Scientists say Trump’s first 2 years have been fatal for a livable climate
Tag: Trump EPA
Wheeler Would Be A Disaster As Head Of The EPA
As the Senate holds a confirmation hearing today for Andrew Wheeler to be Trump’s next EPA administrator, here’s a look at some of the many ways he would be a disaster as head of the agency:
Wheeler once served as the right-hand man to Washington’s most prominent climate denier.
New York Times: “Mr. Wheeler has worked in Washington for more than 20 years. He is a former chief of staff to Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, the conservative Republican who has become known as Washington’s most prominent denialist of the established science of human-caused climate change.”
Wheeler is a former coal lobbyist who built his career around regulatory rollbacks that benefit the fossil fuel industry.
New York Times: “His career was built around quietly and incrementally advancing the interests of the fossil-fuel industry, chiefly by weakening or delaying federal regulations. Mr. Wheeler has worked in Washington for more than 20 years.” Continue reading “Wheeler Would Be A Disaster As Head Of The EPA”
U.S. greenhouse gas emissions spiked in 2018 — and it couldn’t happen at a worse time
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions rose an estimated 3.4 percent in 2018, according to new research — a jarring increase that comes as scientists say the world needs to be aggressively cutting its emissions to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change.
The findings, published Tuesday by the independent economic research firm Rhodium Group, mean that the United States now has a diminishing chance of meeting its pledge under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to dramatically reduce its emissions by 2025.
The findings also underscore how the world’s second-largest emitter, once a global leader in pushing for climate action, has all but abandoned efforts to mitigate the effects of a warming world. President Trump has said he plans to officially withdraw the nation from the Paris climate agreement in 2020 and in the meantime has rolled back Obama-era regulations aimed at reducing the country’s carbon emissions.
EPA to make it harder to tighten mercury rules in the future
Proposed changes could revamp how the government values human health.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday proposed a major change in the way the federal government calculates the costs and benefits of dangerous air pollutants, arguing that authorities should exclude some of the public health benefits stemming from new rules.
The proposal, which revisits a 2011 rule limiting mercury emissions from coal plants, argues EPA lacked justification to curb the neurotoxin in the first place because many benefits stemmed from the overall drop in air pollution that would occur once power companies adopted new technologies. The EPA is not reversing the Obama-era standards — with which the industry has already complied — the agency wants to alter the underlying calculations to set a precedent for future public health rules.
The proposal represents a balancing act, of sorts. In keeping in place the Obama-era standards on mercury emissions, Trump officials are acknowledging the billions of dollars companies have already spent in upgrades to comply. But at the same time, the administration is advancing a broader effort to narrow what the government counts as benefits when crafting air rules.
Trump to nominate former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler as next EPA administrator
President Trump said he plans to nominate Andrew Wheeler, acting head of the Environmental Protection Agency, to be the EPA’s Senate-confirmed administrator.
Trump made the announcement Friday during a White House ceremony for Medal of Freedom recipients.
He said Wheeler “is going to be made permanent,” adding that “he’s done a fantastic job and I want to congratulate him.”
View the complete November 16 article by Timothy Cama on The Hill website here.
Scott Pruitt, Former E.P.A. Chief, Is in Talks for His Next Job: Coal Consultant Image
WASHINGTON — Scott Pruitt, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency who championed deregulation of the fossil fuel industry, is in discussions to work as a consultant to the Kentucky coal mining tycoon Joseph W. Craft III.
Mr. Pruitt has remained largely out of the public eye since parting ways with the Trump administration in July under a cloud of ethics investigations into matters including his ties to fossil fuel industry executives with business before the agency.
Mr. Craft, the chief executive of Alliance Resource Partners and a major Republican donor, enjoyed a close relationship with the E.P.A. during Mr. Pruitt’s tenure. Mr. Craft met with Mr. Pruitt at least seven times in Mr. Pruitt’s first 14 months at the agency and in December provided him with courtside seats at a University of Kentucky basketball game, a school where Mr. Craft is a prominent supporter.
Trump’s EPA proposes weaker methane rules for oil and gas wells
The following article was posted on the Reuters website September 11, 2018:
The Trump administration on Tuesday proposed weakening requirements for testing and repairing methane leaks in drilling operations, among other measures, in a step toward rolling back an Obama-era policy to combat climate change.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the changes will save the industry $75 million a year in regulatory costs between 2019 and 2025, while increasing methane emissions.
Methane, the primary component of natural gas, leaks from oil and gas wells during drilling. It accounts for 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and has more than 80 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it escapes into the atmosphere.
Want to Know More About: Trump EPA Rollbacks?
Mika Brzezinski: “Also Mistaking News This Morning, The Trump Administration Is Set To Make Another Rollback Of Obama Era Climate Rules.” MIKA BRZEZINSKI: “Also mistaking news this morning, the trump administration is set to make another rollback of Obama era climate rules. The environmental protection agency is proposing changes that would give drillers a year to do leak inspections instead of just six months and 60 days to the make repairs instead of 30. The proposal would allow energy companies operating in states that have their own state level methane standards follow those standards instead of federal.” [Morning Joe, MSNBC, 9/11/18; VIDEO]
John Dickerson: “‘The New York Times’ Reports The Trump Administration Is Preparing To Make It Easier For Energy Companies To Release Methane Into The Air.” DICKERSON: “’The New York Times’ reports the Trump Administration is preparing to make it easier for energy companies to release methane into the air. The EPA wants to weaken an Obama-era requirement that companies monitor and repair methane an leaks from oil and gas wells. Energy companies say the rules to test for emissions are costly and burdensome. It’s the third rollback this year of federal efforts to fight climate change.” [This Morning, CBS, 9/11/18; VIDEO]
E.P.A. Rule Change Could Let Dirtiest Coal Plants Keep Running (and Stay Dirty) Image
The following article by Eric Lipton was posted on the New York Times website August 24, 2018:
WASHINGTON — One of the main advancements of the past half-century at coal-burning power plants has been the “scrubber,” a clean-air device that played a major role in ending the acid-rain crisis of the 1970s and that removes millions of tons a year of a pollutant blamed for respiratory disease.
However, the Trump administration’s proposed rewrite of climate-change regulations could enable some of America’s dirtiest remaining coal plants to be refurbished and keep running for years without adding scrubbers or other modern pollution controls.
Industry lawyers and former federal officials say the policy shift is one of the most consequential pieces of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal, made public this week, to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which was designed to slow the pace of climate change in part by encouraging the retirement of older coal plants and a shift toward greener energy sources.
EPA proposes rule replacing Obama climate policy
The following article by Amy Harder was posted on the Axios.com website August 21, 2018:
The Environmental Protection Agency officially proposed a rule Tuesday setting limits on carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, which replaces a far more aggressive plan issued by former President Barack Obama.
Why it matters: It’s a tacit acknowledgment by the Trump administration that it’s legally required to regulate carbon emissions — even though most officials don’t acknowledge climate change is a problem.
Reality check: Trump officials will tout how this rule will stop what they call Obama’s war on coal, but independent analysts say coal’s decline will continue, and is fueled largely by cheaper natural gas and renewables anyway.