Regulation Rollback

EPA Loses Court Ruling After Failing to Identify Smog Nonattainment Regions

As a result of a federal court ruling on March 12, the Environmental Protection Administration will be compelled to do what it should have done by October 1: Identify regions of the country where the air quality violates smog standards.

March 18, 2018 - CALmatters

oil spill

Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund Reenacted

Unlike Trump's suggested quarter-per-gallon gas tax, this 9-cents-per-barrel tax is real. Like the gas tax, it goes to a trust fund, to respond to oil spills rather than build and maintains roads. While small, it brings in $500 million annually.

February 19, 2018 - Washington Examiner

Low Water Ohio River

U.S. EPA Ends the Obama-Era Clean Water Rule

The Trump Administration is rescinding another in a string of environmental regulations from the Obama Administration—this time it's the Clean Water Rule's protections for streams and waterways.

February 1, 2018 - Pacific Standard

State of the Union: The Major Policy President Trump Missed

No, this post is not about the Russia investigation nor #MeToo, but the state of climate policy in the U.S. after President Trump's first year. Surprisingly, it's not as bad as one might think, no thanks to Trump though.

February 1, 2018 - The New York Times - Climate

Natural Gas

Another Environmental Regulation Rollback Finalized by Trump Administration

A one-year suspension of an Obama-era rule to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas drilling on Federal and Indian lands will increase global warming and reduce federal revenue. Trump took action after Congress failed to repeal the rule.

December 16, 2017 - The Washington Post

Wine Country Fires

Three Congressional Bills Respond to Western Wildfires

Two GOP bills and one bipartisan Senate bill hope to reduce the wildfire risk in the West. The "Wildfires Management Act of 2017" is sponsored by the two Republican senators of Idaho and three of the four Democratic senators of Washington and Oregon.

October 30, 2017 - The Associated Press

Houston Bayou

Rebuilding Houston After Harvey: 'Bigger and Better'

Those were the words President Trump expressed before his first trip to Texas while Hurricane Harvey was ravaging Houston. But experts worry that the rebuilding won't be better due to the recision of an Obama-era environmental regulation.

September 2, 2017 - NPR

Natural Gas

Appeals Court Deals Second Setback to Trump Administration on Methane Regulation

Another unpleasant reminder for the Trump Administration that there are three equal branches of government: A federal appeals court ruled 9-2 that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt must enforce a rule to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas wells.

August 7, 2017 - CNN Politics

California Earning Clean Air Despite the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

While premature to claim victory, a report from the San Francisco Chronicle suggests that the California Air Resources Board will prevail in a looming showdown with the U.S. EPA over whether to allow the state to set vehicle emission standards.

July 13, 2017 - San Francisco Chronicle

Appeals Court Rebuffs Trump's EPA on Methane Emissions Suspension

In a win for the environment, a D.C. Circuit panel ruled that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt could not arbitrarily suspend the starting date of a landmark Obama rule that would reduce methane emissions from new and modified oil and gas wells.

July 6, 2017 - The Washington Post

Donald Trump

Breaking News: Trump Orders Withdrawal from Paris Climate Agreement

The decision means the U.S. will join Syria and Nicaragua as the only nations not to subscribe to the global agreement to reduce greenhouse gases. Trump attempted to leave the door ajar by stating that he would attempt to negotiate "a better deal."

June 1, 2017 - The New York Times

Methane

Congress Fails to Roll Back Obama-Era Methane Emissions Rule

Current events that have nothing to do with the environment but everything to do with politics might have caused the defeat of a bill to overturn an Obama-era rule designed to reduce methane emissions on federal lands.

May 12, 2017 - The Washington Post

Oil Rig

President Trump Signs Executive Order to Reverse Obama's Coastal Drilling Ban

So much for that so-called "permanent" ban that President Obama enacted by President Obama in December to end oil and gas drilling in the Arctic Ocean and off the central-northern Atlantic coast.

May 3, 2017 - The Washington Post

Washington D.C. - The White House

Next White House Struggle: Whether to Exit the Paris Climate Agreement

Ending Obama's so-called "war on coal" may go international with the exit from the December 2015 Paris Climate Agreement if EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has his way, but he may encounter formidable opposition from Trump's administration and family.

April 18, 2017 - The Washington Post - Energy and Environment

Protecting the Environment

Breaking News: Supreme Court Rebukes Trump on Clean Water Rule

One of those Obama-era regulations that President Trump promised to ease is the Clean Water Rule, currently tied up in federal appeals court. The Department of Justice had asked the Supreme Court to discontinue the litigation.

April 3, 2017 - E&E News [Subscription]

Coal Extraction

Coal Miners Are Going Back to Work, Proclaims Trump Upon Signing Executive Order

Flanked by coal miners, President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that begins the roll back of his predecessor's signature environmental rule, the Clean Power Plan, and other environmental regulations to facilitate energy production.

March 29, 2017 - The Washington Post

For Fracking's Sake, Another 'Burdensome' Environmental Regulation Repealed

The first and only federal regulation overseeing the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing on federal lands has been withdrawn upon orders issued by Ryan Zinke, the Secretary of the Interior.

March 20, 2017 - E&E News [Subscription]

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