The administration’s rollbacks, which sparked a torrent of public opposition, come just months after a dire United Nations report warned that human activity has pushed a million plant and animal species to the brink of extinction.
Tag: EPA
Trump’s “cleanest water in the world” (ODT)
As fishermen deep in the Louisiana bayou, Kindra Arnesen and her family have faced their share of life-altering challenges in recent years.
First came Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 monster storm that devastated her small fishing community in Plaquemines Parish before roaring up the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 people and destroying $125 billion in property. Five years later, BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded 40 miles offshore, spewing nearly 200 million gallons of crude. The fisheries have not fully recovered more than nine years later, nor has her family.
But this year may be worse. A historic slow-moving flood of polluted Mississippi River water loaded with chemicals, pesticides and human waste from 31 states and two Canadian provinces is draining straight into the marshes and bayous of the Gulf of Mexico — the nurseries of Arnesen’s fishing grounds — upsetting the delicate balance of salinity and destroying the fragile ecosystem in the process. As the Gulf waters warm this summer, algae feed on the freshwater brew, smothering oxygen-starved marine life.
via There’s An Environmental Disaster Unfolding In The Gulf of Mexico | HuffPost Australia
“Everyone who breathes should be worried about the tailpipe pollution Trump’s administration wants to unleash.”
—Paul Cort, Earthjustice
via In ‘Disastrous Wreck for Consumers and the Planet,’ Trump EPA Moves to Gut Clean Car Standards
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced a plan to revise existing tailpipe standards that were going to apply for model years 2022 to 2025, saying the current standards “are not appropriate” and were set “too high.” Pruitt also said the EPA is re-examining the state of California’s historic ability to adopt tailpipe standards that are more ambitious than the federal government’s.
via How Trump’s Gutting of Tailpipe Standards will make China Auto Leader Worldwide
By Michael T. Klare | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – That Donald Trump is a grand disruptor when it …
Source: Trump’s new Clash of Civilizations: Carbonites v. Greens
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke “is committed to restoring trust in the Department’s decision-making,” a spokeswoman said.
It’s his own PR firm.
Source: The EPA Used to Tweet About the Environment. Now It Just Tweets About Scott Pruitt. | Mother Jones
NBC weatherman Al Roker debunked EPA head Scott Pruitt’s false claim that carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming during an appearance on MSNBC Live, explaining that there is “no credible science or scientist” to support Pruitt’s statement.During the March 10 segment, Roker addressed Pruitt’s comments on the Marc
Source: Al Roker Debunks EPA Head Scott Pruitt’s Stunning Denial On Human-Caused Climate Change
From the March 9 edition of CNBC’s Squawk Box:
Smith was forced to leave Australia but hopes to be back
Disgusted with the glacial pace of environmental reform and the gas coal and oil industry’s stubborn refusal to admit culpability for the world’s ongoing climate crisis, President Obama has announced sweeping changes at the EPA including the appointment of a new administrator, Agent Smith.
“Smith knows how to get things done,” said the President, at a brief White House press conference this morning. “We believe that Smith’s ability to replicate himself and seemingly be everywhere at once will save us money on inspectors and help cut through bureaucratic red tape. After all, nearly everyone is terrified of the man, and all those who have taken him on in the past have ended up dead.”
Smith told reporters that he was honored to be taking over the leadership role at EPA, as he had long wanted to do something about the plague of humans destroying what was once a pristine planet.
“I’d like to share a revelation that I’ve had during my time here,” said Smith. “It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You’re a plague and I am the cure.”
The appointment of Smith was made over protests from nearly every industry leader in the United States, who have had free rein to run roughshod over environmental rules and regulations up to this point.
olddogthoughts 