The 2018 elections may prove highly consequential for environment and energy policy, possibly slowing or even reversing the Trump-GOP deregulatory agenda. The latest Issue Backgrounder helps reporters frame the choices voters face, including environmental justice and offshore drilling.
"Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy walked free from the federal courthouse Monday for the first time since his arrest two years ago on charges that he led an armed rebellion against the government in 2014."
"Federal regulators on Monday rejected a proposal by Energy Secretary Rick Perry to subsidize struggling coal and nuclear plants, in a major blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to revive America’s declining coal industry."
"The Environmental Protection Agency is touting cleanups at seven of the nation’s most polluted places as a signature accomplishment in the Trump administration’s effort to reduce the number of Superfund sites, even though records show the physical work was completed before President Donald Trump took office."
"If 2017 was the Trump administration’s year of grand pronouncements declaring an end to environmental regulations, 2018 will be the year of trying to finish what it started."
"The Interior Department’s No. 2 official issued a secretarial order just before Christmas rescinding several climate change and conservation policies issued under the Obama administration, saying they were “inconsistent” with President Trump’s quest for energy independence."
As Hurricane Harvey dumped record rains on the Houston area, nature ruled and man reacte. Harvey was Houston's reckoning.
"The Trump administration’s proposal to allow offshore oil and natural-gas drilling in federal waters off the Atlantic Coast could make 2018 an even tougher election year for Republicans in coastal states."
"The Interior Department has approved a land swap deal that will allow a remote Alaskan village to construct a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, according to local officials. The action effectively overrules wilderness protections that have kept the area off limits to vehicles for decades."
"Infrastructure was supposed to be an arena of bipartisan comity in Donald Trump’s first year as president. Instead, it became an afterthought as the administration tussled with Congress over health care, border security, and tax cuts while jettisoning waves of advisers and staff."
