Take Care  //  4/23/17  //  Topic Update

Industry leaders invited by the Trump Administration to give policy advice primarily criticized the Environmental Protection Agency, reports Juliet Eilperin (WaPo).

Top officials from the Trump Administration will reportedly debate leaving the Paris Climate Agreement on Tuesday (The Hill, Politico).

• EPA Chief Scott Pruitt’s Thursday statements regarding the Paris Agreement exemplify the Administration’s weaknesses, writes Dan Farber (Legal Planet).

Analysis continues in anticipation of Tuesday’s White House meeting to determine the fate of U.S. participation in the Paris Climate Agreement.

• The outcome of the meeting may turn on which cabinet members and advisors are invited, an as-of-yet-undetermined variable, predicts Evan Lehmann (ClimateWire).
• Corporate America is breaking with President Trump over climate change, writes Amy Harder at Axios.
• In an unexpected turn of events, some coal advocates are now supporting continued participation in the Paris Agreement, Jean Chemnick reports for ClimateWire.
• China, Japan, the United Kingdom, Brazil, and others have submitted questions to the State Department on its climate change compliance plans, none of which have been answered (ClimateWire). The questions are here.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry ordered a study examining whether policies favoring renewable energy sources are undermining the reliability of steady power supplies (BloombergPolitics; The Hill).

The March for Science this Saturday has taken on new political significance for some participants (NYT), while scientists look beyond Saturday to longer-term fights (NYT).

• The Trump Administration, bolstered by the House Science Committee, continues the “War on Science,” alleges Dan Farber at LegalPlanet.
• Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA) agrees at The Hill.

EPA head Scott Pruitt condemned Obama’s “war on coal” at a mine owned by a company looking to get out of coal, an irony pointed out by the New York Times Editorial Board.

• Why doesn’t the administration focus on dwindling job sectors other than coal and manufacturing, Paul Krugman wonders at the New York Times.

Democrats are compromising in exchange for a carbon tax that neither President Trump nor any Congressional Republicans support, David Roberts charges at Vox.

Amidst discord among advisers, Trump administration officials postponed a major meeting to discuss the United States’ future in the Paris climate agreement (Politico).

• Several key advisers are urging the President to abandon his campaign promise to leave the agreement (NYT).
• Jean Chemnick and Evan Lehmann (Climatewire)describe the key players in the administration at odds over the issue.
• Brad Plummer (Vox) discusses the implications of remaining in the agreement.

The Trump Administration is undermining climate change data and research, argue Leah Litman and Helen Klein Murillo in Part Three of the Information Wars Series at Take Care.

• Obama administration Department of Energy officials attempted to highlight and encourage continuation of the agency’s climate change achievements, but to no avail (Climatewire).  
• Energy Secretary Rick Perry called for a study on the impact of renewable clean energy on coal and nuclear power plants (Climatewire, Greentech Media).

The Environmental Protection Agency took the first step in undoing an Obama-era rule limiting methane emissions at oil and gas drilling sites (The Hill).

• The Trump Administration is also considering whether to change two major Obama Administration air pollution regulations, including the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule at issue in Michigan v. EPA (The Hill).

A top House Republican and a Washington lobbying group are working to pass a financial regulation bill that could end most corporate climate resolutions (ClimateWire).

An environmental group filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the Congressional Review Act, which Congress used to repeal a Department of Interior rule protecting Alaskan wildlife (The Hill).

• The complaint is here.

Analysis continues of proposed and anticipated changes in coal policy.

• Energy Secretary Rick Perry suggested coming changes in the administration’s policy, speaking before an advisory group this week (ClimateWire).
• The Trump Administration’s threatened repeal of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards may not help struggling coal plants, notes Benjamin Storrow (ClimateWire).

Chemical companies are asking the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set aside an Obama-era study on the deleterious effects of some pesticides on animal health (The Hill).

The EPA doesn’t have the legal authority to delay implementation of its methane emissions regs for the oil and gas industry, environmental groups are arguing (ClimateWire).

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