Free Republic

The budget proposed by President Trump, set for release Tuesday, is clear from coast to coast to coast: Don't clean up the water. The budget not only zeroes out the Puget Sound cleanup, but programs from Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain to New England's Lake Champlain to the Great Lakes. The information on axing of cleanup money was obtained by the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, and comes directly from an administration document. Overall, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency budget would be slashed from $8.2 billion to $5.6 billion, a 30 percent-plus cut.

Remember when the President set a target of reducing staffing at the EPA by thousands of people? It was one of his first initiatives upon taking office and while the process is taking some time it’s definitely moving forward. But I’m not sure he was anticipating the way these reductions are being rolled out. Government Executive reports this morning that there are indeed plans being put in place, but much of the work thus far seems to involve setting aside millions of dollars to fund early retirement plans and buyouts. The Environmental Protection Agency has set aside $12 million...

President Donald Trump's fiscal 2018 budget request would slash EPA spending by almost a third, according to a copy of the President's proposal obtained by CNN. The budget blueprint, which the White House plans to submit to Congress next week, would cut the EPA's total budget by more than 30% and its operational budget by 35% compared to current funding levels.

Shortly after the EPA triggered the release, to obscure and limit its own liability, the EPA created the Bonita Peak Mining District—around the Gold King Mine—and made the Superfund designation. Past EPA studies found the area did not merit inclusion on the National Priorities List. ... EPA’s Attempt to Bury its Colorado Gold Mine Disaster is Illegal. ... Mountain States Legal Foundation for its clients ... advised the three-judge panel that the Obama administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund statute), designated what it erroneously called the Bonita Peak...

Finally the Trump administration is starting to get serious about taking on the Green Blob. EPA administrator Scott Pruitt – perhaps stung by criticisms that he was turning into a squish – today reaffirmed, in an interview with CNBC, that he is not a believer in catastrophic man-made global warming. “I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact. So no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see. But we don’t know that yet…”...

President Trump's war on basic facts continues — but this time, you'll literally end up choking on it. Late last week, the President and his Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott "Coal Belchin'" Pruitt quietly fired half of the 18-member Board of Scientific Counselors, a panel that evaluates research done by EPA scientists to help government regulators create the rules that protect clean air, water and soil, among many other things. It's part of a larger war on science that includes a House bill that would require more industry representatives on another EPA science panel so that it's oversight of industry...

The Environmental Protection Agency has sidelined a website aimed at teaching schoolchildren about climate change, a public watchdog group has determined, as part of the agency’s efforts to align online content with the new administration’s values.When the EPA announced on April 28 that its site was “undergoing changes that reflect the agency’s new direction under President Donald Trump and Administrator Scott Pruitt,” it pointed to a snapshot of the website as it looked on Jan. 19, the day before Trump took office.While it made it clear that this snapshot would not be updated, the idea was to allow the public to see...

President Trump’s proposal to reduce the Environmental Protection Agency’s $8.1-billion budget by $1.6 billion was cut to an $80-million trim in the omnibus spending bill. However, the EPA funding and staff controversy will undoubtedly resume during the next budgetary battles in September. That’s fueling consternation and con jobs in the heartland. According to press releases, funds for cleaning up the Great Lakes, eliminating lead poisoning, stopping oil pollution and ensuring justice for affected groups are “on the chopping block.” Community leaders, government officials, academics and activists will therefore meet May 10-11 in Chicago for a Freshwater Lab Summit, to “engage...

The theory of human-caused global warming is straightforward. The level of the so-called “pollutant” carbon dioxide, or CO2, is rising in the atmosphere, causing a worldwide increase in temperatures that ultimately will have a catastrophic effect on the planet. To prevent this catastrophe, a vast regulatory infrastructure needs to be created, even if it means sacrificing jobs, economic efficiency, personal freedoms or national sovereignty itself. But what if CO2 isn’t a pollutant? That’s precisely the shocking finding of a new report from statistician Jim Wallace, climatologist John Christy and meteorologist Joe D’Aleo, who contend the Environmental Protection Agency erred when...

Late last week, it was revealed who squealed. The guy responsible for making it impossible for any of us to buy a diesel-powered Volkswagen henceforth — and a lot more — is Stuart Johnson, the former head of VW’s Engineering and Environmental Office in Auburn Hills, Michigan. He was outed in a book written about the VW “cheating” business by New York Times reporter Jack Ewing. Johnson, of course, is about to get everything short of a ticker-tape parade. A bust of him will likely be cast and placed in the Hall of Mirrors — or whatever the equivalent is...

Westward Seafoods will conduct two mitigation projects to offset its excess emissions of nitrogen oxides or NOX pollution. EPA estimates that the company’s failure to operate pollution controls for two years resulted in nearly 105 excess tons of harmful NOX emissions. NOX is composed of highly reactive gasses which form quickly from fuel burning emissions from cars, trucks and buses, and power plants. Breathing air with high levels of NOX can cause or aggravate respiratory diseases, particularly asthma.

The White House proposed a $5.7 billion budget for EPA in fiscal 2018. That’s a 31 percent cut from 2017 numbers. A 31 percent cut to the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget would force it to eliminate at least 50 individual programs and nearly 4,000 full-time equivalents in 2018, according to internal EPA documents that describe funding levels and policy decisions that support the President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget request.

California Democrats are readying themselves to battle Republicans in Congress over potential attempts to roll back regulations under the Endangered Species Act. Last month, the Oroville Dam’s spillway malfunctioned, sending gallons of water rushing through an area affecting nearly 200,000 residents. The damage — beyond the spillway itself — is estimated to be in the millions.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scott Pruitt, has called for America to “exit” the Paris Climate Agreement signed by Barack Obama last November. In an interview with FOX and Friends, Pruitt said that “Paris [agreement] is something that we need to really look at closely. It’s something we need to exit in my opinion.” “It’s a bad deal for America,” he continued. “It was an America second, third, or fourth kind of approach. China and India had no obligations under the agreement until 2030. We front-loaded all of our costs.” During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump was a...

Deep State Watch – JW Sues EPA for Records from Encrypted App We Warn 11 States to Clean Voter Registration Lists or Face a Lawsuit JW Sue the ATF for Records on AR-15 Ammo ‘Armor-Piercing’ Ban Gorsuch Confirmation a Victory for Constitutional Government Deep State Watch – JW Sues EPA for Records from Encrypted App The administrative deep state – the legions of unelected, entrenched bureaucrats in Washington – thinks it doesn’t have to answer to an elected president, the rule of law, or the American people. We are now seeking to uncover the truth about the particularly notorious...

Trump is dismantling another of Obama’s key legacy items, a policy that the media desire to protect from the new Republican president The leftist mainstream media are outraged that President Donald Trump appears to be sticking to his campaign promise to “cancel” U.S. participation in the Paris climate accord. The headline in The Washington Post is “Trump’s energy review blocks Group of Seven from consensus.” Politico’s headline is “Trump’s climate demands roil U.S. allies.” This follows Trump’s recent actions to rescind the foundation of Barack Obama’s climate change obsession.

Washington (AFP) - Not much about Donald Trump's administration has followed presidential tradition, and here's another example: it is asking the American people what government departments and agencies they would like to see reformed or even axed. Options include the CIA, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and even the Executive Office of the President. A website created by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (itself among the choices) allows people to make suggestions as Trump moves to make good on a pledge to streamline a bureaucracy he derides as bloated and inefficient. A questionnaire...

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt told dozens of Pennsylvania coal miners Thursday that the “regulatory assault” on their industry is over, and that the environment can be protected without hurting business. “We’re going to do it the American way, grow jobs and show the rest of the world how it’s done,” Pruitt said before going on a mine tour about 50 miles south of Pittsburgh. “The regulatory assault is over,” he said, referring to tightened environmental and other regulatory standards on coal and other energy industries under former President Barack Obama. “We’re going to partner together with you.” Pruitt...

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt said Thursday that the days of gym memberships being paid for by the American taxpayer are over. . . . "Well, the gym memberships ended yesterday, it was quite something to hear about that," Pruitt said. He said the agency is investigating the matter, saying "it was the previous administration that granted those gym memberships," which "were rather expensive."

Realists must now sway public opinion firmly against global warming scare President Donald Trump is right to kill the hugely expensive Clean Power Plan (CPP). After all, it only controls carbon dioxide (CO2), which is simply plant food. The Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change cites over 1,000 peer-reviewed studies showing that rising atmospheric CO2 enhances productivity of forests and grasslands. Commercial greenhouses run at up to about four times the outside level of CO2 to boost plant growth.