EPA Quietly Quadruples Regulatory Cost of Carbon Emissions in New War on Fossil Fuels

With the price of everything from gasoline to food soaring in America, nobody is surprised by inflated price tags these days. But even by Washington standards, an action taken earlier this month by the Environmental Protection Agency is creating sticker shock: a nearly fourfold increase in the government calculation of damages from carbon emissions.

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Ohio Think Tank Asks Court to Kill EPA’s Electric Vehicle Mandate

Joining an effort to kill a new Biden-administration regulation to advance the manufacture of electric vehicles, the Columbus-based Buckeye Institute filed a brief against the rule in federal court last week. 

In so doing, the pro-free-market think tank joined the state of Texas and other petitioners in asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to throw out tightened greenhouse-gas emission standards. The Environmental Protection Agency designed the new standards last year to further President Joe Biden’s objective to make all newly manufactured vehicles in the U.S. electric-powered by 2030. 

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Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan Demands Biden Admin Show Compliance with Landmark Energy Decision

Republican Ranking House Judiciary Committee Member Jim Jordan told Biden administration authorities Tuesday to show how their agencies are obeying the Supreme Court’s June West Virginia v. EPA decision limiting the EPA’s power to unilaterally regulate emissions.

The court ruled in West Virginia v. EPA that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could not set carbon dioxide emissions caps for power plants to force a national transition away from coal power without explicit congressional authorization. Jordan sent letters to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property Kathi Vidal, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan asking whether their agencies are complying with the decision.

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Biden’s EPA Could Kneecap America’s Largest Natural Gas Exporter

The Biden administration is expanding restrictions on carbon emissions that could impact half the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity in the U.S.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expanding a rule under the U.S. Clean Air Act called the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Pollutants (NESHAP), which places restrictions on the emission of formaldehyde and benzene from stationary combustion turbines. Starting in August, the rule will now apply to two types of gas-fired turbines that were previously left out of the regulation, the EPA announced in February.

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Tea Party Patriots Co-Founder and CEO Jenny Beth Martin on SCOTUS EPA Ruling, Tea Party Tenets, Importance of a Strong Attorney General

Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed to the newsmaker line Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots and columnist for The Washington Times, to the newsmaker line to discuss the recent EPA ruling, principles of the Tea Party movement, and the importance of a strong state attorney general.

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2021 Report: Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sediment Pollutants Decreased in Chesapeake Bay

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollutants entering the Chesapeake Bay decreased from previous years in 2021, according to a new press release from the Chesapeake Bay Program. However, most of the program’s partnering states didn’t meet all their 2021 targets, ahead of a 2025 goal.

“Virginia, reported pollution controls achieved 75 percent of the 2025 reduction goal for nitrogen, 68 percent of the reduction goal for phosphorus and 100 percent of the reduction goal for sediment. The Commonwealth did not meet its 2021 pollution reducing targets for nitrogen and phosphorus but met its target for sediment,” the release states.

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EPA Inspector General Report Finds Contractor Manipulated Air Filter Data

White smoke emitting from a couple of buildings

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General found that a laboratory contractor with the Office of Research and Development inappropriately manipulated air filter data and failed to follow the appropriate guidance for data of 95 air filter samples, rendering them unusable.

The EPA said the data “drives regulatory decisions, and therefore, it is crucial to accurately assess the quality of data being collected.”

According to the Feb. 16 OIG report, in November 2018, the contractor “misidentified” a subset of filters that they had weighed “during either the loading process in the automated weighing system or by the manner of recording the weight of the filters after they were weighed.”

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‘America Is Back’: Biden Unveils Sweeping Oil, Gas Regulations That Would Cut Methane Emissions by 41 Million Tons

Drilling site at night

The Biden administration rolled out broad new regulations that it said will substantially reduce U.S. methane emissions within 15 years.

The sweeping regulations would cut methane emissions, which account for roughly 10% of the greenhouse gasses emitted by the U.S., by 41 million tons between 2023 and 2035, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Tuesday. Such a reduction is equivalent to 920 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, or the amount emitted by all cars and commercial aircraft in 2019.

“As global leaders convene at this pivotal moment in Glasgow for COP26, it is now abundantly clear that America is back and leading by example in confronting the climate crisis with bold ambition,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

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Commentary: Conservatives File Suit to ‘Derail Biden Climate Railroad’

Michael Regan

Michael Regan began his tenure as President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency administrator by dismissing dozens of outside scientific advisers appointed during the previous administration — part of an effort to “ensure the agency receives the best possible scientific insight to support our work.”

At the time, Regan (pictured) called it a “reset.” Opponents grumbled that it looked more like “a purge.” Now, one of those advisers, Stanley Young, has filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing the agency of violating U.S. law; the suit also seeks an injunction to halt the work of his former committee.

The legal dustup is the latest rearguard action from the right on environmental issues. Conservatives see the case as their best chance to thwart the Biden administration’s multi-agency approach to combating climate change, seen as hostile to the fossil fuel industry.

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Memphis City Council Withdraws Ordinance for ‘Environmental Justice’

Memphis City Council reversed course on an ordinance to promote environmental justice, in addition to protecting public health and the environment. The ordinance had been on hold from previous council meetings dating back to April, though it was on its third and final reading when it was withdrawn during Tuesday’s meeting. No discussion or explanation accompanied the announcement of the ordinance’s withdrawal. 

Ordinance No. 5782 concerned the groundwater in the Memphis Sand Aquifer that supplies drinking water for Memphis. Council members Edmund Ford,and Jeff Warren sponsored the ordinance.

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Nashville Group Says Running the Byhalia Pipeline Through Memphis Violates Civil Rights Act

The Virginia-based Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a complaint with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) alleging that running the proposed Byhalia Pipeline through Memphis violates the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Byhalia, according to its website, is a crude oil pipeline that is supposed to run nearly 49 miles from Memphis to Marshall County, Mississippi. The pipeline, the website went on to say, will connect the Diamond Pipeline with the Capline Pipeline. The Diamond Pipeline provides the Valero Memphis Refinery with crude oil to produce gasoline and jet fuels. The Capline Pipeline, meanwhile, runs between Central Illinois and the U.S. Gulf Coast.

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EPA Approves Tennessee’s Use of Technology That Kills Over 98 Percent of Airborne COVID-19 Particles

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will allow Tennessee to use technology that reportedly kills over 98 percent of airborne COVID-19 particles. The emergency exemption request was approved under Section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

The antiviral air treatment, Grignard Pure, is composed of Triethylene Glycol (TEG) vapor and nanoparticles that permeate and kill the COVID-19 virus particles by disrupting the protein and membrane structures. The EPA confirmed prior independent lab reports that the treatment kills over 98 percent of COVID-19 particles.

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Commentary: President Trump’s Overhaul of Stifling Environmental Regulations Clears the Way for Infrastructure Projects Nationwide

President Trump recently finalized an overhaul of one of the most important environmental laws in America. Credited by some as the “Magna Carta” of environmental legislation, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is one of America’s main legislative weapons in fighting climate change. It mandates an extensive review process, including the drafting of a lengthy Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and subsequent legal challenges, before the commencement of infrastructure projects. But Trump’s revision of the law through regulatory reinterpretation dramatically weakens the bill’s potency, greatly simplifying the procedure for getting federal approval on many infrastructure projects.

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Despite Supreme Court Win, Energy Companies Cancel $8 Billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline

The developers of the long-delayed, $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline announced the cancellation of the multi-state natural gas project Sunday, citing uncertainties about costs, permitting and litigation.

Despite a victory last month at the United States Supreme Court over a critical permit, Dominion Energy and Duke Energy said in a news release that “recent developments have created an unacceptable layer of uncertainty and anticipated delays” for the 600-mile project designed to cross West Virginia and Virginia into North Carolina.

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EPA’s Andrew Wheeler Calls Out Senate Dems for ‘Politicizing’ Agency’s COVID Response

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler believes Democrats are politicizing the agency’s response to coronavirus and using flawed research to argue regulation rollbacks are disproportionately hurting black people amid a pandemic.

Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts used a politically-motivated research and a study based on 15-year-old data from Europe to suggest that the agency’s regulatory work is increasing the harm of coronavirus on minority groups, Wheeler said in an exclusive interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Rep. Debbie Dingell Introduces Resolution Against Environmental Policy Changes

by Bruce Walker   U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI-12) introduced a resolution opposing changes proposed by the Trump Administration aimed at scaling back certain provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA, passed by Congress in 1969 and signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970, mandated environmental impact assessments by federal agencies prior to proceeding with any proposed action, including construction of roads, bridges, highways and airports. The Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ) also states NEPA processes are required for permitting such projects as “water infrastructure, conventional and renewable energy developments” and overseeing “land, forest, and fishery management activities.” Opponents of updating the rules claim it will result in dire environmental consequences. Proponents say it will simplify the permitting process for major government projects by eliminating layers of bureaucratic redundancies. The Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ), introduced the updated rules and is conducting a public comment period ending on March 10. The CEQ noted there hasn’t been a comprehensive update of NEPA since 1978. The resolution introduced by Dingell is co-sponsored by House Committee on Natural Resources Chair Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Arizona, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, U.S. Rep. A. Donald McEachin,…

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Media Requests for EPA Records Soar Under Trump

by Kevin Mooney   Major news outlets, seemingly more prone to investigative reporting in the Trump era, are much more aggressive in seeking records from the Environmental Protection Agency than they were in the final years of the Obama administration, The Daily Signal has learned. ABC News, CBS News, the Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Politico are among 20 news organizations showing a large increase in Freedom of Information Act requests, according to EPA numbers obtained by The Daily Signal. The 20 media outlets include not only news organizations with liberal perspectives but some, such as CNN, BuzzFeed, Mother Jones, and Huffington Post, that freely mix news coverage and left-leaning opinion. According to the data, the biggest percentage increase in FOIA requests to the EPA by the 20 media outlets occurred between 2016, Barack Obama’s last year as president and 2017, Donald Trump’s first year as president. The organizations made a total of 626 FOIA requests to the EPA in 2017, more than doubling the 249 requests in 2016. Dating to 1967, the federal Freedom of Information Act requires disclosure, upon written request and with exceptions, of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the…

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Analysis: EPA’s Repeal of the Clean Power Plan Falls Short by Allowing the ‘Carbon Endangerment Finding’ to Remain

by Robert Romano   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Donald Trump has finally rescinded the Obama era Clean Power Plan that sought to end coal as a form of electricity and puts states in the driver’s seat in terms of regulating carbon emissions rates. But because Congress has left the 2009 carbon endangerment finding in place the probability is that carbon emissions will once again be regulated nationally as a harmful pollutant under the Clean Air Act as soon as Democrats are back in power. Per the EPA release on June 19, the Affordable Clean Energy rule “establishes emissions guidelines for states to use when developing plans to limit carbon dioxide (CO2) at their coal-fired power plants. Specifically, ACE identifies heat rate improvements as the best system of emission reduction (BSER) for CO2 from coal-fired power plants, and these improvements can be made at individual facilities. States will have 3 years to submit plans, which is in line with other planning timelines under the Clean Air Act.” The Clean Power Plan, initially proposed in 2014 and finalized in 2015, was designed to reduce carbon emissions by retrofitting existing coal power plants and making the costs of building new ones so onerous that it…

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Trump’s EPA Finalizes Plan to Repeal And Replace Obama-Era Coal Plant Regulations

by  Michael Bastasch   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized its plan to repeal and replace an Obama-era regulation that critics said would cost thousands of coal industry jobs. EPA will repeal the Clean Power Plan, which the U.S. Supreme Court stayed and it never went into effect. EPA’s replacement plan, called the Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule, asks states to improve coal plant efficiency. “ACE is an important step towards realigning EPA actions so they are consistent with the rule of law and the original mission of the agency,” Mandy Gunasekara, a former Trump EPA official who worked on ACE, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “While it’s well known that the political team believes this to be the case, it’s not as well known that there are many career officials who are equally relieved with returning to EPA’s traditional approach of regulating under this part of the Clean Air Act,” Gunasekara said. It’s a massive shift from the Obama administration’s effort to cut power plant greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change. The Obama EPA required states to make deep cuts to power sector emissions, including by using more natural gas and renewables. “We think that goes beyond…

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Gov Jared Polis Broke the Law to Bring Colorado Out of Compliance With EPA Air Rules, Lawsuit Claims

by Michael Bastasch   Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’s attempt to put a large swath of his state out of compliance with federal air quality regulations allegedly violated the law and state constitution, according to a Tuesday lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed by the pro-industry group Defend Colorado, is asking the Denver County district court to rule the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission violated the law by refusing to consider the group’s petitions to include ozone pollution resulting from international sources and “exceptional events” in its May filing with federal regulators. Failure to do so, the group argues, will take the Denver basin’s non-compliance with EPA regulations from “moderate” to “severe,” triggering more actions to reduce ozone. Those regulations could hurt Colorado’s boom oil and natural gas industry, petitioners worry. “Such a downgrade would deprive Colorado of the flexibility to improve its air quality based on the unique conditions in Colorado and the priorities of Coloradans,” reads Defend Colorado’s complaint. Defend Colorado also asked the court to rule Polis’s actions to violate the state constitution. The group filed suit Tuesday evening. The suit accuses Polis of “improperly influencing the Commission’s decision to deny Defend Colorado’s Petition” and “unilaterally and improperly withdrawing Colorado’s…

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Wilson County Residents Reportedly Want to Know When Yearly Vehicle Emissions Tests Will Stop

Wilson County residents are wondering when they can finally stop paying for yearly vehicle emissions tests, according to this week’s Lebanon Democrat. State Rep. Clark Boyd, R-Lebanon, reportedly said his constituents ask about that all the time. “One of the most common questions that I get from constituents in Wilson County is about the timeline for ending the vehicle emissions testing,” the paper quoted Boyd as saying. “Although we moved quickly last year to pass legislation at the state level, we are now discovering that the wheels of bureaucracy move somewhat slower as we wait on the various stages before going to the federal government for final approval.” Boyd co-sponsored a bill, which former Republican Gov. Bill Haslam signed into law, to end vehicle emissions testing if the Environmental Protection Agency approved. “Although all 95 counties have reached attainment status related to ozone, the state must maintain air quality and demonstrate to the EPA that elimination of the testing program will not interfere with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards,” according to The Lebanon Democrat. “Currently, the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation is finalizing its analysis of whether the elimination of testing will interfere with NAAQS. Once the phase…

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Trump Signs Executive Orders to Fast-Track Oil and Gas Pipelines

by Michael Bastasch   President Donald Trump signed a pair of executive orders aimed at speeding up oil and gas pipeline permitting, including limiting the ability of activists and states to block key energy projects. Trump signed the orders Wednesday at an International Union of Operating Engineers’ training center near Houston. Some labor unions have pushed back against Democrats’ anti-fossil fuel agenda, including the recently introduced Green New Deal. Trump ordered federal agencies to speed up permitting for pipeline projects, including asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to curtail state authority to block projects under the Clean Water Act (CWA). The administration is responding to criticisms that some states have weaponized CWA permitting to block energy projects. For example, New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration has blocked a number of natural gas pipelines from running through his state, depriving the northeast of much-needed energy supplies. The supply crunch hit hard during winter when the region was forced to import gas from Russia. New York City locals fear a moratorium on new gas hook-ups will stall commercial developments. Across the country, Washington state, under Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee, a 2020 contender, has blocked coal and oil export terminals planned along…

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Trump’s New EPA Chief Says He Won’t Make the Same Mistakes Obama Did in Flint

by Chris White   Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler criticized the Obama administration’s handling of Flint’s lead water problems and promised Wednesday he is going to avoid making the same mistakes. “Part of the problem with Flint was there was a breakdown in once they got the data, once the city of Flint, the state of Michigan, the Obama EPA – they sat on it,” Wheeler told CBS News in an exclusive interview. Scott Pruitt made similar remarks during his short stint as President Donald Trump’s EPA head, telling reporters in 2017 that former President Barack Obama’s environmental record was miserable in Flint, Michigan. “Well, he left us with more Superfund sites than when he came in,” Pruitt said at the time. “He had Gold King [the 2015 mine wastewater spill] and Flint, Michigan [drinking water crisis]. He tried to regulate CO2 twice and flunked twice. Struck out. So what’s so great about that record? I don’t know.” Wheeler, who was confirmed in February, is taking a note out of his predecessor’s playbook. “We’re not doing that. As soon as we get information that there’s a problem, we’re stepping in, we’re helping the local community get that water system…

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Top EPA Official Leaves Government To Help Trump Fight ‘Venezuela-Style Socialism’

by Michael Bastasch   Mandy Gunasekara served two years as a top Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adviser, but now is leaving the government to be an advocate for President Donald Trump’s agenda. “There is a void out there of folks who can understand and have the pertinent experience to talk about the energy, environment and economic successes of the Trump administration,” Gunasekara told The Daily Caller News Foundation in an interview. “I was in the room when we were making these decisions and I know the why,” she added. Indeed, as the principal deputy assistant administrator to EPA’s air office, Gunasekara was “in the room” when the agency issued major rollbacks of Obama administration regulations, including the Clean Power Plan and fuel economy mandates. Gunasekara also worked with former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to convince Trump to stick to his campaign promise and withdraw from the Paris climate accord. She was one of the few political appointees in place at EPA in the early days of the administration, so she spent many nights putting together the legal and policy rationale for withdrawal. Trump announced withdrawal in June 2017. “It was just helping him make it happen as the president,” Gunasekara…

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Enviros Launch Campaign Against Trump’s Pick To Replace Scott Pruitt At EPA

by Michael Bastach   Environmentalists kicked off the new year with a campaign to derail the nomination of Andrew Wheeler, President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “Make no mistake — to protect our health, planet, economy, and national security we must #StopWheeler from being permanently confirmed as @EPA administrator,” the Sierra Club tweeted Monday. Make no mistake – to protect our health, planet, economy, and national security we must #StopWheeler from being permanently confirmed as @EPA administrator. https://t.co/CMhvJBHlkY — Sierra Club (@SierraClub) January 7, 2019 The tweet linked to an Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) blog post calling Wheeler “unfit to lead EPA.” “Andrew Wheeler has ramped up Scott Pruitt’s relentless attack on public health and environmental safeguards,” EDF’s Martha Roberts wrote in her Jan. 3 blog post. Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, took over as EPA’s acting administrator in 2018 after former Administrator Scott Pruitt resigned. Wheeler was confirmed by the Senate in April 2018 as EPA’s deputy administrator, making him Pruitt’s number two at the time. Pruitt resigned in July amid a slew of ethics allegations and negative media coverage. Democrats and environmentalists also opposed Pruitt’s pushing Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda. Wheeler, so far, has continued Pruitt’s…

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Trump’s EPA Moves to Repeal Obama’s De Facto Ban on New Coal Plants

by Michael Bastasch   The Trump administration proposed rolling back Obama-era regulation that opponents called a de facto ban on building new coal-fired power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will raise carbon dioxide emissions limits for new coal-fired power plants and eliminate the Obama administration’s mandate that new facilities install carbon capture and storage equipment. “Consistent with President Trump’s executive order promoting energy independence, EPA’s proposal would rescind excessive burdens on America’s energy providers and level the playing field so that new energy technologies can be a part of America’s future,” EPA acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement. EPA’s plan to modify New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for power plants is part of the Trump administration efforts to unwind the Clean Power Plan — the centerpiece of former President Barack Obama’s global warming agenda. The Obama administration’s 2015 Clean Power Plan forced states to cut CO2 emissions at existing coal plants and made it extremely difficult to build new ones by mandating they install carbon capture and storage (CCS) equipment. What the Obama EPA did was consider CCS the “best system of emission reduction” for new coal plants, despite criticism from power plant operators, unions and Republicans that…

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EPA’s Andrew Wheeler Suggests the Obama Administration Put its Thumb on the Scale of the Latest US Climate Report

by Michael Bastasch   Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler suggested the Obama administration told the authors of the latest National Climate Assessment (NCA) to emphasize “worst-case” global warming predictions. “And I don’t know this for a fact — I wouldn’t be surprised if the Obama administration told the report’s authors to take a look at the worst-case scenario for this report,” Wheeler told The Washington Post in an interview Wednesday. Wheeler isn’t the first to criticize the NCA’s focus on “worst-case” global warming predictions, but his comments sparked backlash from former President Barack Obama’s chief science adviser. .@eilperin asks @EPAAWheeler why he didn't read the full national climate assessment before it was released. #postlive pic.twitter.com/LCE9OSYJyC — Washington Post Live (@postlive) November 28, 2018 John Holdren, Obama’s former science czar, told Politico that’s “absolutely false.” Holdren said the report considered a wide range of scenarios, and that he had no role in selecting the fourth NCA’s authors. The NCA is produced by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), which includes officials from 13 federal agencies. “My only instruction was that the USGCRP should continue the distinguished tradition of the first three by drawing on the most current…

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EPA Delays Repeal of Obama-Era Truck Regulations Causing Mass Layoffs

by Michael Bastasch   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will not be providing any near-term relief to manufacturers burdened by Obama-era regulations on glider kits, two sources familiar with the matter told The Daily Caller News Foundation. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler told EPA staffers Wednesday he would not be granting glider kit manufacturers a compliance extension, one source with knowledge of the meeting told The DCNF. A second source said EPA would instead be issuing a rule to keep the glider industry from going under in the long-term, but that’s not expected to come out until late next year. An EPA spokesman confirmed the agency is working on a glider rule. “EPA is continuing to develop a rule for the glider industry that better balances economic growth alongside continued environmental progress,” EPA spokesman James Hewitt told The DCNF. Gliders are new truck chassis fitted over refurbished engines, which typically cost less and are more fuel efficient than new trucks. Obama-era rules capped glider kit production at individual companies, meaning some have had to lay off hundreds of workers to decrease their output. It’s another hurdle in the Trump administration’s plan to keep companies that refurbish used truck engines from…

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DHS to Waive Environmental Laws for Border Wall Construction

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that it would waive environmental laws so it could build gates between sections of border barriers in South Texas’ Rio Grande Valley. The waiver posted online lists 11 locations where the government plans to install gates in existing fencing. DHS has in recent months issued similar waivers of environmental laws for projects elsewhere on the southwest border. The U.S. government already has around 700 miles (1,126 kilometers) of fencing on the southwest border. In far South Texas, segments of fencing stop and start along the levee built next to the Rio Grande, the river separating the U.S. and Mexico. Many parts of the fencing are built a significant distance from the river, in some cases bisecting private property. The proposed gates would seal some of those gaps in Cameron County. U.S. Customs and Border Protection typically grants affected residents access to the gates so they can get to the other side of their land. The government also separately plans to begin building new barriers to fulfill President Donald Trump’s signature campaign pledge to build a border wall. Congress earlier this year approved $1.6 billion for new border wall spending, which included funding…

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GOP Senators Demand EPA Fix Permitting ‘Abuses’ Used by Democratic States to Block Energy Projects

Tennessee Star

by Michael Bastasch   Republicans senators asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review its implementation of a key provision of the Clean Water Act being used by states to block energy projects. “We ask that you work with other federal agencies to determine whether new clarifying guidance or regulations are needed in light of recent abuses of the Section 401 process by certain states,” five GOP senators wrote. “A select number of states have hijacked Section 401 to delay or block the development of natural gas pipelines and a coal export terminal,” Republicans wrote in a letter sent Thursday to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “While the focus of these abuses today is fossil energy, the approach could be used to target any type of project that is disfavored politically,” lawmakers told Wheeler. Lawmakers are concerned that Democratic-controlled states will continue to use Section 401 to block energy infrastructure projects instead of trying to protect water quality. For example, Washington state and New York have been particularly zealous in their blocking of energy projects. Washington officials blocked the Millenium coal terminal, and New York regulators have blocked pipeline projects to bring natural gas to energy-starved New England. Environmentalists support states’ use of the…

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REPORT: EPA Paid $14.5 Million For Foreign Nationals, Not Americans, To Work In Government Labs

by Michael Bastach   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) paid $14.5 million to foreign nationals to work at agency laboratories over the past 11 years that could have been awarded to U.S. citizens and permanent residents, according to federal investigators. EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) found the agency’s cooperative agreement with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) funded 107 fellowships to “foreign nationals or persons who were not citizens or permanent residents of the United States.” “Allowing foreign nationals to participate in the fellowships is inconsistent with the EPA practice of awarding fellowships to U.S. citizens, which is required for the EPA’s directly awarded fellowships,” OIG reported Wednesday. EPA’s cooperative agreement with NAS began in 2007 and lasted until 2017, so it spanned multiple administrations. In that time, EPA has come under criticism for wasting taxpayers dollars. Federal auditors found in 2014 that eight EPA employees racked up 20,926 hours on paid leave “and cost the government an estimated $1,096,868.” Each “was on extended administrative leave for four or more months,” auditors found. The Government Accountability Office noted in a 2014 report the “salary cost for EPA employees on administrative leave for fiscal years (FYs) 2011 through 2013 was $17,550,100.” Most notably, former…

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Drain The Swamp: EPA Shed 1,200 Jobs In Trump’s First Year And A Half

Tennessee Star

by Evie Fordham   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shed approximately 1,200 jobs as roughly 1,600 employees departed and less than 400 new employees were hired during President Donald Trump’s first year and a half in office. Departing employees included “at least 260 scientists, 185 ‘environmental protection specialists’ and 106 engineers,” according to the Washington Post. The EPA’s workforce is now down 8 percent to a size it has not been since former president Ronald Reagan was in office, reported the WaPo. “With nearly half of our employees eligible to retire in the next five years, my priority is recruiting and maintaining the right staff, the right people for our mission, rather than total full-time employees,” EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement according to the WaPo. Nearly 25 percent of the EPA’s 13,758 employees are eligible for retirement, reported the WaPo. Many employees have accepted buyouts, especially in 2017. At its most bloated, the EPA had more than 18,000 employees, reported the WaPo. Some longtime EPA employees are leaving after working under both Republican and Democratic administrations. “I felt it was time to leave given the irresponsible, ongoing diminishment of agency resources, which has recklessly endangered our ability to…

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IG Is Investigating Allegations of Collusion Between Volvo and EPA Officials to Sabotage President Trump’s Auto Regs Roll-Back

big rig truck

by Tim Pearce   Federal investigators are probing into a 2017 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report that claimed refurbished trucks emitted significantly more pollution than new models. The EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced Tuesday that it would look into allegations that EPA officials improperly colluded with truck manufacturer Volvo to conduct a study that found that “glider trucks” – refurbished truck engines fixed in new bodies – emit as much as 40 times the pollution of new vehicles. The Trump administration is attempting to repeal Obama-era regulations that classified glider trucks as “new motor vehicles” and placed them under a much stricter class of emissions standards. Glider trucks are generally cheaper, though less efficient, than new models, earning the ire of environmentalists and large truck companies, including Volvo. After placing a stay on the rule that would put off enforcement until Dec. 2019, the EPA reversed course in June and lifted the stay. EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler lifted the stay following a D.C. Circuit Court ordered the EPA to enforce the Obama-era regulation. Anti-glider groups and companies have lobbied against the repeal of the regulations, often touting the 2017 EPA study on glider truck emissions. Congressional Republicans asked the OIG to look into…

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Zinke Ends Obama-Era Policy Requiring Energy Companies Fund Environmental ‘Mitigation’ Projects

Ryan Zinke

by Tim Pierce   The Department of the Interior (DOI) is scrapping an Obama-era policy mandating energy companies mitigate development on federal land by funding offsite environmental projects. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) — a DOI-controlled agency and the largest land-owning agency in the U.S. — began forcing oil, gas and coal companies to pay mitigation fees to the BLM or a third party under former President Barack Obama. The fees would be used to fund environmental projects such as restoring habitat or protecting wetlands. The size of the fee was calculated by the BLM to cover the damage done by the proposed development. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke retracted the policy in a memo to the BLM Tuesday. “This policy means that Americans … who want to use their public lands will no longer be required to pay money to BLM or third parties as a form of ‘mitigation’ when they seek new permits from BLM,” DOI spokeswoman Faith Vander Voort told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “BLM will continue to require project proponents to avoid or minimize actual harm on public lands as appropriate.” “This policy also does not affect State mitigation programs, or compensatory mitigation under other federal laws,”…

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The Battle To Repeal An Obama-Era Regulation On Trucks Heats Up

Tennessee Star

by Michael Bastasch   The battle over the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) plan to repeal an Obama-era regulation has been reignited. The Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund and Center for Biological Diversity sued EPA on Tuesday to prevent the agency from repealing regulations on refurbished truck engines, called glider kits. Their suit comes days after the House Committee on Science Space and Technology launched an investigation into potential collusion between lobbyists and EPA officials to keep regulations in place. The committee obtained emails suggesting Volvo and the Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association worked with top EPA officials at the National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to put together a report on emissions from glider kits. Emails and the involvement of auto lobbyists in procuring vehicles to test “raise serious questions as to the objectivity and legitimacy of the [EPA] study” that has been held up by glider opponents, including Volvo, as evidence of why refurbished engine sales should be limited. Glider kits are trucks with refurbished engines fitted into new chassis. The glider industry sprang up as truckers looked for an alternative to new trucks that had to comply with ever-stricter federal regulations. The Obama administration took action in 2016 to close…

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Scott Pruitt’s Parting Gift: Nixing One More Obama-Era Regulation

by Michael Bastach   A regulation to strictly limit the sale of refurbished truck engines was effectively repealed on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s final day in office. Pruitt’s last day at the agency was Friday, but that same day, EPA shifted its policy towards glider kits, which are trucks with refurbished engines. EPA would not enforce limits on glider kit sales until December 2019. Pruitt announced his resignation on Thursday amid a slew of ethics investigations. EPA officials told The New York Times “that, through the end of 2019, the EPA will not enforce an annual cap of 300 gliders per manufacturer that had been imposed in January.” The change comes as EPA prepares to finalize its repeal of regulations on glider sales. Glider manufacturer Fitzgerald petitioned Pruitt in 2017 to lift Obama era regulations. EPA was supposed to submit a finalized repeal of glider regulations earlier this year, but bureaucratic delays have kept Obama-era regulations in place. The Obama administration issued glider regulations in 2016, getting around the Clean Air Act by reclassifying gliders as “new motor vehicles.” Gliders are refurbished truck engines placed inside a new chassis. Environmentalists and major truck manufacturers, including Volvo, oppose lifting regulations on gliders.…

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Amid Investigations, Embattled EPA Chief Scott Pruitt Blames ‘Unrelenting Attacks’ Against Him, His Family In Resignation Letter

EPA Chief Scott Priutt

by Michael Bastach   Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt cited “unrelenting attacks” against himself and his family in his resignation letter that was delivered to President Donald Trump on Thursday. Pruitt thanked Trump for allowing him to serve at EPA, but says “the unrelenting attacks on me personally, my family, are unprecedented and taken a sizeable toll on all of us,” according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation. Here’s Pruitt’s full letter to Trump: Mr. President, it has been an honor to serve you in the Cabinet as Administrator of the EPA. Truly, your confidence in me has blessed me personally and enabled me to advance your agenda beyond what anyone anticipated at the beginning of your Administration. Your courage, steadfastness and resolute commitment to get results for the American people, both with regard to improved environmental outcomes as well as historical regulatory reform, is in fact occurring at an unprecedented pace and I thank you for the opportunity to serve you and the American people in helping achieve those ends. That is why it is hard for me to advise you I am stepping down as Administrator of the EPA effective…

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The Special Interests Behind the Unsustainable ‘Renewable Fuel Standard’

corn

By Printus LeBlanc   The ethanol lobby and corn farmers are teaming up to keep the government mandated gravy train flowing into their bank accounts. After a deal was reached between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), several Senators, and oil refiners regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the deal suddenly collapsed when it got to the White House. The deal made sense for everyone involved, so the question must be asked, what happened and why? The RFS is a government rule, established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The rule mandates renewable fuels, mostly corn ethanol, be blended with gasoline. Of course, this became an instant cash cow for corn farmers and ethanol refiners. The government had just mandated anyone that drives a vehicle must use their product. But just like Obamacare didn’t do what it was supposed to do, the RFS didn’t do what it was supposed to do. The first problem is ethanol efficiency. According to the Department of Energy, E10 and E15 get 3 to 5 percent fewer miles per gallon than regular gasoline. E85, the flex fuel, gets a horrible 15 to 27 percent fewer miles per gallon. If the purpose of the RFS was to increase…

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Emails Suggest EPA Officials Colluded With Lobbyists To Thwart Trump’s Agenda

Steve Milloy

by Michael Bastach   An attorney and junk science blogger uncovered emails suggesting lobbyists and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials coordinated on an effort to preserve regulations on used truck engine manufacturers. “The purpose, of course, was to embarrass and intimidate the Trump EPA into aborting the rollback of the Obama EPA rule,” JunkScience.com publisher Steve Milloy (pictured) told The Daily Caller News Foundation. Through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, Milloy obtained emails between two lobbyists at Volvo Group North America, and high-ranking officials in Ann Arbor, Mich., where EPA’s vehicle emissions testing lab is located. “The emails show that Volvo lobbyists were working to supplying EPA staff with glider trucks so that rogue EPA staff could dishonestly ‘test’ glider emissions and issue a damning report that could be waved about at a public hearing on the proposed rule rollback,” Milloy said. Volvo opposes repealing regulations on glider kits — new truck bodies that use refurbished engines and are substantially cheaper to buy than trucks with new engines. Volvo and other truck engine makers joined environmentalists in lobbying the Obama administration to regulate glider kits in 2016. The Trump administration EPA is working towards repealing the glider kit rule, but…

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US Conservationists Sue Trump Administration Over Migratory Bird Policy

Reuters   A coalition of conservation groups sued the Trump administration on Thursday, accusing the government of slashing protections for migratory birds. At issue is the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which the National Audubon Society and other plaintiffs say has been undermined. In the past, the act helped hold parties responsible for actions that killed or injured migratory birds. But in December, the Trump administration said energy companies and other businesses that accidentally kill migratory birds will no longer be criminally prosecuted. “As you can imagine, many causes of bird fatalities — including oil spills —could fall into this ‘unintentional’ category, so we’re taking the administration to court,” David Yarnold, president and CEO of the National Audubon Society, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a statement. Plaintiffs also include the American Bird Conservancy, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Defenders of Wildlife. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Defendants are the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Daniel Jorjani, the Interior Department’s principal deputy solicitor. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, representing the government in the lawsuit, declined to…

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