Free Republic

Full title: Judicial Watch Obtains Records from EPA Showing Obama Agency’s Illegal Use of Social Media Platform for Propaganda ‘I don’t want it to look like EPA used our own social media accounts to reach our support goal’ – EPA Director of Web Communications (Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch obtained 900-pages of documents from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which reveal the agency’s use of the mass-sharing Thunderclap social media platform to covertly promote its policies in violation of federal law. The documents show that EPA staffers, via the Thunderclap platform, recruited outside groups to lobby in support of the...

Federal Register proposal comes days after Trump administration moves to repeal of federal fracking ruleThe Trump administration formally acted Wednesday to repeal the 2015 Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) rule, dealing another blow to the Obama-era environmental regulatory regime. The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Army announced that the proposed WOTUS withdrawal would be published Thursday in the Federal Register, launching the 30-day comment period. In addition to rescinding the 2015 Clean Water Rule, the agencies said they will also reevaluate the definition of “waters of the United States,” in keeping with President Trump‘s Feb. 28 executive order....

A federal judge on Friday declined to halt the Obama administration's controversial water rule nationwide, rebuffing the request of 13 states that are battling with the Environmental Protection Agency.Judge Ralph Erickson of the North Dakota U.S. District Court ruled that there are “significant prudential reasons to limit the scope” of the injunction he already gave the 13 states last week. Other courts have denied injunctions, he said, and some states want to implement the “Waters of the United States” rule. “On the one hand, there is a desirability for uniformity regarding a national rule with national application,” Erickson wrote. “On...

EPA claims that it’s simplifying regulations and making them easier to follow, but the fine print tells another story. Business owners around the country have joined with farmers and ranchers in speaking out on the Waters of the U.S. rule. More than 30 states also oppose the rule. Yet, even in the face of mounting opposition, the EPA still isn’t listening. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has unveiled her latest, campaign-style WOTUS spin, calling the effort the “Clean Water Rule” – as though a bumper-sticker approach to a complex regulation would change anything for people so profoundly affected by her agency’s...