Free Republic

Last month, the Biden administration’s Environmental Protection Agency proposed new power plant regulations that would put harsh limits on the amount of carbon dioxide released while producing electricity. This comes from the same administration pushing to electrify all parts of daily life, from driving to cooking. As if slamming the power grid with artificial demand is not enough, now the federal government has also set its sights on electricity suppliers. Policies as ludicrous as this are only possible because the ideology they rest on, environmentalism, has long enjoyed a perch on the moral high ground that has gone almost unchallenged....

Summer’s coming. That means sunshine, swimming, cookouts — and blackouts. That’s the warning from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. According to NERC, at least two-thirds of the country is at risk for major power outages this summer. This extends to most everyone west of the Mississippi except for Texas. Texas and much of the Midwest will be fine, the report says, so long as we don’t experience hot, windless summer days. Well, that’s a relief. When do we ever get hot, windless summer days in Texas and the Midwest? Part of the problem is the steady removal of fossil-fuel...

It’s a well-established fact that the Biden administration thinks that electric vehicles are the solution to everything. (Ring around the collar? Buy an EV. Troubles in the bedroom? Buy an EV. Thinning hair? You get the picture.) So it shouldn’t surprise any of us that the administration has decided that what the trucking industry needs most is a great big transition to electric trucks. Last month, we reported about how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to follow California’s lead in declaring war on diesel vehicles. At the time, many in the trucking industry expressed their dismay at the...

China’s burgeoning space program plans to place astronauts on the moon before 2030 and expand the country’s orbiting space station, officials said Monday. Monday’s announcement comes amid against the background of a rivalry with the U.S. for reaching new milestones in outer space, reflecting their competition for influence on global events. That has conjured up memories of the space race between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union in the 1960s and 1970s, although American spending, supply chains and capabilities are believed to give it a significant edge over China, at least for the present. The U.S. aims to put...

All three evening news broadcasts Thursday ignored the United States Supreme Court ruling against the Biden administration's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and sharply limited its powers to regulate wetlands. It was a big win for property rights in the United States and a stinging defeat for the unelected bureaucrats at the EPA. Since that was the case, it's unsurprising that the "big three" evening news broadcasts of ABC's World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News would ignore the story. Instead, news about a recent shark attack (ABC & CBS), and another segment on recently deceased singer Tina...

The Supreme Court on Thursday finally ended one of the most brazen examples of bureaucratic tyranny in modern times. Naturally, liberals were outraged and warned that curbing federal power will doom the environment. Congress enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972 to prevent pollution of the nation’s waterways. In subsequent years, federal judges decided the law also applied to adjacent wetlands, since they could contribute to pollution. But “What is a wetland?” is the DC version of “How many angels can dance on a pinhead?” Since 1972, federal agencies have changed the definition of wetlands jurisdiction 13 times. Up to...

Today, the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued its Judgment in the case of Concerned Household Electricity Consumers Council, et al. v. EPA. I am one of the lawyers for CHECC in this matter, where the Petitioners seek to have the court order EPA to reconsider its ridiculous 2009 Endangerment Finding (EF) that CO2 and other “greenhouse gases” constitute a “danger” to human health and welfare. To no one’s surprise, the court dismissed our Petition. The sole ground for the dismissal was what they call “standing.” The court did not reach or discuss the merits of the Petition,...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., slammed the Supreme Court's ruling Thursday that limited the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate bodies of water, calling it a "MAGA" court even though the decision was 9-0. On Thursday, the high court issued an opinion that narrowed the EPA's broad definition of Waters of the United States (WOTUS). The court said the federal government must define WOTUS as a water source with a "continuous surface connection" to major bodies of water. The decision upended an attempt by the Biden administration to regulate wetlands, lakes, ponds, streams and other "relatively permanent" waterways, which...

The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5–4 decision reined in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) effort to impose extensive federal land use regulation through its broad interpretation of the Clean Water Act (CWA). The decision in the case of Sackett v. EPA turns on the question of the proper definition of the term "the waters of the United States" (WOTUS). Interestingly, all the justices concurred in the judgment that plaintiffs Michael and Chantell Sackett's property and actions were not covered by the CWA. In the case, the Sacketts had purchased property near Priest Lake, Idaho, and began backfilling the lot...

The court issued two opinions this morning that may be of interest to Freepers. The first, issued by Justice Barrett was: Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, No. 21-454 [Arg: 10.3.2022 Trans.; Decided 5.25.2023] Holding: The Clean Water Act extends only to wetlands that have a continuous surface connection with “waters” of the United States — i.e., with a relatively permanent body of water connected to traditional interstate navigable waters, 33 U.S.C. § 1362(7) — making it difficult to determine where the water ends and the wetland begins. The second, by Justice Roberts was: Tyler v. Hennepin County, Minnesota, No. 22-166...

Opposition to new Environmental Protection Agency tailpipe regulations is growing after the federal agency projected the regulation would put more than half of American drivers out of gas cars and into electric vehicles.As The Center Square previously reported, the EPA has projected that the proposed changes would mean that fully electric vehicles make up two thirds of all new "light duty" and 46% of new medium-duty vehicle sales by 2032. That would include most regular consumer vehicles, even SUVs and many pickup trucks. Currently, electric vehicles make up less than 5% of the market.A group of 151 House Republicans rallied...

Powered by small business owners and union workers alike, the trucking industry is on a collision course with the Democrat Party over federal and local efforts to phase out diesel rigs and push the shipping industry to electric vehicles. The latest strike came a few weeks ago when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed new tailpipe emissions goals that could require up to two-thirds of new vehciles sold in the U.S. by 2032 to be battery-powered electric vehicles. A top executive of one of the country’s largest trucking companies declared Tuesday that EPA's proposed new regulations on carbon emission are...

The Environmental Protection Agency is set to impose increased carbon pollution standards that would slap new restrictions on coal and natural-gas power plants as the administration ramps up efforts to address climate change. Under the new rules, power plants would be required to strengthen current performance standards for newly built gas-powered combustion turbines. The plan also calls for establishing emission guidelines for states to follow in limiting carbon pollution from coal, oil and natural gas-fired plants. There would also be new emission guidelines for existing combustion turbines fired by natural gas.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Wednesday he will oppose all of President Biden’s nominees for positions at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over energy policy disagreements. “I fear that this Administration’s commitment to their extreme ideology overshadows their responsibility to ensure long-lasting energy and economic security and I will oppose all EPA nominees until they halt their government overreach,” Manchin said in a written statement. He specifically cited proposed regulations for power plants that are expected soon from the EPA. “This Administration is determined to advance its radical climate agenda and has made it clear they are hellbent on doing...

According to an April report released by watchdog group OpenTheBooks.com, the Internal Revenue Service has spent $10 million since 2020 on guns, ammunition, and other tactical gear in an effort to militarize the agency. The report revealed that the IRS and 102 other agencies outside the Department of Defense invested a combined total of $3.7 billion since 2006 – adjusted for inflation – on weapons, ammunition, and military-style equipment. OpenTheBooks.com stated that 76 of the 102 are rank-and-file regulatory agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, Social Security Administration, Veterans Affairs, and Health and Human Services. “There are now more...

The rationale offered is that cooperating with the Net Zero agenda will buy some time for traditional energy producers. I understand that there is pressure concerning quarterly financial disclosures, but appeasement will only end one way. The time is coming when your upcoming quarterly financial reports will be your last. Efforts to go along to get along will not be enough It's best to spend that money not trying to appease the perpetually outraged and instead spend that money trying to win the battle in public and in court.

Federal agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency have spent nearly $4 billion in taxpayer funds on guns, ammunition, and other "military-style equipment," a watchdog group found. Since 2006, "76 rank-and-file agencies" outside "traditional law enforcement entities" or the Department of Defense spent $3.7 billion on "guns, ammunition, and military-style equipment," according to watchdog group Open the Books's summary of its report. These agencies include the National Institutes of Health, NASA, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Small Business Administration, among others that historically have played little to no role in law enforcement activities. Federal...

The Supreme Court on Monday announced it will hear a case that could significantly scale back federal agencies’ authority, with major implications for the future of environmental and other regulations. The justices next term will consider whether to overturn a decades-old precedent that grants agencies deference when Congress left ambiguity in a statute. Named for the court’s decision in Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, the Chevron deference has become one of the most frequently cited precedents in administrative law since the decision was first handed down in 1984. It involves a two-step test: First, judges decide if Congress...

Americans can’t afford to buy food, so Biden decided that they also shouldn’t be able to heat their homes during the winter. After an “environmental” measure that would prevent a majority of the country from being able to afford new cars, Biden is now going after their power bills. The latest EPA proposal would mandate ‘carbon capture’ at power plants. A study by MIT showed that carbon capture raises the cost of electricity from 30% to 50% depending on the type of plant. Another study by Australia’s Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis however showed that prices could actually...

The Biden administration is reportedly finalizing a proposal that would force fossil fuel-fired power plants to substantially curb emissions or utilize costly carbon capture technology.The proposal — which will soon be released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — is expected to require coal- and natural gas-fired power plants to cut or capture the vast majority of their carbon dioxide emissions by 2040, The New York Times reported on Saturday, citing officials briefed on a draft of the plan. The regulation, if finalized, would represent the first-ever federal action curbing power plant emissions."EPA cannot comment because the proposals are currently...