Derek Reinbold  //  6/18/17  //  Topic Update

The Trump Administration’s proposed reconsideration of President Obama’s climate change rule is nearing public release, reports Timothy Cama (The Hill).  

Thirteen states have vowed to challenge the Trump administration over any efforts to roll back vehicle emission rules, writes David Shepardson (Reuters).

Eleven states have sued the Trump administration for failing to enact required energy efficiency standards (Ars Technica).

• The complaint is here.

The Trump Administration has refused to sign a G7 declaration committing to action on climate change (The Hill).

Despite President Trump’s announcement that the United States will withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, the United States may remain on the board of the Green Climate Fund (Climate Wire).

The Environmental Protection Agency has delayed implementation of an Obama-era rule regulating methane emissions from oil and gas drilling on public land, and may seek to eliminate the rule (Legal Planet, The Hill).

A judge denied the government’s bids to halt a climate change lawsuit brought by young people against the federal government for violating their constitutional rights (WaPo).

The Justice Department is arguing that the federal courts cannot review the Trump Administration’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline (The Hill).

The Interior Secretary has recommended that President Trump remove current protections to part of Utah’s Bears Ears National Moment (The Hill).

The House Appropriations Subcommittee gave EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt an icy reception, calling the Trump Administration’s proposed 30% cut to the agency’s budget untenable (The Hill).

After President Trump’s term in office fades from memory, the increased carbon emissions resulting from his science-free policies will be an enduring monument to his presidency, writes Dan Farber at LegalPlanet.

The United States is lagging far behind other developed countries in terms of carbon pricing, which is expressly provided for in the Paris Climate Accord (Vox).

Scientists praise an energy innovation office that President Trump wants to shut down (NYT).

President Trump called the mayor of Tangier Island, a small, low-lying island in the Chesapeake Bay, and told him “not to worry” about climate change (Climate Wire).