Strict standards needed for contaminants in drinking water

Two U.S. senators from New York have introduced legislation that would require federal environmental regulators to clamp down on potentially harmful chemicals in drinking water. The bill, cosponsored by democrats Kristin Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, would require the Environmental Protection Agency to set “strong and enforceable safety standards” for chemicals like PFOA in public water systems.

EPA chief unconvinced on CO2 link to global warming

The Senate confirmed Scott Pruitt to run the Environmental Protection Agency over the objections of Democrats and environmentalists worried he will gut the agency, as the administration readies executive orders to ease regulation on drillers and miners. Photo: Reuters/Carlos Barria The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency said on Thursday he is not convinced that carbon dioxide from human activity is the main driver of climate change and said he wants Congress to weigh in on whether CO2 is a harmful pollutant that should be regulated.

EPA head stacks agency with climate change skeptics

Days after the Senate confirmed him as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt appeared at the Conservative Political Action Conference and was asked about addressing a group that probably wanted to eliminate his agency. “I think it’s justified,” he responded, to cheers.

Backlash greets Trump proposal to gut Great Lakes cleanup funding

A hydraulic dredge gathers mill debris from Muskegon Lake, a Great Lakes Area of Concern watershed cleanup project funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Drastic proposed cuts to Environmental Protection Agency funding that pays for Great Lakes pollution cleanup are not sitting well with environmental groups, Great Lakes mayors and members of both parties on Capitol Hill.

Ex-VP Al Gore drives resurgent climate activism in Denver as Trump…

Former vice president and climate change specialist Al Gore speaks to an audience of almost 1,000 people during his Climate Reality Leadership Corps training at the Colorado Convention Center March 2, 2017 in Denver. T A pushback against President Donald Trump’s attacks on rules to protect the environment gained momentum in Denver Thursday as former vice president and climate-change sentinel Al Gore launched a three-day mobilization of activists.

White House Debates Icahn Plan Revamping Ethanol Rule

White House officials have spent the past two days in deliberations with billionaire refinery owner Carl Icahn about his proposal to modify federal policy on renewable fuels and with ethanol producers who oppose it, according to three people familiar with the talks. reported Monday that Icahn had helped broker a compromise with a leading biofuel group on reworking the program.

Trump throws down a huge challenge to the tea party

President Trump has thrown down a major challenge for the tea party and its congressional bloc, known as the Freedom Caucus. He is proposing to Congress a massive budget-busting plan that increases military spending by a whopping $54 billion, slashes domestic programs, and leaves Social Security and Medicare intact.

AP sources: Trump to propose boosting defense spending

The White House will propose boosting defense spending and slashing funding for longtime Republican targets like the Environmental Protection Agency in a set of marching orders to agencies as it prepares its budget for the upcoming fiscal year. President Donald Trump’s proposal for the 2018 budget year, which will be sent to agencies Monday, won’t make significant changes to Social Security or Medicare, according to an administration official.

AP Sources: White House To Propose Boosting Defense Spending

The White House will propose boosting defense spending and slashing funding for longtime Republican targets like the Environmental Protection Agency in a set of marching orders to agencies as it prepares its budget for the upcoming fiscal year. President Donald Trump’s proposal for the 2018 budget year, which will be sent to agencies Monday, won’t make significant changes to Social Security or Medicare, according to an administration official.

Emails: EPA chief Pruitt cozy with fossil fuel industry

In this Tuesday photo, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks in Washington. While Oklahoma’s attorney general, emails show that new Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt was in frequent contact with fossil fuel companies and special interest groups working to undermine federal efforts to curb planet-warming carbon emissions.

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Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin has appointed Secretary of State Mike Hunter to replace former Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who was tapped by President Donald Trump as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Fallin appointed Hunter on Monday, four days after Pruitt resigned following his confirmation by the U.S. Senate as EPA administrator.

Sparking ‘The Fight of a Lifetime,’ Senate Puts Fossil Fuel Ally at Helm of EPA

Portending risks to “the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the planet we love,” the U.S. Senate on Friday confirmed Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency . The 52-46 vote comes a day after an Oklahoma judge said Pruitt was in violation of the state’s Open Records Act and ordered the release of thousands of emails between his office and fossil fuel companies.

Senate confirms Trump’s EPA pick

The US Senate has confirmed President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency over the objections of Democrats and environmentalists worried he will gut the agency. Senators voted 52-46 on Friday to approve Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt.

Trumpa s EPA pick, Scott Pruitt, expected to be confirmed Friday

In this Jan. 18, 2017, file photo,Environmental Protection Agency Administrator nominee, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Senate Republicans are poised to use their majority to confirm Pruitt to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, despite calls from Democrats for a delay.

Senate on track to confirm Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator

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.

A Price On Carbon Is Neither Liberal Nor Conservative. It’s Just Practical

Earlier this week, a group of prominent Republicans called for a nationwide price on carbon to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and slow climate change. It’s a proposal we should all be talking about, but we know Congress won’t – at least not before 2018 -because while these elder statesmen of the Republican party were floating the paper, their juvenile progeny in the Senate were voting to let US oil companies pay bribes overseas and stifling any mention of the $20 billion per year in subsidies and tax breaks that the US gives the fossil-fuel sector.

GOP senators suspend committee rules, move Trump EPA pick ahead as Democrats boycott vote

In this Jan. 18, 2017, file photo, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Republicans voted Feb. 2, 2017, to send to the full Senate the nomination of Pruitt to lead the EPA.

Prince William Sound RCAC Recertification Comments Open

The Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council is seeking recertification as the alternative voluntary advisory group for Prince William Sound, as authorized under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 . The application has been submitted to the U.S. Coast Guard, which is charged with assessing whether PWSRCAC fosters the general goals and purposes of OPA 90 and is broadly representative of communities and interests as envisioned under OPA 90. The Seward City News Editor publishes information sent from third parties.

Senate delays vote on Trump EPA pick after Democrats boycott

“Republican U.S. senators on Wednesday delayed a committee vote on President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency after the panel’s Democrats boycotted the meeting, saying that nominee Scott Pruitt doubts the science of climate change. The boycott in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee delayed the transition to a new administrator for the agency.

Environmentalists Dispute Republican Claims Over “Job-Killing” Regulations

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President Donald Trump’s choice to head the Environmental Protection Agency, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Capitol Hill on January 18, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump is focused on fossil fuels to buoy the economy, but a report out this month found that solar energy companies employed more workers to generate electric power last year than coal, oil and natural gas combined.

Uncertain future for Californiaa s anti-smog efforts: Thomas Elias

Cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are down about three percent over the last 40 years in California, even as state population is up by well over one-third, better than 15 million, and far more smog-belching vehicles than ever clog the roads. This is a major public health achievement, and the single biggest reason behind it is the 45-year-old federal Clean Air Act and its provisions for California waivers.

Sunday Toons of the Orwellian Moment

Scientists warn of nukes, climate change and Trump. So do we. Also: Bannon tells press to ‘keep its mouth shut’ and still more dangerous ‘voter fraud’ bufoonery from the Liar-in-Chief… It begins: Trump re-launches controversial pipelines, imposes lock downs on science- based federal agencies; PLUS: New US Amb.

Dionne: In search of the truth about Trumpism

Or is the country confronting something even more troubling: a president unhinged from any realities that get in the way of his impulses, unmoored from any driving philosophy, and willing to make everything up as he goes along, including “alternative facts”? In his first days, Trump has been riding policy horses that seem to be moving in quite different directions. On the one hand, he has continued to make himself out as a “populist” standing up for workers by scrapping the Trans-Pacific Partnership and bringing verbal pressure on American companies to keep or create jobs in the United States.

Chaotic EPA Transition Rattles Stakeholders

On Wednesday, a spokesman for the EPA transition team had to push back on reports that political appointees would review the agency’s scientific publications. It’s just the latest in a series of public miscommunications from the agency’s transition, including public confusion on whether the agency would remove a webpage on climate change, whether it was freezing its public grant program, and whether it was muzzling employees from making public statements or using social-media accounts.

How Reporters And Civil Servants Can Thwart Trump’s Anti-Transparency Agenda

On January 24, two anonymous sources at the Environmental Protection Agency told Reuters that the Trump administration had instructed EPA officials to remove the data-heavy climate change page from the agency’s website, and that the page could be taken down as soon as the following day. A public backlash quickly ensued, and the Trump administration at least temporarily backed away from its plan to shut down the website on January 25, as E&E News reported .

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The Trump administration has ordered a freeze on federal grant spending at several government agencies, from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Department of Health and Human Services, followed by memos telling employees not to send out news releases or to create social media posts, blog entries or official website content, and to consult with senior officials before speaking to the press.

A National Park Deleted Tweets On Climate Change After Trump Silenced …

Trump administration tells EPA to cut climate page from website: sources – U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to remove the climate change page from its website, two agency employees told Reuters, the latest move by the newly minted leadership A National Park Deleted Tweets On Climate Change After Trump Silenced Federal Scientists – Badlands National Park on Tuesday posted several facts about climate change on its official Twitter account, then deleted them.

Trump admin orders EPA contract freeze and media blackout

WASHINGTON >> The Trump administration has instituted what it described as a temporary media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants. Emails sent to EPA staff since President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday and reviewed by The Associated Press detailed specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency’s social media accounts.

Trump EPA pick pledges more cooperation with industry

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator-designate Scott Pruitt, left, is welcomed on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., prior to testifying at his confirmation hearing before the committee. Our team will redo any room but a bathroom or kitchen.

EPA critic Scott Pruitt faces Senate panel in bid to lead agency

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, the man President-elect Donald Trump wants to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, will ask a select group of senators Wednesday to allow him to lead an agency he has spent much of his career trying to dismantle. Environmental activists call Pruitt dangerous and Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will look to put his views of science and climate change on trial.