writeaboutwarming

January 17, 2020 The Trump administration is determined to undo protections of the environment going back as far as 1970. These protective regulations affect water, air, land and public health quality, and target limitations on greenhouse gas emissions, including emissions of mercury and smog, the reporting of natural gas emissions, chemical plant safety, use of pesticides, a moratorium on coal mining and regulation of coal mining waste, methane pollution, and fuel efficiency standards. All of these limitations are intended to benefit industries that donate to the Republican Party. Statistics demonstrate that the benefits of these regulations far outweigh the costs by preventing illness and death. Yet the 95 regulations Trump wants to eliminate are well on their way to being rescinded: 58 of the targeted rules have already been revoked, and 37 of them are at various stages of being discontinued. For example, if Trump has his way, a 2019 proposal will halt federal protection of 51% ...

August 16, 2019 The Trump Administration is proposing a freeze on federal fuel economy standards at 2020 levels. The state of California has reached an agreement with four automakers that would call for average fuel economy of 51 miles per gallon by 2026.  Automakers are siding with California, because they don't want to have to build two different cars to meet two different standards. In fact, 17 car companies informed Trump by letter in June that the weakening of fuel economy standards could destabilize the entire auto-making industry. The good news? More and more states support California's higher standards. States like New Jersey, Connecticut, Washington, Vermont, New York, Maine, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. The District of Columbia also backs California's clean air standards, and Colorado, an oil-producing state, has just joined this farsighted group. They are what is considered a "Section 177 state," in refe...