Tag Archives: pollution

SCOTUS Curbs EPA’s Power To Conserve Wetlands

CBS News reports: The Supreme Court on Thursday curtailed the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate certain wetlands that qualify as “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act, curbing what has long been seen as a key tool to protect waterways from pollution. The high court ruled against the agency in a long-running dispute with Idaho landowners …

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23 States Sue Trump Over CA Emissions Standards

The Sacramento Bee reports: California and 22 other states sued the Trump administration Friday over the federal government’s revocation of California’s authority to impose stricter limits on greenhouse gas emissions from cars. The suit came a day after federal officials formally revoked California’s powers under the federal Clean Air Act. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Attorney General Xavier Becerra and other state …

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Trump Vows Cars Will Be Safer And Far Less Expensive Because He Banned California’s Emissions Standards

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump said Wednesday that his administration is barring California from setting its own auto emissions standards, setting up a fresh struggle over the president’s push to unravel restrictions on businesses. In tweets announcing the move, the president said the White House “is revoking” a federal waiver that allowed the state to craft its own rules …

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Trump Admin Finalizes Repeal Of Clean Water Rules

The Washington Post reports: Weakening the Obama-era water rule had been a central campaign pledge for Mr. Trump, who characterized it as a federal land-grab that impinged on the rights of farmers, rural landowners and real estate developers to use their property as they see fit. Environmentalists say Mr. Trump’s push to loosen rules on clean water regulations represents an …

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Trump To Revoke California’s Auto Emission Standards

Bloomberg reports: The Trump administration is preparing a plan to strip California’s authority to set tougher auto efficiency regulations than the federal government, even while agencies continue finalizing a rollback of national standards, according to a person familiar with the matter. The matter is still under consideration and no final decision to proceed has been made but is expected in …

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Marriott Joins Move To Eliminate Small Plastic Bottles

The Associated Press reports: It could be lights out for tiny toiletries. Marriott International, the world’s largest hotel chain, said Wednesday it will eliminate small plastic bottles of shampoo, conditioner and bath gel from its hotel rooms worldwide by December 2020. They’ll be replaced with larger bottles or wall-mounted dispensers, depending on the hotel. The move follows a similar announcement …

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Holiday Inn Parent To Drop Mini Shampoo Bottles

The Associated Press reports: The fight to save the seas from plastic waste may mean the end for mini bottles of shampoo and other toiletries that hotel guests love to stuff into their luggage. The owner of Holiday Inn and InterContinental Hotels says Tuesday that its nearly 843,000 guest rooms are switching to bulk-size bathroom amenities as part of an …

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EPA Rolls Back Obama-Era Plan To Cut Coal Emissions

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration on Wednesday finalized a package of new rules to replace the Clean Power Plan, former President Barack Obama’s signature effort to reduce planet-warming emissions from coal plants. The new measure, known as the Affordable Clean Energy rule, will very likely prompt a flurry of legal challenges from environmental groups that could have …

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Canada To Ban Single-Use Plastics By 2021 [VIDEO]

Agence France-Presse reports: Canada will ban single-use plastics from 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday, declaring it a “global challenge” to phase out the bottles, straws and plastic bags clogging the world’s oceans. “I am very pleased to announce that as early as 2021 Canada will ban harmful, single-use plastics from coast to coast,” Trudeau said, arguing Canada has …

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US Among Few Holdouts On UN Plastic Waste Pledge

The Associated Press reports: Almost every country in the world has agreed on a legally binding framework for reducing polluting plastic waste, with the United States a notable exception, United Nations environmental officials said Friday. An agreement on tracking thousands of types of plastic waste emerged at the end of a two-week meeting of U.N.-backed conventions on plastic waste and …

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New York State Poised To Ban Single-Use Plastic Bags

USA Today reports: New York appears poised to ban single-use plastic shopping bags and mandate a small fee for paper bags, with a final deal expected to be part of a $175 billion state budget due Sunday. Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-Bronx, told reporters Wednesday he expects a ban on plastic bags to be part of the final budget. But …

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EPA Criminal Pollution Prosecutions Hit 30-Year Low

The Associated Press reports: The Environmental Protection Agency hit a 30-year low in 2018 in the number of pollution cases it referred for criminal prosecution, Justice Department data show. EPA said in a statement that it is directing “its resources to the most significant and impactful cases.” But the 166 cases referred for prosecution in the last fiscal year is …

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Study Links Cookware Chemicals To Smaller Penises

Some of the headlines today are saying “Nonstick Frying Pans Are Shrinking Your Penis.” Not exactly, as you’ll see below. Men’s Health reports: According to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, the common class of chemicals Perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs), typically used in coating of nonstick cookware, can affect the size of your penis and the …

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EPA To Rollback Obama-Era CO2 Rule For Coal Plants

Axios reports: The Environmental Protection Agency is set to announce Thursday it is weakening an Obama-era rule that had required costly technology capturing carbon dioxide emissions on new coal plants, according to multiple people familiar with the news. This is the latest regulatory rollback effort by President Trump in his attempt to revive America’s coal industry that’s declining in the …

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Federal Appeals Court Upholds Volkswagen’s $10 Billion “Dieselgate” Settlement, Nissan Admits Falsifying Data

Reuters reports: A federal appeals court on Monday upheld Volkswagen’s $10.03 billion settlement with the owners of nearly 500,000 polluting diesel vehicles announced in 2016. The three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said, in dismissing a number of objections to the settlement, that it “delivered tangible, substantial benefits to class members, seemingly the equivalent of — …

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Paris To Ban All Gas And Diesel Cars By 2030

Reuters reports: Paris authorities plan to banish all petrol and diesel-fueled cars from the world’s most visited city by 2030, Paris City Hall said on Thursday. The move marks an acceleration in plans to wean the country off gas-guzzlers and switch to electric vehicles in a city often obliged to impose temporary bans due to surges in particle pollution in …

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EPA To Repeal Obama’s Greenhouse Gas Regulations

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration announced Monday that it would take formal steps to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature policy to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, setting up a bitter fight over the future of America’s efforts to tackle global warming. At an event in eastern Kentucky, Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection …

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EPA To Roll Back Wastewater Toxic Metals Rules

Poison-free water is for snowflake cucks: The Environmental Protection Agency plans to scrap an Obama-era measure limiting water pollution from coal-fired power plants. A letter from EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt released Monday as part of a legal appeal said he will seek to revise the 2015 guidelines mandating increased treatment for wastewater from steam electric power-generating plants. Acting at the …

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JAPAN: Nuclear Plant To Dump Waste Into Ocean

Newsweek reports: Toxic waste produced by one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters will be dumped into the sea, according to the head of the Japanese company tasked with cleaning up the radioactive mess, despite protests from local fishermen. Takashi Kawamura, chairman of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), told foreign media that nearly 777,000 tons of water tainted with tritium, …

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GOP House Natural Resources Committee Chair Readies Bill To Undo Coal And Methane Pollution Regulations

The Hill reports: House Republicans are preparing to vote next week on two resolutions undoing pollution rules issued in the closing months of the Obama administration. Two Interior Department rules — one protecting streams from coal mining waste and another to cut methane emissions at oil and natural gas drilling sites — are the targets of Congressional Review Act resolutions …

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