Tag: Trump EPA

Abuse of Power: Debunking the Trump Administration’s National Security Argument for Coal

The following article by Luke Bassett and Ned Price was posted on the Center for American Progress website August 16, 2018:

A coal-fired power plant sits near the Ohio River in WV, November 2011. Credit: Michael Williamson, Getty Images

After several failed attempts to bail out coal power plants, President Donald Trump and his administration have turned to co-opting national security tools and arguments to pursue their domestic energy agenda. Recently, administration officials have selectively targeted natural gas and renewable energy generation resources, falsely claiming they pose greater risks to the electric grid than do nuclear or coal resources. Specifically, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry misconstrued the facts about certain electricity generation resources and their relative vulnerability to threats, hiding behind his access to classified information to short-circuit a policy debate and thereby strengthen his proposal in a way that circumvents fact-checking.

This unprecedented use of defense arguments to favor certain electricity generators over others defies competitive energy market rules. Furthermore, it impairs the ability of experts, officials, and even the public to assess, prevent, or respond effectively to actual threats to the energy system, thereby undermining national security efforts as a whole. Continue reading “Abuse of Power: Debunking the Trump Administration’s National Security Argument for Coal”

What the EPA’s proposed fuel standards could do to your gas mileage

The following article by Christopher Ingraham was posted on the Washington Post website August 2, 2018:

Credit: Cohdra via Morguefile.com

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday announced a plan to weaken fuel-economy standards put in place under the Obama administration.

The new plan would freeze standards at 2020 levels through the year 2025 and beyond. Under the Obama administration, automakers were required to reach a fleetwide average fuel economy for all cars and light trucks of 51.4 miles per gallon by 2025. The Trump administration’s proposal instead freezes that figure at its 2020 level of 36.9 miles per gallon.

But the EPA’s standards refer to testing under laboratory conditions, not the mileage we get when driving our cars on the road. To know how the new standards would affect real-world gas mileage, researchers need to take the further step of modeling how real-world use differs from laboratory conditions.

View the complete article here.

Trump moves to roll back Obama emission standards

The following article by Timothy Cama and Miranda Green was posted on the Hill website August 2, 2018:

The Trump administration rolled out a plan Thursday to weaken the Obama administration’s aggressive fuel economy and global warming standards for cars and strip California of its ability to determine its own vehicle regulations for greenhouse gas emissions.

In a major rebuke of a key pillar of former President Obama’s legacy that’s certain to end up in court, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) declared that the heightened emissions standards set to take effect for cars built from 2021 and 2026 are unreasonable for both economic and safety reasons.

The Obama administration set the standards in 2012 as part of a set of rules meant to intensify from 2017 through 2026.

View the complete article here.

Despite his assurances, Wheeler met with former clients

The following article by Corbin Hiar was posted on the E&E News website July 26, 2018:

Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler in his office at agency headquarters earlier this month. Credit: Patrick G. Ryan

Since Andrew Wheeler was sworn as EPA’s second in command on April 20, the lobbying veteran has had at least three meetings with former clients that may have violated the Trump administration’s ethics pledge and other promises he made to steer clear of potential conflicts of interest.

Wheeler — who became acting administrator after Scott Pruitt’s July 6 resignation — has also attended other events that prominently included the head of a company he is currently prohibited from getting involved with, according to an E&E News review of public documents.

The string of ethically questionable encounters stand in stark contrast to the acting EPA chief’s claims that he is taking pains to avoid helping his former clients advance their interests.

View the complete article here.

Pruitt grants loophole to ‘super polluting’ diesel truck manufacturers on last day at EPA B

The following article by Avery Anapol was posted on the Hill website July 7, 2018:

Credit: Greg Nash

The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday granted a loophole to allow increased manufacturing of a kind of diesel freight truck known as “super polluting.”

The move, which came on embattled administrator Scott Pruitt’s last day on the job, is being harshly criticized by environmentalists and lung health advocates, according to The New York Times.

The EPA confirmed to The Times that through the end of next year, the agency will not enforce a previous cap on manufacturers making “glider trucks,” and hopes to permanently repeal the cap.

Glider trucks combine older engines–that do not meet modern emissions requirements–with newer truck bodies. The Times reported that small fleet owners have sought out glider trucks in order to evade emissions regulations, as they are cheaper to run.

View the complete article on the Hill website here.

Trump’s dumbfounding bet on Scott Pruitt

The following article by Aaron Blake was posted on the Washington Post website July 6, 2018:

The Fix’s Aaron Blake breaks down why President Trump supported scandal-plagued EPA administrator Scott Pruitt for so long. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

This post has been updated.

The business of politics is often a cost-benefit analysis, if not outright gambling. People have a certain amount of political capital, comprising their base of support and internal favors, and they get to choose when and where to spend it — with no telling how their decisions will pan out or how much of a return, if any, they will reap.

Scott Pruitt was both a bad business decision and a horrible political gamble. Yet the White House kept throwing good money after bad on that bet. As indictments of Trump’s political decisions and acumen go, Pruitt ranks extremely high.

Put plainly: The White House for some reason thought this might get better, even as it was pretty clear to everyone outside 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. that Pruitt’s blatant indifference to ethical concerns ensured that it never would.

View the full article on the Washington Post website here.

Scott Pruitt resigns from EPA

The following article by lauren Meier and Haley Britzky was posted on the Axios website July 5, 2018:

Credit: Kaster, AP Photo

Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt has resigned following months of bizarre scandals.

President Trump quickly tweeted that he accepted his resignation, thanking him for his time with the agency, adding that “the future of the EPA is very bright!” Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist and top aide to Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, will take over as head of the EPA.

Continue reading “Scott Pruitt resigns from EPA”

Today, int Trump’s America: Scott Pruitt faces yet more allegations of ethical misconduct

The following article by Emily C. Singer was posted on the Mic.com website July 3, 2018:

About last night: The hits just keep on coming for EPA administrator Scott Pruitt

Every time a new bombshell drops on Environmental Protection Agency administrator Scott Pruitt, it’s hard to believe the scandal around him could get any bigger.

And yet, it consistently grows.

Multiple stories dropped Monday afternoon alleging yet more inappropriate behavior by Pruitt. The Washington Post reported that Pruitt asked a former policy aide to get his wife a job as a fundraiser for the Republican Attorneys General Association, where he wanted her to earn at least $200,000.

View the full article on the Mic.com website here.

Trump administration moves to rescind Obama-era guidance on race in admissions

The following article by Nick Anderson and Moriah Balingit was posted on the Washington Post website July 3, 2018:

Attorney General Jeff Sessions Credit: Gregory Bull/AP

The Trump administration Tuesday discouraged the use of race in college admissions and public school enrollment by revoking federal guidance on affirmative action from the Obama era.

The announcement is the latest step in a decades-long debate over the use of race in admissions, a tactic for many schools seeking to diversify and overcome the legacy of segregation.

Trump officials said that the Obama administration overstepped its authority by going ­beyond what the Supreme Court has said in affirmative-action ­cases. In recent years, the court has restricted when race can be used. President Barack Obama’s policies interpreting those rulings sought to show schools and colleges how they could use race voluntarily in the interest of promoting diversity.

View the complete article on the Washington Post website here.

Whistleblower: EPA’s Pruitt kept secret calendar to hide meetings

The following article by Scott Bronstein, Curt Devine and Drew Griffin was posted on the CNN website July 3, 2018:

(CNN) — EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and his aides have kept “secret” calendars and schedules to overtly hide controversial meetings or calls with industry representatives and others, according to a former EPA official who is expected to soon testify before Congress. A review of EPA documents by CNN found discrepancies between Pruitt’s official calendar and other records.

EPA staffers met routinely in Pruitt’s office to “scrub,” alter or remove from Pruitt’s official calendar numerous records because they might “look bad,” according to Kevin Chmielewski, Pruitt’s former deputy chief of staff for operations, who attended the meetings.
A CNN review which compared Pruitt’s public calendar with internal EPA schedules and emails shows more than two dozen meetings, events or calls were omitted from his public calendar.

View the complete article on the CNN website here.