Free Republic

The federal government does not know the extent that regulations are reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, despite committing $200 billion towards the issue.Jerry DeMarco, commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, holds a press conference in Ottawa on April 20, 2023. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)An April 20 report released by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Jerry DeMarco, indicates that Environment and Climate Change Canada does not attribute emission results to specific regulations.The federal department does not measure, or report on, the contributions of each regulation toward meeting the set target for 2030. An audit by the commissioner...

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...

This morning the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington held oral argument in the case of the Concerned Household Electricity Consumers Council v. EPA. That’s the case where a hardy band of citizen petitioners (CHECC) challenges the 2009 finding of EPA that CO2 and other “greenhouse gases” constitute a “danger” to human health and welfare by reason of their potential to warm the atmosphere. That finding, known as the Endangerment Finding or EF, is the underlying basis for the all-of-government regulatory assault on the fossil fuel industry and the energy economy currently being conducted by the Biden Administration. I...

Several top Republican lawmakers and energy industry groups blasted the Biden administration Wednesday after it announced aggressive regulations cracking down on gas-powered car emissions. Critics of the sweeping emissions standards, unveiled Wednesday morning by the White House and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), argued the announcement revealed President Biden is seeking to effectively ban traditional gas cars in favor of electric vehicles (EV). The White House said the rules would "accelerate the clean vehicle transition" and reduce pollution by nearly 10 billion tons by 2055.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will propose strict new automobile pollution limits this week that would require at least 54% of new vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030 and as many as two of every three by 2032, according to industry and environmental officials briefed on the plan.</p>

The New York Times reported that the Biden administration will abuse EPA regulations to eliminate most real car sales by 2030. The plan is to force 67% of car sales to be electric by 2032. Most Americans won’t be able to afford them, but they’ll have no other options. Even the cheapest electric cars, which are still far more expensive than their real car counterparts and are just one battery problem away from turning into mostly unusable junk, are out of the price range of the majority of Americans who need an income of $80,000 to make an EV auto...

President Joe Biden on Thursday issued his second veto since taking office, halting a bipartisan resolution that would have reversed waterway regulations enacted by his administration last month. The Biden Amdinistration’s regulations issue protections for “hundreds of thousands of small streams, wetlands, and other waterways,” walking back deregulations implemented during the Trump Administration, as the Associated Press noted. Republicans and some Democrats, like Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), have argued the new regulations are an executive branch overreach. After vetoing the resolution, Biden said his administration’s regulation “provides clear rules of the road that will help advance infrastructure projects, economic investments,...

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is planning some of the most stringent auto pollution limits in the world, designed to ensure that all-electric cars make up as much as 67% of new passenger vehicles sold in the country by 2032, according to two people familiar with the matter. That would represent a quantum leap for the United States — where just 5.8% of vehicles sold last year were all-electric — and would exceed President Joe Biden’s earlier ambitions to have all-electric cars account for half of those sold here by 2030. It would be the federal government’s most aggressive climate...

President Biden is set to propose new gas-powered car and light truck emissions standards next week as part of the administration's latest push for electric vehicles. Sources familiar with the announcement, who asked to remain anonymous, told Bloomberg that the standards would be the strictest ever proposed, just short of an EV mandate or gas-powered vehicle ban. In Detroit next Wednesday, the Biden administration is predicted to announce heavy restrictions on tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and other vehicle emissions. The restrictions would impact vehicle models 2027 through 2032. The Environmental Protection Agency is anticipated to reject requests...

President Joe Biden vetoed a bipartisan bill Thursday that would limit his administration’s broad interpretation of the “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule that grants the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) significant new authority. The president rejected the bill, arguing that his administration’s new rule provides “clear rules of the road” to protect both economic efforts and water quality under the Clean Water Act, according to the veto. The rule dramatically expands the traditional limits of WOTUS — which allow the EPA to regulate navigable waters — to include all territorial seas, interstate waters, adjacent wetlands, traditional waters’ tributaries and...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A lawsuit that Louisiana and other Republican-leaning states filed challenging figures the Biden administration uses to calculate damages from greenhouse gasses was dismissed Wednesday by a federal appeals court. The unanimous decision by three judges on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans was the latest defeat for states challenging the Biden “cost of carbon” policy. It leaves the administration to continue using a damage cost estimate of about $51 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions as it develops environmental regulations. That estimate is under review by the administration and could increase. The...

The Biden administration is proposing to tighten standards for pollution coming from coal-fired power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Tuesday that it is proposing to strengthen restrictions under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for the first time in more than a decade. The agency said it will update limits for pollutants, including lead, nickel and arsenic, by 67 percent for all coal power plants. Exposure to these substances raises the risk of developmental delays in children, as well as heart attacks and cancer. It will also increase mercury controls by 70 percent for some power plants —...

Jordan Chariton and Louis DeAngelis cover an EPA Whistleblower who is exposing that the February 6th "controlled burn" of the Norfolk Southern train was in violation of 2022 EPA guidance and an "egregious environmental crime." Jordan will also interview residents and activists on toxic gas that is poisoning the air in Kalamazoo Michigan and sickening residents in the poor Black part of the neighborhood. Jordan will also give an update on the recent Philadelphia chemical spill. Status Coup's SUPPORT Status Coup's ON-THE-GROUND and investigative reporting on the stories the corporate media COVERS UP:

At a hearing before a House committee on Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency's internal watchdog warned lawmakers that the agency's recent surge in funding — part of President Biden's climate policy spending — comes with "a high risk for fraud, waste and abuse." The EPA — whose annual budget for 2023 is just $10 billion — has received roughly $100 billion in new, supplemental funding through two high-dollar pieces of legislation, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. The two new laws represent the largest investment in the agency's history. Sean O'Donnell, the EPA inspector general,...

The Biden administration will approve new California rules to cut tailpipe pollution and phase out sales of diesel-burning trucks, according to three people briefed on the plans, a move that could jump-start the nation’s transition to electric-powered trucks and help communities harmed by diesel pollution.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says members of its staff will be available in East Palestine Thursday night to talk about results of soil testing being conducted following the February 3 derailment, chemical spill, and fire in that community. EPA representatives are scheduled to attend a community open house on Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at East Palestine High School. The EPA is reporting preliminary data from some of the soil sampling related to the controlled burn that occurred during response actions to the train derailment in East Palestine. While final results will be available in the coming weeks, EPA says...

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan requested $375 million and 265 new full-time employees to promote “environmental justice” in his Wednesday testimony to the Senate Committee on Environmental and Public Works while defending the agency’s budget. The EPA established the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights (EJECR) in September and is now seeking a cash influx to expand those efforts through support for community organizations, according to Regan. About one-third of the funding would go into grants to outside groups, and the newly proposed budget would approximately double the agency’s funding for civil rights issues. “In fiscal...

'This is an important victory protecting the people of Texas from destructive federal overreach,' Texas attorney general says A federal judge blocked the Biden administration from implementing environmental regulations redefining how water sources are protected, but which opponents have argued were an example of overreach. In his decision published late Sunday, Judge Jeffrey Brown ruled that the so-called Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule announced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in late December "poses irreparable harm" to residents of Texas and Idaho, the two states that challenged the regulations in the lawsuit filed on Jan. 18. Brown declined...

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Michael Regan said on Friday that he expects the cleanup in East Palestine, Ohio, to take three months. “We are absolutely laser focused on ensuring that Norfolk Southern cleans up this mess as quickly as possible. We are optimistic that the cleanup will be complete in three months,” Regan said during a conference call on Friday. “We will continue to be transparent. We will continue to ensure that the people of East Palestine get the protection that they deserve and that Norfolk Southern will be held accountable,” the EPA administrator added.

The House of Representatives voted 227-198 Thursday to overturn the Biden administration’s “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule, which has been heavily criticized for broadening the definition of what are considered “navigable waters” subject to federal regulation under the Clean Water Act. Republicans say the rule places a costly burden on landowners, ranchers, and farmers by claiming regulatory control over lands containing small streams and wetlands. All but one Republican, Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, voted to overturn the rule, with nine Democrats joining. The resolution was introduced early February and co-sponsored by 170 members of Congress. “President Biden’s new...