"President Donald Trump’s Interior Department is withholding key ethics disclosure information for Karen Budd-Falen, a high-ranking agency appointee who is facing calls for an investigation into her financial ties to a massive lithium mining project, Public Domain has learned."
The enforcement of environmental laws suffered a dramatic collapse during the Trump administration’s first year, several studies have found. Even the most serious violations, typically referred to the Department of Justice, are left unpursued because of DOJ staffing declines. The latest Backgrounder has the details, a look at the administration’s rationale for the decline and the implications for the environment and public health.
"When an international organization sought to create guidelines on climate risk, insurance lobbying groups pushed back."
"The beautiful marine mollusks have international protections, but sale of their shells continues by the tens of thousands."
"The ruling is expected to have broad implications for the energy sector."
"The culprit depends on where you live — but it’s probably not data centers (yet)."
"Ozone and particulate matter air pollutants cause over 100,000 premature deaths per year and affect the health of millions of Americans. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said last month that his agency would stop considering those costs when drafting new regulations."
"The legislation would make oil and gas firms pay for climate damages from burning their products. Trump has referred to such laws as 'extortion.'"
"As the Trump administration promotes U.S. natural gas exports, federal analysts warn that shipping massive volumes abroad could raise costs for consumers at home."
"The requirement would be next to impossible for federally funded charging stations to meet, industry advocates say."
"The Trump administration is proposing to require that federally funded electric vehicle chargers be fully U.S. made — an all-but-impossible target that could kill a multibillion-dollar effort to build a nationwide charging network.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday that raising the threshold to 100 percent domestic manufacturing — up from 55 percent — would advance U.S. manufacturing and improve national security.
