Free Republic

Eighteen states on Tuesday sued President Trump’s administration over its push to “reconsider” greenhouse-gas-emission rules for the nation’s auto fleet, launching a legal battle over one of Barack Obama’s most significant efforts to address climate change. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt in April said he would revisit the Obama-era rules, which aim to raise efficiency requirements to about 50 miles per gallon by 2025. Pruitt’s agency said that the standards are “based on outdated information” and that new data suggests “the current standards may be too stringent.” But in the lawsuit, the states contend that the EPA acted “arbitrarily...

The Trump administration seems to be leaning towards allying with the oil refining industry in its fight against Big Corn and federal rules requiring the use of corn ethanol. Reuters reports that the U.S. EPA apparently granted an exemption to Andeavor, a large oil refiner, from having to comply with blending requirements as part of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) last month. The RFS requires refiners to blend biofuels, such as corn ethanol, into their refined fuels. If they can’t or find it too costly, they are required to purchase credits. The law dates back to 2007 under the George...

Scientific studies used by the Obama administration to help justify tough environmental regulations are coming under intensifying scrutiny, with critics questioning their merit as the Trump EPA reverses or delays some of those rules. In one case, agencies determined the research used to prop up a ban on a particular pesticide was questionable. On another front, the Environmental Protection Agency never complied with a congressional subpoena for the data used to justify most Obama administration air quality rules. “EPA regulations are based on secret data developed in the 1990s,” Steve Milloy, who served on President Trump’s EPA transition team, told...

Agriculture has contributed nearly as much to climate change as deforestation by intensifying global warming, according to U.S. research that has quantified the amount of carbon taken from the soil by farming. Some 133 billion tons of carbon have been removed from the top two meters of the earth's soil over the last two centuries by agriculture at a rate that is increasing, said the study in PNAS, a journal published by the National Academy of Sciences. The 133 billion tons of carbon lost from soil compares to about 140 billion tons lost due to deforestation, he said, mostly since...

As with the economy, government intervention can have unintended consequences. In Europe, the push to go green actually endangered lives through noxious air pollution. London, Paris and European governments “aggressively promoted diesel vehicles,” The Washington Post reported on Dec. 20. Why? For the environment, of course. Governments used policy to steer people away from carbon-dioxide emissions and toward diesel as the better choice. But the attempt to go green backfired as nitrogen dioxide emissions from diesel vehicles are shortening lives and clogging lungs, according to the Post’s London bureau chief Griff Witte. London has become the “global leader” in nitrogen...

Holy cow! Dairy farmers are balking at crazy climate change legislation that will rob America’s middle class of affordable dairy products.The Golden State used to be a place you could visit for a relaxing vacation filled with sunshine, palm trees and bayside avocado burgers—and then fly home to live a relatively free life—leaving California residents to cope with the “crazy” aspects of the state, like sky-high taxes. Not anymore. California is America’s largest milk-producing state. Thanks to new regulations from CA Gov. Jerry Brown, one thing is certain: if you love milk and cheese, significantly higher costs are coming your...

California legislators have approved a bill targeting cow flatulence and manure, which lawmakers blame for releasing greenhouse gases. The legislation aims to reduce methane emissions related to manure to 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030. Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) authored the bill, which passed shortly before the end of the legislative session. Lara agreed to a compromise that will give dairy farms more time to comply with the new regulations. Critics have expressed concerns the new regulations will result in an increase in the price of milk from California cows. Proponents of the bill say methane emissions have...

American truckers, and the big rigs they drive, are literally the lifeblood of this nation, transporting food, raw materials and finished goods from one end of the country to the other and back again, delivering what is needed where it is needed when it is needed on a daily basis. But those truckers just had a major roadblock placed in their way, courtesy of President Barack Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency, and the consequences for not only the trucking industry, but America as a whole, could be devastating. According to The Daily Caller, the EPA just announced on Tuesday that it...

Just when U.S. airlines are experiencing an active summer travel season, with four percent more passengers expected than last summer’s banner year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) weighs in on the industry. Their recent verdict: “planet-warming pollution produced by airplanes endangers human health by contributing to climate change.” Such is the basis for their “endangerment finding” under the Clean Air Act, which now triggers the legal requirement to impose the first-ever government regulations of aircraft emissions and extend the EPA’s reach into yet another segment of the U.S. economy. The announced plan to reduce aircraft emissions takes place as President...

With the extension of California’s landmark climate change law stalled, a legislative plan is emerging to significantly up the ante on California’s commitment to electric vehicles by requiring that 15 percent of all new automobiles be emission-free within a decade. Assemblywoman Autumn Burke, D-Los Angeles, told The Associated Press on Friday that she’ll introduce legislation next week to ramp up the pressure on carmakers. Automakers that fail to sell enough electric vehicles would be required to make payments to rivals that do or pay a fine to the state.“If we create more competition in the market, that automatically will trigger...

In a surprising turn of events, climate change doomsayers have turned their attention to cattle, as environmentalists have been compelled to acknowledge that “livestock emissions” are more dangerous for the environment than automobiles. A recent article at EcoWatch says that greenhouse gas emissions from livestock actually account for a higher percentage of total global emissions than the world’s 1.2 billion automobiles. Whereas the transportation sector accounts for only some 14 percent of global emissions, cows produce a remarkable 14.5 to 18 percent of the global total, the article confesses.

Energy: The EPA’s proposal to increase the amount of ethanol that must be blended into gasoline is a trifecta of regulatory abuse. It will do nothing for the environment, it will do nothing for energy security, and it could wreck millions of car engines

The board that regulates Southern California’s air quality, having angered environmentalists last month by firing its longtime director, angered them again this week by replacing him with an industry consultant. The Los Angeles Times reports the South Coast Air Quality Management District board voted unanimously Friday to appoint Wayne Nastri as executive officer. …

SAN FRANCISCO -- Wood-burning heaters -- including modern pollution-fighting wood stoves -- will not be permitted in new homes built in the Bay Area starting next fall, as part of a first-in-the-nation ban approved by air quality regulators Wednesday. The new rules, approved unanimously by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, will also require every seller of an existing home with a wood-burning fireplace to give buyers a disclosure statement warning of the health risks of wood smoke. Even wood stoves certified by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as low emission would not be allowed in new homes whose...

President Barack Obama will impose steeper cuts on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants across the country than previously expected, senior administration officials said Sunday, in what the president called the most significant step the U.S. has ever taken to fight global warming. The Obama administration is expected to finalize the RULE at a White House event on Monday, a year after proposing UNPRECEDENTED carbon dioxide limits. Obama, in a video posted on Facebook, said the limits were backed up by decades of data and facts showing that without tough action, the world will face more extreme weather and escalating...

In late 2014, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed a rule that would further ratchet down national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ground level ozone from the current level of 75 parts per billion (ppb) to a range of 65 to 70 ppb. Notably, the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) declared the proposal to be the most expensive regulation ever imposed on the country. A study recently conducted by NERA Economic Consulting and commissioned by NAM confirms NAM’s earlier statement. Specifically, the study reveals that reducing the current ozone standard to 65 ppb would reduce U.S. gross...

The Environmental Protection Agency will seek a 30% reduction in U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions by 2030 from existing power plants based on emission levels from 2005, according to two people briefed on the rule, setting in motion the main piece of President Barack Obama's climate-change agenda. The draft rule, to be proposed Monday and scheduled to be completed one year from now, will give flexibility to the states, which must implement the rules and submit compliance plans to the EPA by June 2016. States can decide how to meet the reductions, including joining or creating new cap-and-trade programs, deploying more renewable...

Seven months after being subpoenaed by Congress, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy conceded that her agency does not have - and cannot produce - all of the scientific data used for decades to justify numerous rules and regulations under the Clean Air Act.

Mad Science: The Environmental Protection Agency has been deliberately exposing people — including children — with asthma and other health issues to pollution to justify ever-more-stringent air quality standards. 'Improvements to EPA Policies and Guidance Could Enhance Protection of Human Study Subjects," released by the EPA's Office of Inspector General on March 31, confirms that the agency "exposed 81 human study subjects to concentrated airborne particles or diesel exhaust emissions in five EPA studies conducted during 2010 and 2011." According to the report, obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation, the human subjects, said to have given their "informed consent,"...

Proving that China’s fight against pollution has moved decisively into the realm of parody, bags containing mountain air were shipped into one particularly smog-addled city over the weekend. No, it wasn’t a scene from Spaceballs. According to the organizer, a Henan-based travel company, 20 bright blue bags of air were shipped to Zhengzhou, capital of central China’s Henan province, as a special treat for residents. The air originated from Laojun Mountain, some 120 miles away from the city, and was brought as part of a promotional gimmick to show oxygen-deprived city residents what they’re missing.