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Scott Pruitt resigns as head of the EPA
After months of scandal and more than a dozen separate investigations into his lavish spending habits while in office, Scott Pruitt has tendered his resignation as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. President Donald Trump broke the news on Thursday via Twitter.
11 states sue EPA over attempt to reverse ban on ozone-harming HFCs
The Scott Pruitt-era EPA is facing yet more legal action over its attempts at reversing US environmental regulations. A group of 11 states (including New York and California) and the District of Columbia have sued the EPA for violating the Clean Air Act by "effectively" lifting a ban on climate-changing hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The states contend that the agency's April "guidance" document illegally removed the entire HFC ban rather than going through the necessary public rulemaking process.
EPA scientific advisory board to review agency's recent rollbacks
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) met to discuss some of the changes the agency has proposed under Administrator Scott Pruitt. And ultimately, the 44-person board voted to review a number of the EPA's proposals and write a letter to Pruitt. "The leadership of the board was chosen by Pruitt himself, so their decision today is a sharp rebuke of his leadership and this dangerous proposal," Ana Unruh Cohen, managing director of government affairs at the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Bloomberg.
Google wants the Clean Power Plan to stick around too
If we don't want the seas to boil and the skies to burn, we need to stop polluting the world with climate altering gases. Unfortunately, the Environmental Protection Agency is planning to gut the Clean Power Plan, legislation aimed at curbing America's carbon emissions by almost a third by 2030. And it's something that, like Apple, Google has decided to fight, making a public statement in support of the Clean Power Plan just before the deadline closed.
Apple voices support for Clean Power Plan ahead of pending repeal
In October, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced he would sign a proposed rule that would withdraw the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan (CPP). The environmental regulations have had a contentious history since initially being proposed in 2014 and now they face the strongest threat to their implementation yet. In October, Pruitt said during a speech, "Here's the president's message: The war on coal is over." As is typical with these sorts of proposed rule changes, the plan to repeal the CPP was subject to public comment, deadlines for which have been extended multiple times. Now, ahead of the April 26th deadline, Apple has filed its comment, opposing the repeal of the CPP.
EPA wants to roll back Obama-era auto efficiency guidelines
Under the Obama administration, the EPA instituted a set of goals for automakers aimed at improving vehicle efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The terms state that companies have until 2025 to get their fuel efficiencies up to a fleet average of 51.4 miles per gallon. But automakers have been asking Donald Trump to change those regulations ever since he took office and now it looks like the EPA will attempt to relax those standards.
US coal industry saw little growth in 2017 despite White House push
The Trump administration has been eager to prop up the US coal industry despite evidence that it's in a steep decline. But did it have much of an effect? Not really. Reuters has obtained preliminary Mining Health and Safety Administration data showing that there was negligible job growth in coal mining during 2017. The field added a total of 771 jobs, reaching 54,819 -- a figure still near historic lows. There was growth in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, but that was largely offset by mine closures in several states, including Ohio (414 jobs lost) and Texas (455).
EPA cancels scientists' climate change talk at the last minute
If there were any lingering doubts that the Environmental Protection Agency under Scott Pruitt would suppress any mention of climate change by its scientists, they've just been erased. The agency has cancelled an October 23rd climate change talk in Rhode Island mere hours before it was slated to take place. A spokesman didn't offer an explanation, but the three EPA scientists were expected to speak primarily about climate change and its effect on Narragansett Bay. The decision came from the EPA's Office of Public Affairs.
EPA plans to repeal Obama-era Clean Power Plan
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator, Scott Pruitt, announced today he would sign a proposed rule that would withdraw the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan (CPP). "Here's the president's message: The war on coal is over," Pruitt said today during a speech given in Hazard, Kentucky.
EPA will no longer sponsor the annual climate leadership awards
It's no secret that Scott Pruitt is a climate change skeptic, and the Environmental Protection Agency has been undoing Obama-era policies ever since he took office. The agency's latest move follows that trend: the EPA has announced that it's no longer sponsoring the 2018 Climate Leadership Awards program, which recognizes companies that take steps to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and publicly report their progress. As a result, the awards program itself and the Climate Leadership Conference that usually goes with it have both been canceled for next year.
EPA pulls climate science web pages to reflect White House views
President Trump and Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt aren't exactly fans of climate science, and they're scaling back the EPA's website to reflect their views. The EPA has started implementing a site revision that will "reflect the approach of new leadership." As you might surmise, that means that mentions of climate change, regulation and Obama-era policies are on the chopping block -- the language endorsing the Clean Power Plan is "out of date," the EPA claims. And unfortunately, that means axing information that has been around for multiple administrations.
EPA head suggests CO2 isn't a 'primary contributor' to climate change
If you want a good example of why American environmental scientists are in such a state of despair these days, you just got it. When asked by CNBC whether or not he thought carbon dioxide was the "primary control knob" for global warming, new EPA chief Scott Pruitt suggested that it wasn't a "primary contributor." The answer is a bit fuzzy (it's merged with a broader attempt to cast doubt on the human role in climate change), but it's still far from flattering -- either he's trying to downplay basic climate science for the sake of his fossil fuel industry friends, or he genuinely doesn't know how it works.
Emails show new EPA chief is cozy with the fossil fuel industry
There's no question that new Environmental Protection Agency leader Scott Pruitt has a conflict of interest when he previously declared himself the agency's number one enemy. However, it's now clearer just why he so fervently opposes eco-friendly regulation. The Center for Media and Democracy has used a court order to obtain emails from Pruitt's time as Oklahoma's attorney general, and they reveal an uncomfortably close relationship with the fossil fuel industry he's now supposed to regulate.
Who is Scott Pruitt, the new EPA head?
On Friday, the US Senate voted 52–48 to confirm Scott Pruitt as the 14th administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. His nomination and subsequent confirmation surprised many political pundits, given that the former Oklahoma attorney general has long waged legal battles against the federal agency that he now heads.
Climate change skeptic Scott Pruitt confirmed as EPA Administrator
Immediately after his inauguration, President Trump got to work on his long-anticipated plan to gut the Environmental Protection Agency. His administration wants to review all research coming out of it on a "case by case" basis and placed a gag order on employees, but waited on more until the agency's new chief made it through the Congressional gauntlet. Despite heavy opposition from Democrats and workers from the department he'd be heading, the Senate confirmed climate change skeptic Scott Pruitt as administrator of the EPA today.
A version of the pre-Trump EPA website is online
Longing for a time when the White House didn't actively deny the effects humans were having on climate change? You aren't alone. Following the sweeping changes made on Inauguration Day this year, at least three Freedom of Information Act requests were made (per Gizmodo) to bring a pre-Trump-presidency version of the Environmental Protection Agency's website online.
EPA lifts grant freeze, gag order remains in place
The Environmental Protection Agency has lifted the freeze on grant money and contract operations that set off alarm bells in Congress earlier this week. Although the EPA will now be allowed to resume sending money to state-run environmental protection programs, the Trump Administration's gag order will remain in place. The EPA's official public-facing stance on climate change is also still flux.
Trump's plans for the EPA will stifle scientific research
Donald Trump's war against the environment continues. Yesterday the administration froze all grants and contracts at the EPA. It also barred the agency from sharing information with the public and the press as well as remove all references to climate change from its website. Now, NPR (which is also on the president's chopping block) reports that the administration plans to review any research coming out of the EPA on a "case by case" basis. This would effectively turn the White House into a gatekeeper standing between the EPA's research and the taxpaying public who fund it.
Reuters: Trump admin telling EPA to pull climate change info (updated)
Despite a gag order, Environmental Protection Agency employees are talking to Reuters, informing the outlet that their bosses have been instructed to remove this page from its website (Archive.org). On the official White House website, a page devoted to climate change is now only accessible in its archives, and the EPA section could meet a similar fate. Currently, the webpage displays the effects scientists have already recorded (like 2016 being the hottest year on record), and government initiatives trying to combat the issue.
Trump administration freezes grants and contracts at the EPA (updated)
Donald Trump's administration has frozen all grants and contract operations at the Environmental Protection Agency, ProPublica reports. The freeze could disrupt critical, ongoing projects such as toxic cleanups and water quality testing, and it may impact the EPA's budget allocations. The EPA currently has $6.4 billion worth of federal contracts, which it uses to organize clean-up and testing services across the country. It's unclear how long the freeze will be in place or whether it will impact only new grants.
