Trump Set to Roll Back Federal Fuel-Economy Requirements

In this Jan. 18, 2017, file photo, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator-designate, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public … Works Committee. On inauguration eve, five law professors filed a brief in support of a 2015 regulation giving EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers discretion to regulate tributaries and wetlands far upstream from navigable lakes and rivers to protect water quality.

Trump’s new EPA chief barely mentioned the environment in…

Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency critic who recently took over the agency as part of the Trump administration, gave his first address in his new position Tuesday. The former Oklahoma Attorney General mentioned “important, monumental issues with respect to our future and our environment,” but avoided a number of issues central to the EPA’s mission – such as air and water protection, cleanups, public health, and environmental monitoring.

Trump Aides Said to Prepare List of Early Energy Changes

Donald Trump’s advisers have prepared a short list of energy and environmental policy changes he can take now that he has been sworn in as president, including steps to limit the role that climate change plays in government decisions and speed the review of cross-border pipelines. The list of actions Trump can take imminently includes nullifying President guidelines that federal agencies weigh climate change when approving pipelines, deciding what areas to open for drilling or taking other major actions, two people familiar with Trump’s transition planning say.

Art credit: Dave Malan

President Trump may not be a full-spectrum deregulator in the Ronald Reagan tradition. He hasn’t had much to say about the Food and Drug Administration or Federal Communications Commission-two favorite targets of regulatory reformers-and he sometimes sounds like an antitrust activist.

Art credit: Dave Malan

President Trump may not be a full-spectrum deregulator in the Ronald Reagan tradition. He hasn’t had much to say about the Food and Drug Administration or Federal Communications Commission-two favorite targets of regulatory reformers-and he sometimes sounds like an antitrust activist.

Icahn Sees Doubts About Ethanol Mandate Among Trump’s Advisers

Billionaire Carl Icahn, a special adviser to Donald Trump and a skeptic of the U.S. ethanol mandate, said there are others on the president-elect’s team who have even deeper criticisms of the program. Icahn repeated criticism of the credit trading program that regulators and refiners use to track compliance with federal biofuel consumption quotas.

Obama Sets Up Water Clash With Mining Rule Trump Opposes

The Obama administration issued new regulations to protect streams and groundwater from coal mining, which congressional Republicans swiftly vowed to reverse. The industry says the U.S. Interior Department’s so-called stream protection rule will strand billions of dollars worth of coal in the ground.