DEREG2

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see deregulation 1/17</font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">also free marketeer</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">prolly neglected 7/18 eg 501c4</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">regulatory capture</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see wheeler, epa</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see MICK</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see also loss of transparency</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see 4 horses, eg pvtization related</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">see REINS</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">capt 719</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">tool site</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://deregulationnation.substack.com/">https://deregulationnation.substack.com/</a></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">320 bb</font></p><h2 class="entry-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Raleway; margin: 0.1em 0px 0.25em; line-height: 1; font-size: 20px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://boingboing.net/2020/01/28/capex-is-for-little-ppl.html" rel="bookmark" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Ajit Pai promised that killing net neutrality would spur network investment, but instead Comcast cut spending by 10.5%</a></h2><p>
</p><div class="entry-content" style="font-size: 16px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: " libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" sans-serif="sans-serif"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">When Trump FCC Chairman Ajit Pai used fraud and skullduggery to&nbsp;</span><a href="https://boingboing.net/2019/10/07/california-exports-neutrality.html" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(17, 51, 170);">kill net neutrality</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> he promised that clearing away the allegedly burdensome regulation of delivering the data your customers request would finally spur investment in America's worst-of-bread, ancient network infrastructure</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://boingboing.net/2020/01/28/capex-is-for-little-ppl.html" class="read-more" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(17, 51, 170);">Read the rest</a></p></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><p class="print-title"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">&nbsp;</font></p><p class="print-title"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>i put this in a record number of nodes, seems to be some sort of shift/tipping point?</b></font></p><p class="print-title"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">sci not so much suppressed as ignored, SAB</font></p><p class="print-title"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">trump epa fail</font></p><p class="print-title"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/a-total-disgrace-outrage-as-trump-epa-says-it-wont-ban-pesticide-linked-to-brain-damage-in-children"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/a-total-disgrace-outrage-as-trump-epa-says-it-wont-ban-pesticide-linked-to-brain-damage-in-children</font></a></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>' A total disgrace’: Outrage as Trump EPA says it won’t ban pesticide linked to brain damage in children</b></font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Jake Johnson / Common Dreams<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>July 19, 2019</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In a move environmentalists denounced as yet another case of the Trump administration putting industry profits over public health, the Environmental Protection Agency announced on Thursday that it will not ban chlorpyrifos, a pesticide linked to brain damage in children.</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“By allowing chlorpyrifos to stay in our fruits and vegetables, Trump’s EPA is breaking the law and neglecting the overwhelming scientific evidence that this pesticide harms children’s brains,” Patti Goldman, attorney with Earthjustice said in a statement. “It is a tragedy that this administration sides with corporations instead of children’s health.”</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">EPA chief Andrew Wheeler’s decision to reject a petition by environmental groups calling for a ban on the neurotoxic chemical ignores the assessments of his agency’s own scientists, said Tiffany Finck-Haynes, pesticides and pollinators program manager for Friends of the Earth.</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The EPA’s refusal to ban chlorpyrifos ignores decades of science showing that this pesticide has irrevocable effects on human health and the environment,” said Finck-Haynes. “The EPA is endangering the lives of children to protect pesticide industry profits.”</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Friends of the Earth</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@foe_us</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Today Trump's @EPA announced that it will not #BanChlorpyrifos — a brain-damaging pesticide that EPA's own scientists have deemed unsafe at any level.</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The EPA is endangering the lives of children to protect pesticide industry profits."https://foe.org/news/trumps-epa-continues-delay-federal-ban-brain-damaging-pesticide-chlorpyrifos-leaving-states-take-action/ …</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump’s EPA continues to delay federal ban on the brain-damaging pesticide chlorpyrifos, leaving...</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will not ban the neurotoxic, brain-damaging pesticide chlorpyrifos<b>. Last summer, a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals...</b></font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">foe.org</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Chlorpyrifos has been banned for household use since 2000, but the pesticide is still used by farmers on “more than 50 fruit, nut, cereal, and vegetable crops,” according to the New York Times.</b></font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“In 2016,” the Times reported, “more than 640,000 acres were treated with chlorpyrifos in California alone.”</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Obama administration in 2015 proposed banning use of the pesticide on food crops, but former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt authorized its continued use in 2017.</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“This is a total disgrace,” Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) tweeted in response to the EPA’s decision on Thursday.</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Finck-Haynes of<b>&nbsp;Friends of the Earth&nbsp;</b>said that as the federal government continues to work on behalf of chemical interests, states must take immediate action to protect the public and the environment.</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“While the federal government refuses to act, we urge states to step in, ban chlorpyrifos, and demonstrate that they will safeguard public health and the environment,” said Finck-Haynes.&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“We call on [New York] Governor [Andrew] Cuomo to sign the chlorpyrifos ban bill sitting on his desk and protect New Yorkers from this toxic pesticide.”</span></font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In a statement on Thursday, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) highlighted the Trump administration’s ties to Dow Chemical, the largest producer of chlorpyrifos in the United States.</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The relationship between President Trump and Dow Chemical… has been called into question,” the group said. “Among other things, the chemical manufacturing giant&nbsp;<b>reportedly donated $1 million for Trump’s inauguration, and its CEO previously played a chief advisory role to the president, heading up his now defunct American Manufacturing Council.”</b></font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Erik Olson, senior director of health and food at&nbsp;<b>NRDC,&nbsp;</b>said the effort to achieve a ban on chlorpyrifos will continue.</font></p><p class="print-title"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Until EPA gets this stuff out of our fields and off our food,” said Olson, “this fight is not over.”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">=</font></p><div><h2 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.16em; margin: 1em 0px 0.625em;"><strong><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">bad: new EPA plan will gut pollution permit appeals …for the public. Not for industry.</font></strong></h2><ul style="margin: 1em 0px;"><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Environmental Protection Agency sets legal limits, called permits, on how much a particular power plant or factory can pollute.</font></p></li><li style="margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When a person or community wants to challenge that permit for being too spew-friendly, they can appeal it to the EPA’s “Environmental Appeals Board.”</font></p></li><li style="margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The permit holders, meaning the operators of factories or power plants, can also appeal to increase the legally allowed pollution limit.</font></p></li><li style="margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Under a plan being developed by the Trump EPA, exactly half of this process would change:</font></p></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The public would lose the ability to challenge a pollution permit.</b></font></p></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Permit-holders would still be able to appeal to increase in their pollution.</font></p></li><li style="margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Three people familiar with the plan” leaked it to The New York Times, which notes that it would be finalized following President Trump’s speech last week “in which he sought to frame himself as a conservationist and protector of public land.”</font></p></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As I wrote last week, Trump’s pushing this particular Big Lie to try and blunt Republican voter discontent with his actual record of giving polluting industries, including petroleum, coal, minerals mining, chemical, and energy companies, the keys to the agencies that regulate them.</font></p></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Environmental law experts tell the Times that “the propose rule change would not only grant industry a broader role in influencing the EPA to issue more lenient pollution permits,&nbsp;<b>but could disproportionately harm poor and minority communities, which are statistically more likely to be located near polluting sites.”</b></font></p></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The plan is just about ready to be released, and EPA must by law allow the public to comment on it before it’s finalized.</font></p></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>So far this administration seldom halts or changes an environmental rollback in response to public opposition.</b></font></p></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 3.75px 0px 3.75px 7.5px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJw9UEtuwyAUPE3YxQL8wwsWqZpcw8LwkqACRvCo5dsXO1IlNKCBx3y0QnitaZdxzUhKhjRbI_k40GmixMjOMNELYvP8TABeWScxFSCxLM5qhXYN5wBlgrylZkyMbGFad89OwKBUCz03nA1mMH0ryKEyq2IsBA0SfiHtawDi5Bsx5kt7u_BHXdu2NWFH6yE3evWVqQJT3ehYgfEK2llfvdcTRHWtj3wJFvdrXJ0rh62rihGUa97oHbGHw4mOTPC2F23XsKa709sXnfhEb_fH-N1eOupfvMllyaj0z6FLkowKvf5hx-3rSH_SNfz8rzhDUIsD8-kFP0WeOXGPIANs2QEipA9ZyxIT7xipQmatXwZpIMGruLPMcOIfO3qJHQ" target="blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJw9UEtuwyAUPE3YxQL8wwsWqZpcw8LwkqACRvCo5dsXO1IlNKCBx3y0QnitaZdxzUhKhjRbI_k40GmixMjOMNELYvP8TABeWScxFSCxLM5qhXYN5wBlgrylZkyMbGFad89OwKBUCz03nA1mMH0ryKEyq2IsBA0SfiHtawDi5Bsx5kt7u_BHXdu2NWFH6yE3evWVqQJT3ehYgfEK2llfvdcTRHWtj3wJFvdrXJ0rh62rihGUa97oHbGHw4mOTPC2F23XsKa709sXnfhEb_fH-N1eOupfvMllyaj0z6FLkowKvf5hx-3rSH_SNfz8rzhDUIsD8-kFP0WeOXGPIANs2QEipA9ZyxIT7xipQmatXwZpIMGruLPMcOIfO3qJHQ&source=gmail&ust=1563648370970000&usg=AFQjCNFvS4oSIM_slsm_IyrELftK-OE3PA">Read all about it in The New York Times</a>, where veteran environmental reporter Coral Davenport broke this story last week.</font></p></li></ul></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"></font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NEW DEREG BY RENAMING:</font></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">djt rolled back 83 epa regs?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/10-ways-epa-chief-andrew-wheeler-has-decimated-epa-protections-in-just-one-year/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/07/10-ways-epa-chief-andrew-wheeler-has-decimated-epa-protections-in-just-one-year/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">July 8, President Trump</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/08/us/politics/trump-environment-climate-change.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">hosted</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">a White House event to unabashedly tout his truly abysmal environmental record. The following day, coincidentally, marked the one-year anniversary of Andrew Wheeler at the helm of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), first as acting administrator and then as administrator after the Senate confirmed him in late February.</span></font></div><div class="p1_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The good news, if there is any, is that Wheeler is an Eagle Scout compared to his&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-25/here-s-a-scorecard-of-the-scott-pruitt-investigations-quicktake" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">ethically challenged</a>&nbsp;predecessor, Scott Pruitt. The bad news is,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/climate/wheeler-epa-pruitt.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">as predicted</a>, Wheeler has been more effective than Pruitt in rolling back and eliminating EPA safeguards.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">My organization, the Union of Concerned Scientists, has compiled a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/center-science-and-democracy/state-of-science-trump-era" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">list</a>&nbsp;of 80 Trump administration attacks on science since taking office, and Wheeler has been the driving force behind many of them. Below are 10 of the more egregious ways he has undermined the EPA’s time-honored role to protect public health and the environment so far.</font></p><div class="p3_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; list-style: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; list-style: decimal;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sidelined Scientists</font></b></li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Wheeler, a former coal industry lobbyist, has taken a number of steps to systematically reduce the role of scientists in the agency’s policymaking process. Last fall, for example, he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/climate/epa-science-adviser.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">eliminated</a>&nbsp;the agency’s Office of the Science Advisor, which counseled the EPA administrator on research supporting health and environmental standards, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/26/climate/epa-etzel-children-health-program.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">placed</a>the head of the EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection on administrative leave. He also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/11/climate/epa-disbands-pollution-science-panel.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">disbanded</a>&nbsp;a 20-member scientific advisory committee on particulate matter, or soot;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060102455" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">failed</a>&nbsp;to convene a similar panel on ozone; and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060102455" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">packed</a>&nbsp;a seven-member advisory committee on air quality standards with industry-friendly participants.</font></p><div class="p4_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol start="2" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; list-style: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; list-style: decimal;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Proposed to Restrict the Use of Scientific Data</font></b></li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Claiming his intent is to increase “transparency,” Wheeler is promoting a rule Pruitt proposed that would dramatically limit the scientific studies the agency considers when developing health standards. If adopted, the rule would restrict the use of scientific studies in EPA decisions if the underlying data are not public and reproducible, which would disqualify many epidemiological and other health studies the EPA relies on to set science-based public safeguards. Given that EPA health standards often rely on studies that contain private patient information, as well as confidential business information that cannot be revealed, the rule would significantly hamper the agency’s ability to carry out its mission. Wheeler&nbsp;<a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/421479-epa-to-pursue-final-science-transparency-rule-in-2019" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">plans</a>&nbsp;to finalize the rule sometime this year.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3 Gutted the Coal Ash Rule</font></b></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The first major&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/coalash/coal-ash-rule" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">rule</a>&nbsp;Wheeler signed as acting administrator refuted his claim that he could fulfill President Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apnews.com/0012648e385d41f481f0af20a90f0666" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">directive</a>&nbsp;to “clean up the air, clean up the water, and provide regulatory relief” at the same time. By rolling back the Obama-era coal ash rule, Wheeler provided regulatory relief to his old friend the coal industry by weakening environmental protections established in 2015 to clean up coal ash ponds, which are laced with toxic contaminants that leak into groundwater. The move was a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060083703" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">top priority</a>for coal baron Bob Murray, owner of Murray Energy, Wheeler’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/epas-acting-administrator-has-long-lobbying-record-on-issues-before-the-agency/2018/07/05/a591cd40-6a6b-11e8-bea7-c8eb28bc52b1_story.html?utm_term=.07ea8ecca216" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">most lucrative client</a>when he worked for the Faegre Baker Daniels law firm.</font></p><div class="p6_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Coal-fired power plants have been dumping this residue from burning coal into giant, unlined pits for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2019/07/02/us/ap-us-coal-ash-liability.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">decades</a>. According to the EPA, there are more than&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/coalash/frequent-questions-about-2015-coal-ash-disposal-rule#3" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">1,000 coal ash disposal sites</a>&nbsp;across the country, and a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.environmentalintegrity.org/news/first-comprehensive-national-study-of-coal-ash-pollution-finds-widespread-groundwater-contamination/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">analysis</a>&nbsp;by Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project found that 91 percent of the coal plants filing monitoring data required by the 2015 rule are polluting water with unsafe levels of toxic contaminants. Wheeler’s EPA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-finalizes-first-amendments-coal-ash-disposal-regulations-providing-flexibilities" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">says</a>&nbsp;the new rule—which extends the deadline for closing some leaking ash ponds and allows states to suspend groundwater monitoring and set their own standards—will save utilities as much as $31 million. But the agency ignored the enormous costs of cancer and neurological and cardiovascular diseases&nbsp;<a href="https://www.psr.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/coal-ash-hazardous-to-human-health.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">linked</a>&nbsp;to coal ash ingredients, which include arsenic, chromium, lead and mercury.</font></p><div class="p7_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol start="4" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; list-style: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; list-style: decimal;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Recommended Unsafe Levels of Drinking Water Contaminants</font></b></li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which are used in firefighting foam and a variety of nonstick, cleaning, packaging and other household products, have been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/may/23/pfas-everyday-products-toxics-guide" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">linked</a>to thyroid disease and kidney, liver, pancreatic and testicular cancer. According to a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/drinking-water-may-contain-pfas-chemicals-in-43-states-according-to-new-study-by-environmental-working-group/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">study</a>&nbsp;by the Environmental Working Group and Northeastern University, these chemicals threaten the drinking water supplies of an estimated 19 million Americans. A 2018 Union of Concerned Scientists&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/center-science-and-democracy/preserving-science-based-safeguards/toxic-threat-pfas-contamination-military-bases" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">report</a>, meanwhile, found that PFAS water contamination at 130 military bases across the country exceed the 11-parts-per-trillion safety threshold determined by the Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Nearly two-thirds of the sites had contamination that was more than 100 times higher than the safe level.</font></p><div class="p8_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In February, Wheeler&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-acting-administrator-announces-first-ever-comprehensive-nationwide-pfas-action-plan" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">announced</a>&nbsp;the “first-ever nationwide action plan” to regulate PFAS chemicals in water, saying the agency would develop and set a limit for two of the most prevalent PFAS chemicals, perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid. During the announcement, he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/politics/epa-pfas-water-plan/index.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">told</a>&nbsp;reporters he believes the agency’s voluntary 70-part-per-trillion health-advisory level for the chemicals is “a safe level for drinking water,” despite the fact that this level is more than six times higher than what the Disease Registry considers safe.</font></p><div class="p9_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Wheeler slow-walks the EPA’s response, members of Congress have introduced at least a&nbsp;<a href="https://saferchemicals.org/2019/05/29/communities-call-on-congress-to-act-on-pfas/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">dozen</a>&nbsp;bills to address PFAS contamination, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/450706-senate-vote-requires-military-epa-to-deal-with-harmful-forever" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Senate recently passed</a>&nbsp;a defense bill that would require the EPA to set a science-based standard for PFAS in drinking water.</font></p><div class="p10_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol start="5" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; list-style: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; list-style: decimal;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rolled Back Clean Water Act Protections</font></b></li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Clearing up a decade-long dispute over the scope of the Clean Water Act, the Obama EPA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/us/obama-epa-clean-water-pollution.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">adopted</a>&nbsp;a broad, science-based definition of the law that included protecting intermittent and ephemeral streams and wetlands that do not have surface water connections to other waterways. A&nbsp;<a href="https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/risk/recordisplay.cfm?deid=296414" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">2015 EPA meta-analysis</a>&nbsp;of more than 1,200 peer-reviewed studies concluded that even infrequently flowing small streams and isolated wetlands can affect “the integrity of downstream waters.” Trash them and that pollution could wind up in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and estuaries.</font></p><div class="p11_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Regardless, Wheeler&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-and-army-propose-new-waters-united-states-definition" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">announced</a>&nbsp;plans during a December telephone press briefing to reverse the Obama EPA definition of waters protected by the Clean Water Act, a thinly disguised gift to land developers and the agriculture industry. When asked what wetlands would no longer be protected, Wheeler&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060109323/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">replied</a>, “We have not done … a detailed mapping of all the wetlands in the country.” Likewise, EPA Office of Water head David Ross—who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060058019" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">represented industry clients</a>&nbsp;against the EPA before joining the Trump administration—<a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060109323/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">told</a>&nbsp;reporters on the call that the agency had no idea how many streams would be dropped from Clean Water Act protection under the proposal.</font></p><div class="p12_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In fact, Wheeler and Ross were well aware of the damage their new definition would do. At least 18 percent of streams and 51 percent of wetlands across the country would not be covered under their proposed definition, according to an internal 2017&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/assets/2018/12/11/document_gw_05.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">slideshow</a>prepared by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060109323" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">obtained by E&E News</a>&nbsp;under the Freedom of Information Act.</font></p><div class="p13_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol start="6" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; list-style: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; list-style: decimal;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Suppressed an Inconvenient Formaldehyde Report</font></b></li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last August, Wheeler disingenuously told a Senate committee that the EPA was holding up the release of a report on the risk of cancer from formaldehyde to confirm its veracity. “I am sure we will release it,” he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/cache/files/a/f/afffe2f0-6008-4c2a-af13-87d1cb26d6be/7564C79E99E118F3853D747150119932.spw-080118.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">said</a>, “but I need to make sure that the science in the report is still accurate.”</font></p><div class="p14_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-14" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In fact, the report—which concluded that formaldehyde can cause leukemia and nose and throat cancer—was completed by EPA scientists a year before Wheeler testified, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Pruitt%20Letter%20formaldehyde%20assessment.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">a Senate investigation</a>, and their conclusion was hardly a surprise. Both the World Health Organization’s&nbsp;<a href="https://monographs.iarc.fr/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/mono100F-29.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">International Agency for Research on Cancer</a>&nbsp;and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services&nbsp;<a href="https://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/newsroom/releases/2011/june10/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">National Toxicology Program</a>&nbsp;have already classified formaldehyde as a known human carcinogen.</font></p><div class="p15_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The EPA’s review process normally takes&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/climate/epa-mercury-emissions.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">60 to 90 days</a>. The formaldehyde report has been in limbo for at least a year and a half, a blatant giveaway to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/toxic-influence-how-a-che_b_8307272" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">American Chemistry Council</a>, the U.S. chemical industry’s premier trade association, which has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/sowing-uncertainty-about-science-formaldehyde-decades" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">blocked tighter restrictions</a>&nbsp;on formaldehyde for decades.</font></p><div class="p16_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol start="7" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; list-style: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; list-style: decimal;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ignored EPA Scientists’ Advice to Ban Asbestos</font></b></li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Instead of&nbsp;<a href="https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/815-e-p-a-memos-on-asbestos/12c87a96be998db10048/optimized/full.pdf#page=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">heeding the advice</a>&nbsp;of agency scientists and lawyers to follow the example of&nbsp;<a href="https://tinyurl.com/y5x2k32p" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">55 other countries</a>&nbsp;and ban asbestos completely, the EPA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-strengthens-regulation-asbestos-close-loophole-and-protect-consumers" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">announced</a>&nbsp;in April that it would tighten restrictions on asbestos—not ban it—despite overwhelming scientific evidence of its dangers. Manufacturers will be able to continue to use the substance if they obtain EPA approval.</font></p><div class="p17_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-18" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asbestos has not been produced in the United States&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/risk-evaluation-asbestos-0" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">since 2002</a>, but is still imported for use in a wide range of commercial and consumer products, including auto brake components, roofing, vinyl floor tile, fire-resistant clothing, and cement pipes, sheets and shingles. One of the deadliest known carcinogens, asbestos kills&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180416005884/en/ADAO-Announces-New-Findings-Show-Asbestos-Related-Deaths" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">nearly 40,000</a>Americans annually, mainly from lung cancer.</font></p><div class="p18_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol start="8" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; list-style: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; list-style: decimal;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Weakened the Mercury Emissions Rule</font></b></li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In late December, the EPA proposed to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/climate/mercury-coal-pollution-regulations.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">significantly weaken</a>&nbsp;a rule restricting mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by recalculating its costs and benefits. The Obama EPA, which issued the rule in 2011, estimated it would cost utilities&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/mats/regulatory-actions-final-mercury-and-air-toxics-standards-mats-power-plants" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$7.4 billion to $9.6 billion</a>&nbsp;annually to install pollution controls and lead to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/mats/healthier-americans#impacts" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$37 billion to $90 billion</a>in health benefits by reducing not only mercury, a potent neurotoxin, but also sulfur dioxide and soot, thus preventing 130,000 asthma attacks, 4,700 heart attacks, and as many as 11,000 premature deaths. The Wheeler EPA ignored the “co-benefits” of limiting sulfur dioxide and soot, and flagrantly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/28/climate/mercury-coal-pollution-regulations.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">lowballed</a>&nbsp;the health benefits of curbing mercury alone at only $4 million to $6 million annually.</font></p><div class="p19_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Most utilities have already complied with the mercury rule at&nbsp;<a href="https://tinyurl.com/y5885qy4" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">a fraction of the estimated cost</a>, but health advocates fear that this new, industry-friendly accounting method, which makes it appear that the cost to polluters far outweigh the rule’s benefits, will&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/12/28/epa-make-it-harder-tighten-mercury-rules-future/?utm_term=.84be4559d80d" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">set a precedent</a>&nbsp;for the EPA to sabotage an array of other public health protections.</font></p><div class="p20_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol start="9" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; list-style: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; list-style: decimal;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Slammed Vehicle Emission Rules Into Reverse</font></b></li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last August, the EPA and the Transportation Department&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2018/08/02/trump-epa-fuel-economy-standards/887683002/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">issued</a>&nbsp;a proposal to freeze vehicle tailpipe pollution and fuel efficiency standards, rolling back a 2012 Obama-era rule requiring automakers to boost passenger vehicle fuel economy to a fleetwide average of 54 miles per gallon by 2025. In a Wall Street Journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/make-cars-great-again-1533170415" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">opinion piece</a>&nbsp;titled “Make Cars Great Again” published a few days before the two agencies announced their proposal, Wheeler and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao charged that the Obama-era standards—the first to limit vehicle carbon emissions—are too burdensome for automakers and “raised the cost and decreased the supply of newer, safer vehicles.”</font></p><div class="p21_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="alt_ad_block story-page-in-content-graph-22" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Parroting the Trump administration’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/climate/trump-fuel-economy.html?module=inline" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">line of reasoning</a>, Wheeler and Chao argued that fuel-efficient cars—which weigh less than gas-guzzlers—are not as safe, a contention that has been widely&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/climate/trump-fuel-economy.html?module=inline" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">debunked</a>. In fact, a 2017&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w23340" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">study</a>&nbsp;concluded that reducing the average weight of new vehicles could result in fewer traffic fatalities.</font></p><div class="p22_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In any case, freezing the standards at 2020 levels would be hard on the planet, not to mention Americans’ wallets,&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/dave-cooke/new-epa-administrator-same-bad-idea-car-standard-rollbacks-would-be-awful" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">according to</a>&nbsp;the Union of Concerned Scientists. It would result in an additional 2.2 billion metric tons of global warming emissions by 2040, amounting to 170 million metric tons in 2040 alone—the equivalent of the annual output of 43 average size coal-fired power plants. It also would cost drivers billions of dollars. In 2040 alone, they would have to pay an additional $55 billion to fill their gas tanks. Meanwhile, the design improvements automakers have made so far to meet the standards have already saved drivers more than&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-vehicles/fuel-economy-ticker?ga=2.130369487.1908070918.1561988567-899698819.1546975208" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$86 trillion</a>&nbsp;at the pump since 2012, and off-the-shelf technological fixes, the Union of Concerned Scientists says, would enable automakers to meet the original 2025 target.</font></p><div class="p23_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><ol start="10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 50px; list-style: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; list-style: decimal;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rescinded the Clean Power Plan</font></b></li></ol><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Perhaps Wheeler’s most damaging move to date came late last month when he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/6/19/18684054/climate-change-clean-power-plan-repeal-affordable-emissions" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">signed</a>&nbsp;a final rule to repeal and replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which would have required coal-fired power plants to dramatically cut their carbon emissions. Yet another gift to the coal industry, Wheeler’s so-called Affordable Clean Energy rule grants states the authority to determine emissions standards but sets no targets, leaving them the option to do absolutely nothing.</font></p><div class="p24_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Before Wheeler released the final rule, an April&nbsp;<a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aafe25" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">study</a>&nbsp;in the journal Environmental Research Letters found that his draft version would boost carbon emissions in 18 states and the District of Columbia and increase sulfur dioxide emissions in 19 states. The EPA’s own&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/climate/epa-coal-pollution-deaths.html?module=inline" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">analysis</a>&nbsp;of the draft rule, meanwhile, found that the proposal could have led to as many as 1,400 premature deaths annually by 2030 due to an increase in soot, and as many as 15,000 cases of upper respiratory problems.</font></p><div class="p25_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reversing Decades of Bipartisan Protections</font></b></p><div class="p26_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If Wheeler truly cared about transparency, he would petition the Trump administration to change the name of his agency to “Every Polluter’s Ally.” In just 12 months, he has killed or weakened dozens of safeguards with the sole intention of bolstering polluting industries’ profit margins even after Congress slashed the corporate tax rate. As a result, millions of Americans will be drinking filthier water and breathing dirtier air, and more will suffer from serious diseases, according to his agency’s own accounting.</font></p><div class="p27_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Wheeler and his predecessor Pruitt have sullied the bipartisan track record of one of the nation’s agencies entrusted with protecting public health and safety. So it is little wonder that three former EPA administrators who, notably, served under Republican presidents, recently&nbsp;<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11062019/epa-climate-change-anti-science-rebuke-gop-former-administrators-thomas-whitman-reilly-mccarthy" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">sounded the alarm</a>&nbsp;on Capitol Hill, urging legislators to step up their oversight of the agency and denouncing its attempts to hamstring science.</font></p><div class="p28_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“There is no doubt in my mind that under the current administration the EPA is retreating from its historic mission to protect our environment and the health of the public from environmental hazards,” former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, who served under President George W. Bush, stated in her&nbsp;<a href="https://energycommerce.house.gov/sites/democrats.energycommerce.house.gov/files/documents/Testimony%20-%20Todd%20Whitman%2020190611.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">written testimony</a>&nbsp;for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. “This administration, from the beginning, has made no secret of its intention to essentially dismantle the EPA…. Therefore, I urge this committee, in the strongest possible terms, to exercise Congress’s oversight responsibilities over the actions and direction of the EPA.”</font></p><div class="p29_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Elliott Negin is a senior writer at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>.</font></span></p><div class="p30_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This article was produced by&nbsp;<a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Earth | Food | Life</a>, a project of the Independent Media Institute, and originally published by&nbsp;<a href="https://truthout.org/articles/10-ways-andrew-wheeler-has-decimated-epa-protections-in-just-one-year/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Truthout</a>.</font></span></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></p><div class="header-list-style" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h2 class="entry-title grid-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; letter-spacing: 1px;"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/06/epa-wants-to-let-frackers-dump-chemical-laden-water-into-rivers-and-streams/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; letter-spacing: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">EPA wants to let frackers dump chemical-laden water into rivers and streams</font></a></h2><div class="grid-post-box-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 12px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="author-italic author vcard" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">by&nbsp;<a class="url fn n" href="https://www.alternet.org/author/sarah-okeson/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Sarah Okeson</a></span>&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">June 12, 2019</span></font></div></div><div class="item-content entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 18px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The EPA identified 692 different ingredients used in fracking that can end up in produced water, including acids, gels and sand. The water can also be radioactive.</font></p></div><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">vs</span></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">5/19</font></p><h1 class="widgetheadline h1" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="widgetheadline-text custom-post-headline" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/ireland-ban-fracking-2450255362.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">'We've Made History': Ireland Joins France, Germany and Bulgaria in Banning Fracking​</font></a></h1><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">omfg</font></p><div class="widget__brief" style=""><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by Julia Conley ew</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In a move that will roll back safety standards that have been observed for decades, the&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">Trump</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;administration reportedly has plans to </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">reclassify&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/nuclear" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">nuclear</a>&nbsp;waste previously listed as "high-level" radioactive to a lower level, in the interest of saving money and time when disposing of the material</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">.</span></font></p></div><div class="js-appear-on-expand" style="transition: all 350ms ease 0s; height: auto; overflow: hidden; opacity: 1;"><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem1" data-id="1" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/nuclear-waste-disposal-trump-doe-2638730104.html?rebelltpage=1#rebelltitem1" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The Department of Energy (DOE)&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-nuclear-waste-rule-20190605-story.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">plans to</a>&nbsp;observe a new interpretation of which nuclear waste qualifies as "high-level waste," which must be disposed of deep underground to avoid contaminating the surrounding environment. Under the new standards, radioactive materials at three nuclear sites will be classified as low-risk, enabling officials to dispose of the waste in shallow pits.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The Hanford Site in Washington state, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, and the Idaho National Laboratory&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/trump-toxic-nuclear-weapons-waste-disposal-reclassify-1442573" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">all contain</a>&nbsp;millions of gallons of sludge and other waste following decades of use by the DOE, which reprocessed nuclear rods at the sites when the department was extracting plutonium for hydrogen bombs.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The DOE for decades classified any material that was created during reprocessing as high-level waste, but it will now label the sludge at the three sites as safe due to its level of radioactivity.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Under the new rules, the waste — which includes toxic and radioactive elements such as uranium and plutonium — can now be stored in shallow pits that may leak into the surrounding soil.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who is running for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 presidential race, slammed the Trump administration for "unilaterally" deciding to potentially put Washington residents and their environment at risk, without consulting with the states in question — going against previous agreements between the states and the federal government.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">insleee twt]</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">By taking this action, the administration seeks to cut out state input and move towards disposal options of their choosing, including those already deemed to be unsafe by their own assessments and in violation of the existing legally binding agreement," Inslee said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-nuclear-waste-rule-20190605-story.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">statement</a>. "We will consider all options to stop this reckless and dangerous action."</font></p></div><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem3" data-id="3" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/nuclear-waste-disposal-trump-doe-2638730104.html?rebelltpage=3#rebelltitem3"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The Energy Department claims that downgrading the risk level of the sludge is necessary to allow for faster clean-up of the sites and to save money for the federal government — a claim which "flies in the face of sound science and judgment," according to Columbia Riverkeeper, a non-profit group which aims to protect Washington state's Columbia River.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">"The Trump administration's attempt to cut corners with nuclear waste undermines effective, long-term cleanup at the Hanford Nuclear Site,"&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2019/190605-3" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">said</a>&nbsp;Lauren Goldberg, legal and program director at the organization. "People in the Pacific Northwest value clean water and strong salmon runs."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) called the DOE's move "irresponsible and outrageous."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">"The Trump administration is moving to fundamentally alter more than 50 years of national consensus on how the most toxic and radioactive waste in the world is managed and ultimately disposed of,"&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nrdc.org/media/2019/190605-3" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">said</a>Geoff Fettus, senior attorney at NRDC. "No matter what they call it, this waste needs a permanent, well-protected disposal option to guard it for generations to come."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">At the Seattle-based newspaper The Stranger<em>,</em>&nbsp;Katie Herzog&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/06/06/40409900/department-of-energy-redefines-nuclear-waste-to-make-it-easier-to-dispose-of" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">wrote</a>&nbsp;that the DOE's action is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to "change the definition" of a problem to avoid addressing it effectively.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">[twt]</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Recently, the Trump administration has also sought to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/07/big-attack-working-people-trump-moves-redefine-poverty-order-slash-social-programs" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">change&nbsp;</a>the official government definition of the poverty line</b> to avoid paying for government benefits for struggling families, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://resist.org/news/trump-administration-%E2%80%98rolling-back-women%E2%80%99s-rights-50-years%E2%80%99-changing-definitions-domestic" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 1.5;">definition of domestic violence</a>&nbsp;to limit the funds that go to agencies serving survivors</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></p></div><div class=" rebellt-item is--desktop col1" id="rebelltitem5" data-id="5" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/nuclear-waste-disposal-trump-doe-2638730104.html?rebelltpage=5#rebelltitem5" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Reclassifying dangerous elements, one critic wrote on social media, "doesn't mean it's going to make it any less harmful to the public."</font></p></div></div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">619</font></p><div class="views-field views-field-body" style="font-size: 14px; overflow: inherit; font-family: " open="open" sans="sans" sans-serif="sans-serif"><div class="field-content"><p style="margin: 1em 0px;">Trump administration’s Department of Transportation (<span class="caps" style="font-size: 0.9em;">DOT</span>) withdrew another&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/05/29/2019-11088/train-crew-staffing" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">rail safety recommendation</a>&nbsp;originally&nbsp;proposed during the Obama administration. In the process, the agency made quite clear that it has no plans to further regulate the rail industry, especially the dangerous and continued transportation of oil and ethanol in unsafe tank&nbsp;cars.</p><p style="margin: 1em 0px;">The latest proposed rule to be withdrawn would have required two-person crews on&nbsp;trains. Supporters of this rule argue that two-person crews are safer because the job of operating a train is too demanding for one person, new technologies are making the job more complex, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fatigue-transport-canada-railways-oil-shipments-lac-megantic-safety-board-risks-1.4925734" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">fatigue</a>&nbsp;becomes&nbsp;a more serious issue with only one crew member. Since 2017, the Trump administration has already repealed a regulation&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/12/10/trump-admin-repeal-oil-train-safety-rule-electronically-controlled-pneumatic-brakes" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">requiring modern brakes&nbsp;</a>for oil trains and canceled a plan requiring train operators to be&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/trump-administration-withdraws-plan-to-test-truck-bus-and-train-operators-for-sleep-disorder/2017/08/08/c3c2ce3a-7b8e-11e7-9d08-b79f191668ed_story.html?utm_term=.fd5f08d5d59c" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">tested for sleep&nbsp;apnea.</a></p></div></div><div class="views-field views-field-disqus-comment-count" style="float: left; margin-right: 15px; font-family: " open="open" sans="sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><span class="field-content" /></div><div class="views-field views-field-view-node" style="text-align: right; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: " open="open" sans="sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px"><span class="field-content"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/05/30/trump-federal-railroad-administration-crew-staffing-self-regulation-rail-industry" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">READ MORE</a></span></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">booktv: get rid of regs declines faith in govt which makes it easier to get rid of more gov/regs&nbsp;</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ew 519</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING</div><div>Trump Weakens Rules Meant to Prevent Next Deepwater Horizon Spill</div><div>&nbsp;Olivia Rosane&nbsp; May 03 ENERGY</div><div>Spill-response crews in the Gulf of Mexico, Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on June 22, 2010. Dr. Oscar Garcia / Florida State University / Flickr</div><div>The Trump administration announced Thursday it was rolling back offshore oil drilling regulations put in place after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest ocean spill in U.S. history.</div><div>
</div><div>Officials announced changes to the Well Control Rule on the Louisiana coast, not far from where the 2010 oil rig explosion killed 11 workers and poured around 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, The Washington Post reported.</div><div>
</div><div>"The well control rule was one of the most important actions we took, as a nation, in response to the BP-style disaster at sea," Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Director of Strategic Engagement Bob Deans said in a statement of the original rule. "The rule draws directly from lessons learned from that debacle. It creates tools to help reduce the risk of these dangerous industrial operations at sea."</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>The NRDC explained how the Trump's Department of Interior (DOI) was weakening that rule, which was finalized by the Obama administration in 2016:</div><div>
</div><div>The agency is walking back components of the well control rule, such as removing requirements for real-time backup monitoring by onshore experts and annual certification of the blowout preventer's integrity by an approved third-party expert. Blowout preventers will now be allowed to simply close, instead of achieving an effective seal, which mirrors standards set by the American Petroleum Institute. (A malfunction of a blowout preventer is what caused the 2010 disaster.) Together, the changes represent a favor to the oil industry and a threat to "workers, waters, and wildlife," Deans says.</div><div>In a statement Thursday, Interior Secretary David Berhnardt insisted the change was made with safety in mind.</div><div>
</div><div>"Today's final rule puts safety first, both public and environmental safety, in a common sense way," Bernhardt said, as The Washington Post reported. "Incorporating the best available science, best practices and technological innovations of the past decade, the rule eliminates unnecessary regulatory burdens while maintaining safety and environmental protection offshore."</div><div>
</div><div>But officials at DOI division the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said the changes would also save the offshore oil and gas industry about a billion dollars over 10 years.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>"Given David Bernhardt's close ties to his former clients and friends in the fossil fuel industry, it's no surprise that he's seeking to give them free rein to spoil our coasts and public waters and put workers in harm's way," Sierra Club Lands Protection Program Director Athan Manuel said in a statement. "These safeguards were put in place in response to the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, and with this latest favor for oil and gas companies Bernhardt is putting us at risk of a similar disaster."</div><div>
</div><div>The Deepwater Horizon spill had disastrous consequences for the environment and economy of the Gulf of Mexico, The Washington Post reported. Those included:</div><div>
</div><div>$95 million in losses for the Gulf fishing industry just in 2010</div><div>The deaths of one million seabirds</div><div>The deaths of more than 150 whales and dolphins</div><div>The deregulation is part of President Donald Trump's overall push to expand offshore oil drilling and "energy dominance," The Huffington Post explained. It comes about a month after a judge blocked Trump's attempt to open up the Arctic ocean to drilling, leading the DOI to likely postpone plans to make more than 90 percent of coastal waters available for oil and gas leasing, NPR reported.</div><div>
</div><div>RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><div>Seismic airgun blasting ›</div><div>Deepwater Horizon ›</div><div>Deepwater Horizon Anniversary: Trump Administration Ignores ... ›</div><div>Trump to Ease Drilling Rules Set After Deepwater Horizon Disaster ... ›</div><div>The Deepwater Horizon oil spill led to new rules. Trump repealed ... ›</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">AHA: you do not need to get rid of a rule if you get rid of enforcement or even the evidence/info that a problem exists
</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/04/dying-on-the-job-how-workers-get-hurt-when-businesses-keep-deadly-secrets/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/04/dying-on-the-job-how-workers-get-hurt-when-businesses-keep-deadly-secrets/</a>
</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">omg</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Unfortunately, at the same time, the U.S. Occupational Safety and

Health Administration (OSHA) reduced its workplace safety inspectors <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2019/apr/25/trump-safety-cuts-workplace-deaths-report">to the lowest level in its 48-year history</a>, diminishing its capacity to investigate workplace deaths, illnesses and injuries.<b> And it&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/01/25/2019-00101/tracking-of-workplace-injuries-and-illnesses">reversed a rule</a> that would have provided more information about workplace dangers nationally. It decided to <a href="https://www.osha.gov/recordkeeping/finalrule/finalrule_faq.html">stop requiring large employers to electronically report</a> injury and illness data.</b> <b>OSHA still requires employers to document this information, but they don’t have to tell anyone.</b></font></span></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">

</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Frank Leasure case illustrates how this decision endangers

workers. The USW Health and Safety Department conducts what it calls

learning events, also known as accident investigations, at USW job

sites, shares information about the problems it finds and publishes

online hazard alerts that recommend methods to prevent recurrence.</font></p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">

</font><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These hazard alerts don’t blame and shame. They don’t name the

company where the incident occurred or the victim. They describe what

happened and then recommend ways to prevent similar injuries and deaths.

They’re intended to help local unions and employers identify and

eliminate similar hazards in their workplaces.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...
</font></p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/03/heres-why-trumps-giveaways-to-dirty-industries-are-literally-deadly/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2019/03/heres-why-trumps-giveaways-to-dirty-industries-are-literally-deadly/</a></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; font-size: small; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A new study out Tuesday backs up a series of legal challenges launched by Democratic state attorneys general alarmed by President Donald Trump’s deregulatory rollbacks designed to benefit polluting industries at the expense of public health, the environment, and the economy.</font></p><div class="p1_15" style="font-size: small; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><u><span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://nyu.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8c3272f6ebbb6024dc1359725&id=972c4ce020&e=e9ee20296a" target="blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nyu.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u%3D8c3272f6ebbb6024dc1359725%26id%3D972c4ce020%26e%3De9ee20296a&source=gmail&ust=1551904061191000&usg=AFQjCNEepebKB1tb3h4U0ibw378-g45SeQ" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Climate & Health Showdown in the Courts: State Attorneys General Prepare to Fight</a></span>&nbsp;</u>(pdf) was published by the State Energy & Environmental Impact Center at the NYU School of Law, which provides support to state attorneys general working to defend and promote clean energy, climate, and environmental policies.</font></p><div class="p2_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This special report unmasks the Trump administration’s plan to give a climate pollution pass to industries that represent almost half of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States,” David J. Hayes, the center’s executive director, said in a statement.</font></p><div class="p3_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“State attorneys general will not let the administration get away with its brazen attempt to turn major industries’ legal obligations to reduce damaging pollution into an invitation to continue to pollute—climate effects and adverse health impacts be damned,” he added.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[im g]</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"In California, where we’re number one in clean energy and sell more zero-emission vehicles than any other state, we can’t afford to backslide,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. “We’ve seen the effects of climate change, from record wildfires to massive mudslides.”</font></p><div class="p9_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal summarized, “This report confirms what we already feared—that the federal government’s environmental rollbacks will have a devastating impact on our climate and our health.”</font></p><div class="p10_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“As the Trump administration continues to advance policies that will cause even greater harm to our resources and our health, it is up to state attorneys general to lead the fight to stop these policies and protect Americans,” concluded New York Attorney General Letitia James.</font></p><div class="p11_15" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><twitter-widget class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" id="twitter-widget-0" data-tweet-id="1103027400793702402" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 10px 0px; padding: 0px; position: static; visibility: visible; display: block; transform: rotate(0deg); max-width: 100%; width: 500px; min-width: 220px;" /></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 17px; box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">James and Hayes, along with Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh, discussed the report and the ongoing legal battles against Trump’s pro-polluter agenda at a Tuesday afternoon press conference in Washington, D.C.:</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">conservatives seek out public trough to plunder/ pvtize, but also look for unregulated spaces to rip ppl off, like diet supplements (use contractor scam to shield from responibility, eg Uber and MLM)</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/01/29/fracking-industry-gas-flaring-problem" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/01/29/fracking-industry-gas-flaring-problem</a></font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2018, the oil and gas industry operating in North Dakota’s Bakken Shale burned off record amounts of&nbsp;natural gas, largely obtained via hydraulic fracturing (fracking). This process, known as flaring, costs the industry money&nbsp;—&nbsp;it literally burns one of the products being pumped out of the ground — but more importantly, the resulting release of globe-warming emissions of carbon dioxide and methane spells disaster for the&nbsp;climate.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And a new analysis of satellite evidence indicates the industry is likely underreporting how much gas it is actually flaring in the Permian Shale, with implications for other oil&nbsp;fields.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grandforksherald.com/business/energy-and-mining/4548181-north-dakota-natural-gas-flaring-hits-record-high-improvement" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Bismarck Tribune,</a>&nbsp;the amount of gas flared in North Dakota in October was enough to heat 4.25 million homes in America. And while the fracking industry in North Dakota is flaring the most gas in the nation, it's not the only place&nbsp;this is a growing issue.&nbsp;Flaring reportedly also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Record-Permian-gas-flaring-has-nearly-doubled-in-13443024.php" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">doubled in 2018</a>&nbsp;in the booming Permian Shale in Texas and New Mexico, with an estimated $1 million a day of gas&nbsp;burned&nbsp;off.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In addition,&nbsp;the Environmental Defense Fund (<span class="caps">EDF</span>) recently&nbsp;<a href="http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2019/01/24/satellite-data-confirms-permian-gas-flaring-is-double-what-companies-report/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">analyzed satellite data</a>&nbsp;and concluded that the industry is likely underreporting the actual volumes&nbsp;of gas&nbsp;flared in the Permian.&nbsp;<span class="caps">EDF</span>&nbsp;says that the real numbers are&nbsp;closer to double what the industry&nbsp;reports.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
<em>Differences in reported&nbsp;versus unreported gas flaring in the Permian Basin in Texas. Credit:&nbsp;<a href="http://blogs.edf.org/energyexchange/2019/01/24/satellite-data-confirms-permian-gas-flaring-is-double-what-companies-report/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Environmental Defense&nbsp;Fund</a></em></font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This increase in flaring is just one more example of how the oil and gas industry has recklessly pushed forward with the so-called “shale revolution,” producing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-oil-productivity/us-shale-oil-output-to-hit-record-high-79-million-barrels-per-day-in-december-eia-idUSKCN1NI2JV" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">record amounts of oil</a>&nbsp;while&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/finances-fracking-shale-industry-drills-more-debt-profit" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">losing money</a>&nbsp;and showing blatant disregard for the environment and climate along the way. It is also an excellent example of how federal and state regulators are allowing this to&nbsp;happen.</font></p><h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fracking&nbsp;Oil in America Means&nbsp;Flaring&nbsp;Gas</font></h3><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Flaring has alway been a part of oil production, conventional or otherwise. Natural gas often is found with oil reservoirs and when&nbsp;adequate infrastructure doesn't exist to capture both the oil and&nbsp;gas, the gas is flared, or burned, while the oil is captured and sold. (Natural gas is primarily methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, and burning it transforms the methane to water and carbon dioxide, which is perhaps the best-known greenhouse&nbsp;gas.)</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Flaring did not&nbsp;begin with fracking's modern introduction to oil and gas fields, but the rush to develop shale fields via fracking seems to have encouraged the practice in recent years. For comparison, let's look at&nbsp;Iraq.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Iraq, where the oil industry has been rebuilding after the damages of the Iraq War, production&nbsp;currently&nbsp;falls between 4 and 5 million barrels of oil per day, using conventional drilling methods. Compare that with&nbsp;the approximately 4 million barrels per day of oil&nbsp;<a href="https://ycharts.com/indicators/permian_region_total_oil_production" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">produced&nbsp;</a>via fracking&nbsp;in&nbsp;the Permian&nbsp;Basin.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Iraq's industry has been flaring&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/iraq-to-reach-zero-gas-flaring-by-2021-says-oil-minister-1.695074" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">billions of dollars&nbsp;</a>of gas because there is no infrastructure to capture it, a situation companies there are&nbsp;moving to remedy but one which will require&nbsp;<a href="http://www.thenational.ae/business/energy/iraq-could-save-5-2bn-in-four-years-from-flared-gas-reduction-says-siemens-1.704555" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">large investments</a>&nbsp;in gas processing facilities. Iraq is working with several foreign corporations to construct the infrastructure and aims to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-gas-energy/iraq-orion-sign-deal-to-process-gas-from-giant-oilfield-idUSKBN1FB0W6" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">end&nbsp;flaring by 2021</a>, a move projected to save over $5 billion in the next four&nbsp;years.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
Original image: Gas flaring in southern Iraq in 2014.&nbsp;Credit:&nbsp;<a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/83178/gas-flaring-in-iraq" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"><span class="caps">NASA</span>&nbsp;Earth Observatory</a>, public&nbsp;domain wow]</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, the companies fracking for oil&nbsp;in America’s major shale plays&nbsp;appear less interested in building&nbsp;adequate capacity, which hasn't been built in the first place,&nbsp;to capture&nbsp;the gas they&nbsp;currently flare. This isn't a technological&nbsp;problem.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thestate.com/news/business/national-business/article224702755.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">new report</a>&nbsp;from the Energy and Environmental Research Center (<span class="caps">EERC</span>) at the University of North Dakota&nbsp;suggests&nbsp;that North Dakota should capture the gas and store it underground,&nbsp;a common method of storing gas. But as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/03/23/aliso-canyon-disaster-phmsa-natural-gas-storage-regulation" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Aliso Canyon disaster&nbsp;</a>made clear when an uncontrolled leak spewed&nbsp;methane from a gas storage facility in southern California for several months, the approach is&nbsp;not without its risks. However, it is the cheapest&nbsp;option.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">John Harju, vice president for strategic partnerships at the&nbsp;<span class="caps">EERC</span>, told the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thestate.com/news/business/national-business/article224702755.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Associated Press</a>&nbsp;that capturing the gas and using pipelines to move it to processing facilities is always the ideal way to handle it. However, the best option is often the most expensive option.

“The economics aren't great, but it is economic under the right circumstance,”&nbsp;Lynn Helms, the director of North Dakota's&nbsp;Department of Mineral Resources, said of the proposed underground gas storage plan,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/117107-north-dakota-considers-underground-natural-gas-storage-to-cut-flaring" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">according to the trade publication Natural Gas Intel</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If the industry can make money capturing the gas, it will. If not, it will continue&nbsp;flaring.</font></p><h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">North Dakota's&nbsp;Flaring Guidelines&nbsp;Do Little to Reduce&nbsp;Flaring</font></h3><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In April 2018, North Dakota updated its flaring regulations based on changes “submitted by an industry group” that were supposed to result in reduced flaring. The state's main oil and gas industry lobbying group is the North Dakota Petroleum Council (<span class="caps">NDPC</span>), which is supported by the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/american-petroleum-institute" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">American Petroleum Institute</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/business/north-dakota-regulators-amend-rules-aimed-at-flaring/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">According to The Associated Press</a>, Kari Cutting,&nbsp;<span class="caps">NDPC</span>&nbsp;vice president,&nbsp;reportedly told the newspaper that the “oil industry is committed to meeting the flaring targets, even if it means cutting back on crude&nbsp;production.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="dquo" style="margin-left: 0px;">“</span>We’ll do what we have to do,” Cutting&nbsp;said.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, the language in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/GuidancePolicyNorthDakotaIndustrialCommissionorder24665.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">new guidelines</a>&nbsp;actually gave the oil companies more options to flare. For example, according to the guidelines:&nbsp;“The initial horizontal well drilled … should be allowed to produce at its maximum efficient rate,&nbsp;<em>regardless if the well is connected to a gas gathering system</em>.” [Emphasis&nbsp;added.]</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Predictably, North Dakota set records for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/oil/122018-after-months-of-record-bakken-oil-output-dip-expected-next-month" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">oil production</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grandforksherald.com/business/energy-and-mining/4548181-north-dakota-natural-gas-flaring-hits-record-high-improvement" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">flaring&nbsp;</a>in 2018, after the new flaring guidelines were announced. So much for the oil industry's commitment&nbsp;to reducing flaring even if it requires reducing oil&nbsp;production.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">North Dakota oil production may decline in 2019 but that would be tied more to the drop in oil prices in late&nbsp;2018.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[img]</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And with an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grandforksherald.com/business/energy-and-mining/4548181-north-dakota-natural-gas-flaring-hits-record-high-improvement" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">estimated $10 billion&nbsp;</a>more in infrastructure&nbsp;needed to address the North Dakota flaring issues, the fracking industry, which&nbsp;continues to lose money, especially with current low oil prices, appears unlikely to address flaring on a significant scale any time&nbsp;soon.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ron Ness, president of the&nbsp;<span class="caps">NDPC</span>, confirmed this in remarks to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.grandforksherald.com/business/energy-and-mining/4548181-north-dakota-natural-gas-flaring-hits-record-high-improvement" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Bismarck Tribune</a>, saying&nbsp;the necessary investment wasn’t going to come “right away” because “[o]ur productivity has just outpaced the expectations on gas so&nbsp;much.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And so flaring will continue on the Great&nbsp;Plains.</font></p><h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Federal Regulations on Flaring and Venting Natural Gas&nbsp;Repealed</font></h3><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the end of the Obama administration in 2016, the Bureau of Land Management released&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/11/18/2016-27637/waste-prevention-production-subject-to-royalties-and-resource-conservation" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">new regulations</a>&nbsp;“to reduce waste of natural gas from venting, flaring, and leaks during oil and natural gas production activities on onshore Federal and Indian&nbsp;leases.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After&nbsp;Trump took over, however, the agency decided to review this new rule&nbsp;and in October 2018 released a revised, relaxed form of those&nbsp;regulations.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the time of the release,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/david-bernhardt" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">David Bernhardt</a>, now the&nbsp;acting Secretary of the Interior,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mrt.com/business/oil/article/BLM-issues-final-venting-flaring-rule-13271809.php" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">explained the purpose of the changes</a>: “We’re fulfilling a commitment to a policy vision the president established to promote clean development of our resources without regulation that encumbers business, restrains growth, and prevents job&nbsp;creation.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
Satellite image of&nbsp;<span class="caps">U.S.</span>&nbsp;flaring in 2018.&nbsp;Credit:&nbsp;<a href="https://skytruth.org/viirs/#top" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">SkyTruth</a>&nbsp;wow]</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Midland Reporter-Telegram, a newspaper in the heart of the Permian,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mrt.com/business/oil/article/BLM-issues-final-venting-flaring-rule-13271809.php" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">summarized</a>&nbsp;the gutting of the Obama-era regulations, which included the removal of “requirements pertaining to waste minimization plans, gas-capture percentages, well drilling, well completion&nbsp;and related operations, pneumatic controllers, pneumatic diaphragm pumps, storage vessels, and leak detection and&nbsp;repair.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Or as Matt Watson of the Environmental Defense Fund explained to The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/18/climate/trump-methane-rollback.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">New York Times</a>:&nbsp;“This is a complete dismantling of federal methane regulation in the United&nbsp;States.”</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of the main arguments for weakening&nbsp;these natural gas and methane regulations was that implementing them would have been cost prohibitive for some small oil and gas producers and would have caused them to&nbsp;stop&nbsp;operations.</font></p><h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1.28205em; margin-top: 1.28205em; margin-bottom: 1.28205em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fracking's Many Climate&nbsp;Impacts</font></h3><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“<a href="http://priceofoil.org/2019/01/16/report-drilling-towards-disaster/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Drilling Towards Disaster</a>,” a new report by Oil Change International, outlines how fracking is driving oil and gas production in America (and&nbsp;being exported to the rest of the world) and the dangers this poses by driving&nbsp;future climate impacts at a time when rapid decarbonization of the global economy is&nbsp;required.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By essentially providing no real limitations on flaring, state and federal regulators are allowing the oil and gas industry to produce record amounts of oil, which accelerates&nbsp;climate change when the oil is burned. However, the situation&nbsp;also releases additional carbon dioxide when the gas is flared, without providing any economic benefit, such as powering&nbsp;millions of American&nbsp;homes.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Additionally, the methane that is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2018/06/21/methane-leaks-oil-gas-60-higher-epa-estimates-science-study-edf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">leaked in the supply chain</a>, and in some cases intentionally vented into the atmosphere, adds to global warming. Methane&nbsp;traps more&nbsp;heat&nbsp;than carbon dioxide in the short&nbsp;term.</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And even with the Trump administration rolling back a number of environmental&nbsp;regulations like the&nbsp;rules for methane flaring and venting, the oil and gas industry is looking&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2019/01/15/api-oil-industry-lobbyist-government-shutdown" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">for still more deregulation</a>&nbsp;from the federal&nbsp;government.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 1em 0px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With the federal government now open after a 35-day-long&nbsp;shutdown, it's&nbsp;back to business as&nbsp;usual.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">EPA Adopts Fringe Science Claim That Small Doses of Pollution Are Healthy 2/19 see Chemicals.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">omfg</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sam Nickerson</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">EPA</a>) in April 2018&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/radiation-exposure-limits-epa-2609738084.html" target="self" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">proposed relaxing standards</a>&nbsp;related to how it assesses the effects of exposure to low levels of toxic&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/chemicals" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">chemicals</a>&nbsp;on public health.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Now, correspondence&nbsp;<a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-secret-science-20190219-story.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">obtained by the LA Times</a>&nbsp;revealed just how deeply involved industry lobbyists and a controversial, industry-funded toxicologist were in drafting the federal agency's proposal to scrap its current, protective approach to regulating toxin exposure.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The proposed change came just two weeks after a<b>&nbsp;top EPA official contacted toxicologist Ed Calabrese,</b>&nbsp;whose claim that low doses of carcinogens and radiation are healthy stressors akin to physical exercise that activate the body's repair mechanisms has been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/6a573b6b020e453c90ecd5e84aa23f57" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">panned by more mainstream researchers</a>.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I wanted to check to see if you might have some time in the next couple of days for a quick call to discuss a couple of items … "<b>&nbsp;EPA deputy assistant administrator Clint Woods</b>&nbsp;wrote to Calabrese.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The EPA's proposed regulation, signed by then-Administrator Scott Pruitt and published in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/04/30/2018-09078/strengthening-transparency-in-regulatory-science" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">the U.S. Government's Federal Register</a>, copied Calabrese's recommendations to Woods almost verbatim.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Calabrese, who was also quoted in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-administrator-pruitt-proposes-rule-strengthen-science-used-epa-regulations" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">EPA's press release</a>&nbsp;for the proposal, celebrated the announcement in an email to former coal and tobacco lobbyist Steve Milloy, who served on President Donald Trump's EPA transition team.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"This is a major big time victory," Calabrese wrote. Milloy, who is also a Fox News commentator, replied that it was "YUGE."</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The EPA's proposal is a departure from its long-time "linear no-threshold" approach to regulating the study of toxins: once a substance is found to be harmful at one level, the danger applies at all levels. In other words, there can be no safe level of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/grand-canyon-radiation-exposure-2629386611.html" target="self" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">radiation exposure</a>.</b></font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Calabrese argues this approach is overly cautious and a financial detriment to industry. The new rule would require that regulators look at "various threshold models across the exposure range" for pollutants.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Low doses of otherwise toxic chemicals can be beneficial to human health in specific clinical situations, the LA Times noted, but experiments have produced mixed results and experts say it would be a risk to apply the findings to regulation for the general public.</span>
</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">"There is no way to control the dose a person gets from an industrial or agricultural chemical," David Jacobs, a professor of public health at the University of Minnesota, told the newspaper. "It's not being doled out in pills and monitored by a physician who can lower it if the patient isn't responding well."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The EPA has not announced a date for when it will make a decision on the rule proposal.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Health experts believe that if the EPA does adopt the rule, it could lead to wholesale changes to the agency's standards for regulating toxic waste,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pesticides" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">pesticides</a>, and air and water quality.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Industry has been pushing for this for a long time," George Washington University professor of environmental and occupational health David Michaels told the LA Times. "Not just the chemical industry, but the radiation and tobacco industries too."</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Calabrese has long been connected to these industries and has received funding from tobacco firm R.J. Reynolds, Dow Chemical, Exxon Mobil and others, the LA Times reported.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/sites/default/files/attachments/calabrese_testimony_pdf.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">Calabrese's role in the EPA's proposal</a>&nbsp;illustrates how the Trump administration has pursued environmental policy recommendations from industry lobbyists based on research running counter to mainstream science.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the LA Times, Calabrese first emailed Milloy about whether it would be possible to get the EPA to abandon the linear no-threshold model in September 2017, not even nine months after Trump was sworn into office.</font></p><p><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-pollution-heath-2629720153.html" style="%22opacity:1%3Bfill:%2315a5ea%3B%22" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" height="%2213%22" width="%2213%22" version="%221.1%22" cg="Cg" transform="%22translate%28-36.467808%2C-258.39005%29%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22m40.55%2C263.9c0-0.6213%2C0.6213-0.6213%2C0.6213-0.6213%2C1.864%2C0.6213%2C3.107%2C1.864%2C3.728%2C3.728%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0.6213-0.6213%2C0.6213-1.243-1.864-1.864-2.485-3.728-3.728z%22/%3E" c="C" g="g" e="E" rgb="rgb" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:cc="%22http://creativecommons.org/ns%23%22" xmlns:data="data" xmlns:dc="%22http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/%22%3E" xmlns:rdf="%22http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns%23%22">EPA Adopts Fringe Science Claim That Small Doses of Pollution Are Healthy</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;2/19 see&nbsp;</span><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://rachelcarson-wiki.lt.ucsc.edu/mediawiki/index.php?title=Chemicals" style="%22opacity:1%3Bfill:%2315a5ea%3B%22" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" csvg="Csvg" height="%2213%22" width="%2213%22" version="%221.1%22" cg="Cg" transform="%22translate%28-36.467808%2C-258.39005%29%22%3E" cpath="Cpath" d="%22m40.55%2C263.9c0-0.6213%2C0.6213-0.6213%2C0.6213-0.6213%2C1.864%2C0.6213%2C3.107%2C1.864%2C3.728%2C3.728%2C0%2C0%2C0%2C0.6213-0.6213%2C0.6213-1.243-1.864-1.864-2.485-3.728-3.728z%22/%3E" c="C" g="g" e="E" rgb="rgb" padding-right="padding-right" px="px" xmlns="%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22" xmlns:cc="%22http://creativecommons.org/ns%23%22" xmlns:data="data" xmlns:dc="%22http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/%22%3E" xmlns:rdf="%22http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns%23%22">Chemicals</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></b></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">aha: had not conn to dereg</font></div><div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://yyy.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/07/disaster-capitalists-no-deal-brexit-environment</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why disaster capitalists are praying for a no-deal Brexit</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>George Monbiot</div><div>George Monbiot</div><div>They want to tear up our green regulations so they can plunder and pollute the environment for profit</div><div>
</div><div>&nbsp;@GeorgeMonbiot</div><div>Thu 7 Feb 2019 13.16 EST Last modified on Fri 8 Feb 2019 05.41 EST</div><div>&nbsp; Smog in Faridabad</div><div>&nbsp;‘Jacob Rees-Mogg has proposed that we might accept emission standards from India, one of the most polluted nations on earth.’ Photograph:]</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">guk</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">monbiot dis cap'l</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">part of me wants to smash it all up. I want to see the British bubble burst: the imperial nostalgia, the groundless belief in the inherent greatness of this nation; the casual dishonesty of those who govern us; the xenophobia; the intolerance; the denial; the complacency. I want those who have caused the coming disaster to own it, so that nobody ever believes them again. No-deal Brexit? Bring it on.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>Such dark thoughts do not last long. It will be the poor who get hurt, first and worst. The rich leavers demanding the hardest of possible Brexits, with their offshore accounts, homes abroad and lavish pensions, will be all right. I remember the eerie silence of the City of London. While the bosses of companies producing goods and tangible services write anxious letters to the papers, the financial sector has stayed largely shtum. Shorting sterling is just the first of its possible gains.</div><div>
</div><div>The Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, caused by the International Monetary Fund’s insistence that countries removed their capital controls, began with an attack by foreign speculators on Thailand’s baht. As currencies tanked and nations raised their interest rates, indebted companies went down like flies. Foreign corporations, particularly from the US, swept in and bought the most lucrative assets for a fraction of their value. Though the causes are different, it’s not hard to see something similar happening here. If it does, the City will clean up.</div><div>
</div><div>But this is not the end of it.<b> A no-deal Brexit might offer the regulatory vacuum the Brextremists fantasise about</b>. The public protections people have fought so hard for, that we obtained only through British membership of the EU – preventing water companies from pouring raw sewage into our rivers, power stations from spraying acid rain across the land, chemical companies from contaminating our food – are suddenly at risk.</div><div>
</div><div>In theory there are safeguards. The environment department has been frantically trying to fill the regulatory chasm. It has published more statutory instruments than any other ministry and has drafted an environment bill with plans for a watchdog to hold the government to account. But a series of massive questions remain, and none of them have easy answers.</div><div>
</div><div>The environment bill will not be placed before parliament until after the Queen’s speech (probably in May). It won’t be passed until autumn, at the earliest. The green watchdog (the Office for Environmental Protection) will not materialise until 2021. During that time there will be no body equivalent to the European court of justice to ensure that the government upholds the law. Instead there will be a “holding arrangement” – with an undefined “mechanism” to receive reports of environmental lawbreaking, which the watchdog might be inclined to investigate when it eventually materialises.</div><div>
</div><div>Replacing just one of the EU’s environmental functions – registering new chemicals – requires, before 29 March, a new IT system, new specialist evaluators, new monitoring and enforcement across several agencies; and new government offices, filled with competent staff to oversee the system, in the four nations of the UK. All this must happen while the government attends to scores of transformations on a similar scale. If the shops run out of food, hospitals can’t get medicine and the Good Friday agreement falls apart, how much attention will it pay to breaches of environmental law?</div><div>
</div><div>2:55</div><div>&nbsp;'I want you to panic': 16-year-old issues climate warning at Davos – video</div><div>Already we are witnessing comprehensive regulatory collapse in the agencies, such as Natural England, charged with defending the living world, due to funding cuts. If they can’t do their job before we crash out, what chance do they have when the workload explodes, just as government budgets are likely to slump?</div><div>
</div><div>The government’s nomination of Tony Juniper as Natural England’s new chair is a hopeful sign, though the general astonishment that an environmental regulator will be chaired by an environmental champion shows just how bad things have become (since 2009, it has been run by people whose interests and attitudes were starkly at odds with their public duties). But the underlying problem Natural England faces will also hobble the green watchdog. Unlike the European court of justice, the Office for Environmental Protection will be funded and controlled by the government it seeks to hold to account.</div><div>
</div><div>Last week the Guardian reported panic within government about the likely pile-up of waste that Britain sends to the EU, in the event of no deal. The combination of a rubbish crisis, administrative chaos and mass distraction could be horrible: expect widespread fly-tipping and pollution. So much for the extremists’ euphemism for no deal: “clean Brexit”.</div><div>
</div><div>The government’s commitment to upholding environmental standards relies to a remarkable extent on one man: the environment secretary, Michael Gove, who has so far doggedly resisted the demands of his fellow leavers. Had any one of his grisly predecessors been in post – Owen Paterson, Liz Truss, Andrea Leadsom – we wouldn’t have even the theoretical protections Gove has commissioned. Boris Johnson has suggested that leaving the EU will allow us to dismantle green standards for electrical goods and environmental impact assessments. Iain Duncan Smith has pressed for the removal after Brexit of the carbon floor price, which has more or less stopped coal-burning in the UK.</div><div>
</div><div>UK worst offender in Europe for electronic waste exports – report</div><div>&nbsp;Read more</div><div>With Liam Fox in charge of trade policy, and the US demanding the destruction of food and environmental standards as the price of the trade deal he desperately seeks, nothing is safe. A joint trade review by the British and Indian governments contemplates reducing standards on pesticide residues in food, and hormone-disrupting chemicals in the plastics used in toys. This must be heartening for Jacob Rees-Mogg (known in some circles as Re-smog), who has proposed that we might accept “emission standards from India”, one of the most polluted nations on Earth. “We could say, if it’s good enough in India, it’s good enough for here.”</div><div>
</div><div>There is no guarantee that Gove, the unlikely champion of public protection, will stay in his post after Brexit. If we crash out of Europe, the dark money that helped to buy Brexit will strive to use this opportunity to tear down our regulations: this, after all, was the point of the exercise. The tantalising prospect for the world’s pollutocrats is that the UK might become a giant export-processing zone, exempt from the laws that govern other rich nations. It’s a huge potential prize, which could begin to reconfigure the global relationship between capital and governments. They will fight as hard and dirty to achieve it as they did to win the vote.</div><div>
</div><div>A combination of economic rupture, sudden shifts in ownership, an urgent desire to strike new trade deals and a possible regulatory abyss presents a golden opportunity for disaster capitalism. Our first task is to see it coming. Our second is to stop it.</div><div>
</div><div>George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">also trump admin</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.8; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Republican state senator in Indiana whose business employs hundreds of minors is making a major push to scrap his state’s child labor laws.</p><div class="p1_7" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.8; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/28/lawmaker-who-owns-perfect-north-slopes-pushes-end-state-child-labor-laws/2657091002/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(0, 191, 165); transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">The&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Indy Star</em>&nbsp;reports</a>&nbsp;that Indiana state Sen. Chip Perfect has filed a bill that would get rid of work permit requirements for underage employees, while also removing restrictions on the hours underage teenagers can work.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.8; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Perfect, who is the CEO of the Perfect North Slopes ski resort, estimates that his business employs between 300 to 400 minors.</p><div class="p3_7" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.8; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Indy Star</em>&nbsp;writes that, to drum up support for his bill, Perfect had his human resources director testify “in favor of the bill during a committee hearing last week, raising questions about whether his involvement in the legislation is a conflict of interest.”</p><div class="p4_7" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.8; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">However, Perfect is insisting that he is not conflicted in proposing the law, even though it would allow him to hire more minors and give them longer hours.</p><div class="p5_7" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.8; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“It wouldn’t affect me directly, because as I testified today, we have invested an incredible amount of money and we are currently adhering to the laws,” Perfect said. “This is really more about small businesses who cannot afford the resources to adhere to these antiquated laws.”</p><div class="p6_7" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; font-size: 17px; line-height: 1.8; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Federal child labor laws offer strong protections for young workers under the age of 16, but treatment of workers aged between 16 and 17 is left up to state legislators.</p></div><div>
</div><div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AN</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">the&nbsp;he same expensive, dubiously beneficial “wellness supplements” are available for sale at Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s tony Goop lifestyle blog and at Texas-based conspiracy-monger Alex Jones’ InfoWars.com,&nbsp;<a href="https://qz.com/1010684/all-the-wellness-products-american-love-to-buy-are-sold-on-both-infowars-and-goop/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">said Quartz on Thursday</a>.</font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While the conventional wisdom says red and blue America will never see eye-to-eye and that the cultural gulf that between “coastal elites” and “white working class America” is all but uncrossable, it seems Lululemon-wearing Manhattanites and angry rural Trump supporters can agree that adding “eleuthero root, cordyceps mushrooms, and ‘nascent iodine'” to your diet can somehow boost your life essence.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Near the end of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/25/magazine/how-amanda-chantal-bacon-perfected-the-celebrity-wellness-business.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">a profile</a>&nbsp;of Amanda Chantal Bacon, founder of the ‘wellness’ brand Moon Juice, the&nbsp;<em>New York Times Magazine</em>&nbsp;noted that many of the alternative-medicine ingredients in her products are sold — with very different branding — on the Infowars store,” wrote Quartz’ Nikhil Sonnad.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sonnad continued, “Moon Juice is<a href="https://shop.goop.com/shop/collection/brands/moon-juice" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">&nbsp;frequently recommended</a>&nbsp;by Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness blog, Goop; it’s a favorite of Hollywood celebrities and others who can afford things like $25 ‘<a href="https://www.moonjuiceshop.com/products/cashews" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">activated cashews</a>.’ Infowars, on the other hand, is a dark corner of the American right, heavy on guns, light on government intervention, and still very mad at Obama.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Quartz assembled a compendium of ingredients sold at both Moon Juice&nbsp;and InfoWars, the names they fly under at each site — “Super Male Vitality” at InfoWars is sold as “Sex Dust”&nbsp;Moon Juice — and their respective costs.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_bills/2015/10/trump_carson_bush_all_benefited_from_multilevel_marketing_schemes.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">Multilevel marketing schemes</a>&nbsp;are a staple in the right-wing methods&nbsp;of generating revenue. Glenn Beck, Jones, Rush Limbaugh, President Donald Trump and Ben Carson have all lent their names to dubious “supplements” and shilled for pyramid schemes.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All of this is an outgrowth of the tangled network of mailing lists, mail order scams, PACs and other money-making endeavors that prey off of gullible conservative voters, many of whom are elderly and on fixed incomes.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.rawstory.com/2015/02/new-report-says-conservative-chumps-sent-50-million-to-right-wing-scam-groups-like-sarahpac/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">A 2015 report said</a>&nbsp;that Republican voters donated more than $50 million in 2014 to scam political outfits like SarahPAC, only to have that money&nbsp;“siphoned off to vendors, wasted, and just plain old pocketed by people in these PACs.”</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><interaction data-token="5b96855f8198b4e625350260" data-context="true" data-tags="" data-fallback="true" /></font></p><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">hile the nation pays attention to some of the most obviously outrageous things President Donald Trump does — his grotesque behavior, the Muslim ban, the policy of family separations, the neglect of Puerto Rico — some of his most pernicious actions pass by without much discussion.</span></font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of those actions was the rolling back of the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule under Secretary of Alex Acosta. The rule had been initiated under President Barack Obama, but the Trump administration put a stop to it.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Essentially, the rule was designed to require anyone providing financial advising services to be a fiduciary, someone who works in their clients' interests. Without this rule in place, advisers have more leeway to upsell clients on certain financial services that might earn the adviser a hefty commission — even if it's not what would be best for the client.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As a new report in the Wall Street Journal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/steak-dinner-and-annuities-retirement-product-surges-after-fiduciary-rules-demise-1540656000" style="text-decoration-line: none;">revealed</a>, under Trump, the market for these types of sketchy services is roaring back.&nbsp; One way to tell is the strong surge in annuity sales, a financial instrument designed to provide payouts for elderly people at the cost of a huge lump sum. While this can be appealing for some seniors, the products often come with hidden fees — not to mention ample payouts for financial advisers who make the sales.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The boom shows how Washington’s push to roll back financial regulations is giving new life to products that industry watchdogs say aren’t always good for investors," wrote reporters Ben Eisen and Lisa Beilfuss. "The annuities resurrection stems from the demise of the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule, an Obama-era proposal that would have required brokers who oversee retirement savings to act in their clients’ best interests."</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The door has opened for bad brokers to have more free rein with these things,” attorney Michael Lynch told the Journal.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many people in the market for smart investment opportunities may find themselves buying products that they don't fully understand. And they may mistakenly believe that the financial adviser has their best interests in mind even if, in reality, the adviser is essentially working for someone else.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The fiduciary rule wouldn’t have prevented all unscrupulous sales practices," the reporters note. "But it could have forced brokers to be more transparent about their commissions and constrained them from putting customers in high-fee annuities if similar low-fee products were available."</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump campaigned as if he would govern in opposition to these types of practices, "draining the swamp" and fighting against financial titans who exploit the average American. Instead — as was always the predictable outcome — he has ruled as a plutocrat dishing out favors to his friends in the moneyed classes.</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">omfg ~ CFC 10/18</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/333610-dems-plot-to-overturn-regulatory-repeal-law">https://thehill.com/regulation/333610-dems-plot-to-overturn-regulatory-repeal-law</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Democrats are taking aim at President Trump’s power to roll back regulations.</font></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Sunset the CRA and Restore American Protections (SCRAP) Act introduced Tuesday by Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.) and&nbsp;<span class="rollover-people" data-behavior="rolloverpeople" style="box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><a class="rollover-people-link" data-nid="188182" href="https://thehill.com/people/tom-udall" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block; position: relative;">Tom Udall</a></span>&nbsp;(N.M.)</b> would eliminate the law that Trump and Republican lawmakers have used to repeal more than a dozen Obama-era regulations. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) is backing identical legislation in the House.</font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Congressional Review Act (CRA) makes it easier for lawmakers to repeal regulations they disapprove of from the executive branch. Under the 1996 law, Congress only needs a simple majority to rollback recently issued regulations. Federal agencies are also blocked from publishing similar rules in the future.</font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The SCRAP Act would not only prevent Republicans from using this law to repeal future regulations, but it would also allow federal agencies to reinstate rules that have already been struck down under the CRA.</font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Before Trump, the CRA had only been successfully used once, in 2001, to repeal a Clinton-era labor rule.</b></font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since then, Republicans have turned to the CRA to repeal 14 Obama-era regulations, hoisting the relatively obscure law into the limelight.</font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The rules overturned include environmental regulations like the Interior Department’s stream protection rule, internet regulations, financial rules, healthcare rules, education rules and gun restrictions.</font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Democrats warn Republicans are abusing their authority under the law by rolling back so many regulations.</font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s like using a sledgehammer when a chisel is needed,” Udall said.</font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The CRA never should have been passed into law, and it’s past time to repeal it,” he added.</font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The bill stands no chance of passing in the Republican-controlled Congress, but it is something Democrats could someday return to in the majority.&nbsp;</font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Robert Weissman, president of the left-leaning Public Citizen, called Republicans’ use of the CRA a “corporate payback scheme.”</font></p><p class="p2" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“If there was any doubt before, it’s now certain that the CRA must go,” he said.</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">trump rao GMU</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://thehill.com/regulation/administration/327912-trump-nominates-regulatory-chief">https://thehill.com/regulation/administration/327912-trump-nominates-regulatory-chief</a></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump appointed a new regulatory czar&nbsp;Friday.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Neomi Rao, an associate law professor at George Mason University, was nominated to run the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">OIRA will play a central role in Trump’s regulatory reform agenda. This obscure agency, which is buried inside the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB), reviews regulations from federal agencies and has the power to reject rules that do not fall in line with the president’s goals.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the OIRA administrator, Rao will play a key role in overseeing Trump’s plan to eliminate 75 percent of federal regulations.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rao, an expert in constitutional and administrative law,&nbsp;has split her career between the courtroom and the classroom.&nbsp;</font></p><div dir="ltr" style="box-sizing: border-box; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p class="m-6348409545935557494gmail-p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Former OIRA Administrator Susan Dudley said Rao has a “sharp legal mind” who will be able to “manage the competing demands of regulatory policy.”</font></p><p class="m-6348409545935557494gmail-p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Professor Neomi Rao is an excellent choice to lead OIRA,” said Dudley, who served at OIRA during the Bush administration, and now runs the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center.&nbsp;</font></p><p class="m-6348409545935557494gmail-p1" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.4;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Not only is she is a respected legal scholar focusing on administrative and constitutional law, but she has experience in all three branches of government,” Dudley said. “In addition to a sharp legal mind, she brings an openness to different perspectives and an ability to manage the competing demands of regulatory policy.”</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">robt r</font></div><div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/trumps-attack-regulations-just-another-form-trickle-down-economics-where-gains-go-top" style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/trumps-attack-regulations-just-another-form-trickle-down-economics-where-gains-go-top</a></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>When Trump’s not blaming foreigners for everything that ails America, he’s blaming regulations.</b></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Last week he even blamed regulations for the wildfires now ravaging California. They’re “made so much worse,” he&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1026587142989008897" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">tweeted</a>, “by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amount[s] of readily available water to be properly utilized.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I have news for Trump. California’s tough environmental laws are among America’s (and the world’s) last bulwarks against climate change. And it’s climate change – not regulation – that’s reaping havoc across California as well as much of the rest of the world.&nbsp; , and Californians are using water very carefully.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet Trump is pushing in the opposite direction. He’s now proposing to let cars pollute more and to strip California of its right to set higher air-quality rules.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s not just the environment. Trump is also gutting regulations that protect consumers, workers, investors, students, and children.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Trump regime is now contemplating a loophole through which&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2F2018%2F8%2F9%2F17670942%2Fdonald-trump-asbestos-epa-ban-russia&t=N2RiMWUxZWJkODhjYzUxM2ZmODU1NGE0OGQwNWVlMDEwOWRiMGQ0OSxMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">companies can apply to use asbestos</a>&nbsp;– a known carcinogen banned by most developed countries – in making adhesives, roofing material, floor tile, and other products.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">What’s the justification for all of this? “The Administration’s agenda of deregulation is unleashing the … &nbsp;true potential of American businesses,”&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whitehouse.gov%2Farticles%2Fderegulation-that-frees-the-economy%2F&t=MmYxNDU4OWRhMGRjM2ZlYWZiYjM0NDJlNDZkM2ViYmRmYzQ4NGY5YixMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">trumpets&nbsp;</a>Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors in its 2018 economic report.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Don’t get me wrong. Some regulations should be eliminated because they’re just too costly relative to the protections they provide.Translated: Cutting regulations means more corporate profits. More profits satisfies Trump’s donor class.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But many&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heritage.org%2Fgovernment-regulation%2Freport%2Fhow-regulation-destroying-american-jobs&t=ZTk5NjhjYzA3OGIyYTNhMjlmYjM3OTVlMzhiODVjZTQzNzdmZmU2ZSxMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">regulations protect you and me</a>&nbsp;from being harmed, fleeced, shafted, injured, or sickened by corporate products and services. And they’re worth it.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet Trump is taking a meat axe to all regulations. In so doing he’s creating a new form of trickle-down economics – where the benefits go to corporate executives and major investors, while the costs and risks land on the rest of us.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump’s Education Department under Betsy DeVos intends to&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fgrade-point%2Fwp%2F2018%2F08%2F10%2Ftrumps-education-department-moves-to-rescind-rule-aimed-at-for-profit-schools%2F&t=MWI3YWExZTJlZjA3NmIxOWE2NTFhZDIzMWRiNTU5M2RjNGQ4OTE5NCxMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">repeal&nbsp;</a>a regulation limiting the amount of debt students attending career programs at for-profit colleges&nbsp;can pile up.&nbsp;It has already&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fpolicy-and-politics%2F2018%2F5%2F14%2F17353234%2Fbetsy-devos-devry-for-profit-college-education&t=YzRiNTM2MGRlODM5ZTA0MmMwMWJiOGYyZTQwODczZDUzMmNhMTFlZCxMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">stopped investigating for-profit colleges</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After heavy lobbying by the chemical industry, Trump’s EPA is&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2018%2F06%2F07%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fepa-toxic-chemicals.html&t=ZTA0NjY2ZTgzY2UwZjk1ZWU5NzBjYjFmOThiNTAxOTc4YWM1Mzk5YSxMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">scaling back the way the government decides</a>&nbsp;whether some of the most dangerous chemicals on the market pose health and safety risks.These moves will result in more profits for the for-profits. But they will leave many young people and their parents more vulnerable to fraud.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This may increase the profits of the chemical industry. But it will leave the rest of us less protected from toxins that can make their way into dry-cleaning solvents, paint strippers, shampoos and cosmetics.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump’s Labor Department is&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fmoney.cnn.com%2F2017%2F06%2F30%2Fnews%2Ftrump-labor-department-obama-overtime-rules%2Findex.html&t=ZmY2NDYxYThjMDk3Y2ZlMGNlMjZkYWJlNDM5YTNkMTg2OGEwMGY0OCxMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">reducing the number of workers&nbsp;</a>who are eligible for overtime pay. And it’s proposing to allow teenagers to work long hours in dangerous jobs that&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.bloomberglaw.com%2Fdaily-labor-report%2Ftrump-administration-wants-to-train-teens-in-hazardous-jobs&t=NGM3Njg0MzU4OWZmNWEzMzM3MDUwOWViODFiZTExMmM1ZjZiNjZlNSxMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">child labor laws used to protect them from</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Again, more profits for business. But more cost and risk for the rest of us.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump is&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fbusiness%2Feconomy%2Fdivided-house-passes-major-bank-deregulation-bill-sends-to-trump%2F2018%2F05%2F22%2F6f3bb562-5dd2-11e8-a4a4-c070ef53f315_story.html%3Futm_term%3D.d01c54ce8ded&t=ZDAxMzZiYjAwZTg1OTc1MjA5NmMzZjY0ZjFiMzkwYjM3NGUwMmFhNCxMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">weakening banking regulations</a>&nbsp;put in place after the financial crisis of 2008, even rolling back the so-called Volcker Rule that prevented banks from gambling with commercial deposits.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The result: More profits for the banks, more risk on you and me.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It would be one thing if corporations were plowing all these extra profits into higher pay for average workers. Maybe that would help make up for some of the extra costs and risks borne by average Americans.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">But they’re not. They’re using&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2018%2F07%2F02%2Fcorporate-buybacks-are-the-only-thing-keeping-the-stock-market-afloat.html&t=MWFiZTliOGY5NzU1NDQ3Yjc4ZDcwNWVjOWJmYzRhZjg2MjU2NTgwOSxMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">most of the profits to buy back</a>&nbsp;their own shares of stock – thereby boosting share prices.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Which is good for the&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fwonk%2Fwp%2F2017%2F12%2F06%2Fthe-richest-1-percent-now-owns-more-of-the-countrys-wealth-than-at-any-time-in-the-past-50-years%2F%3Futm_term%3D.7136364f8114&t=N2JkNTdkZjA1ODY3YTIxZjdjOTFmMmZiNjNmYjZmM2NmNzViMTA3NixMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">richest 1 percent of Americans who own 40 percent&nbsp;</a>of the stock market, and the&nbsp;<a href="https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fnews%2Fwonk%2Fwp%2F2017%2F12%2F06%2Fthe-richest-1-percent-now-owns-more-of-the-countrys-wealth-than-at-any-time-in-the-past-50-years%2F%3Futm_term%3D.7136364f8114&t=N2JkNTdkZjA1ODY3YTIxZjdjOTFmMmZiNjNmYjZmM2NmNzViMTA3NixMZlo0WlNZYw%3D%3D&b=t%3AhQ9Ds4P3Iv6D7mgEr8WMqg&p=http%3A%2F%2Frobertreich.org%2Fpost%2F176953045005&m=1" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">top 10 percent who own 80 percent</a>.&nbsp;<b>But, like trickle-down tax cuts, this does nothing for most Americans.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump’s gang of industry lobbyists and executives who are busy deregulating the same industries they once represented will no doubt do very well when they head back into the private sector.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The rest of us won’t do well. We may not know for years the extent we’re unprotected – until the next financial collapse, next public health crisis, next upsurge in fraud, or next floods or droughts because the EPA failed to do what it could to slow and reverse climate change.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Make no mistake. Trump’s attack on regulation is just another form of trickle-down economics – where the gains go the top, and the risks and losses trickle down.</font></p><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AN 818 catalogue of BS dereg&nbsp; pushed thru under rader in smash amd grab:</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/heres-why-trumps-most-rabid-fans-need-madness-qanon-conspiracy-theory" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/heres-why-trumps-most-rabid-fans-need-madness-qanon-conspiracy-theory</a></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-refinery-jesse-marquez-explosion-2593339618.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-refinery-jesse-marquez-explosion-2593339618.html</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div class="headline-container" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h1 class="headline h1" style="margin: 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; line-height: 31px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Regulatory ‘Burden’? A Mere $2,000 Would Have Saved This Man’s Neighborhood</font></h1></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="js-scroll-trigger" data-target="body" data-triggers="render-rebelbar" data-toggle-class="with-floating-shares" data-loaded="true" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></span></font><div id="utm_campaign" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url" data-elid="2593339618" data-authors="Earthjustice" data-headline="Regulatory ‘Burden’? A Mere $2,000 Would Have Saved This Man’s Neighborhood" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body-description"><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By Meghana Kuppa</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The exasperation was apparent in Jesse Marquez's voice recently as he testified at a public hearing in Washington DC, about a&nbsp;<a href="https://secure.earthjustice.org/site/SPageNavigator/P2A_CDR_EPA?p2asource=blog&utm_source=web&utm_medium=feature&utm_campaign=ChemicalDisaster_Rule" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposal to roll back a safety rule</a>&nbsp;that would make the chemical industry more accountable for public health.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Marquez was 17 years old when he and his family witnessed a massive explosion right in front of their house in the LA community of Wilmington. The explosion occurred at the Fletcher Oil and Refining Co., located across the street in the city of Carson, California, where Marquez and his family were living at the time. Four oil tanks exploded, and one tank roof top flew 700 feet into the air, landing in the middle of the street intersection. All seven members of his family suffered from burns ranging from 1st degree to 3rd degree.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The fire burned for a day and a half, and after two days, the police said it was okay to go back. We were so terrified, none of us wanted to go back to the house," said Marquez.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The refinery was eventually shut down by governmental regulatory agencies due to numerous continuing violations.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Déjà vu gripped Marquez in the spring of 2015, when he heard about an explosion at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/exxon" style="text-decoration-line: none;">ExxonMobil</a>'s oil refinery in neighboring Torrance. The explosion occurred just a few miles down the road from the explosion he had lived through 46 years earlier. The blast narrowly missed a tank of highly toxic hydrofluoric acid, which if released, would have lethally gassed thousands of people.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Shaken by news of this new explosion and many others over the years, Marquez began researching steps the oil refinery could have taken to avert it. His research disclosed that if the refinery had spent just $2,000 on a gas leak detector, ExxonMobil could have found the gas leak that triggered its explosion and the explosion at the Fletcher Oil refinery in Carson could have also been prevented.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For years, Marquez has been advocating for stronger safety protections both in California and nationally. Recently, after the Trump EPA&nbsp;<a href="http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/epa-delays-effective-date-of-rmp-rule-62533/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">postponed a new final rule</a>&nbsp;that would require ExxonMobil and other companies to take basic steps to prevent future chemical releases, Marquez and other members of communities affected by chemical disasters traveled to Washington to testify before EPA.&nbsp;<em>(Editor's note: The EPA is accepting written comments from the public only until Aug. 23.&nbsp;<a href="https://secure.earthjustice.org/site/SPageNavigator/P2A_CDR_EPA?p2asource=blog&utm_source=web&utm_medium=feature&utm_campaign=ChemicalDisaster_Rule" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Send in your comment today.</a>)</em></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the hearing in June, Marquez and other community members urged the EPA not to roll back the 2017 Risk Management Program amendments (also known as the&nbsp;<a href="https://earthjustice.org/cdrreport" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Chemical Disaster Rule</a>), which would force chemical companies to evaluate and strengthen their safety practices and reduce harm from any disasters they fail to prevent.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some of the protections the EPA wants to rescind or weaken would require chemical industries to do the following:</font></p><ol class="ee-ol" style="margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px;"><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Find safer alternatives to hazardous chemical processes and evaluate investing in worker training and safety before a disaster happens
</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conduct independent third-party audits every three years.
</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Include root-cause analyses in all incident investigations.
</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Investigate near misses, including cases like fires, explosions, accidental releases of listed chemicals, and overall strengthen important investigation requirements to ensure they happen and that there is a public meeting so communities receive a report soon after an incident occurs.
</font></li><li><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Coordinate and share information with first-responders and engage in notification and response exercises and preparation before an emergency is in progress; and implement stronger community access to information, and many other such precautionary measures.</font></li></ol><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even while Marquez and others are fighting the rollback, the Chemical Disaster Rule remains suspended under the current administration. After receiving&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-03/documents/rpm_coalition-cover_letter_and_petition_for_reconsideration_and_stay_508_3-13-17.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">petitions</a>&nbsp;by oil, chemical and other companies, the agency has twice delayed the effective date of these life-saving protections, most recently until February 2019. Scientists, community groups, environmental and health groups represented by Earthjustice are suing to get the amendments back on track.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There have been&nbsp;<a href="https://earthjustice.org/features/toxic-catastrophes-texas-national-chemical-disaster-rule" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">at least 48 disasters, and counting, since the original effective date</a>&nbsp;of the amendments. Communities and first responders across the country remain in danger as the EPA reconsiders the rule—and as hurricane season has begun, many facilities along the Gulf Coast are experiencing elevated risk, making action to implement these amendments even more urgent.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At the June EPA hearing in DC, Marquez—whose experiences in surviving a refinery explosion helped motivate him to found the Coalition For A Safe Environment, an environmental justice advocacy organization—testified about how industries keep fenceline communities in the dark when it comes to industry hazards. He spoke of incidents where patients were treated for typical asthma attacks, when they did not know they were actually suffering from exposure to a toxic chemical. The Risk Management Program amendments would require refineries and chemical manufacturers to make safety information more accessible to fence-line communities and hospitals.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"There is no acceptable trade secret when it comes to the lives of residents in bordering communities," Marquez said.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Marquez's advocacy work on the Risk Management Program amendments has opened his eyes to the ways politics and industry money can influence environmental regulation, he said. That's why he believes that organizations like the Coalition and Earthjustice play an important role in keeping the regulators honest.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I've learned that they [the EPA] cannot be trusted; it requires the public to always be on guard," he said. "It's important to belong to community-based organizations who have other [bigger] networks…that way, we can assure that we are always being protected, the truth of how catastrophic incidents impact residents is known and the availability of low cost off-the-shelf safety products."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To read Marquez's full testimony or listen to audio from him and other community advocates from around the U.S. who made the journey to Washington DC, to urge the EPA not to weaken chemical disaster protections, click&nbsp;<a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OEM-2015-0725-0985" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">here</a>.</font></p><div class="around-the-web"><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</font></div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-refinery-pollution-20171201-story.html" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Southern California oil refineries ordered to monitor, publicize ... ›</font></a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="http://www.energy.ca.gov/almanac/petroleum_data/refineries.html" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">California's Oil Refineries ›</font></a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/heat-waves-and-how-to-cope-with-them-2585096841.html" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Wildfires, Record Highs Scorch California ›</font></a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-spill-indonesia-2555846407.html" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Deadly Oil Spill Leaves Indonesian Bay 'Like a Gas Station' ›</font></a></li></ul></div></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/new-coal-ash-rule-2589214229.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/new-coal-ash-rule-2589214229.html</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div class="headline-container" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h1 class="headline h1" style="margin: 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; line-height: 31px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Green Groups Worry New Coal Ash Rule Could Harm Human Health</font></h1></div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="js-scroll-trigger" data-target="body" data-triggers="render-rebelbar" data-toggle-class="with-floating-shares" data-loaded="true" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></span></font><div id="utm_campaign" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url" data-elid="2589214229" data-authors="Olivia Rosane" data-headline="Green Groups Worry New Coal Ash Rule Could Harm Human Health" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body-description"><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Environmental groups expressed concerns over the health impacts of a recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">EPA</a>) decision to relax regulations on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal-ash" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">coal ash</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/07/21/health/epa-coal-ash-reaction/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">CNN reported Saturday</a>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Coal ash contains toxic metals like arsenic,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">lead</a>&nbsp;and mercury and is often left in ponds where it has been known to contaminate groundwater.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The rule change gives states greater authority over regulating one of the nation's biggest sources of industrial waste and allows companies to forgo annual groundwater tests if they can prove their coal ash is not polluting nearby aquifers.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"These rules will allow yet more tons of coal ash, containing toxics like arsenic and mercury, to be dumped into unlined leaking pits sitting in groundwater and next to rivers, lakes and drinking water reservoirs,"&nbsp;<a href="https://www.southernenvironment.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Southern Environmental Law Center</a>&nbsp;senior attorney Frank Holleman told CNN.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The new rule was signed July 18 and was the first rule signed by new acting EPA head Andrew Wheeler,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa-coal/us-epa-eases-obama-era-standards-on-toxic-coal-ash-idUSKBN1K825A" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Reuters reported</a>.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Our actions mark a significant departure from the one-size-fits-all policies of the past and save tens of millions of dollars in regulatory costs," Wheeler said, according to Reuters.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Revisions to the Obama-era coal ash regulations put in place in 2015 were sought by&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal" target="self" style="text-decoration-line: none;">coal&nbsp;</a>CEO Bob Murray, who Wheeler used to lobby for.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In March 2017, Wheeler helped organize and was present at a meeting between Murray and Energy Sec. Rick Perry in which Murray presented a plan to "assist in the survival of our Country's coal industry" which included giving states more control over coal ash disposal, CNN reported.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"It is now apparently the goal of EPA to save industry money by allowing them to continue to dump toxic waste into leaking pits, which is exactly what the new rule accomplishes,"&nbsp;<a href="https://earthjustice.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Earthjustice</a>&nbsp;attorney Lisa Evans told CNN.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The obama-era coal ash regulations were written following two coal ash spills.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2008, a dam at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston plant broke and released a billion gallons of coal ash into the Clinch River, covering 300 acres with sludge and contaminating fish with arsenic and selenium for months afterword.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2014, a pipe at Duke Energy's Dan River steam station leaked 39,000 tons of coal ash into North Carolina waterways, extending 70 miles and leading to mercury levels in fish so high that authorities still recommend against eating them.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But even in the absence of a single disaster, coal ash can have devastating effects on human health.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tracey Brown Edwards, who grew up next to Duke Energy's Belews Creek Steam Station in Walnut Cove, North Carolina which had a coal ash pond next to a neighborhood lake, told CNN that in the five homes on her block, four had experienced cancer in the family.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"There's been a lot of young people with cancer, certain kinds of cancers, brain cancer, stomach cancers, breast cancer," she said.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Doctors say they cannot confirm if the cancer is caused by coal ash, but they also cannot exclude it as a possibility, CNN reported.</font></p><div class="around-the-web"><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</font></div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/21/health/epa-coal-ash-reaction/index.html" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">With EPA rule change, worries linger for those near coal ash ponds ... ›</font></a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://earthjustice.org/advocacy-campaigns/coal-ash" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Coal Ash Contaminates Our Lives | Earthjustice ›</font></a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://earthjustice.org/" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Earthjustice: Environmental Law: Because the Earth Needs a Good ... ›</font></a></li></ul></div></div></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><p style="margin-bottom: 12px; line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important;" align="left"><strong style=""><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="http://action.earthjustice.org/site/R?i=u6vaSDaEnRTdae3k2qOSbg" style=""><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">safety standards are at risk of being rolled back at the bidding of </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">offshore oil drilling </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">companies—and we need your&nbsp;help.</span></font></a></strong></p><p style="margin-bottom: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important;" align="left"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Well Control Rule, finalized in 2016, requires real-time oversight of risky drilling operations and precautionary failsafe measures to stop a spill when things go wrong. Last year the Trump administration began rewriting the rule, which the fossil fuel industry regards as a&nbsp;“burden.”</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important;" align="left"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With the Trump administration’s ongoing push for more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and its proposal to open virtually every mile of coastline to new oil and gas rigs, now is not the time to tinker with offshore safety and environmental&nbsp;standards.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important;" align="left"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2018/interior-moves-to-erode-key-protection-standard-on-offshore-oil-and-gas-drilling">https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2018/interior-moves-to-erode-key-protection-standard-on-offshore-oil-and-gas-drilling</a>?ga=2.47805924.253773879.1532379284-1627324521.1532379284</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important;" align="left"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">a<span style="font-weight: bold; text-transform: uppercase;">PRIL 27, 2018</span></font></p><div class="panel-pane pane-custom pane-1 font-large no-top-padding last" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28.8px; margin-bottom: 0px;"><div class="pane-partial-border" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="pane-content" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Washington, D.C. —&nbsp;</font><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 28.8px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Only a week after the anniversary of the worst oil spill in U.S. history, the<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Department of the Interior today announced its intended rollback of protection standards enacted to prevent another&nbsp;<i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Deepwater Horizon</i>&nbsp;tragedy. The well control rule, finalized under President Obama in 2016, requires real-time oversight of risky drilling operations and precautionary failsafe measures to stop a spill when things go wrong. Interior officials began re-writing the rule after President Trump issued an executive order last year calling for offshore drilling controls — regarded as a “burden” by the fossil fuel industry — to be rolled back.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 28.8px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On a stakeholder call today, officials from the&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement&nbsp;</span>emphasized the number of provisions affected, not the substance of the protections they provide. While details will be clear once the proposal is issued, this rule change is clearly designed to take regulators out of the process rather than increase any oversight.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 28.8px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The following is a statement from&nbsp;<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Steve Mashuda, Managing Attorney for Oceans at Earthjustice</strong>:</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 28.8px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“History has already taught us the lesson that when the oil industry drills, it spills. The administration’s attempt to erode commonsense safety and environmental protections designed to prevent another tragedy on the scale of&nbsp;<i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Deepwater Horizon</i>&nbsp;is deeply troubling. With Interior’s ongoing push for more drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and its proposal to open virtually every mile of coastline to new oil and gas rigs, now is not the time to tinker with safety and environmental standards. Americans deserve better than this dangerous and unnecessary race to expose our coastal communities and treasured marine environments to the risk of devastating oil spills. Our energy future lies in clean renewable energy, not at the bottom of the ocean — and not at the bottom of the regulatory barrel.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 1em 0px; line-height: 28.8px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The draft rule will now be sent to the Federal Register to be published next week, and agency officials will accept public comment on the proposal for 60 days.</font></p></div></div><p style="margin-bottom: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 22px; margin-top: 0px !important; margin-right: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px !important;" align="left"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/deepwater-horizon-investigation-trump-2561729233.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/deepwater-horizon-investigation-trump-2561729233.html</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><h1 class="widgetheadline h1" style="margin: 10px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; word-wrap: break-word; line-height: 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a class="widgetheadline-text custom-post-headline" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/deepwater-horizon-investigation-trump-2561729233.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; outline: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; line-height: 31px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Deepwater Horizon Anniversary: Trump Administration Ignores Advice on Preventing Explosions, Injuries, Blowouts</font></a></h1><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url expanded" data-elid="2561729233" data-authors="Center for Biological Diversity" data-headline="Deepwater Horizon Anniversary: Trump Administration Ignores Advice on Preventing Explosions, Injuries, Blowouts" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px;"><div class="body-description"><div class="widgetbrief"><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">The&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Trump</a>&nbsp;administration is ignoring advice from the bipartisan commission that investigated the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/bp" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">BP</a>&nbsp;Deepwater Horizon disaster as officials move to repeal&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-oil-drilling" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">offshore drilling</a>&nbsp;safety regulations adopted in its aftermath.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Friday is the eighth anniversary of the explosion that killed 11 oil workers and caused more than 210 million gallons of oil to flow uncontrolled into the Gulf of Mexico for more than three months, killing thousands of marine mammals and birds.</font></p></div><div class="js-appear-on-expand" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); transition: all 350ms; height: auto; overflow: hidden; opacity: 1;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 10px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"Deepwater Horizon was a deadly reminder that offshore drilling is dangerous. Refusing to learn from this disaster threatens workers, wildlife and coastal communities," said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans program director at the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Center for Biological Diversity</a>. "Trump's plans to get rid of safety rules dishonor the dead and ramp up the risk of another catastrophe."...</font></p></div></div></div></div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theconversation.com/epa-staff-say-the-trump-administration-is-changing-their-mission-from-protecting-human-health-and-the-environment-to-protecting-industry-96256">https://theconversation.com/epa-staff-say-the-trump-administration-is-changing-their-mission-from-protecting-human-health-and-the-environment-to-protecting-industry-96256</a></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">reg capture</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Environmental Protection Agency made news recently for&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/epa-criticized-blocking-reporters-chemicals-summit/story?id=55362966" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">excluding reporters</a>&nbsp;from a “summit” meeting on chemical contamination in drinking water. Episodes like this are symptoms of a larger problem: an ongoing, broad-scale takeover of the agency by industries it regulates.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We are social scientists with interests in&nbsp;<a href="https://web.northeastern.edu/philbrown/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">environmental health</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://sociology.ucsc.edu/faculty/singleton.php?&singleton=true&cruz_id=lidillon" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">environmental justice</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Km-wos8AAAAJ&hl=en" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">inequality and democracy</a>. We recently published a&nbsp;<a href="https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304360" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">study</a>, conducted under the auspices of the&nbsp;<a href="https://envirodatagov.org/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Environmental Data and Governance Initiative</a>&nbsp;and based on interviews with 45 current and retired EPA employees, which concludes tha<b>t EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and the Trump administration have steered the agency to the verge of what scholars call “regulatory capture.”</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By this we mean that they are aggressively reorganizing the EPA to promote interests of regulated industries, at the expense of its official mission to “<a href="https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/our-mission-and-what-we-do" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">protect human health and the environment</a>.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/trump-peddles-false-hope-terminally-ill-right-try-law">https://www.alternet.org/trump-peddles-false-hope-terminally-ill-right-try-law</a></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;doctors and medical researchers were&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/right-to-try-bill-trump-signing-will-it-help-terminally-ill-patients-today-2018-05-30/" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none;">casting doubt</a>&nbsp;on Trump’s claims. At best, the Right to Try law will help a few patients suffering from certain terminal illnesses</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> f</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">or which there are promising treatments under review, but only if they are wealthy enough to pay for the treatments and the cost of treating any negative side effects, most likely without help from their insurance plan. For this reason alone, the new law is not expected to help nearly as many people as Trump claims</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">At worst, critics say Right to Try is a&nbsp;<a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-very-worst-version-of-the-sham-known-as-right-to-try-is-poised-to-become-law/" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none;">stealth attempt by libertarian ideologues</a>&nbsp;to undermine patients’ rights and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-31/right-to-try-author-says-law-s-intent-is-to-diminish-fda-s-power" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none;">chip away at the FDA’s regulatory authority&nbsp;</a>over chemicals that have yet to be proven safe and effective. Medical experts point out that the<b> FDA already has a program for allowing patients to try drugs that have not completed clinical trials, and the agency approves 99 percent of applications. The Right to Try legislation simply cuts government watchdogs charged with protecting consumer safety out of the process.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of course, the experimental chemicals and devices patients now have the “right” to try must also be effective at treating serious illness without presenting intolerable side effects. According to Vinay Prasad, a doctor and professor of medicine at Oregon State University, this is a feat achieved by only 10 percent of drugs that initially enter clinical trials. Manufacturers must also agree to provide them in the first place.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large">“It isn’t accurate to call these drugs, though, because they are just chemicals, most of which don’t work,” Prasad said.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In a series of tweets, Prasad said Right to Try advocates associated with conservative groups like </span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Americans for Prosperity and the Goldwater Institute</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> had created a “misleading narrative” about a large number of patients who had exhausted their options and wanted to try new drugs. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">(Right to Try advocates routinely campaigned with sick children to pass laws in a number of states, and a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/right-to-try-bill-trump-signing-will-it-help-terminally-ill-patients-today-2018-05-30/" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none;">young boy battling muscular dystrophy</a>&nbsp;joined Trump as he signed the bill into law.)</span></font></p><blockquote cite="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD/status/1002019613838725120" data-tweet-id="1002019613838725120" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a aria-label=" VinayPrasadMD)" data-scribe="user_link" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD" style="text-decoration-line: none;" /><a aria-label=" VinayPrasadMD)" data-scribe="user_link" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Vinay&nbsp;Prasad@VinayPrasadMD</a><a data-scribe="mini_timestamp" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD/status/1002019613838725120" style="text-decoration-line: none;">30 May</a><a data-scribe="in_reply_to_user_link" href="https://twitter.com//status/1002019612161011713" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Replying to @VinayPrasadMD</a></font><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This group & partners created a misleading narrative where many sick patients had exhausted proven options and wanted to try "drugs" that were still in clinical trials.

<b>It isn't accurate to call these drugs, though, because they are just chemicals, most of which don't work.</b></font></p></blockquote><blockquote cite="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD/status/1002019614967128065" data-scribe="subject" data-tweet-id="1002019614967128065" style=""><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a aria-label=" VinayPrasadMD)" data-scribe="user_link" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD" style="text-decoration-line: none;" /><a aria-label=" VinayPrasadMD)" data-scribe="user_link" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Vinay&nbsp;Prasad@VinayPrasadMD</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</font><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In fact,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> multiple studies show that most of these chemicals do not come to market FOR ANY PURPOSE.
₁₀% come to market FOR SOME USE, but maybe not the use you wanted to "try" it for (i.e. true % chance of benefit, even lower</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">)&nbsp;</span><a data-pre-embedded="true" data-scribe="" dir="ltr" href="https://t.co/tSb5rrMJAC" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none;">pic.twitter.com/tSb5rrMJAC</a></font></p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a data-datetime="07+0000" data-scribe="full_timestamp" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD/status/1002019614967128065" style="text-decoration-line: none;">7:51 PM - May 30, 2018</a><a data-scribe="photo" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD/status/1002019614967128065/photo/1" style="text-decoration-line: none;" /></font></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><a data-scribe="photo" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD/status/1002019614967128065/photo/1" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><b>Companies can still deny requests to “try” their experimental treatments and have plenty of reasons to do so, including fear that a bad outcome could lead to lawsuits and delay or threaten a drug’s ultimate approval. In fact, Prasad and other experts say manufacturers, not the FDA, are the real barrier between terminally ill patients and emerging treatments.</b></font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a aria-label=" VinayPrasadMD)" data-scribe="user_link" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none">
Vinay&nbsp;Prasad@VinayPrasadMD</a><a data-scribe="mini_timestamp" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD/status/1002024324495163392" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none">30 May</a><a data-scribe="in_reply_to_user_link" href="https://twitter.com//status/1002023498833772545" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" none="none">Replying to @VinayPrasadMD</a><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The legislation does protect health providers and pharmaceutical companies from legal liability if their experimental products do more harm than good, but manufacturers may not feel protected until that language is tested in court. Despite the “Right to Try” moniker, the law offers no new rights to patients besides the ability to seek treatments that have not been tested and approved by the FDA.</font></font></p><blockquote cite="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD/status/1002024324495163392" data-tweet-id="1002024324495163392" style=""><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Also worth noting that the FDA is not holding back cures in cancer or other serious ailments

In fact, they are rubber-stamping the most toxic, and marginal products</b>

<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> avg cancer drug approved adds 2 months of life!
in ideal settings
less in real world</span><a data-expanded-url="//www.nfrank.info/site/ckfinder/userfiles/pdf/Unitended%20Consequences%20of%20Expensive%20Cancer%20Therapeutics.pdf" data-scribe="url" dir="ltr" href="https://t.co/lw3UA91ib2" rel="nofollow noopener" target="blank" title="//www.nfrank.info/site/ckfinder/userfiles/pdf/Unitended%20Consequences%20of%20Expensive%20Cancer%20Therapeutics.pdf" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none;">//www.nfrank.info/site/ckfinder/userfiles/pdf/Unitended%20Consequences%20of%20Expensive%20Cancer%20Therapeutics.pdf&nbsp;…</a><a data-pre-embedded="true" data-scribe="" dir="ltr" href="https://t.co/1Vk1eWK4oG" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none;">pic.twitter.com/1Vk1eWK4oG</a></font></p></blockquote><blockquote cite="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD/status/1002024688996909056" data-scribe="subject" data-tweet-id="1002024688996909056" style=""><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a aria-label=" VinayPrasadMD)" data-scribe="user_link" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD" style="text-decoration-line: none;" /><a aria-label=" VinayPrasadMD)" data-scribe="user_link" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Vinay&nbsp;Prasad@VinayPrasadMD</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</font><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" size="4" face="Times New Roman">I find it interesting to note what the Right to Try bill does not include
No "Right to Have Approved Drugs Be Affordable"
No "Right to Have Pharma make Better Drugs"
No "Right not to go bankrupt from paying for drugs you need"
No "Right to make companies GIVE the drug"</font></p><a data-datetime="17+0000" data-scribe="full_timestamp" href="https://twitter.com/VinayPrasadMD/status/1002024688996909056" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">8:11 PM - May 30, 2018</font></a></blockquote><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">For these reasons, medical experts argue that the Right to Try law&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1714054" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">will do little for most families facing a terminal illness</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, all while curtailing the FDA’s ability to control access to investigational drugs. That’s why more than 300 doctors and academics signed&nbsp;</span><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ryW_bzxzNXC9SAthX09KLOqNMW57qZMq/view" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">a letter</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;in February urging members of Congress to ditch the legislation, despite pressure from Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“This legislation sells vulnerable patients and families false hope at the expense of weakening the FDA’s critical role in making sure that all Americans can have confidence in the safety and effectiveness of our medical products,” the authors wrote, adding that their view is shared by the <b>American Lung Association, the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation, the National Health Council and many other groups.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When it comes to policy, Trump has never been concerned with the fine print. That’s a job he leaves up to staffers and members of his cabinet, many of whom come directly from the world of big business or the far right of the Republican Party. The president promotes their policies with broad strokes and bold promises, just as he did on Wednesday as he signed the Right to Try bill and declared a victory during another week of damaging headlines. In politics, however, the devil is in the details, and what Trump wants you to see on TV is not always what you get.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-weakened-us-fossil-fuel-regulations-threaten-environmental-justice-in-colorado-87161">https://theconversation.com/how-weakened-us-fossil-fuel-regulations-threaten-environmental-justice-in-colorado-87161</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">F<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">rom the start, President Donald Trump’s administration has made</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jul/04/trump-emvironmental-rollback-epa-scrap-regulations" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">dismantling regulations</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, especially for the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/stories/1060079189/search?keyword=%22deregulation%22" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">oil, gas and coal industries</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, a top priority.</span></font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And though his&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-deregulatory-record-doesnt-include-much-actual-deregulation-96161" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">claims of rolling back</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/has-trump-killed-more-regulations-than-any-other-president/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">more regulations than any other administration are exaggerated</a>, Trump’s team has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060077573" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">tried hard to erase</a>&nbsp;many&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/stories/1060069079/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">environmental and energy-related rules</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Environmental Protection Agency Administrator&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/1/29/16684952/epa-scott-pruitt-director-regulations" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Scott Pruitt</a>, Interior Secretary&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wnycstudios.org/story/ryan-zinkes-deregulation-quest/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Ryan Zinke</a>and Trump have teamed up with the Republican-led Congress to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/stories/1060069079/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">get federal agencies</a>&nbsp;on the case, by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060078515/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">streamlining environmental permitting</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/us-environmental-protection-agency-scott-pruitts-ethics-violations-havent-stopped-his-rollbacks?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">attempting other sweeping changes</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As an&nbsp;<a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9cA_KYAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">environmental sociologist</a>&nbsp;who has spent hundreds of hours researching communities directly affected by oil and gas production, I find that many people living in these places feel that fossil fuel industries already had the upper hand before Trump took office.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even among people who support drilling, many believe these industries need to be more regulated. The residents I have interviewed&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cfoy.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/PENNSYLVANIA-FARMERS1-s2-0-S0743016715300668-main.pdf" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">report feeling uncertain and vulnerable</a>. They tell researchers like me they consider themselves powerless to control their surroundings or to protect the environment, their health or their property. Reducing regulations even more will only intensify these problems.</font></p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The fracking boom</font></h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thanks to an&nbsp;<a href="https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/US-Oil-To-Break-Production-Record-In-2018.html" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">oil</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=27512" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">natural gas boom</a>&nbsp;that began a decade ago, U.S.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-crude-goldman/new-projects-shale-boom-could-trigger-oil-oversupply-by-2018-19-goldman-idUSKBN16S26L" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">production of those fuels has hit new records</a>. The nation now ranks as the world’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=31532" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">top natural gas producer</a>. American&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/09/us-oil-drillers-could-beat-saudi-arabia-and-rival-russia-by-2019.html" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">oil output is beginning to rival Saudi Arabia and Russia</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.cfr.org/report/shale-gas-and-tight-oil-boom" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Hydraulic fracturing and the directional drilling of shale rock formations</a>, commonly called “fracking,” powered this surge. So did deregulation. Companies using these methods enjoyed&nbsp;<a href="https://gelr.org/2016/12/27/hydraulic-fracturing-regulation-by-state-vs-federal-government/#ftn11" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">significant exemptions</a>&nbsp;from federal environmental regulations that date back to George W. Bush’s presidency and remained on the books&nbsp;<a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/289475-clinton-wants-to-end-halliburton-loophole-on-fracking-adviser-says" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">throughout the Obama administration</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After the enactment of the&nbsp;<a href="http://vjel.vermontlaw.edu/files/2015/05/Kron.pdf" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">2005 Energy Policy Act</a>, the law that codified many of these exemptions, states became responsible for creating their own policies, procedures, budgets and enforcement plans – most of which weren’t in place before the boom got underway. The government exempted fracking from federal environmental regulations like the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">States could decide rules like setbacks from homes, zoning, water acquisition and disposal, and most other aspects of drilling. This made it easier and quicker to permit hydraulic fracturing, but the states had to scramble to determine how to regulate it.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As fracking spread into more densely populated areas, wells ended up within a few hundred feet of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.denverpost.com/2017/03/26/oil-rigs-northern-denver-suburbs/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">homes, schools, hospitals and other buildings</a>&nbsp;in states like Colorado, Texas, Pennsylvania and North Dakota. That made a big impact on people’s quality of life.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But in places like&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-33140732" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Denton, Texas</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cpr.org/news/story/colorado-supreme-court-rules-against-cities-fracking-limits" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Colorado’s Front Range</a>&nbsp;– a booming region that stretches along the Rocky Mountains and includes cities like Fort Collins and Pueblo – the people who live in places most affected by these types of changes have no seat at the table. They live alongside oilfields and gas patches but have little power to affect what happens around them.</font></p><figure class="align-center " style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative;"><figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 18px; cursor: default;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="caption" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">Oil and gas infrastructure like this can end up in the middle of Colorado communities.</span>&nbsp;<span class="attribution" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">Stephanie Malin</span></font></figcaption></figure><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Health hazards and other problems</font></h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As a result, there’s a mounting debate regarding state and local control over oil and gas development. Having spoken to people affected by fracking’s spread, I believe it’s clear why people are demanding a bigger say.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A growing pool of scientific evidence indicates that living near oil and gas production can endanger&nbsp;<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es404621d" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">public health</a>.&nbsp;<a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131093" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Rates of hospitalization</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/ehp281/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">fatigue</a>, certain&nbsp;<a href="http://www.denverpost.com/2017/02/15/cu-study-oil-gas-drilling-childhood-cancer/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">childhood cancers</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/122/4/ehp.122-A109.pdf" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">birth defects</a>&nbsp;are higher, for one thing.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There’s also more&nbsp;<a href="http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/30/vehicles-oil-gas-top-sources-front-range-ozone-ncar-study-shows/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">air pollution</a>, including methane emissions and smog, which have been linked to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.denverpost.com/2016/08/31/ozone-smog-from-oil-and-gas-industry-children-asthma-study/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">asthma in children</a>. And communities near fracking operations are&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/fracking-and-health-what-we-know-from-pennsylvanias-natural-gas-boom-63911" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">contending with</a>&nbsp;loud noises, bright lights, vibrations and&nbsp;<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2016.02.002" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">truck traffic</a>, as well as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wyofile.com/study-water-near-fracked-wyo-gas-field-disrupts-hormones/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">contaminated water</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://cen.acs.org/articles/94/web/2016/05/Toxic-chemicals-fracking-wastewater-spills.html" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">soil</a>.</font></p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Drilling and daily life</font></h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Colorado’s experience shows how oil and gas production can disrupt people’s daily lives, especially when the public is excluded from decisions about it. The state’s&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cpr.org/news/story/drilling-oil-and-gas-drives-colo-trucking-boom" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">more than 50,000 permitted wells</a>&nbsp;make Colorado&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fractracker.org/2015/08/1-7-million-wells/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">a top producer of what the industry calls “unconventional” oil and gas</a>. Its oil extraction has more than tripled since 2010, when the fracking boom began, and its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=CO" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">natural gas production has more than doubled</a>&nbsp;since 2001.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Like other states where oil and gas production has soared, Colorado&nbsp;<a href="http://www.denverpost.com/2017/08/06/oil-gas-drilling-permits-development-construction-northeast-colorado/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">struggles to balance</a>&nbsp;the desires of drillers with local needs. In many communities, people living fracking sites say they are at risk. But Colorado’s state&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cpr.org/news/story/colorado-supreme-court-rules-against-cities-fracking-limits" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;has ruled that only the state government can control where and when fracking may occur.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=CO" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Weld County</a>, which has small towns, subdivisions and rural areas where farmers raise cattle and plant grains and sugar beets, alone has at least 21,000 wells. It ranks 11th in oil production in the U.S. – and is&nbsp;<a href="http://upstatecolorado.org/site-selection/key-industry-sectors/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">the nation’s top agricultural producer outside California</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">I belong to a team that unites social scientists, epidemiologists and statisticians. Together, we are completing a detailed study that measures how&nbsp;<a href="https://publicrelations.colostate.edu/2015/02/11/study-to-examine-communitys-experience-related-to-oil-and-gas-production/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">oil and gas drilling affects the quality of life in several Colorado communities</a>. We have conducted surveys, in-depth interviews, ethnography and even taken blood and hair samples to examine how drilling may affect people’s stress levels and health, their daily lives and physical symptoms of stress, like elevated cortisol levels.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While doing this research, I have personally witnessed the toll that underregulation is taking. To collect our data, I’ve sat around kitchen tables and listened as people described their concerns about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.americanscientist.org/article/hydraulic-fracturing-and-water-quality" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">water quality</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/earthquakes-triggered-by-fracking" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">earthquakes</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-has-the-us-fracking-boom-affected-air-pollution-in-shale-areas-66190" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">air pollution</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">They are uncertain about how it affects the health of their children, grandchildren and elderly parents. I’ve visited once-idyllic homes, now set in the shadows of&nbsp;<a href="http://www.coloradoindependent.com/162050/fractured-triple-creek-extraction-oil-and-gas" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">sound barrier walls</a>&nbsp;standing 30 feet tall and stretching for hundreds of feet.</font></p><figure class="align-center " style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 18px; cursor: default;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="caption" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">Sound walls from multiple drilling sites tower over a Weld County farmhouse.</span>&nbsp;<span class="attribution" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">Stephanie A. Malin</span></font></figcaption></figure><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">No way out</font></h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Coloradans who want to stop fracking and drilling near their homes now have two options. They can draft agreements about protocols with a willing operator – a process that often requires expensive legal advice and lots of time. Or, residents can locate an acceptable alternative site that is equally suitable for production – which of course only&nbsp;<a href="http://www.coloradoan.com/story/money/2015/10/07/great-western-windsor/73548214/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">pushes risks into someone else’s backyard</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But some people have little recourse. Consider the situation facing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fractracker.org/2016/06/bella-romero-children-risk-greeley-co/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Bella Romero Academy</a>, a Weld County middle school. Its students are primarily Latino and belong to low-income households. Many have undocumented relatives.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite efforts by activists to block drilling, a company called Extraction Oil and Gas aims to place&nbsp;<a href="https://www.greeleytribune.com/news/local/extraction-announces-plan-for-east-greeley-operations-will-drill-mostly-outside-school-hours/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">24 well pads and other infrastructure</a>&nbsp;within about 1,300 feet of the school and even closer to its athletic fields.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When activists protested as the site was prepared for drilling, one was arrested.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.greeleytribune.com/news/crime/oil-and-gas-company-files-lawsuit-against-protester-who-chained-himself-to-equipment-at-site-near-bella-romero-academy/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Extraction is now suing several of these activists</a>, along with unnamed “John and Jane Does.”</font></p><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Environmental injustice</font></h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Colorado context illustrates the lived reality of what researchers like me call “<a href="https://www.energy.gov/lm/services/environmental-justice/what-environmental-justice" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">environmental injustice</a>” amid the oil and gas development also afflicting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fractracker.org/map/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">other states</a>.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">People who live near drilling may be exposed to a wide array of environmental and health risks. In this way, they experience “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0964401042000229025" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">distributive injustice</a>,” due to their exposure to more than their fair share of pollutants and hazards.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-environ-082508-094348" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Hundreds of studies</a>&nbsp;have shown that people of color, low-income communities and otherwise marginalized groups in the U.S. are more likely to be exposed to disproportionate environmental risks and hazards from polluting facilities and industrial activities.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The public has little power to zone or regulate oil and gas production near their homes, especially in states like Colorado. This is a form of “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/env.2010.0007" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">procedural inequality</a>.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When local governments try to restrict oil and gas production, they can&nbsp;<a href="http://www.denverpost.com/2017/10/11/oil-gas-industry-groups-sue-thornton-over-strict-drilling-regulations-rules-conflict-colorado-law/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">face steep penalties</a>meant to discourage local control.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Trump administration’s efforts to further reduce federal regulations will surely escalate these sorts of injustices. Instead of serving the interests of communities where oil, gas and coal production takes place, I believe that its actions will disempower and divide the public</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-proposal-to-weaken-project-reviews-threatens-the-magna-carta-of-environmental-law-93258">https://theconversation.com/trump-proposal-to-weaken-project-reviews-threatens-the-magna-carta-of-environmental-law-93258</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>B</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px">uilding the U.S. Interstate highway system in the 1950s and 60s is often cited as one of</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.brookings.edu/research/governments-greatest-achievements-of-the-past-half-century/" style="font-family: " libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" outline="outline" none="none" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap" word-wrap="word-wrap" break-word="break-word">government’s great achievements</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px">. But it had harmful impacts too. Many city communities were bulldozed to make space for freeways. Across the nation, people vigorously objected to having no say in these decisions, leading to “</span><a href="https://environment.transportation.org/pdf/proj_delivery_stream/crs_report_envrev.pdf" style="font-family: " libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" color="color" rgb="rgb" outline="outline" none="none" white-space="white-space" pre-wrap="pre-wrap" word-wrap="word-wrap" break-word="break-word">freeway revolts</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px">.”</span></font></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This outcry, coupled with the growing environmental movement, gave rise to the idea – revolutionary at the time – that agencies should take a hard look at the environmental impacts of their actions, consider reasonable alternatives and allow community input. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), enacted in 1970, codified these principles and allowed citizens to sue if they believed government had not complied. Because it represents a turning point in thinking about environmental protection, NEPA has been called the “<a href="https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_journal_law_policy/vol32/iss1/9/" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Magna Carta of environmental law</a>.”</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite NEPA’s demonstrated successes, critics have attacked it for years, usually based on anecdotes claiming that lengthy environmental reviews caused project delays. President Donald Trump’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/INFRASTRUCTURE-211.pdf" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">infrastructure initiative</a>&nbsp;is the latest example. And on May 3, 2018, the Trump administration&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sej.org/headlines/regulations-white-house-plots-update-nepa-guidelines" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">announced</a>&nbsp;that it will soon propose changes to the rules that guide federal agencies carrying out NEPA reviews.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As attorneys who held senior positions at the Environmental Protection Agency during the Obama administration, including managing the agency’s NEPA office, we have extensive experience with NEPA reviews. Expert studies reveal a vast disconnect between the evidence, which shows that NEPA is not the cause of project delays, and the sweeping changes that NEPA critics are proposing. This disconnect reveals that current proposals aren’t really about speeding up projects, but are instead part of a broad deregulatory agenda that prioritizes business interests over public benefits from environmental protection.</font></p><figure class="align-center zoomable" style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218486/original/file-20180510-184630-1ijgu26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word; display: block; max-width: 100%;"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218486/original/file-20180510-184630-1ijgu26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: none; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; display: block; max-width: 100%; width: 754px;" /></a><div class="enlarge_hint" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: url(" assets="assets" icons="icons" x16search-white-67f83a253e8e71281277c5cf51a362ac.png="x16search-white-67f83a253e8e71281277c5cf51a362ac.png" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" rgba="rgba" transition="transition" opacity="opacity" s="s" ease-in="ease-in" position="position" absolute="absolute" top="top" px="px" right="right" border-bottom-left-radius="border-bottom-left-radius" border-top-right-radius="border-top-right-radius" width="width" height="height" text-indent="text-indent" em="em" overflow="overflow" hidden="hidden"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218486/original/file-20180510-184630-1ijgu26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word; display: block; max-width: 100%;" /></div><figcaption style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px 0px 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; line-height: 18px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" sans-serif="sans-serif" cursor="cursor" default="default"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/218486/original/file-20180510-184630-1ijgu26.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word; display: block; max-width: 100%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="caption" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;">Poster opposing a planned freeway in Washington, D.C., that was ultimately canceled in 1977.</span>&nbsp;<span class="attribution" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent;" /></font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="source" href="https://ggwash.org/view/354/preservation-versus-taxidermy-in-takoma-park" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word; display: inline; max-width: 100%;">Greater Greater Washington</a>,&nbsp;<a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word; display: inline; max-width: 100%;">CC BY</a></font></figcaption></figure><h2 style="margin: 0px 0px 12px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NEPA reviews aren’t the cause of project delays</font></h2><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Over more than four decades, NEPA has helped government agencies make smarter choices about public infrastructure, reducing damage to both natural environments and communities and avoiding the costs of correcting ill-considered projects.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For example, in the 1990s Michigan’s state transportation agency wanted to build a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/never-eliminate-public-advice-nepa-success-stories" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">four-lane highway</a>&nbsp;across a huge swath of important wetlands. Using NEPA, citizens forced the state to consider alternatives. Ultimately the state decided to expand an existing highway instead, dramatically reducing environmental harm and saving US$1.5 billion.&nbsp;<a href="https://ceq.doe.gov/docs/get-involved/NEPA_Success_Stories.pdf" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">Similar stories</a>&nbsp;have occurred across the country.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Critics have long used “NEPA is slowing projects down!” as their rallying cry. Independent experts have looked at the evidence and reached a different conclusion.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The most authoritative independent studies were done by the Government Accounting Office in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gao.gov/assets/670/662546.pdf" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">2014</a>&nbsp;and the Congressional Research Service in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20110110_RL33152_69b27c980f2b1121fd078e3982ac47e9c48d7111.pdf" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">2011</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://environment.transportation.org/pdf/proj_delivery_stream/crs_report_envrev.pdf" style="outline: none; white-space: pre-wrap; word-wrap: break-word;">2012</a>. They found that the vast majority of projects have very streamlined reviews.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255);" libre="Libre" baskerville="Baskerville" georgia="Georgia" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">public cit CRAPO 5/18</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">vote no</span>&nbsp;on the House version of Senate Bill 2155.&nbsp;</font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">U.S. House of Representatives votes on the&nbsp;<b>Bank Lobbyist Act — a major rollback of the Wall Street reforms enacted after the 2008 financial crash.</b></font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman">Deregulatory Task Force Members</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>President Trump’s federal task forces, started in February 2017 and charged with finding regulations to weaken or eliminate, are a relatively new idea. The Trump administration used an Executive Order — No. 13777 — to create a so-called Regulatory Reform Officer, or RRO, and a Regulatory Reform Task Force at each federal agency to identify “costly, burdensome, outdated or unnecessary regulations for repeal or revision.”</div><div>
</div><div>Congressional subcommittees found that the 24 major federal agencies were “accomplishing substantial progress” in their efforts to repeal and change regulations. But several agencies have refused to disclose to the public who is on these task forces, how often they meet or their agendas.</div><div>
</div><div>Rebeckah Adcock</div><div>Agriculture (joined: April 24, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Senior Advisor | Senior Advisor, Office of the Secretary | $170,000 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Brittany Bolen</div><div>Environmental Protection Agency (joined: May 14, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Senior Deputy Associate Administrator for Policy | $151,700 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Jason louis botel</div><div>Jason Louis Botel</div><div>Education (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Senior White House Advisor | Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary | $179,700 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Byron R. Brown</div><div>Environmental Protection Agency (joined: March 5, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy | AD-00 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Gary Michael Brown</div><div>Energy (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Executive Advisor | Deputy General Counsel for Compliance | $179,700 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Brian Richard Callanan</div><div>Treasury (joined: March 9, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Deputy General Counsel</div><div>
</div><div>Approved</div><div>ETHICS WAIVER</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Scott J. Cameron</div><div>Interior (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Special Assistant to the Secretary | Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary | $170,000 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>James E. Cason</div><div>Interior (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Special Assistant to the Secretary | Associate Deputy Secretary | $179,700 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Earl comstock</div><div>Earl Comstock</div><div>Commerce (joined: Jan. 30, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Director, Office of Policy and Strategic Planning | $179,700 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Stephen John Cox</div><div>Justice (joined: March 5, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Deputy Associate Attorney General | $175,500</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Michael R. Downing</div><div>General Services Administration (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Senior Advisor | White House Liaison | Deputy Chief of Staff | $145,000 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Samantha dravis</div><div>Samantha Dravis</div><div>Environmental Protection Agency (joined: Feb. 27, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Associate Administrator for Policy | Senior Policy Counsel And Associate Administrator For Policy | $179,700 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Elaine Costanzo Duke</div><div>Homeland Security (joined: April 4, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Deputy Secretary | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>David Thomas Eagles</div><div>Housing and Urban Development (joined: May 16, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Chief Operations Officer | $175,000 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Robert Scott Eitel</div><div>Education (joined: Feb. 13, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Special Assistant to the Secretary | Special Counselor to the Secretary | $161,900 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Travis scott fisher</div><div>Travis Scott Fisher</div><div>Energy (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Assistant to the Secretary, Office Of The Secretary | Senior Advisor, Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability | $112,021 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>William p greene</div><div>William P. Greene DEPARTED MAY 23, 2017</div><div>Energy (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Assistant to the Secretary, Office Of The Secretary | $149,337 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Holly ham</div><div>Holly Ham</div><div>Education (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Special Assistant to the Secretary | $131,767 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Ryan jackson</div><div>Ryan Jackson</div><div>Environmental Protection Agency (joined: Feb. 22, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Chief of Staff | $179,700 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Candice jackson</div><div>Candice Jackson</div><div>Education (joined: April 6, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations and Outreach, Office for Civil Rights | $165,000 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Virginia H. Johnson DEPARTED JULY 17, 2017</div><div>Interior (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Special Assistant to the Secretary | Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary For Fish and Wildlife and Parks | $161,900 | Financial disclosure not required to be publicly released for this position</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Daniel Jorjani</div><div>Interior (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Special Assistant to the Secretary | Principal Deputy Solicitor | $170,000 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Maren M. Kasper</div><div>Housing and Urban Development (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Senior White House Advisor | Executive Vice President (Policy), Government National Mortgage Association | $175,000 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Benjamin Nikowa Keel DEPARTED JUNE 9, 2017TRANSFERRED TO WHITE HOUSE OFFICE</div><div>Interior (joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</div><div>
</div><div>Special Assistant to the Secretary | Advisor | $79,720 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div>Task force</div><div>TASK FORCE MEMBER</div><div>SEE MORE DETAILS ?</div><div>Id badge</div><div>Benjamin Nikowa KeelTRANSFERRED TO AGRICULTURE</div><div>White House Office</div><div>
</div><div>| $94,796 | Financial Disclosure »</div><div>
</div><div><div id="benjamin-nikowa-keel" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/benjamin-nikowa-keel" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Benjamin Nikowa Keel</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/agriculture" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Agriculture</a>&nbsp;(joined: Nov. 26, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Director, Tribal Relations |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4387972-Benjamin-N-Keel-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="benjamin-nikowa-keel" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="matthew-e-kopko" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/matthew-e-kopko" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Matthew E. Kopko</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/transportation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Transportation</a>&nbsp;(joined: Jan. 23, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Special Advisor | Counselor to the Deputy Secretary | $153,730 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4388271-Matthew-E-Kopko-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="matthew-e-kopko" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="ebony-l-lee" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/ebony-l-lee" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Ebony L. Lee</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/education" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Education</a>&nbsp;(joined: Feb. 2, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Special Assistant to the Secretary | Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy | $179,700 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3766181-Lee-Ebony-Letise.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="ebony-l-lee" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="katharine-m-f-macgregor" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/katharine-m-f-macgregor" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Katharine M.F. MacGregor</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/interior" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Interior</a>&nbsp;(joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Special Assistant to the Secretary | Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary - Land and Minerals Management | $131,767 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4387967-Katharine-M-F-MacGregor-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="katharine-m-f-macgregor" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="william-m-manger" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/william-m-manger" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">William M. Manger</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/small-business-administration" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Small Business Administration</a>&nbsp;(joined: March 20, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Associate Administrator for Capital Access, Office of Capital Access | $150,000 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4388351-William-M-Manger-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="william-m-manger" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="james-f-manning" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/james-f-manning" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">James F. Manning</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/education" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Education</a>&nbsp;(joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Senior Advisor to the Secretary |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3766188-Manning-James.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="james-f-manning" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="brian-vaughan-mccormack" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/brian-vaughan-mccormack" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Brian Vaughan McCormack</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/energy" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Energy</a>&nbsp;(joined: March 3, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Chief of Staff, Office of the Secretary | $179,700 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4388386-Brian-Vaughan-McCormack-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="brian-vaughan-mccormack" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="marianne-mcinerney" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/marianne-mcinerney" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Marianne McInerney</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/transportation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Transportation</a>&nbsp;(joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Assistant to the Secretary and Director of Public Affairs | $126,148-$189,600 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3890926-McInerney-Marianne.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="marianne-mcinerney" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="sean-mcmaster" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/sean-mcmaster" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Sean McMaster</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/transportation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Transportation</a>&nbsp;(joined: May 1, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs | $145,000</p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="sean-mcmaster" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="nathan-paul-mehrens" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/nathan-paul-mehrens" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Nathan Paul Mehrens</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/labor" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Labor</a>&nbsp;(joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Special Assistant to the Secretary | Deputy Assistant Secretary For Policy | $158,297 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4388409-Nathan-P-Mehrens-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="nathan-paul-mehrens" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="james-c-owens-jr" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/james-c-owens-jr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">James C. Owens Jr.</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/transportation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Transportation</a>&nbsp;(joined: Jan. 23, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Legal Advisor to the General Counsel | Deputy General Counsel | $179,700 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3890931-Owens-James.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="james-c-owens-jr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="jesse-michael-panuccio" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/jesse-michael-panuccio" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Jesse Michael Panuccio</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/justice" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Justice</a>&nbsp;(joined: Jan. 30, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General | $179,700 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4388406-Jesse-Michael-Panuccio-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="jesse-michael-panuccio" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="christopher-michael-pilkerton" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/christopher-michael-pilkerton" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Christopher Michael Pilkerton</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/small-business-administration" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Small Business Administration</a>&nbsp;(joined: June 12, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel | $179,000 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4388173-Christopher-Michael-Pilkerton-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="christopher-michael-pilkerton" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="james-d-ray" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/james-d-ray" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">James D. Ray</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/transportation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Transportation</a>&nbsp;(joined: Feb. 2, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Unpaid Consultant | Senior Advisor to the Secretary for Infrastructure | EF</p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div class="pill sge-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/stopwatch-d94d7bf35fd0f5f878547dbc3633591285e0ac80556cea86f598fef76395a4f7.svg" alt="Stopwatch" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 20px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">SPECIAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="james-d-ray" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="jeffrey-adam-rosen" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/jeffrey-adam-rosen" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Jeffrey Adam Rosen</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/transportation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Transportation</a>&nbsp;(joined: April 3, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Senior Advisor to the Secretary | Deputy Secretary of Transportation |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3766816-Rosen-Jeffrey-A.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="jeffrey-adam-rosen" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="auborn-joseph-shepard" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/auborn-joseph-shepard" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Auborn Joseph Shepard</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/small-business-administration" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Small Business Administration</a>&nbsp;(joined: Jan. 30, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Associate Administrator for Investment and Innovation, Office Of Investment And Innovation | $179,700 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4388459-Auborn-Joseph-Shepard-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="auborn-joseph-shepard" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="daniel-simmons" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce staffer-left" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-image: linear-gradient(135deg, rgba(244, 189, 169, 0.05) 25%, rgb(255, 255, 255) 25%, rgb(255, 255, 255) 50%, rgba(244, 189, 169, 0.05) 50%, rgba(244, 189, 169, 0.05) 75%, rgb(255, 255, 255) 75%, rgb(255, 255, 255)); background-size: 46px 46px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="linkedin_img" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/linkedin/daniel-simmons-11f00baaa8dfb894c836b8beb2fd981bc0919e9d05855cf2f14d9a22c59eae29.jpg" alt="Daniel simmons" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 15px auto 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 50px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/daniel-simmons" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Daniel Simmons</a>&nbsp;<span class="left-gov" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 9px 0px 0px 7px; padding: 5px 5px 3px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1em; vertical-align: top; display: inline-block; background: rgb(143, 0, 0); border-radius: 3px; text-transform: uppercase;">DEPARTED JAN. 15, 2018</span></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/energy" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Energy</a>&nbsp;(joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Assistant to the Secretary, Office of the Secretary | Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy | $160,000 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3766231-Simmons-Daniel.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="daniel-simmons" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="loren-a-smith-jr" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/loren-a-smith-jr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Loren A. Smith Jr.</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/transportation" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Transportation</a>&nbsp;(joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Special Assistant for Governmental Affairs | Senior Advisor | $161,900 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4388376-Loren-A-Smith-Jr-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="loren-a-smith-jr" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="john-joseph-sullivan" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/john-joseph-sullivan" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">John Joseph Sullivan</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/state" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">State</a>&nbsp;(joined: May 24, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Deputy Secretary of State, Office Of The Deputy Secretary |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3766820-Sullivan-John-J.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="john-joseph-sullivan" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="holly-turner" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/holly-turner" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Holly Turner</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/small-business-administration" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Small Business Administration</a>&nbsp;(joined: March 20, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Assistant Administrator for Intergovernmental Affairs, Office of the Administrator | $131,767 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4388186-Holly-Turner-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="holly-turner" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="james-uthmeier" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="linkedin_img" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/linkedin/james-uthmeier-a9fe6df8786fdac2114054137d892dc8d417d62efc2fe821790dc7d8e46df80d.jpg" alt="James uthmeier" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 15px auto 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 50px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/james-uthmeier" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">James Uthmeier</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/commerce" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Commerce</a>&nbsp;(joined: Feb. 7, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Special Advisor | Senior Counsel to the General Counsel | $131,767 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4387595-James-Uthmeier-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="james-uthmeier" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="jose-viana" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="linkedin_img" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/linkedin/jose-viana-cf52c2168f5dd2664676ed81838e3f17ee1add78c27d2c60768389ecbcde1969.jpg" alt="Jose viana" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 15px auto 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(34, 34, 34); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 50px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/jose-viana" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Jose Viana</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/education" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Education</a>&nbsp;(joined: April 24, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director | Assistant Deputy Secretary and Director, Office of English Language Acquisition | $124,406 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4345856-Viana-Jose.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="jose-viana" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="chad-f-wolf" class="agency-staffer-row lobbyist taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/chad-f-wolf" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Chad F. Wolf</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/homeland-security" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Homeland Security</a>&nbsp;(joined: Jan. 20, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Advisor | Chief of Staff | $179,700 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4387779-Chad-Wolf-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="chad-f-wolf" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="robb-nathaniel-wong" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/robb-nathaniel-wong" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Robb Nathaniel Wong</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/small-business-administration" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Small Business Administration</a>&nbsp;(joined: March 27, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Associate Administrator for Government Contracting and Business Development, Office Of Government Contracting And Business Development | $150,000 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4388182-Robb-Nathaniel-Wong-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both;"><div class="slidedown-btn fmr-employer-group-seeall" data-seemore-slug="robb-nathaniel-wong" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-align: center; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 4px; border: 1px solid rgb(153, 153, 153); font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 800; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; border-radius: 3px; display: inline-block; cursor: pointer;">SEE MORE DETAILS ⬇</p></div></div><div id="bethany-zorc" class="agency-staffer-row taskforce " style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto 30px; padding: 20px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 1px 1px; border-style: solid; border-color: rgb(34, 34, 34) rgb(206, 206, 206) rgb(206, 206, 206); border-image: initial; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 960px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="id_icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -21px 21px 0px -20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 50px; float: left;"><img class="id_icon_default" src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/id_badge-a17faae53cb48288ff7de07dc3901d99517f5b243e8dd998fc5ae58dcef352a6.svg" alt="Id badge" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: block; width: 62px;" /></div><h3 class="staffer-name" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -12px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5em; vertical-align: baseline; width: 734.391px; max-width: 80%;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/bethany-zorc" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Bethany Zorc</a></h3><p class="agency-staffer-position agency-staffer-agency" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/agencies/housing-and-urban-development" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Housing and Urban Development</a>&nbsp;(joined: April 24, 2017)</p><p class="agency-staffer-position" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1rem 50px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Principal Deputy General Counsel | $160,000 |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4387944-Bethany-Zorc-Financial-Disclosure.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-bottom: none; border-left: 0px; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; transition: 0.2s; text-decoration-line: none;">Financial Disclosure&nbsp;»</a></p><div class="pills has-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 20px -20px; padding: 0px 20px 10px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: initial; border-bottom-style: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-top-color: rgb(255, 189, 189); border-right-color: initial; border-bottom-color: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-image: initial; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 600; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-transform: uppercase; background: rgb(255, 235, 235); clear: both; width: calc(100% + 40px);"><div class="pill taskforce-pill" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 10px 0px 0px; padding: 5px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; float: left;"><div class="pill-icon" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;"><img src="https://static.propublica.org/rails/assets/trump-town/task-force-15861d79a0fda00b88af7a780306ed153d59c7a905d625e0502e01dcb5297e83.svg" alt="Task force" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: auto; height: 16px; float: left;" /></div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: -20px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; display: block;">TASK FORCE MEMBER</span></div></div></div></div></div><div><p class="ColorfulList-Accent1"><font face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p class="ColorfulList-Accent1"><font face="Times New Roman">also koch</font></p><p class="ColorfulList-Accent1"><font face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://thinkprogress.org/how-koch-became-an-oil-speculation-powerhouse-706d135e412f/">https://thinkprogress.org/how-koch-became-an-oil-speculation-powerhouse-706d135e412f/</a></font></p><p class="ColorfulList-Accent1"><font face="Times New Roman">jun 2011</font></p><p class="ColorfulList-Accent1"><font face="Times New Roman">In<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">April, ThinkProgress caused a</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuLcL04SfnE" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">stir</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">when we</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/04/13/153206/koch-industries-price-gouging/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">uncovered a series</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">of Koch Industries corporate documents revealing the company’s role as an oil speculator. Like many oil companies, Koch uses legitimate hedging products to create price stability. However, the documents reveal that Koch is also participating in the unregulated derivatives markets as a financial player, buying and selling speculative products that are increasingly contributing to the skyrocketing price of oil. Excessive energy speculation today is at its highest levels ever, and even Goldman Sachs</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/green/2011/04/13/174989/sachs-speculators-gas-prices/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">now admits</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">that at least $27 of the price of crude oil is a result from reckless speculation rather than market fundamentals of supply and demand. Many experts interviewed by ThinkProgress argue that the figure is far higher, and<b>&nbsp;out of control speculation has doubled the current price of crude oil.</b></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman">Reached for information about its trading division, Koch Industries — America’s second largest private company — declined our request for comment</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman">Writing on his political blog,&nbsp;<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/media/2011/03/03/147953/bloggers-kneel-to-koch/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">an attorney</a>&nbsp;working for Koch’s law firm angrily replied to our initial investigation by claiming that Koch is solely a bonafide hedger, meaning that it only participates in speculative markets to reduce risk for the oil the company refines (he also bizarrely argued that speculation has no relation to the price of oil). The spin obscures reality: much of Koch’s oil trading business is actually akin to a hedge fund, buying and selling financial products based on oil with little interest in the actual delivery of the product. In fact, Koch pioneered the risky speculation industry that dominates the world’s oil markets today, first by inventing oil derivatives back in the ’80s, then by working to kill off regulations. ThinkProgress has delved into the history of Koch’s oil speculation business and the following timeline spells out Koch’s leading role:</font></p><blockquote name="6c34" id="6c34" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--p" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206);"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; padding-left: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">—&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">October 6, 1986:&nbsp;<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">First oil derivative is introduced to Wall Street by traders at Koch</strong>. Koch Industries executive Lawrence Kitchen&nbsp;<a href="http://db.riskwaters.com/data/energyrisk/EnergyRisk/Energyrisk_0709/markets.pdf" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">devised</a>&nbsp;the “first ever oil-indexed price swap between Koch Industries and Chase Manhattan Bank</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.”<b>&nbsp;At the time, such derivatives had been limited to currency markets, and the shift of creating a synthetic financial instrument based on the value of crude oil was revolutionary.&nbsp;</b>For an agreed-upon period, an oil swap is a contract where one party makes payments based on a fixed oil price, and the other party makes payments back based on the changing spot price of oil. In July of 2009, EnergyRisk magazine, a publication for commodity traders,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://db.riskwaters.com/data/energyrisk/EnergyRisk/Energyrisk_0709/markets.pdf" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">posted</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;a piece exploring the very first oil derivatives and Koch’s role in developing them.</span></font></p></blockquote><blockquote name="f152" id="f152" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--blockquote" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206);"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; padding-left: 30px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" face="Times New Roman">— 1990–1992:&nbsp;<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Koch, along with several oil companies and Wall Street speculators, form a coalition lobbying group to deregulate oil speculation.</strong>&nbsp;A coalition called “<b>The Energy Group” is organized to press the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to allow oil derivatives to be traded off the NYMEX or any other regulated exchange</b>. Participants in the&nbsp;<a href="http://projects.publicintegrity.org/Content.aspx?src=search&context=article&id=100" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">coalition</a>&nbsp;include&nbsp;<b>Koch, Enron,&nbsp;</b>Phibro (a powerful commodity speculator firm recently sold from Citigroup to Occidental Petroleum), J. Aron & Co (a commodity trading division of&nbsp;<b>Goldman Sachs), BP,</b>&nbsp;and other companies.</font></p></blockquote><blockquote name="3b00" id="3b00" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--blockquote" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206);"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; padding-left: 30px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" face="Times New Roman">— January 21, 1993.&nbsp;<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Wendy Gramm makes first major move to deregulate oil speculation.</strong>&nbsp;“On the final day of the [George H.W.] Bush administration, January 21, 1993, [CFTC chairwoman] Wendy Gramm&nbsp;… approved the rule exempting key energy futures contracts from government regulation and returned a great chunk of the energy market to the grand old days of unregulated futures trading,” writes author Antonia Juhasz in the book&nbsp;<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tyranny-Oil-Worlds-Powerful-Industry/dp/0061434507" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Tyranny of Oil</a>. The move mirrored the demands made by Koch’s lobbying coalition, The Energy Group. Gramm, the wife of then-Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX), leaves the Commodity Futues Trading Commission and a month later joins the board of directors of Enron.</font></p></blockquote><blockquote name="9c64" id="9c64" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--blockquote" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206);"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; padding-left: 30px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" face="Times New Roman">— 1997:&nbsp;<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Koch continues to shift from oil refining and pipelines to financial products.</strong>&nbsp;As Koch continues its embrace of selling exotic financial products, the company pioneers the first “weather derivatives,” essentially insurance policies sold to utility companies that bet on future temperature and weather patterns. Although Enron and Koch&nbsp;<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=E8k9GPE-03IC&lpg=PA131&dq=weather%20derivatives%20koch%20%20first&pg=PA131#v=onepage&q&f=false" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">were the first</a>&nbsp;to develop such financial products, hedge funds and investment banks like Goldman Sachs later expand the weather derivative business globally.</font></p></blockquote><blockquote name="9b33" id="9b33" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--blockquote" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206);"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; padding-left: 30px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" face="Times New Roman">— December 12, 2000:&nbsp;<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX), after being lobbied by Koch and Enron, creates the infamous “Enron Loophole” vastly deregulating the oil speculation market.</strong>&nbsp;<b>On the night of December 12, 2000, Gramm attaches a 262-page amendment to the Commodities Futures Modernization Act, which is then attached to an omnibus spending bill that is signed into law by President Clinton before leaving office.</b>&nbsp;The Gramm amendment, which received<b>&nbsp;absolutely no public scrutiny or committee hearings, radically expands and codifies the energy deregulation agenda began by Gramm’s wife during the first Bush administration.&nbsp;</b>The Gramm amendment allows so-called “over-the-counter” energy derivatives not only to be traded outside of regulated exchanges, but for private unregulated exchanges to deal in these sorts of financial products. Thus, massive “dark” oil speculation markets are born, including Enron’s platform for trading energy futures, and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) — an online speculation exchange founded by BP, Shell, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and other firms. Private e-mails&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/17/business/17grammside.html?pagewanted=print" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">reported</a>&nbsp;by the New York Times reveal that members of The Energy Group, led by lobbyists at Enron but including at least two lobbyists from Koch and several more from Goldman Sachs and Sempra Trading, wrote Gramm’s amendment and pressured him to slip it into the bill.</font></p></blockquote><blockquote name="ccef" id="ccef" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--blockquote" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206);"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; padding-left: 30px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" face="Times New Roman">— 2008:&nbsp;<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Rampant oil speculation spikes prices to unprecedented levels.</strong>&nbsp;As academics from the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.iie.com/publications/pb/pb09-19.pdf%20" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">Peterson Institute</a>, the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bakerinstitute.org/publications/EF-pub-MedlockJaffeOilFuturesMarket-082609.pdf%20" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">James Baker Institute</a>&nbsp;at Rice University, and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/17/broadcasts/main4188620.shtml" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">others</a>&nbsp;conclude, non-commercial speculators begin to dominate the market, forcing up prices. Although the evidence was abundant that speculators caused the massive price spikes during the summer of 2008, regulators were toothless to act. A bipartisan majority in the House&nbsp;<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/04/25/173912/oil-speculation-flashback/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">overwhelmingly</a>&nbsp;passed legislation to award powers to the CFTC to oversee rampant oil speculation, but&nbsp;<b>Republican in the Senate — acting with help from Koch&nbsp;<a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientissues_spec.php?id=D000000186&year=2008&spec=CDT" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">lobbyists</a> — killed the bill, called the Energy Markets Emergency Act.</b></font></p></blockquote><blockquote name="d9d1" id="d9d1" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--blockquote" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206);"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; padding-left: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">— 2009:&nbsp;</span><strong style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;">Koch presentation to ICE boasts that Koch is on the level of transnational big banks and can now be considered one of the world’s top five oil speculators.</strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;The presentation, and our analysis, can be found&nbsp;</span><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/04/13/153206/koch-industries-price-gouging/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">here</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Of course, Koch is not the only large corporation engaged in this practice.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;Large investors, like pension funds, hedge funds, investment banks, and others flocked to the commodities market after the financial crisis of 2008 and the collapse of mortgage-backed securities.</span></font></p></blockquote><blockquote name="3c9e" id="3c9e" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--blockquote" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206);"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; padding-left: 30px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" face="Times New Roman">— 2010:&nbsp;<strong style="box-sizing: inherit;">Koch’s Tea Party front groups and lobbyists fight financial reforms designed to reign in the unregulated energy market.</strong>&nbsp;While Americans for Prosperity, as well as other Koch fronts, decry the Wall Street reform bill debated in Congress, Koch&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-04-15/koch-cargill-fight-dodd-derivative-bill-reversing-30-years-of-cftc-policy.html" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">lobbied</a>&nbsp;to water-down provisions of the bill related to derivatives. The sweeping Dodd-Frank reform bill contained broad new powers for the CFTC to crack down on excessive oil speculation, while also requiring that derivative are eventually traded on a regulated and open exchange.</font></p></blockquote><blockquote name="3564" id="3564" class="graf graf--blockquote graf-after--blockquote" style="box-sizing: inherit; clear: both; margin: 0px 1.5625rem; padding: 0px; position: relative; border-left: 3px solid rgb(87, 87, 206);"><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; padding-left: 30px;"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">— 2011:&nbsp;</span><strong style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit;">As oil speculation again hits record highs, leading to record high oil prices, Koch’s allies in Congress fight to undermine new reforms and allow unchecked speculation to spiral out of control.</strong><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;As ThinkProgress has reported,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;oil speculation is currently at a&nbsp;<a href="http://cantwell.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=332567" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">record level</a>, which experts, and even&nbsp;<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/03/18/173841/gop-speculation-cuts/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">many Republicans</a>&nbsp;now agree, is causing pain at the pump.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;<b>After a furious lobbying campaign, the CFTC postpones Dodd-Frank mandated regulations on excessive oil speculation, known as position limits. As the CFTC grapples with how to implement these new rules, newly elected Republicans, many with Koch-backing, propose&nbsp;</b></span><b><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/05/24/173967/cftc-budget-speculation-15/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">steep cuts</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;to the CFTC to undercut any rules on oil speculation.</span></b></font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem;"><font face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Charles Koch, the CEO of Koch Industries who is&nbsp;<a href="http://www.forbes.com/2011/03/09/billionaires-20-richest_slide_18.html" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">worth</a>&nbsp;a reported $22 billion, likes to call his business an example of something he describes as the “Science of Liberty.” In reality, his company’s deregulation crusade has contributed to rolling blackouts, consolidation and monopolies in financial markets, and economy-wrecking oil price spikes</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. In comments to the CFTC, the reform-minded nonprofit Better Markets&nbsp;</span><a href="http://comments.cftc.gov/PublicComments/ViewComment.aspx?id=26475&SearchText=" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">noted</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;that, “the history of these markets is a history of anti-competitive, self-interested, predatory conduct that serves the interest of the exclusive few at the expense of the many and the system as a whole.”...</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);" face="Times New Roman"><b>After working furiously to unleash oil speculators like Koch and Enron, the Gramm family was&nbsp;<a href="http://www.salon.com/technology/feature/2002/06/26/cftc" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">rewarded</a>&nbsp;with plum jobs, including spots on corporate boards and placements at speculator-funded think tanks. Wendy Gramm still holds a position at the Koch-funded Mercatus Center at George Mason University,&nbsp;<a href="http://mercatus.org/wendy-gramm" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">although</a>&nbsp;she hasn’t authored a paper in years.</b>&nbsp;While the Gramm family has faded somewhat from the public eye, their actions have radically changed the global economy. Since the Koch-Gramm-Enron deregulation bonanza, non-commercial oil speculators have flooded the market and increased the price volatility of oil in&nbsp;<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/05/26/173973/report-gas-price-spikes-tax-american-economy-to-benefit-oil-companies/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">leaps and bounds</a>, hurting consumers and businesses across the globe while making a small set of oil barons and financial giants very rich.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman">A McClatchy&nbsp;<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/05/16/173954/1990-oil-speculation/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">investigation</a>&nbsp;found: “Prior to the 1990s, speculators made up about 30 percent of the futures market. In the latest reporting period, the ratio on May 3 stood at 68 percent speculators to 32 percent users of oil.” The following chart illustrates the dramatic changes in the oil speculation market following the Koch-prescribed deregulation campaign, and how non-commercial speculators have pushed the price of oil higher and higher:</font></p><figure class="postfigure postfigure--format-title-width" style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2rem; padding: 0px; max-width: 100%; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="postthumbnail" style="box-sizing: inherit; overflow: hidden; position: relative;"><picture id="picture-154409" class="size-full " data-id="154409" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><font face="Times New Roman"><source srcset="https://i2.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/0HRmuycpX7AGzRAMk-1.jpg?w=362&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C216px&ssl=1" media="(min-width: 1280px)" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><source srcset="https://i2.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/0HRmuycpX7AGzRAMk-1.jpg?w=362&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C216px&ssl=1" media="(min-width: 1024px) and (max-width: 1280px)" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><source srcset="https://i2.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/0HRmuycpX7AGzRAMk-1.jpg?w=362&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C216px&ssl=1" media="(min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px)" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><source srcset="https://i2.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/0HRmuycpX7AGzRAMk-1.jpg?w=362&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C216px&ssl=1" media="(min-width: 512px) and (max-width: 1024px)" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><source srcset="https://i2.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/0HRmuycpX7AGzRAMk-1.jpg?w=362&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C216px&ssl=1" media="(min-width: 512px) and (max-width: 768px)" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><source srcset="https://i2.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/0HRmuycpX7AGzRAMk-1.jpg?w=362&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C216px&ssl=1" media="(max-width: 512px)" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><source srcset="https://i2.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/0HRmuycpX7AGzRAMk-1.jpg?w=362&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C216px&ssl=1" media="(max-width: 768px)" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><source srcset="https://i2.wp.com/thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/0HRmuycpX7AGzRAMk-1.jpg?w=362&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C216px&ssl=1" media="all" style="box-sizing: inherit;"><img srcset="https://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/0HRmuycpX7AGzRAMk-1.jpg?w=362&h=216&crop=1" alt="" style="box-sizing: inherit; display: block; max-width: 100%; margin: 0px auto; height: auto;" /></source></source></source></source></source></source></source></source></font></picture></div></figure><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman">Michael Greenberger, a former top staffer the CFTC, explained to me that a common misperception is that oil companies are only bonafide hedgers, meaning they only participate in the futures market to lock-in prices for delivery of their product. With the exception of ExxonMobil, which has explicitly stated that it does not engage in speculation, all the major oil companies (Shell, BP, Occidental, etc) operate like Wall Street investment banks and use their privileged position in the oil market to make speculative bets on the price of oil. And as the unregulated oil market has grown, investment banks like JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley have become more like oil companies, buying tankers, pipelines, oil containers, and other physical assets to give them an edge while betting on oil. The Koch&nbsp;<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/04/13/153206/koch-industries-price-gouging/" rel="noopener" target="blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">contango strategy</a>&nbsp;detailed by ThinkProgress is not limited to Koch Industries either — Shell&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aIbVHft2R3SE" rel="noopener" target="_blank" style="box-sizing: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(144, 141, 255);">for instance</a>&nbsp;is known for buying up cheap oil, storing it in tankers, and betting on future prices as they reserve the oil from the market.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 2.1875rem; line-height: 2.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman">Tyson Slocum, an expert on oil speculation at Public Citizen, has called Koch one of the worst actors when it comes to oil speculation. Koch, Slocum explained in an interview with ThinkProgress, is unique because of its status as a political powerhouse as well as a speculator with operations all over the world.</font></p><p class="ColorfulList-Accent1"><font face="Times New Roman"></font></p></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">===</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060076559">https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060076559</a></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman">also lamar smith<span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">&nbsp;</span></font></div><div><div class="widgetbody clearfix sm-mt-1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 12px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="social-author clearfix" style="margin-top: 10px; float: none !important; display: inline-block !important;"><font style="" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="social-authoravatar 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style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman"><font style="" face="Times New Roman">Lorraine Chow</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div class="social-date" style="position: absolute; top: 15px; left: 52px; margin: 0px 0px -27px auto !important;"><span class="social-datetext" style="">21h</span></div></div><div class="widgethead" style="margin-bottom: 0px; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><div class="widgetimage crop-2x1" data-runner-img-hd="https://assets.rbl.ms/17455795/1200x600.jpg" data-runner-img-md="https://assets.rbl.ms/17455795/600x300.jpg" data-runner-img-sd="https://assets.rbl.ms/17455795/600x300.jpg" style="background-position: center center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: cover; z-index: 0; padding-bottom: 419.344px; background-image: url(" https="https" assets.rbl.ms="assets.rbl.ms" x600.jpg="x600.jpg"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" 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href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;" /><a class="widgetheadline-text custom-post-headline" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pruitt-scientific-data-2550831155.html" style="text-align: right; text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; line-height: 31px;">Pruitt to Restrict Use of Scientific Data in EPA Policymaking</a>In the coming weeks, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">EPA</a>) Administrator&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Scott Pruitt</a>&nbsp;is expected to announce a proposal that would limit the type of scientific studies and data the agency can use in crafting public health and environmental regulations

...The idea has long been championed by House Science, Space and Technology Chairman&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/Lamar-Smith" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Lamar Smith</a>&nbsp;(R-Texas). The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/clovis-lamar-smith-2505889566.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">prominent climate change denier</a>&nbsp;proposed a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr1430/BILLS-115hr1430rfs.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">bill</a>&nbsp;last year called the Honest and Open New EPA Science Treatment (HONEST) Act, formerly known as The Secret Science Reform Act, that prohibits any future regulations from taking effect unless the underlying scientific data is public.<p style="margin: 10px 0px;">Smith's legislation, which is widely criticized by scientific organizations, passed in the House last March but hasn't left the Senate Environment And Public Works Committee.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;">Pruitt indicated at a closed-door meeting at the conservative Heritage Foundation last week that he would adopt elements of Smith's stalled bill, E&E News reported.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;">Also, in a recent interview with&nbsp;<a href="http://dailycaller.com/2018/03/19/epa-scott-pruitt-secret-science/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">The Daily Caller</a>, the EPA boss said his latest proposal was a transparency measure against what he and his Republican colleagues consider "secret science."</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;">"We need to make sure their data and methodology are published as part of the record," Pruitt told the conservative news site. "Otherwise, it's not transparent. It's not objectively measured, and that's important."</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;">Last year, the EPA head&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-science-advisors-2504339714.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">controversially announced</a>&nbsp;a policy that would limit the presence of researchers who have received EPA research grants on the agency's Scientific Advisory Board.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;">Those in opposition to Pruitt's latest policy move say it would undermine the essential mission of the EPA.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;">Andrew Rosenberg, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>, pointed out that the proposed changes would prohibit the use of personal health data such as private medial records, and confidential business information from even being considered in EPA policymaking.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;">"Companies could evade accountability for the pollution they create by declaring information about that pollution a 'trade secret,'" Rosenberg said.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;">"Fortunately, this nonsensical and dangerous proposal has never been able to make it out of Congress, but Pruitt seems intent on imposing it anyway."...

The center, tasked with distributing “grants to test the effects of chemical exposure on adults and children,” will be shuttered amid a reorganization at the agency as part of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s goal of creating more efficiency at the agency.</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;">...omg?</p></div><div>
</div><div>Most of the EPA’s grants come out of the NCER, a division of the agency’s Office of Research and Development. Last October, Pruitt ordered that scientists who have received EPA grants from the NCER and other programs at the agency won’t be allowed to serve on the agency’s advisory boards. Critics of the policy change denounced the move as a poorly disguised attempt to push out experts at odds with industry.</div><div>
</div><div>The NCER’s most prominent program is called Science to Achieve Results, or STAR, which was created in 1995. The STAR program has distributed grants to the Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers. The two centers have been “successful in advancing our scientific understanding and ability do address the ways that environmental chemicals can impact children’s health,” a former EPA senior scientist told The Hill.</div><div>
</div><div>A recent report issued by the National Academies of Sciences concluded that through the STAR program, EPA has created a vehicle that fosters collaboration and knowledge-sharing in a way that “may reduce the cost of regulations, protect public health, and save lives.” About eight years after STAR’s creation, a National Research Council committee reviewed the program and strongly endorsed it as an integral part of EPA’s research program.</div><div>
</div><div>The Trump administration, however, has singled out the STAR program for elimination in its budget proposals. The STAR program’s budget allocation has varied over the years, peaking at around $138 million in 2001 and 2002 and reaching its lowest point in 2016 at about $39 million. Between 2001 and 2015, the program awarded nearly 1,500 grants and fellowships in total, according to the National Academies of Sciences report.</div><div>...</div></div><div style="">=<div style=""><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/koch-pipelines-dakota-keystone-2540819277.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/koch-pipelines-dakota-keystone-2540819277.html</a></div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><div class="headline-container" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h1 class="headline h1" style="margin: 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; line-height: 31px;">Koch Network Took Credit for Dakota Access, Keystone XL and REINS Act, Leaked Memo Shows</h1></div><span class="js-scroll-trigger" data-target="body" data-triggers="render-rebelbar" data-toggle-class="with-floating-shares" data-loaded="true" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="utm_campaign" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url" data-elid="2540819277" data-authors="DeSmogBlog" data-headline="Koch Network Took Credit for Dakota Access, Keystone XL and REINS Act, Leaked Memo Shows" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px;"><div class="body-description"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">By Steve Horn</p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/02/25/koch-brothers-trump-administration/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">leaked memorandum published</a>&nbsp;by&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">The Intercept</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://documentedinvestigations.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Documented Investigations</a>&nbsp;shows that a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/koch-brothers" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Koch</a>&nbsp;Industries' donors network, known as the&nbsp;<a href="https://seminarnetwork.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Seminar Network</a>, has taken credit for Donald&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Trump</a>&nbsp;approving the permits for both the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dakota-access-pipeline" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Dakota Access</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/keystone-xl" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Keystone XL</a>&nbsp;pipelines during the first months of his presidency.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The memo also applauded efforts by the Koch network's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/americans-for-prosperity" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Americans for Prosperity</a>&nbsp;(AFP) chapter in Wisconsin to pass a deregulatory measure there known as the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/topics/reins-act" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">REINS Act</a>. The Seminar Network, which meets secretly twice a year, is made up of<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/koch-brothers-network-planning-massive-spending-increase-for-2018-midterms" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">&nbsp;donors who give at least $100,000 toward Koch-led political and philanthropic efforts</a>.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Koch Industries has a business interest in both&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines" style="text-decoration-line: none;">pipelines</a>, though their approval has not been something its funded network has widely discussed. Quietly, though, Koch has advocated for the pair of pipelines in regulatory hearings in both Iowa for Dakota Access—as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/04/08/koch-dakota-access-pipeline" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">previously reported by DeSmog</a>—as well as in Canada, as&nbsp;<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120510/koch-industries-brothers-tar-sands-bitumen-heavy-oil-flint-pipelines-refinery-alberta-canada" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">reported in 2012</a>&nbsp;by InsideClimate News.</font></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>The REINS (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny) Act, which GOP officials have been pushing in Congress since Obama's first term,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/07/10/koch-reins-act-wisconsin-governor-scott-walker" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">passed as state law</a>&nbsp;in Wisconsin in 2017. The law, long considered crown jewel legislation by the Koch front group AFP,&nbsp;gives legislative bodies full veto authority over regulations proposed by executive agencies. Conservative groups in Wisconsin&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/01/07/bradley-foundation-koch-wisconsin-reins-act-lawsuit" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">already are using the law</a>&nbsp;to sue the top state public education officer.</b></font></p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"State legislatures, particularly in states with a strong Network presence, have also made significant progress toward removing harmful and unnecessary regulations. For example, Wisconsin this year went so far as to enact the nation's first&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">REINS Act, which will require legislative approval of any issued regulation that has an impact above a certain cost threshold,"</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4364737-Koch-Seminar-Network.html" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none;">reads the Koch Seminar Network document</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/american-legislative-exchange-council" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">American Legislative Exchange Council</a>, a corporate-funded group of mostly Republican Party state legislators, has a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alec.org/model-policy/draft-resolution-calling-on-congress-to-pass-to-pass-the-regulations-from-the-executive-in-need-of-scrutiny-reins-act/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">REINS Act model resolution</a>&nbsp;on the books, which supports the federal version of this legislation. In 2017, six states introduced pro-REINS Act resolutions:&nbsp;<a href="http://kslegislature.org/li/b2017_18/measures/hcr5003/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Kansas</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://laws.leg.mt.gov/legprd/LAW0210W$BSIV.ActionQuery?P_BILL_NO1=6&P_BLTP_BILL_TYP_CD=SJ&Z_ACTION=Find&P_SESS=20171" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Montana</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://house.mo.gov/Bill.aspx?bill=HCR85&year=2018&code=R" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Missouri</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20172018/HR/1293" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Georgia</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA132-HCR-24" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Ohio</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=3401&session=122&summary=B" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">South Carolina</a>. ALEC—which brings corporate lobbyists and state legislators together at annual meetings for networking, seminars and voting on what it dubs "<a href="https://www.alec.org/model-policy" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">model policies</a>" —maintains&nbsp;<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/alec-exposed-koch-connection" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">close connections</a>&nbsp;with the Koch network.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong style="text-align: center;">Koch, KXL, DAPL Business Ties</strong></p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Koch Industries also owns assets in a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/tar-sands" style="text-decoration-line: none;">tar sands</a>&nbsp;reservoir located in Alberta, Canada, both in the form of lease holdings for land and as a company with a drilling interest. For the latter, Koch owns Koch Oil Sands Operating, which has a drilling interest in both the&nbsp;<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120919/koch-brothers-industries-canadian-tar-sands-properties-keystone-xl-pipeline-alberta-dilbit-climate-skeptics" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Gemini and Muskwa</a>&nbsp;tar sands fields in Alberta.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It also owns 1-2 million acres' worth of land (the&nbsp;<a href="http://ifg.org/koch-tar-sands-acreage/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">exact number</a>&nbsp;is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1059996591" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">contested</a>) in the tar sands for prospective future leasing, according to a&nbsp;<a href="http://kochcash.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Embargo_Report.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">2013 report</a>&nbsp;published by the International Forum on Globalization. Keystone XL, the pipeline owned by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5420" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">TransCanada</a>&nbsp;and approved by Trump and his U.S. Department of State in March 2017, would bring around&nbsp;<a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18012018/keystone-xl-pipeline-status-tar-sands-oil-export-nebraska-map-transcanada" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">500,000 currently-booked barrels per day of tar sands oil</a>&nbsp;from Alberta to Cushing, Oklahoma, where the pipeline connects with TransCanada's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/14265" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Gulf Coast Pipeline</a>.</p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Gulf Coast, which was approved by President Barack Obama in a 2012 election season executive order, sends the tar sands bitumen down to Port Arthur, Texas, where the substance is refined into products and then sent to market.</font></p></div></div></div><div>
</div><div>[map]</div><div>
</div><div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Koch Industries even&nbsp;<a href="http://negotiating%20confidential%20agreements%20with%20the%20landowners/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">nearly testified</a>&nbsp;at a 2012 hearing in support of its development of tar sands, before backing out after signing confidentiality agreements with impacted landowners. Much of the tar sands extracted in Alberta is refined at Koch's refinery in Pine Bend, Minnesota, which is owned by its subsidiary&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/5218" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Flint Hills Resources</a>&nbsp;and is the&nbsp;<a href="http://priceofoil.org/2013/12/13/refinery-report-new-online-tool-tracks-tar-sands-flows-north-america/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">top refiner of tar sands</a>&nbsp;in the&nbsp;<span style="background-color: initial;">U.S.</span>&nbsp;at&nbsp;<a href="http://www.refineryreport.org/numill.php?id=1408" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">223,000 barrels per day</a>, as of 2013.
</p><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">For Dakota Access, Koch also quietly came out in support of the pipeline via its front group, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/60-plus-association" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">60 Plus Association</a>, which purports to be a conservative alternative to the American Association of Retired Persons for seniors. Through intermediary groups, 60 Plus had received tens of millions of dollars from the Koch network.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/04/08/koch-dakota-access-pipeline" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Koch Industries has a direct tie</a>&nbsp;to Dakota Access, through a storage terminal part-owned by its subsidiary Flint Resources and located in North Dakota's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/directory/vocabulary/7174" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Bakken Shale</a>&nbsp;basin. As&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/04/08/koch-dakota-access-pipeline" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">DeSmog previously reported</a>, this terminal, called the COLT Hub, feeds oil into the Dakota Access pipeline.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Back in 2015 when the pipeline was hotly contested in Iowa, a representative for 60 Plus&nbsp;<a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/60%20Plus%20Association%20DAPL%204.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">testified on behalf</a>&nbsp;of Dakota Access in front of the Iowa Utilities Board.</p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"The Dakota Access Pipeline Project is important to seniors for several reasons.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">High energy prices are disproportionately impacting America's low and fixed-income senior citizens today—citizens that often have limited financial resources with which to meet their needs," the 60 Plus representative testified in September 2015. "By helping the United States to better capitalize upon its growing domestic energy resources—and affordably transport these resources to market—the Dakota Access Pipeline will help to foster stability within energy markets nationwide, and improve the availability of affordable American produced crude oil."</span></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">60 Plus also began lobbying and campaigning on behalf of the Dakota Access as the protest movement grew against the pipeline at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Around the same time those protests began in September 2016, 60 Plus deployed its chairman,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-martin-2472b27/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Jim Martin</a>, to begin&nbsp;<a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=1198D7A2-3128-4BDC-9D09-FA85A875E2AE&filingTypeID=73" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">lobbying Congress</a>about Dakota Access. Martin also wrote an opinion piece that month supporting the pipeline for the publication Morning Consult.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Whether it's heating or cooling your home or putting gas in your car, the cheaper the energy, the more economically stable your checkbook will be," wrote Martin. "The 60 Plus Association's 5.5 million members know this all too well. This is why as an organization that champions free enterprise and who have championed energy issues for seniors before, we strongly support the Dakota Access pipeline."</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong>'Whole New Level'</strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In the 2018 election cycle, the Koch network plans to spend up to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/01/28/politics/koch-network-2018-outlook/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">$400 million</a>&nbsp;to keep the Republican majority in Congress and GOP control over statehouses nationwide.</p><p><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"We've made more progress in the last five years than I had in the last 50,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">" Charles Koch, one of the infamous petrochemical billionaire Koch brothers,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/david-koch-charles-koch-network-is-going-all-in-for-2018-midterms/" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none;">said in January at a private Seminar Network meeting</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;held in Indian Wells, California. "The capabilities we have now can take us to a whole new level."</span></p></div></span></span></div><div style=""></div><div style="">smart history overview populism to now:</div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><a href="http://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/junejulyaug-2016/populism-with-a-brain/">http://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/junejulyaug-2016/populism-with-a-brain/</a></div><div style="">
</div><div style="">
</div><div style=""></div><div style="">djt boasts he has had all industries in, massive" dereg</div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">SHAIKH</span>:</strong>&nbsp;We’re speaking to David Cay Johnston, author of the new book,&nbsp;<em style="box-sizing: border-box;">It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America</em>. Let’s go back to February. This is President Trump speaking a month after he took office.</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding-left: 30px; border-left: 3px solid rgb(241, 242, 243);" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">PRESIDENT</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">DONALD</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">TRUMP</span>:</strong>&nbsp;We’re cutting regulations big league. We are really cutting them by massive amounts. The auto industry just left a week ago. They were here in the same room. And they are very happy with what—what we’re doing. And everyone is. I think just about everyone. The financial industry—we’re having a lot of the different industries in. And we’re cutting regulations in just about every industry. In fact, I can’t think of any that we’re not.</p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">NERMEEN</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">SHAIKH</span>:</strong>&nbsp;So that’s President Trump speaking in February. So, could you talk about what Trump has done to different agencies? In your book, you talk about several, but let’s start with the&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">EPA</span>.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">DAVID</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">CAY</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHNSTON</span>:</strong>&nbsp;Well,&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">EPA</span>&nbsp;is run by Scott Pruitt, who hopes to become a U.S. senator in Oklahoma, who has vowed to destroy the agency. So, staff members are not allowed to use certain words. They’re not being allowed to go to scientific conferences. So, once again, the investment the taxpayers have made in expertise and knowledge is being wasted.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">In the regulatory environment, they are basically allowing polluters to get away with all sorts of stuff. There was a move by the Obama administration to stop taking the toxic residue, the coal ash, from power plants, turning it into a slurry, with water, and then you put it into a pond next to a river. And as we know, in South Carolina, I think it was, and several other places, some of these old dikes broke and ruined the drinking water, for weeks or months, and killed all the wildlife. The Trump administration basically is saying to polluters, “Go ahead and pollute.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Well, what is pollution? Not only is it a threat to your health and safety, but it’s a way to jack up profits, by taking costs you should endure to clean up your mess and spewing them onto everybody else. So, of course, profits for companies like that will go up, because they’re being allowed to make you or your children get asthma or have other illnesses because of the pollution. How does that make us better off? That makes us worse off. The problem is, you’re not going to get asthma tomorrow. He’ll be out of office, even if he had two terms, before you get sick and die.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">AMY</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">GOODMAN</span>:</strong>&nbsp;We had the headline today about the former photographer with the Department of Energy seeking whistleblower protection, saying he was fired for documenting collusion between the Trump administration and a coal company executive. Simon Edelman says he was fired after he leaked photographs of a March 29th meeting between Energy Secretary Rick Perry and coal magnate Robert Murray, showing the two embracing at a meeting. Murray said he played no role in drafting a Department of Energy rule subsidizing coal and nuclear power plants. But a photo clearly shows a letter drafted by Murray and addressed to Energy Secretary Rick Perry touting an “action plan.” And then you have the whole story of&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">FERC</span>, the Trump-appointed panel, that actually ruled against Trump in his subsidizing of coal.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 30px 0px;" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">DAVID</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">CAY</span>&nbsp;<span class="caps" style="box-sizing: border-box;">JOHNSTON</span>:</strong>&nbsp;Well, they did, in this particular case. But there is a chapter in my book about how the electricity markets in America, which, by design, raise prices and don’t lower them, are going to continue to worsen. Now, this example that comes from the leaked photographs is very revealing of the fact that truth is a very fungible issue in this administration. And when it comes to electricity prices in this country, I mean, everybody pays for electricity. It’s the one—one of the common things we have, like the weather. This is an administration that is all out for the people who make profits. It isn’t interested in consumers. It isn’t interested in businesses whose profits are diminished if they have to pay excessive electricity prices....</p></div><div style="">---</div><div style=""><div style="">=</div><div style=""><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/senate-finance-committee-advances-alex-azars-nomination-to-head-hhs/2018/01/17/db4928c8-fb96-11e7-ad8c-ecbb62019393_story.html?utm_term=.7d898d47f471">https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/senate-finance-committee-advances-alex-azars-nomination-to-head-hhs/2018/01/17/db4928c8-fb96-11e7-ad8c-ecbb62019393_story.html?utm_term=.7d898d47f471</a></div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Senate Finance Committee approved Alex Azar as the next health and human services secretary on Wednesday, voting 15-12 to send his nomination to the Senate floor.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The vote followed party lines, with the exception of Democratic Sen. Thomas R. Carper (Del.), who supported the nomination.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;">If approved by the full Senate, Azar, a former executive for the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company, would succeed President Trump’s first HHS secretary, Tom Price. The former congressman from Georgia resigned under pressure in September during an investigation of his use of private charter planes at taxpayer expense to attend official events.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;">“Mr. Azar is well-credentialed to lead such a critical department at a time America’s health care system is facing difficult challenges,” Committee&nbsp;<b>Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah)&nbsp;</b>said in a written statement.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;">“He continues to demonstrate that he has what it takes to help alleviate problems caused by Obamacare, all while bolstering and improving Medicare and Medicaid.”</p><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;">Azar told Finance members during the Jan. 9 hearing on his nomination that prescription drug prices cost too much but that he was not in favor of broad government action to curb prices. His other priorities, he said, would be making health care more affordable, rewarding Medicare providers for promoting good health and combating the opioid epidemic.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The committee’s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.), again criticized Azar Wednesday for his “documented history of raising drug prices” while he worked at Lilly. He said that Azar didn’t offer “a single example” of the company lowering prices during Azar’s tenure, which included five years as president of its largest affiliate, Lilly USA.</font></p><div class="moat-trackable pb-f-theme-normal pb-f-dehydrate-false pb-f-async-true full pb-feature pb-layout-item pb-f-page-newsletter-inLine injected-by-front-end" moat-id="page/newsletter-inLine|national" data-chain-name="no-name" data-feature-name="no-name" data-feature-id="page/newsletter-inLine" data-pb-fingerprint="0fDFtBwNlqj" id="fpn9kH1k5O5TCq" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 18px; animation: fadein 2s; float: none; width: 653.797px; position: relative; padding: 0px !important;"><div class="border-bottom- border-bottom- nl-top-hairline" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="newsletter-inline-unit codedNewsletter" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; margin: -10px 0px;"><div class="clear" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;">Carper explained his vote in a statement late Wednesday afternoon. “I am still evaluating Mr. Azar’s nomination,” he said, “and, while I am concerned about his perspective on Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act and his knowledge on women’s health issues, I believe he is qualified for consideration by the full Senate.”</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;">Azar served in the agency during George W. Bush’s administration as both the department’s general counsel and deputy secretary.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;">He left Lilly in early 2017 and formed a consulting firm. He told a different Senate committee in late November that he no longer owned Lilly stock.</p><p channel="wp.com" class="interstitial-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;">Read more:</b></p><p channel="wp.com" class="interstitial-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/senate-finance-committee-to-evaluate-alex-azar-to-be-the-next-hhs-secretary/2018/01/08/e6d790c0-f48f-11e7-b34a-b85626af34ef_story.html?utm_term=.37ddeca28713" shape="rect" title="www.washingtonpost.com" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); zoom: 1; margin-bottom: 18px; line-height: 1.8em;">Senate Finance Committee evaluates AlexAzar to be the next HHS secretary</a></p><div style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p channel="wp.com" class="interstitial-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-picks-alex-azar-to-lead-the-health-and-human-services-department/2017/11/13/ad6a4e16-c408-11e7-84bc-5e285c7f4512_story.html?utm_term=.91745f0d16c5" shape="rect" title="www.washingtonpost.com" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); zoom: 1; margin-bottom: 18px; line-height: 1.8em;">Trump picks Alex Azar to lead Health and Human Services</a></p><p channel="wp.com" class="interstitial-link" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.8em; margin: 0px auto 18px; max-width: 100%;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/pharma-under-attack-for-drug-prices-started-an-industry-war/2017/12/29/800a3de8-e5bc-11e7-a65d-1ac0fd7f097e_story.html?utm_term=.9ae36f6954df" shape="rect" title="www.washingtonpost.com" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration-line: none; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(213, 213, 213); zoom: 1; margin-bottom: 18px; line-height: 1.8em;">Pharm, under attack for drug prices, started an industry war</a></p></div><div></div></div><div style="">=</div><div style="">see dudley GWU in DC kochademia</div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_Impact_Analysis">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_Impact_Analysis</a></div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The first RIA are generally considered to be the "Inflation Impact Assessments" required by the Carter Administration in the United States from 1978. The RIA requirement was broadened during the Reagan administration, with Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) becoming the required methodological approach. Another early adopter of a RIA requirement was Australia (1985). By the mid-1990s approximately 12 OECD countries had implemented RIA requirements of some form, although the scope of the required analysis varied considerably. By 2000, 20 of 28 OECD countries had implemented RIA requirements.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_Impact_Analysis#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup>&nbsp;Currently, virtually all OECD countries use RIA. RIA requirements had also begun to be strongly promoted to its client countries by the World Bank. As a result, an increasing number of developing countries have now adopted RIA requirements.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_Impact_Analysis#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a></sup></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; line-height: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">RIA requirements have broadened in scope over time in many countries in which they have been adopted. Conversely, few if any countries have abandoned the use of RIA after having adopted it.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_Impact_Analysis#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup></p></div><div style="">--</div><div style="">NB all GWU or GMU</div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="43" data-ved="0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQFQgrKAAwAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.gwu.edu/_{clai/training_programs/Regulatory_Programs/Spring_2011/Apr_2011_Jerry_Ellig.pdf}" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Perspectives on U.S. Regulation and Regulatory Impact Analysis</a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">https://www.gwu.edu/_{clai/training.../Regulatory...2011/Apr_2011_Jerry_Ellig.pdf</cite>}<div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="Fmb ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Regulatory+impact+analysis+(RIAs)+oira+reagan&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxv5qU8qjYAhVDMSYKHXiQCGcQ7xYIJCgA&biw=1600&bih=769#" id="am-b0" aria-label="Result details" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQ7B0ILTAA" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQqR8ILjAA" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:maZvth346HUJ:https://www.gwu.edu/_{clai/training_programs/Regulatory_Programs/Spring_2011/Apr_2011_Jerry_Ellig.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us}" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">
</a></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:maZvth346HUJ:https://www.gwu.edu/_{clai/training_programs/Regulatory_Programs/Spring_2011/Apr_2011_Jerry_Ellig.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us}" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;">•Nixon (1971): Quality of Life review. •Ford (1974): Economic&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">analysis</span>&nbsp;if&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">impact</span>&nbsp;> $100 million. •Carter (1978):&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Regulatory Analysis</span>&nbsp;Review Group. •<span style="font-weight: bold;">Reagan</span>&nbsp;(1981<wbr />): E.O. 12291. •Establishes comprehensive criteria for&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">regulatory analysis</span>. •Gives&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">OIRA</span>&nbsp;review authority over “major” rules. •Bush I: Continued<span style="font-weight: bold;">Reagan</span>&nbsp;executive&nbsp;...</span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="48" data-ved="0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQFQgwKAEwAQ"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:maZvth346HUJ:https://www.gwu.edu/_{clai/training_programs/Regulatory_Programs/Spring_2011/Apr_2011_Jerry_Ellig.pdf+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us}" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="ogd b w xsm" style="font-weight: bold; cursor: auto; margin: 0px 3px 0px 0px; float: left;">[PDF]</span></a><a href="https://www2.gwu.edu/_{clai/recent_events/2010/Spring_Regulatory_Program/Speaker%20Presentations/US_Experience_with_Regulatory_Oversight_2010.pdf}" style="text-decoration-line: none;">US Experience With Regulatory Oversight: History and use of RIA</a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">https://www2.gwu.edu/...Regulatory.../US_Experience_with_Regulatory_Oversight_2...</cite><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="Fmb ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Regulatory+impact+analysis+(RIAs)+oira+reagan&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxv5qU8qjYAhVDMSYKHXiQCGcQ7xYIJCgA&biw=1600&bih=769#" id="am-b1" aria-label="Result details" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQ7B0IMjAB" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQqR8IMzAB" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:HzJWlZOh4OkJ:https://www2.gwu.edu/_{clai/recent_events/2010/Spring_Regulatory_Program/Speaker%2520Presentations/US_Experience_with_Regulatory_Oversight_2010.pdf+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us}" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">
</a></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:HzJWlZOh4OkJ:https://www2.gwu.edu/_{clai/recent_events/2010/Spring_Regulatory_Program/Speaker%2520Presentations/US_Experience_with_Regulatory_Oversight_2010.pdf+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us}" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f" style="">Mar 16, 2010 -&nbsp;</span>❑President Ford: Required, for the first time,&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">regulatory impact analysis</span>. (<span style="font-weight: bold;">RIA</span>) requirement for major regulations (over $100 million in impact). ❑President Carter: Established the Regulatory Analysis Review Group. ❑President&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Reagan</span>: Solidified regulatory oversight authority within the. White House, issuing&nbsp;...</span></a></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="54" data-ved="0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQFQg2KAIwAg"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><h3 class="r" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.mercatus.org/publication/role-regulatory-impact-analysis-federal-rulemaking" style="text-decoration-line: none;">The Role of Regulatory Impact Analysis in Federal Rulemaking ...</a></h3><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 18px;"><div class="f kv _SWb" style="height: 18px; line-height: 16px; white-space: nowrap;"><cite class="Rm" style="font-style: normal;">https://www.mercatus.org/.../role-regulatory-impact-analysis-federal-rulemaking</cite><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="Fmb ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=Regulatory+impact+analysis+(RIAs)+oira+reagan&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjxv5qU8qjYAhVDMSYKHXiQCGcQ7xYIJCgA&biw=1600&bih=769#" id="am-b2" aria-label="Result details" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQ7B0IODAC" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQqR8IOTAC" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:WLfCgp2bxvEJ:https://www.mercatus.org/publication/role-regulatory-impact-analysis-federal-rulemaking+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">
</a></li><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?biw=1600&bih=769&q=related:https://www.mercatus.org/publication/role-regulatory-impact-analysis-federal-rulemaking+Regulatory+impact+analysis+(RIAs)+oira+reagan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQHwg7MAI" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">
</a></li></ol></div></div></div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?biw=1600&bih=769&q=related:https://www.mercatus.org/publication/role-regulatory-impact-analysis-federal-rulemaking+Regulatory+impact+analysis+(RIAs)+oira+reagan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQHwg7MAI" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.4; word-wrap: break-word;"><span class="f" style="">Apr 10, 2014 -&nbsp;</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Regulatory impact analysis</span>&nbsp;(<span style="font-weight: bold;">RIA</span>) is a tool regulators use to help guide them through the decision-making process when promulgating regulations. ... These&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">RIAs</span>, in turn, are to be reviewed by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (<span style="font-weight: bold;">OIRA</span>), a statutory office located within the Office of Management&nbsp;...</span></a></div></div></div></div></div><div style=""><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?biw=1600&bih=769&q=related:https://www.mercatus.org/publication/role-regulatory-impact-analysis-federal-rulemaking+Regulatory+impact+analysis+(RIAs)+oira+reagan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQHwg7MAI" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"></a></div><div style=""><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?biw=1600&bih=769&q=related:https://www.mercatus.org/publication/role-regulatory-impact-analysis-federal-rulemaking+Regulatory+impact+analysis+(RIAs)+oira+reagan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQHwg7MAI" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">aha: soft/stealth dereg via budget cut, often of enforcement:</a></div><div style=""><p style=""><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?biw=1600&bih=769&q=related:https://www.mercatus.org/publication/role-regulatory-impact-analysis-federal-rulemaking+Regulatory+impact+analysis+(RIAs)+oira+reagan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQHwg7MAI" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;">(NB crypto cover of responsible budget cutting (starve the beast that is strangling the economy)</a></p><p style=""><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?biw=1600&bih=769&q=related:https://www.mercatus.org/publication/role-regulatory-impact-analysis-federal-rulemaking+Regulatory+impact+analysis+(RIAs)+oira+reagan&tbo=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwilzKeW8qjYAhXM5yYKHZdkAMgQHwg7MAI" style="text-decoration-line: none; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-employees-leaving-2519323571.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-employees-leaving-2519323571.html</a></p><div class="headline-container" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h1 class="headline h1" style="margin: 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; line-height: 31px;">700+ Employees Have Left the EPA Under Trump: Loss of Scientists, Staffers Undermines Agency's Purpose</h1></div><div id="utm_campaign" style="margin-top: 10px;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="js-scroll-trigger" data-target="body" data-triggers="render-rebelbar" data-toggle-class="with-floating-shares" data-loaded="true" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></span></p><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url" data-elid="2519323571" data-authors="Lorraine Chow" data-headline="700+ Employees Have Left the EPA Under Trump: Loss of Scientists, Staffers Undermines Agency's Purpose" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px; line-height: 24px;"><div class="body-description"><p><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Hundreds of people have quit, retired or taken buyouts from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" style="text-decoration-line: none;">EPA</a>) ever since&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">President Trump</a>&nbsp;and his EPA head&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Scott Pruitt&nbsp;</a>took office.</font></p></div></div><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That figure includes more than 200 scientists and&nbsp;<b>96 are environmental protection specialists that investigate important issues such as pollution levels,</b>&nbsp;according to a new&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/22/climate/epa-buyouts-pruitt.html?r=0" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">report</a>&nbsp;from the New York Times and ProPublica. Others that have left include nine department directors and dozens of attorneys and program managers.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“There has been a drop of employees of 770 between April and December. While several hundred of those are buyouts, the rest of those are either people that are retiring or quitting in disgust," Kyla Bennett, director of New England Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told&nbsp;<a href="https://thinkprogress.org/epa-employees-leaving-under-pruitt-11b36a220062/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">ThinkProgress</a>&nbsp;earlier this month. “Is that number higher than it would normally be? I think it is."</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Most of these positions will not be replaced, leaving the agency depleted of vital knowledge about protecting our environment and ultimately public health.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Rolling back enforcement is very troubling—it essentially means that people are going to breathe dirtier air and drink dirtier water," Judith Enck, who served as Regional Director for EPA Region 2 during the Obama administration, explained to ThinkProgress.
</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>The EPA had employed about 15,000 people at the end of President Obama's term.</b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But President Trump has proposed a drastic 31 percent cut to the EPA's budget—the largest cut to any federal agency. In June, the EPA unveiled a buyout program in an overall effort to remove 3,200 positions from the EPA, roughly 20 percent of its workforce.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“We're proud to report that we're reducing the size of government, protecting taxpayer dollars and staying true to our core mission of protecting the environment and American jobs," Pruitt&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-epa/epa-workforce-shrinking-to-reagan-era-levels-agency-official-idUSKCN1BH1LY" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">said</a>&nbsp;about the staff reduction program.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Pruitt has been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-epa-scott-pruitt-2182406074.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">criticized</a>&nbsp;by environmentalists for leading an agency he was actively trying to undermine as Oklahoma's former attorney general. The known&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/scott-pruitt-climate-change-2307785184.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">climate change denier</a>&nbsp;has close ties to the fossil fuel industry and has sued the EPA more than a dozen times over safeguards designed to protect the the country's air and water.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Under his watch, the words climate" and "climate change" have been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-climate-website-2498932391.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">removed</a>&nbsp;across several EPA websites. Pruitt has also issued rules that block anyone who receives an EPA grant from serving on science panels.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="text-align: center;">This mass exit of staffers comes amid a&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/15/us/politics/epa-scott-pruitt-foia.html" target="blank" style="text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;">New York Times</a><span style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</span><span style="text-align: center;">report that Republican campaign operatives were using the Freedom of Information Act to investigate agency employees critical of the Trump administration.</span></font></p><div class="around-the-web" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase;">RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-under-siege-2444990496.html" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">50+ Interviews With EPA Staff: Trump Poses 'Greatest Threat' to ... ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/environmental-protection-network_us_593edf75e4b0c5a35ca2191f" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px;">Former EPA Employees Are So Worried About Trump's Plans, They ... ›</a></li></ul></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-deregulation-2519132059.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-deregulation-2519132059.html</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style=""><h1 class="widgetheadline h1" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; cursor: pointer; word-wrap: break-word; line-height: 22px;"><a class="widgetheadline-text custom-post-headline" href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-deregulation-2519132059.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-break: break-word; word-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; line-height: 31px;">Trump Vows to Kill 50 Years of Federal Health and Safety Protections</a></h1><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url expanded" data-elid="2519132059" data-authors="Union of Concerned Scientists" data-headline="Trump Vows to Kill 50 Years of Federal Health and Safety Protections" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px;"><div class="body-description" style=""><div class="widgetbrief" style=""><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">By Elliott Negin</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">President Trump</a>&nbsp;wants to set the regulatory clock back to 1960, and last week he acted it out for the cameras.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Wielding a pair of golden scissors at a White House photo op, he cut red tape strung around two stacks of paper. One was a small pile of some 20,000 pages representing the amount of regulations in 1960; the other a mound of more than 185,000 pages representing those of today.</font></p></div><div class="js-appear-on-expand" style="transition: all 350ms; height: auto; overflow: hidden; opacity: 1;"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 0px 0px 10px;">"We're getting back below the 1960 level," Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/14/trump-promises-reduce-federal-regulations-pre-1960-level/953072001/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">declared</a>, "and we'll be there fairly quickly."</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">There's only one problem. That mountain of paper Trump used as a prop symbolizes hard-won measures that protect us.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">To refresh the president's memory, back in the 1960s, smog in major U.S. cities was so thick it blocked the sun. Rivers ran brown with raw sewage and toxic chemicals. Cleveland's Cuyahoga River and at least two other urban waterways were so polluted they caught on fire. Lead-laced paint and gasoline poisoned children, damaging their brains and nervous systems. Cars without seatbelts, air bags or safety glass were unsafe at any speed. And hazardous working conditions killed an average of&nbsp;<a href="https://safetymanagement.eku.edu/resources/articles/an-overview-of-occupational-safety-in-the-united-states/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">14,000</a>&nbsp;workers annually, nearly three times the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cfoi.nr0.htm" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">number</a>&nbsp;today.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">In response, Congress enacted the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and other landmark pieces of legislation to protect public health and safety. Some of those laws also created the Consumer Product Safety Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Highway Traffic Safety Commission, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and other federal agencies to write and enforce safeguards.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">None of those laws, or the regulations they spawned, existed in 1960.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><strong>Trump Grew Up on Dirty Air</strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">Trump should remember quite well what it was like in the 1960s. After all, he lived in New York, at the time one of the dirtiest cities in the country. Garbage incinerators routinely rained ash on city streets, while coal- and oil-fired power plants spewed a noxious mix of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and toxic metals. John V. Lindsay, the city's mayor from 1966 to 1973, famously&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1981/05/26/nyregion/city-s-air-cleaner-than-in-1960-s-but-pollution-level-is-unknown.html?pagewanted=all" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">quipped</a>, "I never trust air I can't see," but it was no laughing matter. On Thanksgiving weekend the year Lindsay took office, the smog was so bad it killed some 200 people.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">The waterways coursing around the city's boroughs, especially the Hudson River, were just as filthy. In 1965, then-New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller accurately&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/nyregion/new-york-city-smog.html?r=0" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">called</a>&nbsp;the Hudson "one great septic tank." Indeed,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/nyregion/new-york-city-smog.html?r=0" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">170 million gallons</a>&nbsp;of raw sewage fouled the river daily while factories along its banks treated it as a waste pit. A General Motors plant in Sleepy Hollow, 27 miles north of New York City, poured its paint sludge directly into the river. Even worse, General Electric manufacturing plants in Fort Edwards and Hudson Falls dumped about&nbsp;<a href="https://www3.epa.gov/hudson/cleanup.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">1.3 million pounds</a>&nbsp;of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a probable human carcinogen, into the river over a 30-year period ending in 1977. Since 1984, a&nbsp;<a href="https://www3.epa.gov/hudson/cleanup.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">200-mile</a>&nbsp;stretch of the river from Hudson Falls to Manhattan's southern tip has been on the EPA's Superfund program list of the country's most hazardous waste sites.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><strong>Protections Prevent Disease and Save Lives</strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">Fast forward to today. By and large, the environmental laws Congress began passing in the 1970s have been remarkably successful.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">Thanks to the Clean Water Act, for example, tens of billions of pounds of sewage, chemicals and trash have been kept out of U.S. waterways since it was enacted 45 years ago. In New York City, harbor water quality has improved so much that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.popsci.com/new-york-city-whales" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">humpback whales</a>&nbsp;have returned for the first time in a century.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">Thanks to the Clean Air Act, nationwide emissions of six common pollutants—carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, particulate matter (soot) and sulfur dioxide—plunged&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/progress-cleaning-air-and-improving-peoples-health#pollution" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">70 percent</a>&nbsp;on average between 1970 and 2015.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">New Yorkers are breathing easier, too. On Earth Day last April, the city's health department released a&nbsp;<a href="http://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/about/press/pr2017/pr024-17.page" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">report</a>announcing that air pollution in the Big Apple is at the lowest level ever recorded. Between 2008 and 2015, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter declined 23 percent and 18 percent, respectively, while sulfur dioxide levels plummeted 84 percent after the city and state tightened heating oil rules.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">That's all good news for public health. In 2010 alone, according to an EPA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/benefits-and-costs-clean-air-act-1990-2020-second-prospective-study" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">study</a>, Clean Air Act programs that reduced levels of fine particulate matter and ground-level ozone prevented an estimated 160,000 premature deaths, 130,000 heart attacks, and 1.7 million asthma attacks across the country.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">These accomplishments, however, do not mean it's time to eliminate or weaken environmental safeguards. There is still much left to do. Consider that in just one year—2015—polluters dumped more than&nbsp;<a href="https://www.epa.gov/trinationalanalysis/water-releases-2015-tri-national-analysis" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">190 million tons</a>of toxic chemicals into waterways nationwide; at least&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/whats-your-water-flint-and-beyond" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">5,000</a>&nbsp;community drinking water systems violated federal lead regulations; and some&nbsp;<a href="http://www.lung.org/about-us/media/press-releases/2016-state-of-the-air.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">116 million</a>&nbsp;Americans lived in counties with harmful levels of ozone or particulate matter pollution, which have been linked to lung cancer, asthma, cardiovascular damage, reproductive problems and premature death.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><strong>If You Can't Kill 'Em, Just Don't Enforce 'Em</strong></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">Fortunately, it will be very difficult for the Trump administration to roll back 50 years' worth of congressionally mandated rules protecting the public from industrial poisons, harmful drugs, adulterated food and defective products. Trump's regulation czar conceded the point immediately after the December 14 White House photo op.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">"I think returning to 1960s levels would likely require legislation. It's hard for me to know what that looks like,"&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/14/trump-promises-reduce-federal-regulations-pre-1960-level/953072001/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">said</a>&nbsp;Neomi Rao, director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget. "Deregulation also takes time. If we're doing something consistent with the law, it takes time to reduce rules."</p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In the meantime, the Trump administration is resorting to the next best—or worst—thing, depending on your perspective: It has cut back dramatically on enforcing environmental laws.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A recent New York Times&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/10/us/politics/pollution-epa-regulations.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">investigative report</a>&nbsp;compared the number of enforcement actions filed in the first nine months of the Trump EPA with what the two previous administrations did over the same time period. Under&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Scott Pruitt</a>, the EPA initiated about 1,900 cases, about a third fewer than under Lisa Jackson, President Obama's first EPA administrator, and about a quarter fewer than under Christine Todd Whitman, who directed the agency under President George W. Bush and was not known for aggressive enforcement.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Times also found that the Trump EPA is reluctant to seek civil penalties. In its first nine months, the agency tagged polluters for about $50.4 million for violations. Adjusted for inflation, that amounts to roughly 70 percent of what the Bush EPA levied and only about 39 percent of what the Obama EPA sought over the same time frame.</font></p><p style="margin: 10px 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>To make matters worse, Pruitt is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/us/politics/scott-pruitt-epa-justice-department-funding.html?r=0" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">threatening</a>&nbsp;to cut off funding for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, which files lawsuits on behalf of the EPA's Superfund program</b> to force polluters to cover the cost of cleaning up contaminated sites. In recent years, the EPA has reimbursed the division more than $20 million annually.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">In an apparent attempt to blunt criticism, Trump acknowledged at last week's photo op that purging a half century of protections could have an adverse impact, and he assured Americans that he would not let that happen.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">"We know that some of the rules contained in these pages have been beneficial to our nation, and we're going to keep them," he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/14/trump-promises-reduce-federal-regulations-pre-1960-level/953072001/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">said</a>. "We want to protect our workers, our safety, our health, and we want to protect our water, we want to protect our air, and our country's natural beauty."</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;">Somehow, I'm not convinced. Given the president's penchant for lying, his administration's abysmal track record, and now his avowed intention to kill nearly 90 percent of federal regulations, the smoke Trump is blowing is as thick as 1960s New York smog.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin: 10px 0px;"><em>Elliott Negin is a senior writer at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; word-wrap: break-word;">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>.</em></p><div class="around-the-web" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="around-the-webheadline" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase;">RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB</div><ul class="around-the-weblist" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none;"><li class="around-the-webitem"><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/14/trump-promises-reduce-federal-regulations-pre-1960-level/953072001/" class="around-the-weblink" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; line-height: normal; display: inline-block; margin-top: 10px; word-wrap: break-word;">Trump promises to reduce federal regulations to pre-1960 level ›</a></li><li class="around-the-webitem">
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</div><div><h2 style="margin-top: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1.5rem; line-height: 1.25; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">They’re Using an Obscure 1990s Law to Wipe Out Regulations Protecting Citizens and the Environment</h2><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="byline" style="font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-caps: small-caps; font-weight: bold;">By Jillian S. Ambroz</span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Republicans of the 115<span style="line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">th</span>&nbsp;Congress and Trump have not accomplished much in the way of landmark legislation this year, unless you count overturning President Barack Obama’s achievements. And on that front, they’ve been prolific.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In Trump’s first four months of office, he and Congress have completely eliminated 14 rules issued by Obama—rules ranging from things like protecting Americans from coal waste in drinking water to blocking individuals with severe mental illness from buying firearms—using the Congressional Review Act.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">And lest you think that headache of a legislation that had only been wielded once in 21 years before now might be going away anytime soon, think again.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Congress has targeted at least 31 rules in just 11 months, including the ones that have been nullified already, according to a report prepared by former senior staff member of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3480518-CRA-Resolutions-Table-0303.html" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Congressional Research Service</a>, Curtis W. Copeland. Those that have not been disapproved have been introduced to the House and await further action.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It’s not enough to just remove the rules, this Republican-led Congress and Trump want to nullify these acts completely, as if they never took place.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">To do that requires a joint resolution by a simple majority in each house of Congress, which is easy for this current legislative branch. After 60 legislative days, Trump can sign the resolution into law and nullify the previous rule.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But once undone, it’s not easy to reinstate a rule removed by the Congressional Review Act, which is written so that essentially a new law is required to reinstate a new or similar rule like the one that was removed by it. And that is how people like influential ex-White House strategist Steve Bannon and pollution advocate&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/science/myron-ebell-trump-epa.html?r=0" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Myron Ebell</a>, who was in charge of the blueprint for the transition and transformation of the Environmental Protection Agency, crafted this deregulation regime that could take years to undo once Trump leaves office.</font></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Bannon once said the goal of the Trump presidency is the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-03-27/bannon-s-requiem-for-the-administrative-state" style="text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">“deconstruction of the administrative state.”</a></font></p><div class="action-box" style="margin: 2em; padding: 1em; background-color: rgb(219, 229, 241); border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em;"><strong>ACTION BOX/<em>What You Can Do About It</em></strong></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em;">Contact the White House and tell Trump using the Congressional Review Act and undoing these regulations is harmful to the American people. Call 202-456-1111, reach him on&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Twitter</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">email</a>.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em;">Contact&nbsp;<a href="https://paulryan.house.gov/" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Speaker Paul Ryan</a>&nbsp;(R-Wis.) by phone at 202-225-3031,&nbsp;<a href="https://paulryan.house.gov/contact/email.htm" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">email</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/speakerryan" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Facebook</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerRyan" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Twitter</a>. Contact Senate Majority Leader&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Mitch McConnell</a>&nbsp;(R-Ky.)by phone at 202-224-2541,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contact?p=ContactForm" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">email</a>,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/mitchmcconnell" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Facebook</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/SenateMajLdr" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Twitter</a>.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 2em;">As always, contact your&nbsp;<a href="http://www.house.gov/representatives" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">representatives</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">senators</a>&nbsp;and ask them to stop using the CRA to roll back safeguards for the American public.</p></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Congressional Review Act was part of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America and signed into law in 1996 by President Bill Clinton.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Before Trump took office, the Congressional Review Act was only used once before when the 107<span style="line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">th</span>&nbsp;Congress overturned a rule by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The rule addressed ergonomic injuries in the workplace.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Here are just a few of the rules Congress and Trump have overturned:</p><ul style="list-style: circle inside; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><li style="margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 2em;"><a href="http://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-joint-resolution/41?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22H.J.+Res.+41%22%5D%7D&r=1" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Oil Company Foreign Payment Disclosure Rule</a>: Forced oil companies to disclose payments to foreign governments.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 2em;"><a href="http://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-joint-resolution/38?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22H.J.+Res.+38%22%5D%7D&r=1" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">The Stream Protection Rule</a>: Enforced regulations on coal mine operators to protect streams and other water sources from coal waste.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 2em;"><a href="http://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-joint-resolution/83?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22h.j.+res+83%22%5D%7D&r=1" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Workplace Injuries Rule</a>: Required employers to maintain accurate records of serious workplace injuries and illnesses for up to five years.</li><li style="margin-bottom: 20px; line-height: 2em;"><a href="http://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-joint-resolution/40?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22H.J.+Res.+40%22%5D%7D&r=1" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Gun Control Amendment</a>: Required the Social Security Administration to provide instant information to the National Instant Criminal History Background Check System on individuals meeting certain criteria, including severe mental health issues, that would prevent them from being able to purchase a firearm.</li></ul><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Time and time again, Republicans have abused the Congressional Review Act to appease the extreme right wing of their party and ensure giveaways to corporate special interests,” top Senate Democrat &nbsp;Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a&nbsp;<a href="http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/04/donald-trump-obama-legacy-215009" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">Politico</a>article.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">It was thought there was a finite window for the Congress and Trump to employ the Congressional Review Act, which was previously considered a vehicle to undo so-called “Midnight Regulations” of an outgoing administration. The consensus was Obama actions only back to 2016 could be undone. That may not be the case. Technically, Congress can go back over unsubmitted agency rules, too—all the way back to 1996—and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/susandudley/2017/03/07/crazy-after-all-these-years-extending-the-reach-of-the-congressional-review-act/#7433792c24b8" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">belatedly submit them&nbsp; for disapproval</a>. Thousands of rules and regulations could be up for disapproval.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 2.5rem; line-height: 2em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In May, Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.)&nbsp;<a href="http://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/1140?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22Booker+Udall+Congressional+Review+Act%22%5D%7D&r=1" style="background-color: transparent; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.3s linear;">introduced a bill to repeal the Congressional Review Act</a>. It’s unlikely the Republican-led Congress will give up its most powerful tool anytime soon. At least not before the 116<span style="line-height: 0; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; top: -0.5em;">th</span>Congress is sworn in.</p></div><div>
</div><div>=</div></div><div style=""><div style="">=</div><div style=""><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-energy-sector-2501855523.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-energy-sector-2501855523.html</a></div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><div class="headline-container" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h1 class="headline h1" style="margin: 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; line-height: 31px;">Pruitt, Zinke and Perry Target Clean Air and Water Rules to Curb 'Burdens' on Energy Sector</h1></div><span class="js-scroll-trigger js--active" data-target="body" data-triggers="render-rebelbar" data-toggle-class="with-floating-shares" data-loaded="true" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="utm_campaign" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url" data-elid="2501855523" data-headline="Pruitt, Zinke and Perry Target Clean Air and Water Rules to Curb 'Burdens' on Energy Sector" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px;"><div class="body-description" style=""><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">At a speech in North Dakota last month,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">President Trump</a>&nbsp;boasted that his administration is refocusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" style="text-decoration-line: none;">EPA</a>) to its "core mission: clean air and clean water."</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"That's what I want—clean air," he continued. "Think of it. We talk about the—I want beautiful clean air, and I want crystal-clean water, right? That's what we want."</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">That statement—based on Trump's nine months of environmental rollbacks, from approving the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/dakota-access-pipeline" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Dakota Access</a>and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/keystone-xl" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Keystone</a>&nbsp;pipelines to gutting the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/clean-power-plan" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Clean Power Plan</a>—could not be further from the truth.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In a shocking report from&nbsp;<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-environment-regulation/epa-to-review-how-clean-air-water-laws-affect-energy-sector-jobs-idUSKBN1CU38W?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Reuters</a>, EPA Administrator&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Scott Pruitt</a>, Energy Sec.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/rick-perry" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Rick Perry</a>&nbsp;and Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke have each announced separate steps on how they will carry out President Trump's&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-executive-order-weather-underground-2334907513.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">"energy independence" executive order</a>&nbsp;in March to ease regulatory burdens on energy development.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">One of the most environmentally consequential steps comes from Pruitt's EPA, which will try to pinpoint how the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/clean-air-act" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Clean Air Act</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/clean-water-act" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Clean Water Act</a>&nbsp;affects energy sectors jobs. (Earth to Mr. President: these landmark laws are designed to give us "clean air" and "crystal-clean water.")</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"We are working to curb unnecessary and duplicative regulatory burdens that do not serve the American people," Pruitt said in a statement.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Here are the other steps that Trump's agencies will be taking to boost the energy sector, as detailed by Reuters:</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-left: 20px;">"The EPA will also create a task force to simplify the permit process for building new polluting facilities, weigh options to revamp national ambient air quality standards and launch a "smart sectors" program to engage with industries as it crafts regulations.

</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-left: 20px;">The Energy Department said it will focus on streamlining natural gas exports, review its national laboratory policies, review National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations for approving major infrastructure projects and reviewing the agency's popular household appliance standards program.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-left: 20px;">The Interior Department submitted what it called an 'energy burdens' report to the president, which outlines some Obama-era regulations it has started to reverse or reform, or has plans to.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-left: 20px;">This includes lifting the moratorium on coal leases on federal land, reviewing regulations on fracking on federal and tribal land, developing a five-year plan for offshore drilling and streamlining the federal leasing program and permitting process."</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">While the administration claims that boosting jobs and the economy are the end goal, a new feature in&nbsp;<a href="http://time.com/4998279/company-man-in-washington/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">TIME</a>questions if Pruitt's actions—and Trump's by extension—are serving industry interests instead:&nbsp;
</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">"Since [Pruitt] took office, more than a dozen EPA regulations have been killed or put under review, from fuel-efficiency standards to regulations on the disposal of coal ash to restrictions on toxic metals like arsenic in waterways," the magazine noted. "Moreover, the Trump Administration has proposed slashing funding for the agency's law-enforcement branch, which identifies polluters under existing regulations.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-left: 20px;">"All this has aided businesses, propping up the declining coal industry, ensuring profit margins for chemical makers and reducing compliance costs for farmers. But the change has also weakened an agency designed to save lives.</p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); margin-left: 20px;">"'They're trying to deconstruct and dismantle the basic protections,' says Mustafa Ali, a career EPA official who resigned in March after 24 years. 'They're creating situations where more folks are going to get sick, some folks are going to die, more folks are going to be put in harm's way.'"</p></div></div></div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div></span></span></div><div style="">=</div><div style=""><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-undermine-food-safety-2492082082.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-undermine-food-safety-2492082082.html</a></div><div style=""></div><div style=""><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/white-house-deregulations-2492421745.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/white-house-deregulations-2492421745.html</a></div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><div class="headline-container" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h1 class="headline h1" style="margin: 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; line-height: 31px;">While White House Touts Deregulations, Critics Denounce 'Craven' Pro-Corporate Policies</h1></div><span class="js-scroll-trigger" data-target="body" data-triggers="render-rebelbar" data-toggle-class="with-floating-shares" data-loaded="true" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div id="utm_campaign" style="margin-top: 10px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body js-update-url" data-elid="2492421745" data-headline="While White House Touts Deregulations, Critics Denounce 'Craven' Pro-Corporate Policies" style="margin: 10px; line-height: 24px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="body-description"><p>By&nbsp;<span style="background-color: initial;">Julia Conley</span></p><p>Public interest groups spoke out Monday about a White House event at which Vice President Mike Pence touted the Trump administration's deregulation efforts.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">President Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;did not attend the "Cut the Red Tape" event due to the attack in Las Vegas, but the meeting went on as planned with the White House barring the press from the room.</p><p><span style="text-align: center;">The administration has demonstrated repeatedly since Trump took office in January that it aims to roll back safeguards put in place by the Obama administration in a number of areas. The president announced early in his term that he would offset any new regulation by scrapping two existing regulations.&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-effect-deregulation/health-and-safety-rules-targeted-as-trump-begins-to-slash-red-tape-idUSKCN1C619Q" target="blank" style="text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;">According to</a><span style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</span><span style="text-align: center;">an analysis by Reuters, federal agencies have so far taken 25 deregulatory steps, affecting infrastructure projects, the environment and workers in a wide variety of sectors.</span></p><p>Regarding the climate, in addition to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/06/02/trump-paris-agreement-and-breakdown-multilateralism" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">withdrawing</a>&nbsp;from the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Paris agreement</a>&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">climate change</a>, Trump has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/03/28/while-trump-attempts-cut-clean-power-plan-western-states-and-cities-expected" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">rolled back</a>&nbsp;President Barack Obama's&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/clean-power-plan" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Clean Power Plan</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/09/14/mind-bogglingly-dangerous-trump-epa-rolls-back-water-pollution-limits-coal-plants" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">scrapped</a>&nbsp;his rules limiting water pollution from coal-fired power plants, and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/08/18/544456726/trump-administration-reverses-bottled-water-ban-in-national-parks" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">reversed</a>&nbsp;a policy banning national parks from selling bottled water.</p><p>The&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>&nbsp;released a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2017/10/02/vice-president-pence-touts-success-gutting-public-health-and-safety-protections" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">statement</a>&nbsp;on the need for environmental protections like the one Trump has been eliminating. "These critical safeguards were created based on the best available science and public input, but now they're being quickly and carelessly deleted," said Andrew Rosenberg of the group's Center for Science and Democracy. "They've ignored the evidence and put the interests of industry lobbyists over public health and safety. These changes will put Americans at risk, yet the president and vice president see this as an opportunity to take a victory lap."</p><p>Pointing to the recent example of a chemical plant explosion in the aftermath of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-harvey" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Hurricane Harvey</a>&nbsp;in Texas, Rosenberg added, "The rush to undo these rules has real, damaging consequences. Communities near chemical facilities will have less information about the risks they face—raising the danger to families and first responders in the case of accidents like the recent Arkema explosion in Houston ... The vice president may tout it as an accomplishment that the administration has derailed so many public health and safety protections. For the rest of us, though—particularly for low-income neighborhoods and communities of color—this is no victory. It's a willful failure by the administration to do its job protecting Americans."</p><p>The American Sustainable Business Council was among those pushing back against the familiar Republican argument that deregulating industries is somehow a cost-saving maneuver.</p><p>"Over-regulation was not the problem that led to banks creating the mortgage crisis, that in turn resulted in the loss of 200,000 small businesses and 8.7 million jobs throughout the United States,"&nbsp;<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/10/02/%20http%3A//asbcouncil.org/news/press-release/asbc-statement-about-trump-administration%E2%80%99s-deregulation-agenda#.WdKihCtrxz8" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none;">pointed out</a>&nbsp;Richard Eidlin, co-founder of the American Sustainable Business Council. "The Trump administration's deregulation approach based on the arbitrary benchmark of eliminating 'two existing regulations for every one new regulation' is ill-conceived and will not achieve meaningful regulatory reform. Placing focus solely on the costs of compliance instead of the benefits to society contradicts the goals of many of the laws that enable these regulations."</p><p><span style="text-align: center;">The government watchdog group&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.citizen.org/" target="blank" style="text-align: center; text-decoration-line: none;">Public Citizen</a><span style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</span><span style="text-align: center;">called Trump's deregulation agenda a "craven attempt at self-enrichment and payback to corporate donors," adding, "in fact, robust regulation and enforcement are essential to economic prosperity."</span></p></div></div></div><div style=""><div><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"></font></div><div><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;">AN 817</font></div><div><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;" /><p style="letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; 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line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; 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line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">On August 15, this “infrastructure of fascism” came into clear focus in a bizarre and tragic way.&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87ilzMZmRa4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none;">Donald Trump marched into a conference room in Trump Tower on 5th&nbsp;Avenue in Manhattan to hold a hastily arranged press briefing on the first formal unveiling of his “Infrastructure” plan</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. He had key members of his economic team in tow—most notably, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Gary Cohn, head of Trump’s National Economic Council—both former Goldman Sachs bankers—and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, former Bank of America and Citicorp banker. This announcement of Trump’s “infrastructure plan,” which took only a few minutes, presented even less of a true infrastructure plan than he had floated during the election campaign.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;This was simply yet&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/climate/flooding-infrastructure-climate-change-trump-obama.html?r=0" style="text-decoration-line: none;">another de-regulation plan</a>&nbsp;dressed up as a plan for infrastructure investment. Effectively, this “executive order” served-up a wish list that would have been compiled by any real estate mogul who doesn’t want any government agency or public group to come between him, his building, and his bottom line. In the name of building more useful infrastructure and generating more jobs, Trump’s executive order is designed to let developers skirt&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-infrastructure-idUSKCN1AV1ZI" style="text-decoration-line: none;">environmental regulations</a>, and most likely, labor, health, and safety regulations as well. The Executive Order will make it a lot easier to build more Trump towers in flood plains, but do little or nothing for the country’s true infrastructure needs.</span></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><p style="letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But this roll-out of a fake infrastructure plan was not the most interesting or surprising thing about this event. It was the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gary-cohn-upset-disgusted-trump-charlottesville-press-conference-2017-8" style="text-decoration-line: none;">press conference Trump held afterwards</a>.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c3IQUnyGps" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Using his<b>Jewish and Asian-American economic team as a photo-op backdrop</b></a>&nbsp;and the creation of infrastructure and jobs as his bait, Trump took the occasion to assure his neo-fascist, white supremacist and nationalist base that, yes, he was still their man. The reporters at hand, having little interest in infrastructure, wanted to hear a clear statement from Trump decrying the violent and deadly acts committed over the weekend by Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va. But instead Trump used his infrastructure plan and his promise of “millions of jobs” to rally his base supporters, all the while demonizing the counter-protestors (calling them violent members of “the alt-left” who were “at least” as responsible for the violence and mayhem as those on the right).</font></p><p style="letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This event, then, tied, in a sinister but clear way, Trump’s infrastructure plan with the racist, anti-Semitic, and neo-fascist members of Trump’s base movement and linked them, in turn, to the bankers and policy makers like Gary Cohn and Steve Mnuchin who have so much to gain from the tax subsidies and privatization that are the essence of these plans.&nbsp;</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Gary Cohn was reportedly “furious” about what Trump said and did. But&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/gary-cohn-upset-disgusted-trump-charlottesville-press-conference-2017-8" style="text-decoration-line: none;">according to reporters</a>, Cohn, like so many Republicans in Congress, will most likely remain quiet, and soldier on, presumably in the hope of getting a big payoff down the road. (Cohn reportedly wants to succeed Janet Yellen as Chair of the Federal Reserve; and his friends have millions to gain from the privatization schemes.)</span></p></div><div><font style="box-sizing: border-box; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 1.2; letter-spacing: -0.2px;"></font></div></div><div style=""><p>=</p><p><a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-teams-rolling-back-regulations-led-by-hires-with-deep-industry-ties">https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-teams-rolling-back-regulations-led-by-hires-with-deep-industry-ties</a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">President Trump entered office pledging to cut red tape, and within weeks, he ordered his administration to <b>assemble teams to aggressively scale back government regulations.</b></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">But the effort — a signature theme in Trump’s populist campaign for the White House — is being conducted in large part out of public view and often by political appointees with deep industry ties and potential conflicts.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Most government agencies have declined to disclose information about their deregulation teams. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But ProPublica and The New York Times identified 71 appointees, including 28 with potential conflicts, t</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">hrough interviews, public records and documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Some appointees are reviewing rules their previous employers sought to weaken or kill, and at least two may be positioned to profit if certain regulations are undone.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The appointees include lawyers who have represented businesses in cases against government regulators, staff members of political dark money groups, employees of industry-funded organizations opposed to environmental rules and at least three people who were registered to lobby the agencies they now work for.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">At the Education Department alone, two members of the deregulation team were most recently employed by pro-charter advocacy groups or operators, and one appointee was an executive handling regulatory issues at a for-profit college operator.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">So far, the process has been scattershot. Some agencies have been soliciting public feedback, while others refuse even to disclose who is in charge of the review. In many cases, responses to public records requests have been denied, delayed or severely redacted.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The Interior Department has not disclosed the correspondence and calendars for its team. But a review of more than 1,300 pages of handwritten sign-in sheets for guests visiting the agency’s headquarters in Washington found that appointees had met regularly with industry representatives.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Over a four-month period, from February through May, at least 58 representatives of the oil and gas industry signed their names on the agency’s visitor logs before meeting with appointees.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The EPA also rejected requests to release the appointment calendar of the official leading its team — a former top executive for an industry-funded political group — even as she met privately with industry representatives.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">And the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security provided the titles for most appointees to their review teams, but not names.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">
Meghan Burris, a spokeswoman there, said: “As previous administrations have recognized, it’s good government to periodically reassess existing regulations. Past regulatory review efforts, however, have not taken a consistent enough look at regulations on the books.”When asked for comment about the activities of the deregulation teams, the White House referred reporters to the Office of Management and Budget.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">With billions of dollars at stake in the push to deregulate, corporations and other industry groups are hiring lawyers, lobbyists and economists to help navigate this new avenue for influence. Getting to the front of the line is crucial, as it can take years to effect regulatory changes.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Competition will be fierce,” the</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> law firm Clark Hill, which represents businesses pitching the Environmental Protection Agency, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">said in a marketing memo. “In all likelihood, interested parties will need to develop a multi-pronged strategy to expand support and win pre-eminence over competing regulatory rollback candidates.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Jane Luxton, a lawyer at the firm, said she advised clients to pay for economic and legal analyses that government agencies, short on staff, could use to expedite changes. She declined to identify the clients.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">“You may say this is an agency’s job, but the agencies are totally overloaded,” Luxton said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">On a cloudy, humid day in March,<b> Laura Peterson, a top lobbyist for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/31/business/scientists-loved-and-loathed-by-syngenta-an-agrochemical-giant.html" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1; text-decoration-line: none;">Syngenta</a></b>, arrived at the headquarters for the Interior Department. She looped the letter “L” across the agency’s sign-in sheet.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Her company, a top pesticide maker based in Switzerland, had spent eight years and millions of dollars lobbying the Obama administration on environmental rules, with limited success.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But Peterson had an in with the new administration.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Scott Cameron, newly installed at the Interior Department and a member of its deregulation team, had just left a nonprofit he had founded. He had advocated getting pesticides approved and out to market faster. His group counted Syngenta as a financial partner.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The meeting with Peterson was one of the first Cameron took as a new government official.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Neither side would reveal what was discussed. “I’m not sure that’s reporting information I have to give you,” Peterson said.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">But lobbying records offered clues.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Syngenta has been one of several pesticide manufacturers pushing for changes to the Endangered Species Act. When federal agencies take actions that may jeopardize endangered animals or plants, they are generally supposed to consult with the Interior Department, which could raise objections.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">For decades, the EPA largely ignored this provision when approving new pesticides. But recently, a legal challenge from environmental groups forced its hand — a change that affected Syngenta.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Pesticide lobbyists have been working behind the scenes at agencies and on Capitol Hill to change the provision. Companies have argued that they should be exempt from consulting with the Interior Department because they already undergo EPA approval.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Along with spending millions of dollars on lobbying, they have funded advocacy groups aligned with their cause. Cameron’s nonprofit, the Reduce Risks From Invasive Species Coalition, was one such group for Syngenta.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The organization says on its website that its goals include reducing “the regulatory burden of the Endangered Species Act on American society by addressing invasive species.” One way to do that is to use pesticides. The nonprofit’s mission includes creating “business opportunities for commercial products and services used to control invasive species.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Because donations are not publicly reported, it is unclear how much Syngenta has contributed to Cameron’s organization, but his group has called the pesticide company one of its “<a href="https://www.rrisc.org/featured/rrisc-holds-its-second-annual-congressional-reception-and-awards-ceremony/" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; line-height: 1; text-decoration-line: none;">generous sponsors</a>.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Cameron also served on a committee of experts and stakeholders, including Syngenta, that advised the federal government on decisions related to invasive species. At a committee event last July, he said that one of his priorities was “getting biocontrol agents to market faster,” according to meeting minutes.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Paul Minehart, a Syngenta spokesman, said: “Employees regularly engage with those in government that relate to agriculture and our business. Our purpose is to balance serving the public health and environment with enabling farmers’ access to innovation.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">A spokeswoman for the Interior Department did not respond to questions about how Cameron’s relationship with Syngenta might influence his review of regulations.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Under the law, members of the Trump administration can seek ethics waivers to work on issues that overlap with their past business careers. They can also formally recuse themselves when potential conflicts arise.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">In many cases, the administration has refused to say whether appointees to Trump’s deregulation teams have done either.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>One such appointee is Samantha Dravis, the chairwoman of the deregulation team at the EPA, who was a top official at the Republican Attorneys General Association.</b> Dravis was also president of the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rule of Law Defense Fund, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">which brought together energy companies and Republican attorneys general to file lawsuits against the federal government over Obama-era environmental regulations.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The Republican association’s work&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/politics/energy-firms-in-secretive-alliance-with-attorneys-general.html?r=0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; text-decoration-line: none;">has been criticized</a>&nbsp;as a vehicle for corporate donors to gain the credibility and expertise of state attorneys general in fighting federal regulations. Donors include the American Petroleum Institute, the energy company ConocoPhillips and the coal giant Alpha Natural Resources.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The Republican association also received funding from Freedom Partners, backed by the conservative billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch. Dravis worked for that group as well, which recently identified&nbsp;<a href="http://freedompartners.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/removing_barriers.pdf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; text-decoration-line: none;">regulations it wants eliminated</a>. Among them are EPA rules relating to clean-water protections and restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Liz Bowman, an EPA spokeswoman, declined to say whether Dravis had recused herself from issues dealing with previous employers or their backers, or had discussed regulations with any of them.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">“As you will find when you receive Samantha’s calendar, she has met with a range of stakeholders, including nonprofits, industry groups and others, on a wide range of issues,” Bowman said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Bowman said the calendar could be obtained through a public records request. ProPublica and The Times had already filed a request for records including calendars, but the agency’s response did not include those documents. (An appeal was filed, but the calendar has not yet been released.)</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">“We take our ethics responsibilities seriously,” Bowman said. “All political staff have had an ethics briefing and know their obligations.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Addressing the agency’s regulatory efforts, she said, “We are here to enact a positive environmental agenda that provides real results to the American people, without unnecessarily hamstringing our economy.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">At the Agriculture Department, the only known appointee to the deregulation team is Rebeckah Adcock. She previously lobbied the department as a top executive both at CropLife America, </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">a trade association for pesticide makers, and the American Farm Bureau Federation, a trade group for farmers.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The department deals with many issues involving farmers, including crop insurance and land conservation rules, but it would not disclose whether Adcock had recused herself from discussions affecting her past employers.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">At the Energy Department, a member of the deregulation team is Brian McCormack, who formerly handled political and external affairs for Edison Electric Institute, a trade association representing investor-owned electrical utilities.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">While there, McCormack&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DycMpg-Kkg4" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; position: relative; line-height: 1; text-decoration-line: none;">worked with</a>&nbsp;the American Legislative Exchange Council, an industry-funded group. Both organizations fought against rooftop solar policies in statehouses across the country</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. Utility companies lose money when customers generate their own power, even more so when they are required to pay consumers who send surplus energy back into the grid.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Though the Energy Department does not directly regulate electrical utilities, it does help oversee international electricity trade, the promotion of renewable energy and the security of domestic energy production. After joining the department, McCormack helped start a review of the nation’s electrical grid, according to an agency memo.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Clean-energy advocates fear the inquiry will cast solar energy, which can fluctuate, as a threat to grid reliability. Such a finding could scare off state public utility commissions considering solar policies and serve as a boon for electrical utilities, said Matt Kasper, research director at the Energy and Policy Institute, an environmental group.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Disclosure records show that while McCormack was at Edison, the trade group lobbied the federal government, including the Energy Department, on issues including grid reliability.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The department would not answer questions about McCormack’s involvement with those issues.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Across the government, at least two appointees to deregulation teams have been granted waivers from ethics rules related to prior jobs, and at least nine others have pledged to recuse themselves from issues related to former employers or clients.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Some of the recusals involve appointees at the Small Business Administration and the Education Department, including Bob Eitel, who leads the education team and was vice president for regulatory legal services at an operator of for-profit colleges.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Another recusal involves </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Byron Brown, an EPA appointee who is married to a senior government affairs manager for the Hess Corporation, the oil and gas company.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Hess was fined and ordered to spend more than $45 million on pollution controls by the EPA during the Obama administration because of alleged Clean Air Act violations at its refinery in Port Reading, N.J. Disclosure records show that Brown’s wife, Lesley Schaaff, lobbied the EPA last year on behalf of the company.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">An EPA spokeswoman declined to say whether Brown or Schaaff owned Hess stock, though an agency ethics official said Brown had recused himself from evaluating regulations affecting the company.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The agency declined to say whether Brown would also recuse himself from issues affecting the American Petroleum Institute, where his wife’s company is a member. The association has lobbied to ease Obama-era natural gas rules, complaining in a recent letter to Brown’s team about an “unprecedented level of federal regulatory actions targeting our industry.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Before being selected to lead the deregulation team at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Maren Kasper was a director at Roofstock, an online marketplace for investors in single-family rental properties. Financial disclosure records show Kasper owned a stake in the company worth up to $50,000.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Changes at HUD could increase investor interest in rental homes, affecting a company like Roofstock. The agency, for example, oversees the federal government’s Section 8 subsidies program for low-income renters.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Ethics officials allowed Kasper to keep her stake, but she pledged not to take actions that would affect it. (A spokesman for HUD said Kasper’s tenure on the deregulation task force has since ended.)</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">One by one, scientists, educators and environmental activists approached the microphone and urged government officials not to weaken regulations intended to protect children from lead.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The forum, run by the EPA in a drab basement meeting room in Washington, was part of the agency’s push to identify regulations that were excessive and burdensome to businesses.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Few businesspeople showed up. As public hearings on regulations have played out in recent weeks, many industry and corporate representatives have instead met with Trump administration officials behind closed doors.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Still, the EPA has asked for written comments and held about a dozen public meetings. The agency has received more than 467,000 comments, many of them critical of potential rollbacks, but also some from businesses large and small pleading for relief from regulatory costs or confusion.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">After a quiet moment at the meeting to discuss lead regulations, the owner of a local painting company, Brian McCracken, moved to the microphone.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">McCracken was frustrated by what he described as costly rules that forced him to test for lead-based paint in homes before he could begin painting. Each test kit costs about $2, and he may need six per room. If a family then declines to hire him, those costs come out of his pocket.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">“I don’t think anyone is sitting here saying that lead-based dust does not hurt children,” he said. “That’s not what we are talking about. What the contractor needs is a better way to test.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">His voice quavered: “Why do I have to educate the general public about the hazards that generations before me created? It doesn’t make sense at all.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Trump is not the first president to take on such frustrations.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">President Bill Clinton declared the federal government was failing to regulate “without imposing unacceptable or unreasonable costs on society.” He assigned Vice President Al Gore to collect agencies’ suggestions for rules that should go. One rule dictated how to measure the consistency of grits.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">President George W. Bush’s regulatory overhaul focused more on how new regulations were created. The administration installed a political appointee inside each agency who generally had to sign off before any significant new rule could be initiated. At the EPA for a time, that official came from an industry-funded think tank.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">President Barack Obama ordered regular updates from each agency about the effectiveness of rules already on the books.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">
Like Bush, Trump has empowered political appointees. Though some agencies have included career staff members on their review teams, an executive order from Trump creating the teams does not require it — nonpolitical employees are generally believed to be more wedded to existing rules. And like Obama, Trump has imposed regular reporting requirements.“When you raise the profile, when it’s clearly an executive priority, it gets attention,” said Heather Krause, director of strategic issues at the Government Accountability Office, the main auditor of the federal government. According to the auditor’s analysis, the effect under Obama was mostly to clarify and streamline rules, not eliminate them.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">But Trump, who spent his business career on the other side of government regulations, has put an emphasis on cutting old rules.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">The same day he signed the executive order initiating the review, he addressed a large crowd of conservative activists at a Maryland convention center.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">“We have begun a historic program to reduce the regulations that are crushing our economy — crushing,” Trump said. “We’re going to put the regulations industry out of work and out of business.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">Amit Narang, a regulatory expert at the liberal advocacy group Public Citizen, said Trump’s decision to create teams of political appointees — formally known as regulatory reform task forces — should make it easier for the White House to overcome bureaucratic resistance to his rollback plans.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;">“To the extent there’s a deep state effect in this administration,” Narang said, “the task force will be more effective in trying to get the agenda in place.”</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1;">The New York Times’ Kitty Bennett contributed reporting to this story.</span></p><div class="note note-related" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: relative; line-height: 1;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1.4;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1;">If you know anything about these task forces, contact us at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:taskforce@propublica.org" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; text-decoration-line: none;">taskforce@propublica.org</a>&nbsp;or via Signal at 213–271–7217.&nbsp;<a href="http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/task-force" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; position: relative; line-height: 1; text-decoration-line: none;">See who we know about and who we don’t</a>.</span></p></div><p></p></div><div style=""><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2017/06/09/house_republicans_voted_to_gut_dodd_frank_for_no_good_reason.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2017/06/09/house_republicans_voted_to_gut_dodd_frank_for_no_good_reason.html</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div><b>House Republicans’ Vote to Gut Dodd-Frank Is the Wall Street Giveaway That Wall Street Doesn’t Need</b></div><div>
</div><div>By Daniel Gross</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div>On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed the Financial Choice Act, which is aimed at reducing the regulatory burden on banks imposed by the 2010 Dodd-Frank law. As the Wall Street Journal noted, the Financial Choice Act would “subject new financial rules to cost-benefit analysis, boost penalties for financial wrongdoers and repeal the Volcker rule restricting banks from speculative trading.” The general thrust is to free banks from oversight. Some banks would be exempt from the federal stress tests, and the legislation would scale back the ability of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to ride herd on abusive bank practices.</div><div>
</div><div>Of course, it’s only the House. Similar legislation in the Senate would have to beat a filibuster, and hence require some Democratic votes. So it’s not likely the Choice Act will become law in its current form. Which is a good thing. The idea that banks and the broader financial system need relief from today’s regulatory regime is belied by reality, including their balance sheets. The case for repeal of Dodd-Frank would be more compelling if banks were suffering—failing to make money, failing to attract deposits, failing in general. But they’re not.</div><div>
</div><div>Which highlights an important historical truth. Sure, deregulating an industry can supercharge growth for a few years. But it often ends up in a crash. That’s what happened with the savings and loan industry in the 1980s, and with Wall Street in the 2000s. Setting and enforcing standards, on the other hand, is actually quite good for a sector’s long-term health. Wall Street and the banking system only got back on their feet in the 1930s after the passage of sweeping New Deal reforms. Insurers and many areas of the health care economy have thrived under the Affordable Care Act. Just so, the U.S. banking system—which was in shambles in 2009—has thrived since the passage of Dodd-Frank. In fact, it’s hard to recall a point in recent history when banks were as safe and as profitable as they are right now.</div><div>
</div><div>The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation provides a handy reading of the sector’s health with its voluminous Quarterly Banking Profile. Dodd-Frank became law on July 27, 2010. In the quarter before its passage, the banking industry was licking its wounds and getting back on its feet after the financial crash, the housing bust, and the credit crisis. Twenty percent of the nation’s 7,830 banks were losing money, and 45 banks failed that quarter. The nation’s insured banks collectively charged off $49 billion in bad debt—loans they had made but now concluded they had no hope of collecting. Some 829 banks, with total assets of $403 billion, were on the FDIC’s “problem list.” Collectively, the industry eked out a profit of $21 billion.</div><div>
</div><div>The successive quarterly reports tell a tale of recovery and profitable growth—with vastly lower rates of failure and significantly higher profits.</div><div>
</div><div><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Now, Dodd-Frank contained a lot of regulations. And while it did explicitly ban some practices—like using government-insured deposits to engage in proprietary trading—the most important thing it did was to set higher standards. Want to be part of the Federal Deposit Insurance program? Then you’ve got to hold more capital, you have to submit to annual stress tests, and you must operate with the knowledge that the CFPB is going to be watching you to make sure you aren’t abusing your customers.</font></div><div>
</div><div>While banks grumbled and lobbied for changes, they generally complied with Dodd-Frank. As a result, they became more careful and choosy about how they lent. Many smaller institutions that were struggling to survive decided it made more sense to merge or being acquired. Thanks to consolidation and failure, there were 5,856 banks in the first quarter of 2017, 25 percent fewer than in early 2010.</div><div>
</div><div><b>The pace of lending abated from the frenzied tempo of the bubble years. But lending today is far more effective—and profitable—than it was before Dodd-Frank.&nbsp;</b>It helps that the economy and jobs have been expanding consecutively for the last several years. But we haven’t seen the type of reckless lending from banks that tend to take place as expansion lengthen.</div><div>
</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Bank failures have fallen virtually every year. Last year, only five small banks failed. The number of banks on the problem list has fallen to 112, and they’re mostly very small</span>. The combined assets of today’s troubled banks is $24 billion—a decline of 94 percent from before the passage of Dodd-Frank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Fund, which was $20 billion in the hole in the spring of 2010, is at a record high of $83 billion. Only 3 percent of the banks in the U.S. reported a less in the most recent quarter. Banks charged off $11.5 billion in bad loans in the quarter—a decline of 75 percent from the second quarter of 2010. After making a combined—and record—$170 billion in profits in 2016, banks regulated by the FDIC earned $44 billion in the first quarter of 2017.</div><div>
</div><div>Does this really look like an industry that is struggling mightily in the face of zealous regulation?</div></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; line-height: 29.124px; widows: 1;"></p></div></div><div style=""></div><div style=""><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Sometimes, the general public is completely unaware of very important decisions government makes because they are shrouded in technicalities. Yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that could crippled the ability of government to regulate private industry.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;"><span id="more-258744" style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">The bill modifies the Administrative Procedure Act, which was passed in 1946, and represented a compromise between New Deal Democrats and free-market Republicans. It sanctioned the power of government agencies like the National Labor Relations Board or the Federal Communications Commission to regulate the private market, but required public hearings on proposed rulings and court suits to overturn regulations.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">The Supreme Court ruled in 1984 that the courts could only overturn rulings that were “arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion.” In other words, the courts would have to defer to the regulatory agencies in finding whether a ruling was justified. But the Republicans in the House passed a law that would allow the courts to rule without giving deference to the regulatory agencies. A Republican court could, for instance, overrule decisions of the Food and Drug Administration or the Environmental Protection Agency on concocted Constitutional grounds – say, by arguing that it violated the “takings” clause of the Constitution. That could cripple the regulatory agencies.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Martin Lobel, a Washington lawyer and expert in tax and regulatory policy, sent me an email explaining the Republican action:</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; border-left: 5px solid rgb(221, 221, 221) !important; padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px !important;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">On January 11, while everyone’s attention was focused on confirmation hearings and attempts to repeal Obamacare, the House passed The Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017 (H.R. 5) which would amend the Administrative Procedures Act to overturn the deference courts have given to administrative agency decisions by a vote of 238-183. I was told the Republican leadership was confident, since there are 114 judicial vacancies that they expect will be filled by “conservatives,” this change will significantly help to end “big government,” as will the new Administration’s appointees to the various regulatory bodies. BEWARE.</p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Marty’s admonition, “Beware,” should be taken very seriously. If the Senate passes this act, and President Trump signs it, federal agencies entrusted with enforcing the Clean Air Act or other landmark legislation, will no longer be able to do their job.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Update: We’ve gotten two interesting responses to my analysis of the Regulatory Accountability Act that House Republicans passed this week. Reader DP agrees with the “overall thrust of the article,” but says that I didn’t explain well how the courts could now overturn agency rulings. NP says that what is at issue is not whether the court can introduce Constitutional considerations, but whether it must accept an agency’s ruling on the basis of whether its decision-making process is “rational,” or whether it can substitute a new process of its own. NP writes,</p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; border-left: 5px solid rgb(221, 221, 221) !important; padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px !important;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Under the current deferential APA standards, such determinations are to be affirmed if they are rational or reasonable — the court is not empowered to decide what decision or approach is best, only whether the agency was rational. If such deference is removed by Congress, the court can then “substitute its own judgment” for that of the agency. That would be a big deal, a big change.</p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px;">Reader DB doesn’t accept the thrust of my article and accuses me of echoing “what comes out of Trump’s mouth.” DB says he says agencies on behalf of public interest groups that want to enforce, say, the Endangered Species Act. He says the Republican law would make it “potentially easier for citizens to enforce these laws.”<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />If one sees the regulatory agencies as the problem, and if most of the suits brought against them were by public interest organizations, then DB would have a point. But what the law – passed by a party-line Republican vote – would do is to make it easer for businesses and their lobbies like the Competitive Enterprise Institute (a leading backer of the legislation) to overturn applications of major legislation like the Clean Air Act. That’s why Public Citizen and all but five Democrats opposed the law. Thanks to both NP and DB for their responses.</p></div><div style="">=</div><div style="">goodlatte sponsor</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">co:</div><div style=""><table class="item_table" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; width: 664px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(51, 51, 51);"><tbody><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/collin-peterson/P000258"><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rep. Peterson, Collin C. [D-MN-7]</b></a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/03/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/steve-chabot/C000266">Rep. Chabot, Steve [R-OH-1]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/03/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/tom-marino/M001179">Rep. Marino, Tom [R-PA-10]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/03/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/john-ratcliffe/R000601">Rep. Ratcliffe, John [R-TX-4]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/03/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/blaine-luetkemeyer/L000569">Rep. Luetkemeyer, Blaine [R-MO-3]*</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/03/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/lamar-smith/S000583">Rep. Smith, Lamar [R-TX-21]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/pete-sessions/S000250">Rep. Sessions, Pete [R-TX-32]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/david-young/Y000066">Rep. Young, David [R-IA-3]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/doug-collins/C001093">Rep. Collins, Doug [R-GA-9]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/trent-franks/F000448">Rep. Franks, Trent [R-AZ-8]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/raul-labrador/L000573">Rep. Labrador, Raul R. [R-ID-1]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/bill-huizenga/H001058">Rep. Huizenga, Bill [R-MI-2]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/evan-jenkins/J000297">Rep. Jenkins, Evan H. [R-WV-3]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/scott-tipton/T000470">Rep. Tipton, Scott R. [R-CO-3]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/randy-hultgren/H001059">Rep. Hultgren, Randy [R-IL-14]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/ann-wagner/W000812">Rep. Wagner, Ann [R-MO-2]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/bradley-byrne/B001289">Rep. Byrne, Bradley [R-AL-1]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/06/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/mimi-walters/W000820">Rep. Walters, Mimi [R-CA-45]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/09/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/mike-bishop/B001293">Rep. Bishop, Mike [R-MI-8]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/09/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/george-holding/H001065">Rep. Holding, George [R-NC-13]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/09/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/jodey-arrington/A000375">Rep. Arrington, Jodey C. [R-TX-19]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/09/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/aumua-amata-radewagen/R000600">Rep. Radewagen, Aumua Amata Coleman [R-AS-At Large]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/09/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/clay-higgins/H001077">Rep. Higgins, Clay [R-LA-3]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/10/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/todd-rokita/R000592">Rep. Rokita, Todd [R-IN-4]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/10/2017</td></tr><tr><td class="actions" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221);"><a target="blank" href="https://www.congress.gov/member/andy-harris/H001052">Rep. Harris, Andy [R-MD-1]</a></td><td class="date" style="vertical-align: top; padding: 12px 10px; border-top: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); white-space: nowrap;">01/10/2017</td></tr></tbody></table></div><div style=""></div><div style=""><a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24022017/donald-trump-executive-order-regulations-climate-change">https://insideclimatenews.org/news/24022017/donald-trump-executive-order-regulations-climate-change</a></div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Every federal agency will set up a task force dedicated to quickly finding regulations to eliminate, as mandated by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3474928-The-WHITE-HOUSE-EO.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">an executive order</a>&nbsp;signed Friday by President Donald Trump. It is one of a series of moves the White House believes will&nbsp;free U.S. businesses from the bonds of health, safety, consumer and environmental protections.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Surrounded by executives from some of the nation's largest corporations, Trump made clear his anti-regulatory drive is a large part of his jobs-creation plan.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Although Trump did not mention climate change in the order, this step to rein in the regulators is intended, among other things, to constrain their actions to control emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants from fossil fuels.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Every regulation should pass a simple test," Trump said as&nbsp;he&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/24/presidential-executive-order-enforcing-regulatory-reform-agenda" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">signed the order</a>. "Does it make life better or safer for American workers or consumers? If the answer is no, we will be getting rid of it and getting rid of it quickly."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The regulatory reform task forces will be required to report on their progress within 90 days.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The White House issued&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/24/president-trump-cuts-through-more-red-tape" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">a statement&nbsp;</a>saying that the Obama administration had finalized more than 3,000 regulations, at a total cost to the American taxpayer of $873 billion. The White House has said the figure was from the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.americanactionforum.org/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">American Action Forum</a>, a conservative advocacy group run by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who served as director of the Congressional Budget Office from 2003-5. &nbsp;But the White House did not mention that American Action Forum's figures also show that t<a href="https://www.americanactionforum.org/insight/midnight-regulations-push-obama-administrations-regulatory-tally-past-890-billion/" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">he calculated benefits&nbsp;</a>of the Obama era regulations outstrip the costs by more than 3-to-1 ($458 billion annually in benefits to $139 billion annually in costs.)</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In taking up the cause of "regulatory reform," Trump is following in the footsteps of virtually every one of his predecessors. It was a central theme of President Ronald Reagan's domestic policy, and President George H.W. Bush established a "<a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/1349800/cowniaancompe00637.pdf" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Council on Competitiveness</a>" in the White House to cut red tape. In President Bill Clinton's administration, the effort was called "<a href="http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/npr/library/speeches/226a.html" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Reinventing Government</a>," and was headed by Vice President Al Gore. President George W. Bush kept in place an executive order his predecessor had penned, but his White House rejected more agency-written rules during his first year than were sent back to agencies in all eight years of the Clinton administration.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">President Obama, too, issued an&nbsp;<a href="https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/18/executive-order-13563-improving-regulation-and-regulatory-review" style="box-sizing: inherit; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">executive order</a>&nbsp;calling for a government-wide review of regulations to reduce costs and to get rid of "absurd and unnecessary paperwork requirements that waste time and money."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Trump executive order cites the previous orders by Clinton and Obama—keeping them in place and directing the new task forces to carry out regulatory reform "consistent with the law."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Although each administration was able to count successes in reforming regulation—whether in number of pages of eliminated from the Federal Code, or bureaucracies trimmed—each also added to the federal rule book, often responding to new laws written by Congress or new policy imperatives. &nbsp;Under the second Bush administration, a large number of regulations were written for the new Homeland Security agencies. &nbsp;President Obama's administration for the first time finalized regulations to address climate change.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Environmental groups were quick to warn that Trump's executive order would be used to weaken protections at the behest of polluters. "President Trump is rigging the system so corporate lobbyists can lower standards that protect the public health and safety of all people in this country," Tiernan Sittenfeld, vice president for government affairs at the League of Conservation Voters said in a statement. "These task forces will attempt to roll back commonsense protections for the air we breathe, the water we drink and the lands we cherish."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Said Greenpeace spokesman Travis Nichols, "The Trump administration wants less government, except when it wants more to carry out its oil and gas industry agenda."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The American Petroleum Institute's president, Jack Gerard, applauded Trump's order, citing 145 new rules and regulations affecting the industry in recent years. "Today's action by President Trump will unleash innovation across the nation, and it will allow our economy to grow, help lower energy costs for consumers, and help American workers," he said in a statement.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Trump said he was aiming to create jobs by reducing regulatory burden. "Excessive regulation is killing jobs and driving companies out of our country like never before," Trump said. "[It's] reducing wages and raising prices. I've listened to American companies and American workers complain, and I've been listening to them for a long time.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"The regulatory burden for these big companies and for small companies is an impossible situation, and we're going to solve it very quickly."</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The new edict follows Trump's first executive order on regulation that required two rules be eliminated for every one an agency finalizes. That order already faces a legal challenge by the Natural Resources Defense Council and the watchdog group Public Citizen. They argue that Trump exceeded his Constitutional authority by interfering with the authority vested in Congress, preventing federal agencies from carrying out the law as Congress mandated. The Trump administration has until the beginning of April to respond to that suit.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">One of the Trump administration's earliest actions upon taking office was to impose a regulatory freeze on federal agencies. Such a move is typical in a transition to a new administration, but observers said the Trump freeze was broader than usual, even halting new rules that had already been published in the Federal Register.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The administration is expected to issue more executive orders to rein in regulations in the days ahead, including one aimed specifically at repealing the Obama administration's signature climate initiative, the Clean Power Plan.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Among the chief executives who appeared with Trump at Friday's signing were Ken Frazier of the pharmaceutical giant Merck; Marillyn Hewson of the aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin; Andrew Liveris of Dow Chemical; and Juan Ricardo Luciano of Archer Daniels Midland.</p></div><div style=""></div><div style=""><h3 id="3xPUBv" style="font-style: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 0.6rem; padding: 0px;">A growing number of constitutional challenges to reasonable regulations</h3><p id="XBxoQ7" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; font-style: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In recent years, large corporations have been emboldened to argue that corporate speech rights entitle them to strike down&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorrell_v.IMS_Health_Inc" style="text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.1s, background-color 0.1s, fill 0.1s; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent;">state health care prescription information laws</a>&nbsp;— those forbidding pharmaceutical companies from selling information about the prescribing patterns of individual doctors, for example.&nbsp;</font></p><p id="XBxoQ7" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; font-style: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration: inherit; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></p><p id="XBxoQ7" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px;"><span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorrell_v.IMS_Health_Inc." style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorrell_v.IMS_Health_Inc.</a></span></p><p id="XBxoQ7" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px;"><font style="font-style: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></p><p id="XBxoQ7" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px;"><font style="font-style: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">They have argued that speech rights forbid certain&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fedregsadvisor.com/2014/04/14/d-c-circuit-vacates-dodd-frank-conflict-minerals-provision-sec-rule-as-violating-first-amendment-free-speech/" style="text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.1s, background-color 0.1s, fill 0.1s; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent;">securities regulations</a>&nbsp;— specifically, those requiring investigation and disclosure of whether a company sells “conflict minerals” from the Democratic Republic of Congo.&nbsp;</font></p><p id="XBxoQ7" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.fedregsadvisor.com/2014/04/14/d-c-circuit-vacates-dodd-frank-conflict-minerals-provision-sec-rule-as-violating-first-amendment-free-speech/" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">http://www.fedregsadvisor.com/2014/04/14/d-c-circuit-vacates-dodd-frank-conflict-minerals-provision-sec-rule-as-violating-first-amendment-free-speech/</a></font></p><p id="XBxoQ7" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px;"><font style="font-style: inherit; text-decoration: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">They have said that the First Amendment gives them a right to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/food-labeling-laws-could-be-undermined-first-amendment-court-challenge-1587213" style="text-decoration: inherit; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; font-style: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.1s, background-color 0.1s, fill 0.1s; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent;">decline to say on product labels</a>&nbsp;that the meat they sell comes from foreign countries, or that food products contain genetically modified ingredients.</font></p><p id="XBxoQ7" style="margin: 0px 0px 1.2rem; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px;"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/food-labeling-laws-could-be-undermined-first-amendment-court-challenge-1587213" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">http://www.ibtimes.com/food-labeling-laws-could-be-undermined-first-amendment-court-challenge-1587213</a></font></p></div><div style=""></div><div style="">
</div><div style="">death star;</div><div style="">
</div><div style="">kind of like anti-kyoto, prop 23 does not go straight at regulations &nbsp;(that most ppl wpuld approve of, like clean air) but neurtralizes if hurts economy, or in reins, req second step to implement thus kills</div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">And it's not just the transition team that's looking for help from Koch minions—it's Trump himself. As Steve Horn&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/01/05/koch-reins-act-congress-trump" target="blank" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">reported</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">&nbsp;in DeSmog, the only person Trump spoke to on the record about a big anti-regulatory act that's been on the Kochs' agenda for years was Phil Kerpen, former vice president of policy for Americans for Prosperity. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The&nbsp;<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/reins-act-2187697823.html" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; word-wrap: break-word;">REINS Act</a>&nbsp;just passed the House on Jan. 5.</span></div><div style="">
</div><div style=""></div><div style="">115th retry</div><div style=""><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 1.5em 200px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px 20px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.55; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -0.005em; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; flex: 0 0 66.6667%; flex-direction: column; width: 800px; max-width: 66.6667%;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Allow Congress to Block Major Regulations</span></p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 1.5em 200px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px 20px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.55; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -0.005em; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; flex: 0 0 66.6667%; flex-direction: column; width: 800px; max-width: 66.6667%;">There is a little-known bill that could bring the entire regulatory process to a standstill. It’s called the&nbsp;<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (<a href="http://www.paul.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=719" target="blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: inherit; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0%, rgb(255, 255, 255) 49%, rgb(0, 0, 0) 50%, rgb(0, 0, 0) 100%); background-size: 2px 2px; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-position: 0px 97.5%; text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.03em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.03em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.05em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.05em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.09em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.075em 0px;">REINS</a>) Act&nbsp;</span>and would require any regulation costing the economy over $100 million a year to also pass an up-or-down vote in Congress. If Congress doesn’t hold a vote within 70 days, the regulation dies. This gives a Republican Congress direct control of regulations that are all well within the EPA’s authority to enact—thanks to Congress’ own Clean Air and Water Acts. Mitch McConnell hasn’t hinted what his plans might be on this bill, which already passed the House of Representatives&nbsp;<a href="http://simpson.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=345033" target="blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: inherit; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0%, rgb(255, 255, 255) 49%, rgb(0, 0, 0) 50%, rgb(0, 0, 0) 100%); background-size: 2px 2px; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-position: 0px 97.5%; text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.03em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.03em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.05em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.05em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.09em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.075em 0px;">last year</a>. Kentucky’s junior Senator Rand Paul already<a href="http://www.paul.senate.gov/?p=REINS_act" target="blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration: none; font-weight: inherit; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: linear-gradient(to top, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0%, rgb(255, 255, 255) 49%, rgb(0, 0, 0) 50%, rgb(0, 0, 0) 100%); background-size: 2px 2px; background-repeat: repeat-x; background-position: 0px 97.5%; text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.03em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.03em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.05em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.05em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) 0.09em 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -0.075em 0px;">&nbsp;supports</a>&nbsp;it.</p><p style="margin: 1.5em 0px 1.5em 200px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; padding: 0px 20px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.55; vertical-align: baseline; letter-spacing: -0.005em; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; flex: 0 0 66.6667%; flex-direction: column; width: 800px; max-width: 66.6667%;">=</p></div><div style=""></div></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>