Trump Administration
You Can’t Fool All Of The People All Of The Time
California Cleans Trump’s Clock In Court
Sometimes judges can read: In its rush to delay, repeal and rewrite rules it considers unduly burdensome to industry, the administration has experienced significant setbacks in court. Federal judges have sided with California and environmental groups in cases concerning air pollution, pesticides and the royalties that the government receives from companies that extract oil, …
Continue reading “You Can’t Fool All Of The People All Of The Time”
CONTINUE READINGARPA-E: Surviving and Thriving Despite Trump
Trump keeps trying to kill it, but the energy innovation hub keeps on going.
In the long run, supporting energy innovation is among the most important things the federal government can do to address climate change. Naturally, Trump wants to end that. In what has become an annual ritual, his most recent budget proposal calls for eliminating the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The agency’s mission is to support …
Continue reading “ARPA-E: Surviving and Thriving Despite Trump”
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s Campaign to Gag Activist Shareholders
His recent executive order tries to “protect” oil companiy management from smart climate planning.
Exxon management was not pleased when shareholders forced them to produce a report on how climate change would impact their business. In May, Exxon is facing another shareholder vote on whether to form a climate change committee on the Board of Directors and whether to disclose how sea level rise will impact its investments on the …
Continue reading “Trump’s Campaign to Gag Activist Shareholders”
CONTINUE READINGWhat Else Should Congress Investigate?
Understandably, a lot of attention is focused on the White House. But other issues cry out for investigation.
Every day, it seems that there is a headline about some investigatiion involving tcampaign finance violations, the White House, or the actions of some foreign power. Perhaps that’s all the bandwidth that Congress has. But there are other areas calling out for inquiry. Here are just a few: CAFE Standards. The car industry asked for …
Continue reading “What Else Should Congress Investigate?”
CONTINUE READINGTrump Administration’s Cold Water War With California Turns Hot
Feds’ Curious New Lawsuits Against State Water Board Likely Just the Opening Litigation Salvo
When it comes to California water policy, the federal-state relationship has always been both strained and challenging. That intergovernmental tension harkens back at least to the Reclamation Act of 1902. In section 8 of this iconic federal statute that transformed the American West, Congress declared that the federal government “shall proceed in conformity with” state …
Continue reading “Trump Administration’s Cold Water War With California Turns Hot”
CONTINUE READINGGoodbye, Cleveland!
Newspaper Collapse Threatens The Environment: Universities Need To Fill The Gap
In 1970, Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River famously caught fire. This past week, we have seen an even worse environmental disaster for the city: The Plain Dealer on Monday laid off 14 newsroom employees as part of a staff reduction first announced in December. The 14, most of them reporters and all members of Local 1 of …
Continue reading “Goodbye, Cleveland!”
CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Adopts New, Welcome Wetlands Protection Rules
State Fills Void Left By Trump Administration’s Weakening of Federal Wetlands Standards
This week California’s State Water Resources Control Board adopted important new rules to protect the state’s remaining wetlands resources. Enacted after over a decade of Board hearings, workshops and deliberation, those rules are overdue, welcome and critically necessary. Their adoption is particularly timely now, given the Trump Administration’s wholesale assault on and erosion of federal …
Continue reading “California Adopts New, Welcome Wetlands Protection Rules”
CONTINUE READINGTrump’s “Great Honor” to Fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is a Great Falsehood
Trump Mischaracterizes His Administration’s Attempt to Defund Important Program to Protect Environmental Quality in the Great Lakes
Late last week, Donald Trump promised to fully fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a program of the Environmental Protection Agency that provides resources to address environmental quality issues in the Great Lakes. His hollow promise obscures the fact that the Trump administration has worked hard to dismantle this program through taking away its funding, and …
CONTINUE READINGApril, Fools, and Climate Change
Originally, an April Fool was someone who didn’t realize the times are changing.
April Fool’s jokes are a curious tradition, and I started to wonder where this custom came from. The origins of April Fool’s Day aren’t known with certainty, but there’s reason to connect it with blindness to change. In 1582, France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. This meant that the year began …
Continue reading “April, Fools, and Climate Change”
CONTINUE READINGShackling EPA Risk Assessment
EPA’s scientific advisory committee, which is packed with industry representatives, wants to make it a lot harder to prove pollution is dangerous.
CONTINUE READING