Trump's plan to end the "War on Coal" has been shelved

Exactly one year ago, I wrote about The Donald's efforts to end the "War on Coal" as he likes to call it was failing and facing reality.  Now after over a year of Secretary of Energy Rick Perry trying to find a plan to keep money-losing coal plants up and running, the White House has shelved the plan. 

For years, consumers have  been seeking renewable, cleaner and cheaper sources of energy and thus, have been using less coal.  So Perry's biggest obstacle has been who going  to pay billions of dollars to keep coal plants open and operating.  The DOE has also suggested invoking a Korean War-era law, the Defense Production Act, that would put the burden of coming up with the money on Congress.

You can imagine how that went over on the Hill.  The White House hasn't commented on this course of action.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/10/15/rick-perry-coal-rescue-trump-850528


During his campaign, The Donald repeatedly told coal miners they were going back to work.  And since then he has tried to revitalize an aging industry by rolling back many environmental protections such as allowing coal plants to dump their toxic waste into our waterways.  The Donald's promises to take care of  the miners has turned into taking care of coal companies and owners.  By scaling back  on environmental and safety measures, coal miner deaths have skyrocketed since Trump's inauguration. 

Our environment is doomed...Pruitt's war on the environment in a nutshell

What he says:	What he does:
Pruitt and the TEPA are seeking to reduce the EPA’s funding by 31.4 and eliminate up to one fifth of the staff.	He is spending $25,000 on a soundproof “privacy booth” in his office.  His round-the-clock security detail has cost $830,000 for his first 3 months on the job, double the amount of his predecessors.  He spent 43 out of 92 days from March – May traveling between Oklahoma and DC.  He spent $36,068.50 to fly on a military jet to and from Cincinnati in June.
Pruitt has accused the Obama administration for failing to protect the environment.	He has tried to ease restrictions on methane releases.  He tried to reject banning a harmful pesticide.  He and the TEPA are trying to eliminate the Waters of the US rule, which is part of the Clean Water Act.  He has repeatedly denied the change in climate despite the mountains of data showing it is real.  Pruitt and The Donald have removed the US from the Paris Climate Agreement.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scott-pruitt-spending-epa_us_59cc2a95e4b05063fe0ef9b3

"Silent Running" released 1972

One of my favorite 70's sci-fi movies, Silent Running, was released March 10, 1972.  This was shortly after the EPA had been formed so environmentalism and saving the forests were huge messages in the movie.  Bruce Dern stars as an astronaut on board one of several ships carrying the last of Earth's forests and plants, since our planet had become so polluted, all the flora and foliage died off.

When the order comes from Earth to destroy the bio-domes and return, Bruce takes matters into his own hands.  It has some suprisingly touching scenes with Dern and the robots, Huey, Dewey and Louie, who were played by several multi-amputee actors.

Joan Baez lends her voice to the songs featured in the movie.

Our environment is doomed...Trump undoes coal mining rule

As if he hasn't done enough to ruin our environment, Trump signed a bill that reverses a ruling by Obama that protected our rivers and streams from coal mining waste.  Also, energy companies no longer have to disclose their financial information.  It sounds as if Pruitt had his hand in this.  He's been on his knees among the oil and gas companies for years.

Without this protection, coal mining companies can dispose of waste into our waterways, endangering both the environment and public health.



http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/319938-trump-signs-bill-undoing-obama-coal-mining-rule

Our environment is doomed...Trump to cut environmental regulations

He says environmentalism is out of control and promises workers will still be protected.  However, he hasn't produced anything of substance of how this will be carried out.  This is part of his plan to boost manufacturing in America.  That might be a good thing but at the expense of our nation's health?

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/24/trump-tells-us-automakers-hell-cut-taxes-and-regulations-says-environmentalism-is-out-of-control.html

Our environment is doomed: $cott Pruitt favor$ donor$ over environmental safety

In 2005, Drew Edmondson, then Oklahoma Attorney General, sued several large poultry producers for damages to then scenic Illinois River caused by chicken manure pollution.  The suit also sought to force the companies to change the way the poultry producers disposed of 300K tons a year of animal feces.

Thirty of the executives named in the lawsuit dumped money into Pruitt's campaign and, behold, he won!  Instead of continuing the battle to clean up the waters, Pruitt ground the process to a halt, negotiating a "study" of the "appropriate levels of phosphorous" in the Illinois River.

Here is the committee's final report:
https://www.ok.gov/conservation/documents/IR%202016.12.19%20Final%20Report.pdf

It has very little in practical solutions for cleaning up the river, other than recommending the river be cleaned up.  Much of the report seems aimed at determining what different types of "nuisance algal taxa" are present, how levels of phosphorous affect their blooming, etc.

Pure science, but not applied science.

So, the committee has wasted several years and no doubt loads of money on this "study" and yet, little has been done for the Illinois river.  In 2003, Edmondson brokered a contract with Arkansas poultry producers to reduce pollution from animal waste.  Phosphorous levels have dropped in recent years.  Pruitt allowed the contract to expire without seeking an extension, then dissolved the environmental group that brought the lawsuits against the poultry producers.  Phosphorous levels remain above the state standard.

And once again, I must mention the number of suits Pruitt has brought against the EPA, proposing easing restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions by fossel fuel-burning power plants.  His track record is clear who he has in his best interests.

US District Court Judge Kimberley J. Mueller wrote in an opinion of a law suit brought against the EPA by Pruitt and others:

“The court concludes plaintiffs have not brought this action on behalf of their interest in the physical or economic well-being of their residents in general, but rather on behalf of a discrete group of egg farmers whose businesses will allegedly be impacted."

https://h2o.law.harvard.edu/cases/5493

Let's hope intelligent minds like this are weighing in on Pruitt's confirmation hearings.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/14/us/scott-pruitt-trump-epa-pick.html?_r=1
https://www.ok.gov/conservation/Agency_Divisions/Water_Quality_Division/IR_Joint_Study_Committee.html

Our environment is doomed...Sen. Inhofe endorses Pruitt for EPA leadership

I've had this clip in my draft folder for several days now and I have to get it out there.  Sen. James Inhofe, anti-science, has endorsed AG Scott Pruitt for heading the EPA. This is a disaster in the making.  I don't know what pull Inhofe has in the confirmation hearings for the EPA, but he is chair of the Senate Environment Committee.  The fox guarding the hen house.

In his speech, Inhofe said:

Pruitt has seen first-hand the abuses of power at the hands of this agency and has fought back to ensure environmental quality without sacrificing jobs.

http://www.inhofe.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/inhofe-statement-on-meeting-with-scott-pruitt-nominee-for-epa-administrator-

What abuses?  Since its inception in 1970, the EPA has managed to lower harmful and toxic emissions from fuel-burning power plants.  The abuses will come at the hands of Pruitt, a global warming-denier, absolutely no background in environmental issues and a total disregard for the Earth.

http://okiefunk.com/content/record-inhofe-says-pruitt-ideal-epa

Study finds NOAA did NOT fudge data on climate change!

Texas Republican Lamar Smith (B.A. in American Studies from Yale and a J.D. from SMU) was named chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.  Smith, who has no background or experience in any type of science (Christian Scientist does not mean a scientist who is Christian), accused National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists of fudging the data and lying about global warming in a paper published in 2015.  NOAA scientists also took time to explain their findings to Smith, but it wasn’t good enough for him.  The reason behind his allegations?  NOAA manipulated the data to benefit the Obama administration, who has been pushing the Clean Power Act.  Note that two sources report that Smith has received more money from the fossil fuel industry than any other industry.

Now, an independent study reviewing NOAA’s climate data, which has already been made public, has declared the results as accurate.  They found no evidence of cooking the books or manipulating the data to get the results they needed to support Obama’s “extreme climate change agenda.”

So the only basis for Smith’s accusations is money.  He has no proof of a climate change ‘hiatus’.  He is motivated by contributions from the fossil fuel industry which opposes Obama’s Clean Power Plan and the Clean Air Act.  Smith has issued more subpoenas in his time as chairman of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology than the committee's entire history.  

What will he and Trump do in the face of facts?  Probably ignore them again since it doesn’t suit their own agenda.  Trump has called global warming “bullshit” and a “hoax”.  He has promised to pull the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement.   

Our environment is doomed.  Our planet is warming an at alarming rate, but Trump is ignoring it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/global-warming-hiatus-theory-debunked_us_586bf909e4b0eb58648ac638

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/jun/08/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-noaa-global-warming-faux-pause-paper

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/418542137899491328

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/china-donald-trump-climate-change-hoax_us_582ceb8be4b099512f80d55e

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/lamar-smith-climate-change_us_563bb981e4b0411d30702775

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamar_S._Smith

https://science.house.gov/news/press-releases/smith-subpoenas-ma-ny-attorneys-general-environmental-groups

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2015/nov/11/lamar-smith-climate-scientist-witch-hunter

Supreme Court halts Obama's clean power plan

Chemistry World is reporting that the Supreme Court has halted President Obama's clean power plan.  Leading the war against a clean, healthy environment is Attorney General Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia, a state heavily dependent upon coal mining. 

Although the article doesn't mention it, I can smell Inhofe's stench all over this.  The senator from Oklahoma, a state heavily dependent upon gas and oil, is the chair of Congress' environmental committee and he has made it very clear he does not believe in science.  I'm sure he's pulling strings somewhere in this. 

Supreme Court halts Obama's clean power plan | Chemistry World