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Category Archives: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Yesterday, the Senate heard testimony on the growing public health crisis of per- and polyfluoroalkylsubstances that have contaminated public drinking water, as part of a growing bipartisan effort to get the EPA to regulate PFAS. The class of toxic chemicals, commonly used in nonstick cookware, firefighting foam, and many consumer products, has been discovered in high concentrations in cities near military bases and industrial chemical manufacturing plants.
Four House Democrats, led by Rep. Raul Grijalva , the ranking member on the House Natural Resources Committee, sent a letter to Zinke on Thursday urging him to rescind the Sept. 28 order that they worry will lead to gagging scientists.
FORMER BP ATTORNEY CONFIRMED AS TOP US ENVIRONMENTAL LAWYER: The Senate voted Thursday to confirm a climate change skeptic and former industry attorney to lead the Department of Justice's environment division. Lawmakers voted 52 to 45 to confirm Jeffrey Bossert Clark to be the assistant attorney general for environment and natural resources.
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler speaks to staff at the Environmental Protection Agency headquarters on July 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. CREDIT: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Acting Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler appears to be continuing in the vein of his predecessor Scott Pruitt, after the official largely opted out of appointing scientists to an advisory panel on air pollution.
The day after an international panel of scientists issued a stark warning about the short window in which world leaders can act to avoid catastrophic climate change, the president of the United States didn't comment on whether the U.S. accepts or will act on the findings. A panel of more than 90 scientists under the United Nations published a report warning that the world has about 12 years to drastically reduce carbon emissions before the impact of climate change could become irreversible.
In a ten-day span, three separate courts rejected Trump-administration deregulatory initiatives, in four separate cases. Though significant, these decisions were hardly unusual.
A Union of Concerned Scientists analysis released today highlights the significant health risks posed to military families and communities by a class of synthetic chemicals found in firefighting foam, nonstick cookware and other products. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances are long-lasting compounds known to accumulate in the human body and environment, including water supplies.
California officials demanded Monday that the Trump administration back off a plan to weaken national fuel economy standards aimed at reducing car emissions and saving people money at the pump, saying the proposed rollback would damage people's health and exacerbate climate change. Looming over the administration's proposal is the possibility that the state, which has become a key leader on climate change as Trump has moved to dismantle Obama-era environmental rules, could set its own separate fuel standard that could roil the auto industry.
A large auto industry trade group isn't stating explicitly that it favors freezing federal gas mileage requirements at the 2021 level, but it's says the current plan won't work. In testimony prepared for a public hearing Monday in Fresno, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said customers aren't buying more efficient vehicles.
Scores of people have spoken against the Trump administration's plan to roll back car-mileage standards at a hearing in California that ended earlier than expected.
The updated RFS website includes interactive and dynamic features that allow users to customize display of RIN information, feedstock type, and producer attributes. Over the past year, farmers and ethanol advocates alike have pressed the Environmental Protection Agency to be more transparent when it comes to Renewable Identification Number waivers for small refineries.
The announcement follows similar pledges from other oil companies, as well as a voluntary methane reduction program unveiled by the American Petroleum Institute last year. Meanwhile, API and its members have been the driving force in lobbying the Trump administration to roll back commonsense protections that would limit methane pollution and other dangerous emissions from the oil and gas sector.
In this March 25, 2014 file photo, a worker adjusts pipes during a hydraulic fracturing operation at a well pad near Mead, Colorado. The Trump administration is moving to roll back Obama-era rules intended to reduce leaks of climate-changing methane from oil and gas facilities.
A conservative who would replace the more moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy, Kavanaugh has a record of slapping back Environmental Protection Agency regulations during his 12 years as a federal appeals court judge. Kavanaugh could shift the court to the right in many areas.
Environmental groups were not going to be happy with anyone President Donald Trump picked for the Supreme Court . But the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh has them especially worried.
The Trump administration claimed Thursday that in addition to lowering the price of vehicles, it can save 12,700 lives by weakening Obama-era emissions standards for cars and trucks. But that estimate relies on assumptions that have been questioned by experts in and out of the federal government.
Three years after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency triggered a massive mine spill that polluted rivers in three states, the federal government still has not repaid any of the victims for the millions of dollars in economic damage they claimed. The EPA said this week it is making progress on reviewing about 380 claims for lost income, fallen property values and other losses from the 2015 spill at the Gold King Mine in southwestern Colorado.
Citing safety, the Trump administration on Thursday proposed rolling back car-mileage standards, backing away from years of government efforts to cut Americans' trips to the gas station and reduce unhealthy, climate-changing tailpipe emissions. If the proposed rule becomes final, it could roil the auto industry as it prepares for new model years and weaken one of the federal government's chief weapons against climate change - regulating emissions from cars and other vehicles.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra speaks at UCLA about his efforts to fight the Trump administration's proposal to weaken car efficiency fuel standards in Los Angeles on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018. Deputy Attorney General David Zaft is on the right.