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executive order xo

mebbe belated redumdent 4/19

includes declaration of emergency (war powers act defense mfg?)

see pjt 2025 doge coup cut usaid b/c gay opera? DOES NOT ALIGN WITH PRIORITES = XO? VOUGHT OMB SEE PUBLIC HEALTHIMPOUNDMENT

see unitary /imperial (wm barr a fan)

federal overreach: notethat pruitt  cut reg enforcement and created BS squad // raga team red

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aha: note that action esp climate /enviro by ANY branch, even the agency in charge of it is being called overreach = tyranny/loss of FFFRrrreeeeeedumb!

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OMG 1 25

Initial Rescissions Of Harmful Executive Orders And Actions – The White House

January 20, 2025

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Purpose and Policy. The previous administration has embedded deeply unpopular, inflationary, illegal, and radical practices within every agency and office of the Federal Government. The injection of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) into our institutions has corrupted them by replacing hard work, merit, and equality with a divisive and dangerous preferential hierarchy. Orders to open the borders have endangered the American people and dissolved Federal, State, and local resources that should be used to benefit the American people. Climate extremism has exploded inflation and overburdened businesses with regulation.

To commence the policies that will make our Nation united, fair, safe, and prosperous again, it is the policy of the United States to restore common sense to the Federal Government and unleash the potential of the American citizen. The revocations within this order will be the first of many steps the United States Federal Government will take to repair our institutions and our economy.

Sec. 2. Revocation of Orders and Actions. The following executive actions are hereby revoked:

Sec. 3. Implementation. (a) To effectuate the revocations described in section 2 of this order, the heads of each agency shall take immediate steps to end Federal implementation of unlawful and radical DEI ideology.

(b) The Director of the Domestic Policy Council (DPC) and the Director of the National Economic Council (NEC) shall review all Federal Government actions taken pursuant to the orders, memoranda, and proclamations listed in section 2 of this order and take necessary steps to rescind, replace, or amend such actions as appropriate. Within 45 days of the date of this order, the Director of the DPC and the Director of the NEC shall submit to the President an additional list of orders, memoranda, and proclamations issued by the prior administration that should be rescinded, as well as a list of replacement orders, memoranda, or proclamations, to increase American prosperity.

(c) The National Security Advisor (NSA) shall immediately begin a complete and thorough review of all National Security Memoranda (NSMs) issued from January 20, 2021, through January 20, 2025, for harm to national security, domestic resilience, and American values. No later than 45 days from the date of this order, the NSA shall recommend to the President NSMs for rescission.

Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

January 20, 2025.

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london protests 7 22 break glass in emergency so they did

wow omg ingraham? 1100 dead

an 7 22

with thousands dying from extreme global heat in recent days, and as President Joe Biden announced new executive actions to address the climate crisis, right-wing media figures and climate deniers are downplaying the heat wave and the threat from human-caused climate change.

In Europe, extreme “red” heat warnings were issued in the United Kingdom for the first time, and Wales recorded its highest-ever temperature. Railroad lines, major highways, and airport runways in the U.K. buckled under the extreme heat. Multiple regions of Germany also set all-time highs, as did at least part of Denmark. Over 2,000people have died in Spain and Portugal due to the extreme heat, which has fueled wildfires there and in parts of France. These record-setting events are not contained to Europe. Parts of the U.S. and Central Asia are suffering from extreme heat as well.

Even though the extreme heat event in Europe is truly exceptional, and its connections to the climate crisis are unquestionable, multiple right-wing media figures used the extreme heat event to downplay and criticize any possible action to address the climate crisis.

Right-wing media also attacked Biden for considering declaring a climate emergency during this deadly heat wave. Instead Biden unveiled much more modest steps to address climate impacts, such as putting $2.3 billion toward community resilience and infrastructure and bolstering offshore wind development. The Federalist falsely declared that “Biden has no right to declare a ‘national climate emergency,’' though The Washington Post explained that such a move would “tap a variety of long-standing emergency authorities under the National Emergencies Act and other laws.” LifeSiteNews fearmongered thatthe emergency powers would result in “climate lockdowns.” And other right-wing media suggested that there is no crisis at all.

Right-wing media denied the existence of the climate emergency

Fox News host Dan Bongino questioned whether the planet is getting warmer and whether humanity played a role in it, asking: “What kind of a dunce believes that? Come on. Is it [the planet] getting warmer? The answer is maybe. … The question isn’t is it getting warmer; the question is what’s human beings' role in it.” Fox News, *Hannity*, [7/19/22]

Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton wrote on Twitter: “There is obviously no ‘climate emergency'.” Twitter, [7/19/22]

Fox host Tucker Carlson devoted a monologue to undermining the existence of climate change, reducing climate predictions to: “It’s gonna be hot and then it’s gonna rain hard.” “No one really believes in global warming,” he continued, “and that’s why all of the liberals in the United States live on the coasts – because they don’t believe it… The entire theory is absurd and they know it. … The whole thing is a joke.” Fox News, *Tucker Carlson Tonight*, [7/20/22]

On Fox, conservative British political commentator Douglas Murray dismissed the urgency of the climate crisis, saying, “Whenever there is not an absolutely vital recent emergency, we can always fall back on – oh and the climate emergency.” Fox News, *Fox & Friends*, [7/20/22]

Fox anchor Dana Perino asked: “What has changed with the science that would lead a president to need to declare an emergency?” Fox News, *America’s Newsroom*[, 7/20/22]

Fox host Todd Piro said that climate impacts, particularly the ones affecting the most vulnerable communities, did not meet his criteria for an emergency: “While we all love clean air and clean water — I, in fact, use both … this is not an emergency that we need to focus on today. We got a lot of other problems in the world.” Fox News, *Outnumbered*, [7/20/22]

Fox host Sean Hannity responded to new actions by the Biden administration to address climate change by dismissing the role of human influence over global warming saying, “I think these might be acts of nature, and God, and way out of the realm of something that human beings can prevent.” Fox News, *Hannity*, [7/20/22]

Conservatives also downplayed the deadly extreme heat

Climate change denying author Bjorn Lomborg dismissed the dangerous extreme heat event, writing on Twitter: “Standard climate scare.” Twitter, [7/17/22]

Climate denier Steven Milloy on Twitter dismissed a Washington Post article linking the Europe heat wave to climate change, writing: “Hot in some places. Cool in others. Just weather. Not climate.” Twitter, [7/19/22]

Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade dismissed the dangers extreme heat poses to human health, saying: “Don’t panic. It is summer. If it was December and this was happening, then I would say, this is a little weird. But it's just a little bit hotter than usual.” Fox News, *Fox & Friends*, [7/20/22]

Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro said on his radio show that the heat wave and wildfires were being reported so fervently because “you always know that it’s the slow season newswise when you start getting weather reports from Europe. … The thing that they will never tell you, the media, is that more people die of cold every year than die of heat every year, but the cold narrative doesn’t tend to play into the climate change narrative that they wish to progmulate.” The Daily Wire, *The Ben Shapiro Show*,[7/19/22]

Fox host Jesse Watters dismissed the extreme heat event as regular seasonal weather, saying: “Joe Biden has seen more seasons than a lot of us. He knows that it gets cold in January and hot in July.” Fox News, *Jesse Watters Primetime*, [7/20/22

Watters followed this up with an interview during which an on-screen graphic read: “Dems worried about weather, not real problems.” Fox News, *Jesse Watters Primetime*, [7/20/22]

Fox host Greg Gutfeld said: “We are in a full-blown heat wave hysteria.” He said that while he does believe “it’s getting warmer,” climate advocates should “think about the opportunity cost of all the zealotry. You know? Panic didn’t work.” Fox News, *The Five*, [7/20/22]

Right-wing media also attacked the Biden administration for considering a climate emergency declaration

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones claimed on his Infowars show that a climate emergency would be orchestrated by a “scientific global dictatorship whose aim is 90% world depopulation,” and that it would lead to a “dystopia”: “You’re gonna live in a 200-square-foot coffin apartment, you’re gonna be given forced inoculations five, six times a year, you’re gonna be sterilized, you’re gonna be killed.” Infowars, *The Alex Jones Show*,[7/20/22]

The Wall Street Journal editorial board called a possible emergency declaration “a serious abuse of power.” The Wall Street Journal, [7/19/22]

Kilmeade called Biden’s executive orders tone-deaf and “agenda-driven,” insisting that they “will do nothing but hurt the price of oil and gas.” Fox News, *Fox & Friends*,[7/19/22]

Hannity quoted climate denier Joe Bastardi, saying on his radio show that Democrats’ response to climate change is the “systemic dismantling of the American way of life. It’s not a rational response to a climate crisis.” Premiere Radio Networks, *The Sean Hannity Show*, [7/19/22]

Hosts of Fox’s Outnumbered claimed a possible climate emergency declaration from Biden “could cause a global depression,” is “suicide,” and is “going to kill the economy.” Fox News, *Outnumbered*, [7/19/22]

related: Tucker Carlson tells idiotic lie that “no one really believes in global warming”

07/20/22

Fox contributor calls for more coal plants as a solution to extreme heat

07/20/22

National TV networks mention climate change in 32% of segments on global extreme heat

07/19/22

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/joe-manchin-kills-climate-provisions/

jake j cmn dr

Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia informed Democratic leaders Thursday that he will not support any new climate spending or tax increases targeting the wealthy and large corporations, sinking his party's revived push for renewable energy investments and further undercutting the country's ability to rein in carbon emissions.

While Manchin's refusal to endorse green energy funding may have been entirely foreseeable given his close ties to the fossil fuel industry and his role in tanking the Build Back Better package just months earlier, climate advocates nevertheless voiced dismay at the power one individual has been able to exert over a process with implications for billions of people across the planet.

"This is nothing short of a death sentence," warned Varshini Prakash, executive director of the youth-led Sunrise Movement. "Our democracy is broken when one man who profits from the fossil fuel industry can defy the 81 million Americans who voted for Democrats to stop the climate crisis. It's clear appealing to corporate obstructionists doesn't work, and it will cost us a generation of voters."

Manchin's position, which he reportedly laid out during a closed-door meeting with the Democratic leadership on Thursday, marks a huge setback for the majority party's last-ditch attempt to assemble a far more limited reconciliation bill ahead of the pivotal midterm elections, in which Democrats' slim majorities in the House and Senate are at risk.

The Washington Post, the first outlet to report on the West Virginia Democrat's stance,noted that party leaders had already "agreed to surrender their most prized spending proposals, from offering paid family and medical leave to providing child care, free prekindergarten, and tax benefits to low-income Americans" in a bid to win Manchin's support, which is necessary to get a reconciliation package through the Senate.

"In more recent talks," the Post added, "[Senate Majority Leader Chuck] Schumer and his colleagues set about trying to woo the longtime holdout over a scaled-back approach—including tax credits to spur clean energy, incentives to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles, and limited penalties on the producers of harmful methane gas."

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, told the newspaper that the collapse of climate talks is a devastating failure.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat my disappointment here, especially since nearly all issues in the climate and energy space had been resolved," said Wyden. "This is our last chance to prevent the most catastrophic—and costly—effects of climate change. We can't come back in another decade and forestall hundreds of billions—if not trillions—in economic damage and undo the inevitable human toll."

With new climate and tax provisions off the table, Manchin reportedly told top Democrats that he's open to letting Medicare negotiate the prices of a small number of prescription drugs and extending Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to lapse in the coming months, which would mean surging premiums for millions of people.

The removal of climate provisions from the nascent legislative package is disastrous for U.S. efforts to bring carbon emissions into line with international targets and transition the country away from fossil fuels, the primary driver of the climate crisis.

But it's a major victory for the powerful and deep-pocketed oil and gas industry, which has been lobbying aggressively against renewable energy spending.

"Manchin has taken more money from the fossil fuel industry than anyone else in D.C.," noted Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org. "And the return on that investment has been enormous. Big Oil got its money's worth a thousand times over."

Morris Pearl, chair of the Patriotic Millionaires—a group that advocates for higher taxes on the wealthy—said Thursday that "Manchin just handed victory in America's class war to the billionaires."

"He's shown he doesn't care about the American people, he only cares about the tiny wealthy minority of Americans who are opposed to rich people (like his family and friends who own the coal mining industry) paying taxes," Pearl added. "Some may be ignorant, some may be corrupt, all are just sad pawns in the oligarchs' takeover of America."

The closure, for now, of legislative paths toward climate action spurred fresh calls for President Joe Biden to do everything he can through executive action.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) tweeted late Thursday that "it’s now time for executive Beast Mode" from the president, who has thus far resisted pressure to declare a climate emergency and take other steps to mobilize federal resources to combat a crisis whose deadly consequences are becoming more evident by the day.

"Do it all and start it now," Whitehouse demanded.

In a press release, the Sunrise Movement outlined a list of actions Biden could take without needing congressional approval:

"We won't stop fighting," said Prakash. "Biden must declare a climate emergency, and do everything in his executive power to stop the climate crisis immediately. That's the only way he can salvage his presidency and save our generation. And we must uproot this broken system and rebuild it to work for us."

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6 22 an tom b raw story

With Republicans believing they will reclaim both houses of Congress in the November midterms --with the House the most likely going from a Democratic majority to a GOP majority -- the Washington Examiner is reporting that conservatives hope to make rule changes that will keep President Joe Biden from using a key presidential tool to effect change.

According to the Examiner's Haisten Willis, Republicans are not only being encouraged to limit Biden's ability to implement executive orders, but they are also getting help from the far-right lobbying group Heritage Action with proposed rule changes.

The day after Biden addressed executive orders in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, telling the late-night host, "I have issued executive orders within the power of the presidency to be able to deal with everything having to do with guns, gun ownership… all of the things that are within my power. But what I don’t want to do, and I’m not being facetious, I don’t want to emulate Trump’s abuse of the constitution and constitutional authority," the Examiner is reporting Republicans hope to derail any attempts he does make to use them.

The Examiner report states, "Biden has already attempted many unilateral actions through executive orders or executive branch agencies," before adding, "In preparation for this and to fight current executive proposals, conservatives are sharpening their advocacy tools to make sure their voices are heard within the White House. Many of the proposed rule changes require a public comment process, during which they can be slowed down or even defeated by popular backlash."

According to Heritage Action's Executive Director Jessica Anderson, "What I hear so much while I’m on the road is: ‘What can we do to impact the Biden regime?’ There’s a lot of frustration where people feel like they’re calling a member of Congress and nothing happens because Republicans don’t have control.”

According to the Examiner's Willis, demanding a pause for public comments has previously worked well for conservatives, with the report pointing out that "Heritage Action's first big push came last summer when the Department of Education proposed plans to fund grants for programs based on critical race theory. Heritage pushed a toolkit and sent activists to the Federal Register. More than 35,000 public comments were sent in on the proposed rule ahead of the deadline, and the Education Department later walked back its plans."

According to Anderson, "By us engaging more forcefully and strategically in their rulemaking process, we'll be in the position to point out when the Biden administration is trying to circumvent and prevent Americans from weighing in."

She then added, "We should have been doing this a long time ago."

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https://www.alternet.org/2021/12/gop-populism/

Some analyses of Trumpism and Republican populism have claimed to detect a strain of anti-corporate sentiment. It is true that today’s right-wingers are willing to criticize big tech companies for supposedly treating them unfairly. But most of the time the GOP continues to serve the interests of big business.

That was clear during an important hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on antitrust, commercial and administrative law. Subcommittee chair David Cicilline (D-R.I.), vice-chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), other Democratic members and the witnesses all raised serious questions about the current regulatory system, focusing on issues such as disclosure and social equity.

The Republicans, on the other hand, did their best to change the subject or spoke in favor of less rather than more oversight. Ranking member Ken Buck (R-Colo.) used his opening remarks to attack executive overreach and praise the Trump administration’s wholesale attack on regulation.

Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) spent his time attacking what he claimed was a plan by the Justice Department to treat parents critical of school boards as domestic terrorists. One of the witnesses, NAACP climate justice director Jacqueline Patterson, was asked by Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) whether she was a revolutionary. She was also chastised for a facetious tweet about vaccines. The comments of GOP members on regulation were mainly limited to attacks on so-called woke bureaucrats.

Despite these antics, there was a serious exchange between the Democrats and the witnesses on the failures of the current regulatory system. These issues are also addressed in the Stop Corporate Capture Act introduced by Jayapal.

The legislation would create more transparency in rulemaking, reduce corporate influence over the process and create a framework for considering social equity. It would fine companies that lie about the impact of public interest rules. It would also create a public Advocate to provide for more robust public participation.

It turns the usual discussion on its head. Rejecting the idea of executive overreach, the bill correctly diagnoses the problem as a situation of what one might call regulatory anemia. Agencies are not aggressive enough in tackling serious problems relating to the environment, the workplace and the marketplace. The parties meant to be targeted instead are playing an outsized role in creating the rules. Hence the reference in the bill’s title to regulatory capture.

Jayapal’s proposal is what one might call a populist approach to reforming the regulatory system—one that is not likely to receive support from corporate lobbyists. When they are not simply kicking up dust, Republicans, by contrast, are doing the bidding of big business by continuing the Trump Administration’s drumbeat against regulation.

This is one of those areas in which the conventional labels of U.S. politics continue to baffle me. Why are those working to benefit giant corporations called populists, while those who are seeking to rein in that power are called elitists?

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9/20 aha, fash-y, strong man acting alone: trump loves signing things foto op with fawning followers (he leaches gravitas, assent/ applause from them) maybe experts who look like they know what they're doing, but congress deadlocked/polarysys (in pocket of corps that want to continue extract $ HMO]  and does not want to ACT, just make it look like he HAS many eg neglected but typical: gop beat up bad 2018 blue wave on pre-existing conds, to trump pretends to defend AT THE SAME TIME still trying to kill ACA that actually provides

trump mocked for finally releasing ‘health care plan’ — which is really a ‘toothless’ executive order

David Badash / The New Civil Rights Movement  September 25, 2020

For at least four years President Donald Trump has been promising the American people a health care plan. He famously sat for the “60 Minutes” cameras just days after the…

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remember federal overreach prutt BS on XO? now feds fight blue states on green issues eg NY CA:

icn 419

President Donald Trump is seeking to boost domestic fossil fuels production over the objections of Democrats and environmentalists concerned about pollution and climate change. On Wednesday he issued a pair of executive orders targeting the power of states to delay energy projects.

“We started working on it in advance, so we hope to have something out soon,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in an interview. He was unable to provide a precise timeline.

Based on Trump’s orders, Wheeler’s EPA has been tasked with clarifying a section of the U.S. Clean Water Act that has allowed states like New York and Washington to delay projects in recent years....

also CA CAFE

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also LNG export

https://insideclimatenews.org/news/11042019/trump-pipeline-executive-order-environmental-review-keystone-xl-clean-water-act-states-rights

 Trump signed a pair of executive orders Wednesday that aim to speed approval and construction of fossil fuel projects, including the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline, by limiting environmental reviews. While the measures are part of a broader effort to use his executive authority to push through oil, gas and coal development, they also mark a new attempt to shield the president's actions from review by the courts.

One of the orders appears to target the Keystone XL pipeline in particular, declaring that the decision to permit infrastructure crossing international borders "shall be made solely by the President" rather than the State Department, to which previous administrations had delegated the authority. Trump issued exactly such a permit in March for Keystone XL, and both the permit and the new order appear to be attempts to sidestep a legal challenge and allow the project to proceed.

Critically, having the president issue the permit directly, rather than going through the State Department, could make it more difficult for environmental and indigenous groups to challenge cross-border permits under the National Environmental Protection Act, which subjects major federal agency actions to careful review.

The second order signed Wednesday aims to limit the ability of states to review and reject pipelines and other projects under a section of the Clean Water Act. States have used that law to slow or block several pipeline projects, as well as proposed terminals to export coal and natural gas. The order also directs the Transportation Department to update regulations for exporting liquified natural gas, an increasingly important product for the energy industry.

Trump's orders drew wide condemnation from environmental groups.

"States must be able to protect communities from the polluting corporations that threaten them and their waterways," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, in a statement. "The Sierra Club will fight these executive orders with every tool at our disposal."

Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, vowed to "fight this tooth and nail."

The Western Governors' Association, whose members include the Republican governors of the nation's top energy-producing states, also questioned the move to limit states' authority. It issued a statement saying the governors "have concerns" about the order but are ready to work with federal officials on the new guidelines.

Clearing the Way for Keystone XL

No project has symbolized the fight over the nation's energy future more than the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada's tar sands to the U.S.

The pipeline, first proposed in 2008, drew protests and was eventually denied a border permit by the Obama administration. But Trump reversed that course shortly after taking office, and in  2017, the State Department approved a new permit for the pipeline to cross the border. Environmental groups sued, arguing the department had failed to conduct an updated environmental review. A federal judge agreed last year, ordering a new review and issuing an injunction to block construction until it was complete.

The permit that Trump issued last month, together with Wednesday's order, is an attempt to sidestep the lawsuit and injunction.

On Monday, TransCanada, the company behind the pipeline, filed a motionseeking to have the case dismissed and the injunction lifted. The company asserted that the arguments against the original permit are moot now.

Because the new permit was issued as a presidential action, it may be harder for environmental groups to challenge in court.

"The president can act unilaterally and protect himself from the sort of scrutiny that judges would give to, say, the EPA," said Joshua Galperin, an expert in environmental law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Galperin added that the decision to issue the permit as a presidential action is likely to withstand a legal challenge. "As much as I would personally like to come out against the president's order, when it's crossing an international border, that puts a lot of inherent authority in the president."

Trump may not have to wait long to find out. Last week, two environmental groups sued the president and several other federal officials and agencies over the new permit, arguing that he lacks the authority to issue it.

Josh Axelrod, a manager of the Canada program at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which is part of the lawsuit challenging the 2017 permit, said the Trump administration was trying sidestep the courts and to shield the pipeline from meaningful review. "And that's not in the interest of the public," he said.

Even if the border permit withstands legal scrutiny, TransCanada would need to obtain separate permits from other federal agencies for crossing federal land and rivers along the route, and these permits can still be challenged in court no matter who issues the cross-border permit.

Presidential authority to issue border permits for pipelines is not conferred by any specific legislation, and is meant to assess whether projects are in the national interest, a vaguely defined standard. The authority, ostensibly based on the chief executive's constitutional power over foreign affairs, has been upheld in lower courts but not expressly addressed by the Supreme Court.

Limiting State Delays Under Clean Water Act

The other order Trump signed Wednesday could have much broader impact, touching not only any interstate natural gas pipeline but major coal and gas export terminals, too.

The order targets part of the Clean Water Act—section 401—which gives states authority to authorize projects that have the potential to harm water quality. Supporters of more fossil fuel development have taken aim at this part of the law, arguing that states and environmental groups have used it inappropriately to delay or reject projects.

One example, which Trump mentioned in his announcement of the orders on Wednesday, involves a natural gas pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York, which received federal approval in 2014 but was denied by New York regulators in 2016. In February, a federal court ordered federal regulatorsto rehear a challenge brought by the company that wants to build the project.

Trump's order directs the EPA to issue new guidance to states for how to implement the law.

Galperin said there's no doubt states have a right under the act to review projects, but the guidance could try to limit the scope or timeline of such reviews in any number of ways.

"There's lots of ways the executive can tweak around the edges," he said.

Legislation introduced Tuesday by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a staunch supporter of the state's fossil fuel industries, targets the same part of the law. The legislation would narrow the scope of what states can consider as part of the reviews, and it would shorten the time states have to tell applicants that their materials are incomplete.

States are generally supposed to complete the review within a year, but the process has taken longer in several cases. A recent court case over a hydropower project in California and Oregon, however, may set a stronger precedent limiting the reviews to a year, and it's unclear if an executive order can shorten this any further.

Among the projects currently tied up in this process is the Jordan Cove liquid natural gas export terminal, in Oregon. The company behind the project applied to the state initially in October 2017.

In another case, Millennium Bulk Terminals proposed building a coal export facility on the Columbia River and applied for a water quality permit from Washington's Department of Ecology in June 2016. When the state denied the permit in September 2017, it said the denial was based not only on water quality concerns but also on broader impacts including diesel pollution and increased traffic. The ability to look at these ancillary impacts could be restricted by new guidance.

Galperin said he has little doubt that any attempts to restrict states ability to review projects under the Clean Water Act would end up in court.

"There will definitely be more lawsuits," he said.

PUBLISHED UNDER:

REGULATION

NATURAL GAS AND FRACKING

OIL SPILLS/PIPELINES

DONALD TRUMP

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https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/10/yet-another-handout-dirty-fossil-fuel-industry-trumps-newest-assault-environment

no lnx

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

byCommon Dreams

"Yet Another Handout to the Dirty Fossil Fuel Industry": Trump's Newest Assault on Environment Draws Anger From Green Groups

"This is a massive abuse of power that does nothing other than line the pockets of Trump's fossil fuel billionaire friends, all at the expense of our democracy and our safety."

byEoin Higgins, staff writer

Donald Trump's war on the environment will continue Wednesday as the president aims to make it easier to build pipelines—angering environmental groups.

An executive order designed to loosen regulations around pipeline construction and ensure the country continues to rely on fossil fuels for its energy needs is expected to be announced by the president during a visit to Texas Wednesday.

The order will allow Trump—and any of his successors—to be the decider on pipeline project approvals, currently the responsibility of the secretary of state due to the cross-border nature of the infrastructure.

Trump is also expected to announce an executive order streamlining the permitting process for infrastructure projects, a thorn in the side of energy giants that are frequently stymied by state resistance.

"So much for the virtues of federalism," said Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell.

Environmental groups reacted to the news of the order with anger and disappointment.

"This is a disastrous idea, one that exposes the hypocrisy of the Trump administration and threatens to undercut the ability of state leaders to determine how best to protect their rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands," the Natural Resources Defense Council told The Washington Post on Tuesday.

The anger continued on Wednesday in advance of the expected announcement.

"This is yet another example of this [administration] lining polluters' pockets while the burden of dirtier air and polluted water is placed on the American people," said green advocacy group Friends of the Earth in a tweet.

Friends of the Earth added in a statement Wednesday that Trump's decision to make the announcement in Crosby, Texas—which, as Common Dreams reported Monday, was the site of a chemical plant explosion just last week—only added to the president's dismissive approach to the victims of his environmental policies.

"These directives are yet another handout to the dirty fossil fuel industry at the expense of our public health and the environment," the group said. "Making this announcement in Crosby, weeks after a deadly chemical plant explosion, underscores Trump's complete disregard for the safety of the American people."

Environmental organization 350.org added to the fray, calling for a more robust opposition to the administration's assault on the planet.

"This is a massive abuse of power that does nothing other than line the pockets of Trump's fossil fuel billionaire friends, all at the expense of our democracy and our safety," said the group's executive director, May Boeve, in a statement. "Trump can try to rewrite regulations in favor of Big Oil, but he can't stop people power and our movement."

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