The Hill:
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt’s nomination for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is as clear a signal as the incoming administration can send with regard to its environmental policies.
It is also a sign that the administration is far more meticulous, internally consistent and thorough than its detractors have thought, and that it is on a clear mission not just to stop, but to reverse many of the actions of Obama’s EPA.
It is noteworthy that global warming was the second action item mentioned in President Obama’s 2009 inaugural, and that a mere 90 days later, the administration had issued a “preliminary finding of endangerment” from carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions.
Under their interpretation of the Supreme Court’s landmark 2007 climate change ruling, Massachusetts vs. Environmental Protection Agency, such a finding not only permitted the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1992, it compelled the agency to do so.
Seven years ago, on Pearl Harbor Day 2009, the administration announced its final Endangerment Finding. By March, Pruitt and 15 other state AG’s joined in a combined suit against it, which was ultimately not successful.
As long as the Endangerment Finding stands, any EPA, including one headed by Pruitt, will be in court defending against any subsidiary attempt to halt or reverse any regulation of carbon dioxide.
It may very well be held that the EPA remains responsible for regulation under the Supreme Court’s 2007 decision unless there is a specific act of Congress reversing its progeny policies, such as the Clean Power Plan. So the Endangerment Finding must be reversed.
But how to do it? For years, federal agencies have thrown massive support at scientists who, as human beings, serve their best interests (and their employer-universities) by generating horror-show results that also generate more support and professional advancement.
The Trump administration is going to have to stock up on scientists and administrators who are savvy to this game, and they are going to be very hard to find, as there’s very little incentive to not play along.
There’s going to have to be a massive effort to pick apart failing climate models and questionably-adjusted data. They’re going to have to find people willing to expose the current regime’s blatant abuse of logic in generating inflated “costs” of global warming, while largely ignoring the co-benefits of fossil fuel power, like doubled life expectancy and undreamt-of wealth.
The EPA’s global warming conclusions based entirely on science, and happen to have the support of the vast majority of scientists who actually specialize in the study of climate and related phenomena.
The opposition to them is a highly political, special interest-funded disinformation campaign. You follow the money trail and figure that out. It all leads back to corporate interests that want to protect their profits at all cost.
The GOP has been a corporate tool for years. Since Trump arrived, it has become little more than that. The man is The Swamp King. Everything they do is either about the consolidation of power and money, or about manipulating their political base to retain and expand the belief and control that’s needed to do this. All traditional conservative principles and values have been abandoned. Referencing them is little more now than a recurring campaign sales pitch.
@Greg: The Pebble Mine project was all political as is Anwar. There have been many safeguards proposed in the applications. Just how many science courses and degrees do you have Greg? How man ecology courses? How much Chemistry? How many years have you worked in the environmental field? What gives you any credibility to even comment authoritatively on these posts?
@Greg: Actually Greg, you are wrong there. The 97% support has been debunked. You are being played as a fool by the same people who warned us about global cooling in the 60-70s. Most are in this for the liberal research grants and the political power. We are all paying for their lies and misdirection.
Right. Acres of plastic lined retention ponds full of mining and ore processing chemicals, highly toxic heavy metals, and other poisonous wastes. Everybody has seen what industrial-scale mining operations leave behind. Get a job in the mines, and help us poison your children and grandchildren. Destroy the fishing industry, ruin a pristine wilderness, and make a few worse-than-useless fat cats richer in the process. What a deal for the people of Alaska. What a proud day for America.
There is no higher duty for any true American patriot that voting these people out of office in 2020, and making damn sure they never do come back.
@Greg: I see you failed to list your qualifications! Guess that means you just know nothing of value and your posts ar rubbish!
@Greg:
Manipulated science. Or, rather, “science”.