Trump’s Frontal Assault on Climate Policy
The true victims aren't you and me. It's our descendants who will pay the price, long after Trump is gone.
We live in a time of contrasts. Yesterday, scientists reported more evidence that climate change will intensify heat waves and droughts in temperate zones through changes in the jet stream. Today, however, the Trump Administration initiated the process of eliminating federal climate policies. In a pointed insult to EPA staff who have worked long and hard on those policies, Trump made the announcement at EPA headquarters. The Administration’s actions have been long-e...
CONTINUE READINGWhere Should We Build New Housing In California To Meet 2030 Climate Goals?
New Report From UC Berkeley's CLEE and Terner Center, Commissioned by Next 10, Released Today
California isn't building enough housing to meet population growth, while the new housing that does get built is happening too often in the wrong places, like on open space far from jobs. Meanwhile, new climate legislation for 2030 will likely rely on the average Californian reducing his or her driving miles by allowing residents to live closer to jobs and services. So how do we reconcile these two trends? Certain leaders in the building industry -- primarily spraw...
CONTINUE READINGIf Trump Guts Key Programs, Does Staying in Paris Even Matter?
Administration to Issue Executive Order to Pull the Clean Power Plan
(This post is cross-listed at takecareblog.com) Today the Trump Administration is expected - via Executive Order - to announce that it will begin the process to rescind the Clean Power Plan. The Order apparently says nothing about whether the U.S. will remain in the Paris Agreement. For months, speculation about whether the U.S. will withdraw from the Paris Agreement has centered on the President’s eldest daughter. Rumors are swirling that Ivanka Trump and her h...
CONTINUE READINGScott Gottlieb and the FDA
The FDA nominee compares favorably with some of Trump's choices. But there are still problems.
There was a time when it might not have seemed particularly noteworthy that a presidential nominee was competent and sane. But we do not live in those times. So it is actually worth taking notice of the fact that Scott Gottlieb, Trump’s nominee to head FDA, is competent and sane. And unlike some other Trump nominees like Ben Carson, he actually has relevant expertise, having taken his medical training at Mt. Sinai in New York, served as Deputy Commissioner for Medical...
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s EPA Budget in Perspective
An new analysis highlights how harmful the cuts would be.
The Environmental Protection Network, a coalition of former EPA professionals, has issued a detailed analysis of Trump's proposed EPA budget. We knew the proposal was bad, but the new analysis shows just how damaging the proposed cuts would be on many different dimensions. Here are a few key takeaways. First EPA's budget is already lean. Adjusting for inflation, it's at its lowest point in three decades. That was before the 1990 Clean Air Act and recent chemi...
CONTINUE READINGThe Future Of Energy In 2030
Register now for the California State Bar Environmental Law Conference in Los Angeles on April 12th
How we generate, distribute and use electricity is key to meeting California's environmental and greenhouse gas reduction goals. We need to be much more efficient with the electricity we use, while ensuring that it comes from greenhouse gas-free sources, like solar, wind, and geothermal, coupled with energy storage technologies. We also will need to electrify almost everything, from transportation to home heating. The state has ambitious goals in all these areas for 2...
CONTINUE READINGA Motley Crew
Trump has placed about a dozen people in EPA. They're already causing problems.
ProPublica has a list of Trump appointees to agencies. They can be aptly described as a motley crew. The most significant is probably Senior White House Advisor Donald Benton, a former Washington State senator and Trump’s regional campaign manager. Once ran a county environmental office. According to the Seattle Times, “he has an almost perfect track record of failure and interpersonal conflict, often resulting in legal or disciplinary action, at every public positio...
CONTINUE READINGGorsuch and the Environment: A Closer Look
Gorsuch doesn't seem to have a strong agenda in this area, with several pro-environmental rulings.
What could we expect from Neil Gorsuch as a Supreme Court Justice in environmental and energy cases? After reading all the opinions I could find, I'd say the best news is this: He doesn't seem to have any particular agenda in the area. That distinguishes him from some past appointees such as Clarence Thomas, who had made his hostility to environmental protection clear as a court of appeals judge. He also doesn't give the impression of being particularly pro-industr...
CONTINUE READINGClimate Change is the new He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
And Scott Pruitt is the new High Inquisitor at EPA
Last week, after saying that he did not believe that carbon dioxide is the primary cause of climate change, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt reminded me for the second time since he took office of someone I met at age fifteen: Dolores Umbridge. Yes, that Dolores Umbridge, the one that functions as the main villain of the fifth Harry Potter book, at times eclipsing even Voldemort in her evilness. Now before you dismiss this as hyperbolic, let me make my case. [Spoilers ah...
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Environmental Budget
The proposal to Congress was released today. It's very bad news.
I've been posting budget news as it has come out. Now that we have Trump's proposal, I've replaced all the earlier information with the official numbers in this version. The bottom line: the budget would be a disaster for the environment, for science, and for the country. The general philosophy behind the budget was expressed by Trump's OMB Director: "As to climate change, I think the president was fairly straightforward: We're not spending money on that anymore,...
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