator to unilaterally hire up to 30 employees to the agency, Pruitt continued to push ahead with his deregulatory agenda this week. On Wednesday, The Hill reported that Pruitt released a memo delegating himself more authority over issues related to the Clean Water Act."
"Despite news that Pruitt had gone around the White House to approve raises for two political appointees, using a little-known provision in the Safe Water Drinking Act that allows the EPA administrator to unilaterally hire up to 30 employees to the agency, Pruitt continued to push ahead with his deregulatory agenda this week. On Wednesday, The Hill reported that Pruitt released a memo delegating himself more authority over issues related to the Clean Water Act."
Trump prepares to turn the US into a dumping ground for dirty, inefficient vehicles
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/3/30/1753246/-Trump-prepares-to-turn-the-US-into-a-dumping-ground-for-dirty-inefficient-vehicles
"It’s not difficult to guess the results of creating “relaxed” standards for emissions and fuel economy in the United States while the rest of the world, plus California, keeps moving ahead. We don’t really have to guess, because we’ve been there before. For decades, Republican lawmakers like Missouri’s Roy Blunt fought to keep fuel economy standards low and emission standards lax. That allowed US automakers to build vehicles more cheaply, without investing in either the research or retooling needed to generate more and cleaner miles. It also had a immediate result on vehicles in the US market — the US became a dumping ground for older engines. Even if consumers wanted something better, they found that European and Asian manufacturers often sold more efficient cars in other markets, and vehicles a generation or more behind in the US."
"It’s not difficult to guess the results of creating “relaxed” standards for emissions and fuel economy in the United States while the rest of the world, plus California, keeps moving ahead. We don’t really have to guess, because we’ve been there before. For decades, Republican lawmakers like Missouri’s Roy Blunt fought to keep fuel economy standards low and emission standards lax. That allowed US automakers to build vehicles more cheaply, without investing in either the research or retooling needed to generate more and cleaner miles. It also had a immediate result on vehicles in the US market — the US became a dumping ground for older engines. Even if consumers wanted something better, they found that European and Asian manufacturers often sold more efficient cars in other markets, and vehicles a generation or more behind in the US."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)