Executive Orders
Is Trump Running Out of Ideas?
The hectic pace of the first few months seems to have turned into a slow walk, if not a crawl.
The intimidating scale of Trump’s initial actions has now slipped into the routine of ordinary government, allowing the opposition to recover from its initial paralysis.
One downside of “shock and awe” is that you risk a perception of declining momentum later on. It’s like starting the fireworks show with the grand finale; after you’ve shot off all your big rockets, the rest of the show seems dull, and the audience may just wander away.
Trump’s Baffling Free Pass for Coke Oven Pollution
Even for the Trump Administration, this seems really weird.
Trump just gave coke ovens a free pass for their toxic air pollution. What makes this so weird is not Trump’s reversal of a public policy protecting public health or of an action taken under Biden. Both of those are routine these days. Nor is it weird that Trump did so without the slightest factual basis. That’s also par for the course these days. What is weird is doing this after Trump’s own EPA director, who has no evident scruples about favoring industry, said no. There is no indication Trump was even aware of this fact. And it is even weirder, in that industry didn’t have a compliance problem in the first place and would save only pocket change from the postponement.
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Funniest Executive Orders
Yes, they’re destructive and often cruel. But sometimes, they’re also unintentionally funny.
Imagine some later historian flipping through the pages of the Federal Register and coming upon Executive Order 14264, “Maintaining Acceptable Water Pressure in Showerhead.” Think of it: he went to incredible lengths to attain the ultimate power, and this is what Trump does with it. Or there’s the one where he aims the full might of the U.S. government at the goal of “Ending Procurement and Forced Use of Paper Straws.” Who says Americans can’t dream big anymore?
CONTINUE READINGExecutive Disorders
One after another, Trump has let loose destructive blasts at the environment to promote fossil fuels, mining, and logging.
We all know that Trump has issued a slew of executive orders since taking the oath of office. We also know that many of these are aimed to promoting fossil fuels, mining, and logging at the expense of the environment, while disfavoring renewable energy. Still, it’s impressive when you put the list together to see the full onslaught.
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Discordant Coal Quartet
Yesterday’s four executive orders were long on talk and short on action.
Yesterday, flanked by a coal miners in hard hats, Trump signed four executive orders to restore their industry to its past glory. Given that coal is now the most expensive way to generate power other than nuclear, that’s going to be a heavy lift. Like many of Trump’s orders, these four are full of threats and bluster, but will have little immediate effect. These orders give the same impression as many executive orders — that Something Important is Being Done — but they are really more in the way of promises of future action.
CONTINUE READINGTracking the Trump Administration
Rollbacks of Climate, Energy, and Environmental Policies and Investments
The first month of the Trump Administration has resulted in a dizzying flurry of actions and reactions. Many of us are wondering how to track the status of these actions, including the legal challenges to these actions. Luckily, a number of institutions are keeping track of the range of policy and legal actions that are …
Continue reading “Tracking the Trump Administration”
CONTINUE READINGSurfing the Wave of Executive Orders
As an old song says, “Mama Miá, here we go again!”
One thing that no one can deny is that Trump is brilliant at political theater. People overlook the importance of that at their peril. But theater isn’t reality, and it remains to be seen how many of the grand gestures Trump made today will eventuate in law.Presidents love issuing executive orders. It’s easy to do, and many people will credit the president with major accomplishment. But really, as someone recently said, an executive order is “just a memo on fancy letterhead.”
CONTINUE READINGThe Last Four Years — and the Next Four
How did our predictions about Trump hold up? What should we expect for Biden?
In September 2017, Eric Biber and I published a threat assessment after the first 200 days of the Trump Administration. For those who have buried their memories of that time, those were days of shock and despair about the future of environmental protection (and much else). It seems time to bring our report up to …
Continue reading “The Last Four Years — and the Next Four”
CONTINUE READINGZinke’s Report Recommends Downsizing or Loosening Restrictions in 10 National Monuments
Report Lacks Details on Boundaries but Recommends Management Changes to Permit Wider Range of Uses
Late last night, the Washington Post reported that Secretary Ryan Zinke had recommended making changes–by downsizing and/or by loosening restrictions–to a total of 10 national monuments. The list of monuments goes beyond what had been reported last month. The Post released a leaked copy of Zinke’s recommendations that were submitted to President Trump on August …
CONTINUE READINGThe Trump Administration’s Arbitrary Review of National Monuments
Zinke’s review has been anything but transparent
Last Thursday, Secretary Zinke submitted a report to President Trump, recommending changes to national monuments. Although Trump’s Executive Order in April called for a “final report” within 120 days–the deadline was Thursday–the Interior Department’s press release called the report a “draft.” And as Holly Doremus explained on this blog, it has still not been made …
Continue reading “The Trump Administration’s Arbitrary Review of National Monuments”
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