Since his first few days on the campaign trail, Joe Biden has held the line that addressing the climate crisis is one of his , 鈥渢he number one issue facing humanity.鈥� In January, in anticipation of his inauguration, 国产吃瓜黑料 published an ambitious outline for what we thought Biden听should do to steer the United States听out of its Trump-era nosedive听补苍诲 protect the planet and country from impending fiery doom (or at least to try to slow the burning).

Now, President Biden is 100 days into his term, and we鈥檙e not just speculating anymore. 鈥淭he Biden administration has hit the ground running.听I鈥檓 really pleasantly surprised at the speed at which they鈥檙e moving,鈥� says Aaron Weiss, deputy director at the nonpartisan conservation group . 鈥淲hen you look at the concrete actions that they鈥檙e taking, they鈥檝e gotten an amazing amount of stuff done in a short amount of time.鈥�

So, what has the Biden administration accomplished for the climate and environment since taking office? And where does it have work to do? Here鈥檚 our report card on Biden鈥檚 first 100 days.听

What He鈥檚 Gotten Done

Within hours of taking the oath of office, President Biden signed a slew of environmentally focused executive orders. He (more on that later), canceled the Keystone XL pipeline, and committed to upholding environmental justice. 鈥淲e always hear about day one objectives, but they literally did it,鈥� says Nat Keohane, senior vice president for climate at the 听补苍诲 on energy and environment during the Obama administration. 鈥淗e had half a day in the White House, and it was on the docket. Right out of the gate, this administration made it clear that they were really putting climate at the center.鈥�

Personnel is politics, and Keohane says the Biden administration has across the board, from Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm听迟辞 National Economic Council director Brian Deese, the former head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, the world鈥檚 biggest asset manager.听鈥淗aving someone with that depth of understanding advising on the economy is huge,鈥� Keohane says.

For those of us who prize public lands, Deb Haaland鈥檚 appointment as secretary of the interior was extremely impactful, and she鈥檚 already come out with . The first 听that her team found to be inconsistent with science and public health, including Trump rules that opened up and expedited drilling on federal lands听补苍诲 a Trump order that diminished the power of the National Environmental Policy Act, which ensures that environmental impacts are considered in any federal projects. 鈥淭hose previous orders unfairly tilted the balance of public land and ocean management toward extractive uses without regard for climate change, equity, or community engagement,鈥� Haaland said in a .听听

Weiss says that revocation might seem backward-looking, but it鈥檚 really a huge step forward. 鈥淭hat order does a lot to wipe the slate clean so the agencies can get back to following the law, consistent with the best science. It鈥檚 huge just in terms of the number of bad things that it removes,鈥� Weiss says. Then, looking forward, Haaland established a climate task force within the Department of the Interior, which, among other things, will incorporate the social cost of carbon into the department鈥檚 work. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a big change, even just from the sheer scope of what they touch,鈥� Weiss says.

Finally, it鈥檚 not just the president and the cabinet working toward emission reductions. Congress used the 听迟辞 a Trump EPA rule to limit regulations on , a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon.

What鈥檚 Still in Process

One hundred days goes by fast, so many plans and policies are still in the works. The most significant one鈥攚hich will trickle into many aspects of how we live, move, and grow鈥攊s the president鈥檚 to 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030, which he announced at a summit of on Earth Day. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a big deal. It puts us in the top tier of ambition globally, well on target to meet net zero by 2050, which science demands,鈥� Keohane says. 鈥淎nd there鈥檚 a huge amount to do to implement that.鈥�

We have the technology to get to those targets.听We just need the funding, plans, and political will. Those are rolled, in part, into that President Biden proposed in March, which 听补苍诲 includes funding for electric vehicles, a revamped power grid, climate research, and much more. It鈥檚 ambitious and expensive, but the president is touting it as a way to heal the economy and the climate at the same time. 鈥淭his is about all the ways that investing in climate means better jobs, healthier communities, and more equity,鈥� Keohane says. A significant amount of money is听earmarked for climate resilience, including $450 million for tribes听补苍诲 $161 million for agriculture.

Land conservation and designation is another big ball in the air. Secretary Haaland recently visited Bears Ears National Monument, protection for which has bounced听back and forth between the previous two administrations. She鈥檚 expected to make a recommendation soon. Zooming out, Biden has committed to preserving , and Weiss says the so-called 30-by-30 plan will have a huge bearing on how land is preserved听 and how conservation can connect public and private land. He believes it should be a bottom-up process that involves Indigenous, private, state, and city lands to protect landscapes in a collaborative structure.

Weiss says the other big policy change in play on public land is oil and gas leasing, which the Biden administration has paused and is still reevaluating. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a giant ball of yarn to unwind, but they鈥檙e taking the right steps in terms of considering greenhouse gas emissions听补苍诲 total cost of carbon,鈥� he says. Weiss has his eye on well bonding and royalties听补苍诲 how the Interior Department is proposing to fix听补苍诲 modernize听the leasing system. And he鈥檚 hopeful that Congress will come together to pass new bipartisan regulations. A bill to modernize royalty rates was , a seven-term Republican senator from Iowa听who has historically . That kind of cross-aisle bill could be a sign of turning tides.听听

Where He鈥檚 Floundering

While Biden has set serious carbon reduction goals听补苍诲 announced impressive future plans, he hasn鈥檛 been as decisive on curbing existing pipeline projects, like in northern Minnesota, which Indigenous groups have asked him to stop听because it threatens their water and ancestral lands听补苍诲 will add to the atmosphere each year. If we鈥檙e going to hit those science-based targets to cut emissions鈥攁nd respect tribal sovereignty鈥攖he federal government has to move quickly and decisively to stop carbon-based projects like Line 3.听

But the biggest stumbling block to emission reductions is Congress, where Republicans in the lockjawed Senate have said they won鈥檛 pass any sort of climate policy. Democrat Joe Manchin, from red-leaning West Virginia, will likely be the deciding vote on infrastructure and about anything involving green energy. Biden鈥檚 infrastructure plan , which would require power utilities to generate electricity using entirely carbon-free sources by 2035. On April 26, a group of 150 businesses and environmental groups to Biden and congressional leaders, underlining the fact that it鈥檚 broadly popular. But the bill still has to pass through Congress. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 let Congress off the hook. There鈥檚 a lot the administration can鈥檛 do without 60 votes,鈥� Keohane says. 鈥淚f we want to meet that 50 percent reduction goal, the most important sector will be the power sector, and that will take policy to set an enforceable limit on .鈥澨�

Keohane says his other concern is the administration maintaining momentum and following through on its targets. 鈥淭his needs to be a four-year effort, not just 100 days,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 was there in the Obama years, so I know that every term a crisis will come up. The challenge in the face of that is keeping climate at the top of the list听补苍诲 central to the agenda.鈥� Time is crucial when it comes to addressing climate change and environmental degradation. Biden and his team have been moving impressively fast so far, but the rest of his term will have to be both a marathon and a sprint.听

The post What Biden鈥檚 Done for the Climate in His First 100 Days appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Over听a span of two days earlier this week, there were three big wins for environmental groups fighting controversial natural gas pipeline projects. On Sunday, Dominion Energy canceled听the听Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP),听citing delays and rising costs. And on Monday, District Judge James E. Boasberg ordered a shutdown of the听 (DAPL) on the grounds that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had violated the National Environmental Policy Act by not adequately assessing the risks. The same day, the Supreme Court stayed an order to halt construction on the听 because it was in violation of the Endangered Species Act.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a weird time to feel cautiously optimistic,鈥� says Tamara Toles O鈥橪aughlin, North American director of the activist group听350.org. 鈥淵ou look around, the world is going to hell in a handbasket, and we鈥檙e winning on these pipelines.鈥�

Opposition to all three pipelines has largely been led by the Indigenous and Black communities that would be hardest hit by the pipelines鈥� pollution and risk. For six years, the residents of Union Hill, Virginia, a town founded by freed slaves, fought an ACP that would have kicked toxic air pollution into their neighborhoods, filing suit against Dominion for the threat. More than a thousand miles away, at the Standing Rock Sioux听Reservation, DAPL protestors repeatedly stood their ground as rubber bullets and tear gas flew through the freezing air, physically holding their right to the land, as their lawyers brought suits about that听pipeline鈥檚 damages.

The court decisions are a sign that, even in a political climate where the executive branch is pushing an aggressive, , energy-production agenda, shoddily planned, dangerous, and unnecessary fossil-fuel projects don鈥檛 hold up in the courts or at the banks. It鈥檚 a confirmation of the power of organizing听补苍诲 of staying the course in the intertwined fight for racial and climate justice. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e all wins that wouldn鈥檛 have happened if people hadn鈥檛 gotten out into the street听迟辞 make it public,鈥� says Dallas Goldtooth, Keep听It in the Ground听campaign organizer for the . 鈥淚t shows you that this听works. It鈥檚 definitely a win for people.鈥�

As the energy industry turns toward renewables, fossil-fuel prices are plummeting. And the courts have leaned into the durability and importance of environmental laws, even if they鈥檙e not perfect, even as President Trump has tried to weaken them. 鈥淚n the back of my mind, I think the judges are finally saying, 鈥榃e鈥檙e the last line,鈥欌�� Goldtooth says. For the ACP, legal battles pushed the cost of an already tenuous, outdated model so high that Dominion had no choice but to give in. All these legal cases slow down the process and, ideally, make sure the voices of constituents are considered.

鈥淚t鈥檚 death by a thousand听cuts to a bad business model run by some folks who want to think it鈥檚 the eighties and are trying to make money on shortsighted schemes,鈥� O鈥橪aughlin says. This week is a culmination of decades of work to fight unnecessary pipelines, she says, but the movement hit a significant inflection point in 2016, at the听Standing Rock protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline. 鈥淚t showed that you don鈥檛 have to wait for an invitation.听If you see the harm happening, you can do something,鈥� she says.

Of course, energy companies are fighting back, arguing听that a liberal judge overstepped his bounds听补苍诲 that听shutting down the DAPL, which is already running, would cost hundreds of jobs and billions of dollars in lost revenue.

But the economic reality is that natural gas is becoming less necessary and those jobs could be better filled in a more sustainable industry, one that doesn鈥檛 threaten the community that supports it. Last month from the University of California at听Berkeley听found that 90 percent of U.S. electricity could be emission-free by 2035, in part by slashing natural-gas use by 70 percent.

That transition is a big part of why the ACP died on the vine. The country is moving on from natural gas. Patrick Hunter, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, says that Virginia and North Carolina, which were slated to receive the gas, already have a glut, and both states recently signed sweeping carbon-reduction goals, so there was no need and no desire. He says the legal battle made that clear, but most of their legal work was elevating the voices of the communities that would be impacted by the pipeline. 鈥淲ithout people caring about this, nothing happens,鈥� Hunter听says. 鈥淲hen Dominion planned it, I think they thought they could steamroll and grease the political wheel, but that didn鈥檛 happen. I hope it inspires people to speak up. It shows that sometimes David can beat Goliath.鈥�

Goldtooth says he knows that they have to maintain the pressure on the other two pipelines (he鈥檚 nervously awaiting a final ruling on Keystone XL, which was pushed back to the Ninth听Circuit Court of Appeals for further consideration). So even though he鈥檚 celebrating, he鈥檚 not relaxing.

In the hell-bound handbasket that is the first half of 2020,听we鈥檝e seen a听takeaway about persistence for more than just pipelines. This summer鈥檚听rallies听against police violence and racial inequity are also tangible proof that collective action and a sustained protest movement can make a difference, but it has to come from more than just the people impacted, and they have to keep the pressure on.

鈥淒APL made people feel like they could run toward the problem,鈥� O鈥橪aughlin says. 鈥淚n this movement, we鈥檙e starting to run in the same direction, but it鈥檚 important for people to remember that this is a marathon,听not a sprint.鈥�

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For nine years, a small army of Nebraska landowners has defended its homeland against TransCanada, the Calgary-based company intent on running its $8 billion Keystone XL oil pipeline through Nebraska so it can deliver oil from northern Alberta to refineries along the Gulf Coast of Texas. At times, KXL has been the national environmental issue; other times, like now, it鈥檚 lucky to make the local news, a worry only for those whose land might soon be interrupted by a 36-inch pipeline carrying heavy, viscous tar sands oil (mixed with undisclosed chemical diluents) just beneath the surface and directly atop their primary water source: the Ogallala Aquifer.

Landowners and other opposition groups have quietly gathered in courthouses and prairie churches, protested on capitol grounds and on cable TV. They鈥檝e memorized the fact sheets: the mileage (1,179); the barrels per day (); the likely number of full-time jobs in Nebraska (); the fact that TransCanada has spent more money lobbying for this pipeline than any other utility company in Nebraska鈥檚 history (). Some landowners have given up retirement plans to fight the pipeline full-time. More than a few have lost friends along the way.

From a national perspective, President Donald Trump鈥檚 pro-industry stance has drastically changed the optics on the pipeline battle. Barack Obama twice rejected the pipeline, while Trump campaigned on a pledge to approve it, along with the similarly controversial Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota. Opponents nationwide considered both projects a bellwether for the next era of America鈥檚 environmental policy: if approved, they would signal a renewed commitment to fossil fuels and a direct threat to one of the world鈥檚 largest underground freshwater sources. So when Trump approved the Keystone XL last March, claiming it would be 鈥�,鈥� the battle seemed to be over.

But for pipeline opponents in the Cornhusker State, the view from the ground is far from hopeless. Last November, , the Nebraska Public Service Commission (NPSC) rejected TransCanada鈥檚 preferred route. Instead the commission okayed the company鈥檚 alternate choice, a path that differs from the original 63 miles in northeast Nebraska. Those 63 miles could make all the difference: a new route means new easements and likely a host of pricey new lawsuits.

The decision was such a blow that the company requested the NPSC modify the wording of its decision. But the commission unanimously rejected the motion, a ruling that landowner attorney Brian Jorde called the 鈥渨orst decision possible for TransCanada.鈥�

What this means is that the Keystone XL鈥攁fter nine years and two presidents鈥攎ight finally be felled by legal technicalities and groups of well-organized farmers. To gauge the project鈥檚 momentum, I attended landowner meetings hosted by both TransCanada and the Nebraska Easement Action Team, a legal defense nonprofit representing landowners affected by the pipeline. Or rather, I tried to.

Despite the legal ambiguities, TransCanada continues to push forward. In early December, the company announced a slew of landowner meet-and-greets at what it called Landowner Engagement Centers in communities along the new alternate route. One was held in a small conference room at the Cobblestone Hotel in Seward, Nebraska, a county seat of 7,200 people surrounded by the stubble of empty cornfields.

When I arrived at the hotel, hoping to meet some landowners and gauge their feelings on the risks and rewards of the pipeline, the ice machine gurgled and the Weather Channel was playing on mute in an empty lobby. A large welcome sign stood next to the conference room door, which TransCanada spokesperson Robynn Tysver immediately closed when I introduced myself as a journalist.

鈥淪eriously, they deserve privacy,鈥� she said.

Less than a minute later, as I waited in the lobby, jotting a few useless notes about the Weather Channel and the ice machine, Tysver returned.

鈥淵ou know, I have to tell you, I鈥檓 uncomfortable having you even here.鈥�

I turned to the receptionist.

鈥淒o you mind me sitting in your lobby?鈥�

鈥淣ope,鈥� she said.

During the 2.5 hours I sat there, fewer than ten people entered the room, and those who did were hardly willing to talk. Each time I stood from the table to follow them out, another TransCanada representative rose and followed close behind. Tysver had never heard of 国产吃瓜黑料, so perhaps I sounded fishy. Tysver had a hunch.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e not here on behalf of ?鈥� Tysver asked, referring to a nonprofit environmental advocacy group that has dogged TransCanada from the start.

I left soon after, but not before catching a pair on their way out who agreed to answer a few questions. Both Sam Ferguson and his mother live in Seward, though they don鈥檛 own land in the path of the alternate route. As they talked to me, neither smiled.

鈥淲hether or not I鈥檓 a landowner, this does affect me,鈥� Linda said. 鈥淎 pipeline does affect me and my children and his children.鈥�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 even have an opinion on this thing yet,鈥� Sam added. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know shit about the pipeline. My concern was if there鈥檚 a danger of it leaking, that trumps anything positive.鈥�

There鈥檚 plenty of reason to be concerned about leaks. Just weeks before, the existing Keystone pipeline had spilled more than 210,000 gallons near Amherst, South Dakota, and barely a fifth was recovered. This was TransCanada鈥檚 third major spill in the Dakotas since the pipeline began operation in 2010.

The original Keystone was installed just west of Seward, and the newer, larger XL pipeline would also run west of town, though residents here negotiated to steer it away from the local reservoir. Save for this notch around the town, the southern half of the alternate route in Nebraska would run parallel to the existing Keystone pipeline, all the way to its southern terminus in Steele City.

It鈥檚 this slight deviation that could ruin the pipeline鈥檚 future, because while TransCanada insists that the Keystone XL 鈥渞emains a viable project with strong commercial support,鈥� some energy analysts say it鈥檚 become a risky gamble.

requires mining and separation, a much more complex and costly process than extraction from conventional oil shales, where bitumen can be pumped in its natural state directly from the ground. In other words, the profit margin is inherently lower. But TransCanada first conceptualized the pipeline about a decade ago, when oil prices peaked at nearly $150 per barrel and producers rushed to siphon every last drop. Since then, prices have crashed.

The pipeline faces another problem: oil companies are selling off their Canadian assets, signaling a shift to less expensive and cleaner products. This math gets worse for TransCanada the longer the fight drags out.

In September 2014, after six years in regulatory limbo, TransCanada acknowledged that legal delays had already driven up the cost of the pipeline by nearly half, . Had the NPSC approved the preferred route, TransCanada could have started construction immediately. But now it has two options: build along the alternate route and face what is likely to be an onslaught of new lawsuits from previously unaffected and unnotified landowners, or fight the commission鈥檚 decision in the Nebraska Court of Appeals, a process that would likely take years and add millions, if not billions, to the tab.

One night after the Cobblestone event, the (NEAT)鈥攁 legal defense nonprofit representing landowners affected by the pipeline鈥攈osted a gathering of its own, the first of several up and down the length of the alternate route. Unlike TransCanada鈥檚 Landowner Engagement Centers, the NEAT meetings functioned as de facto public events. This one was held in the Olde Glory Theatre, a repurposed church just a few blocks off the town square, and the seats were filled with about 75 area residents, some of whom, presumably, recently learned that the pipeline鈥檚 new path would now cross their land.

NEAT was established by Brian Jorde and Dave Domina, the same attorneys currently fighting TransCanada. Weeks before, Domina had told the NPSC that if it accepted TransCanada鈥檚 request to amend its application, it would destroy the commission鈥檚 reputation. 鈥淭hat would make a mockery of you,鈥� he鈥檇 said. 鈥淚t would make a mockery of the judiciary.鈥� Though an outgrowth of Bold Nebraska, NEAT emphasizes that it is not an anti-pipeline group, but rather a pro-landowner group, and the landowners were finally enjoying the upper hand.

Landowners who currently welcome the pipeline are lured either by the money鈥攚hich includes a signing bonus as high as $80,000, NEAT says, in addition to a one-time easement payment鈥攐r the politics. In a deeply conservative state, claims of American energy independence have convinced many that supporting the pipeline is an act of patriotism. On the other hand, those who oppose the project see a loss of private property rights and an environmental cancer: not just increased greenhouse gases and a threat to the aquifer, but also soils compacted beneath heavy machinery, reduced crop yields, and negative impacts on surrounding wildlife. Nevertheless, should TransCanada clear the remaining legal hurdles, landowners of every political stripe will share at least one desire: to have the upper hand in negotiating with a multibillion-dollar corporation.

鈥淚magine if Ted Turner, one landowner, happened to have all the holdings that stretched 280 miles along the length of this pipeline,鈥� Jorde told the crowd in the theater, employing an oft-used analogy. 鈥淒o you think one person with all that land would have more leverage than one of you, who might just have a small piece? So how can we empower each of you to be Ted Turner? By grouping together.鈥�

Most landowners at the meeting seemed to oppose the pipeline, asking questions about tar sands oil, the county鈥檚 responsibility in the event of a spill, and whether or not TransCanada can sell the easement to a third party. (It can.) One woman, clutching a newspaper clipping with a map of the alternate route, stood and said simply, 鈥淚 cannot tell exactly where the route is,鈥� to which the majority of the room laughed and nodded in agreement.

At least one man stood to support Keystone XL and said he owned land already crossed by TransCanada鈥檚 first pipeline. His name was Roy Cast, and he argued that extracting oil 鈥渋s in fact cleaning up the environment in Canada鈥� and that opponents should remember that American blood has been spilled 鈥渢o protect our right to have oil shipped into this country.鈥� He spoke forcefully while those around him shook their heads or stared at the table.

In the foyer after the meeting ended, I spoke with Tad Warm, a farmer who lives ten miles northwest in the small town of Staplehurst. Not long ago, Warm received a letter from TransCanada, but he already knew his land would be crossed. When the alternate route was first published, he dove into the plat maps. The pipeline would pass within 100 yards of the house he lives in with his wife and two kids and would cross farmland that鈥檚 been in his family for nearly 70 years. He told me he鈥檇 been at the TransCanada meeting in the Cobblestone Hotel the day before and was frustrated with the way TransCanada sidestepped his concern.

鈥淚 brought up the South Dakota spill, and they said, 鈥極h, we鈥檒l replace the land,鈥� and I鈥檓 like, 鈥榊eah, how long? And will you replace it like it used to be?鈥� They didn鈥檛 answer the question.鈥�

I asked him about the money, the signing bonuses.

鈥淚t could never be enough.鈥�

After watching the pipeline battle rage on for nearly nine years, those who left the Olde Glory Theatre and shuffled out into the night already held a better hand. The last time TransCanada barreled through, some had been wooed by big checks. But they were wiser this time, their questions were more specific, their rebuttals more pointed, their concerns hardened by what they鈥檇 already seen.

This time, they were ready for a fight.

The post Can This Group of Farmers Finally Defeat Keystone XL? appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Almost immediately upon taking office, President Donald Trump has begun fulfilling his campaign promise of gutting the EPA, targeting the agency鈥檚 spending and reportedly planning to halt much of its work. He also took on the other liberal bugaboo from the Obama administration鈥攖he long-debated Keystone XL pipeline鈥攁nd both document leaks and transition officials indicate the new commander in chief is going to hand down more regulatory cuts.

Here are the shots fired in the administration鈥檚 first week for the environment.

1. Pipelines Back on Track

On Tuesday, the president听听reviving the fates of the Keystone XL and听Dakota Access听pipelines, which had been halted by the previous administration due to social and environmental concerns.

The fights over these two pipelines were some of the hardest fought by environmentalists over the last eight years and the Obama administration ended up blocking both of the听multibillion-dollar听projects after intense pressure. The pipes would carry oil produced from Alberta鈥檚 tar sands across the Canadian border and down to the U.S.

During his campaign, Trump promised to authorize the pipelines鈥攁nd to require the builders to use American-made steel in the process. “We will build our own pipes, like we used to in the old days,”听he said at Tuesday鈥檚 signing ceremony of the executive order approving the pipelines. Two days later, TransCanada, the Calgary company building Keystone,听.

2. Freezes, Gags, and Blackouts

The Trump Administration all of the EPA鈥檚 grants and contracts on Monday,听pending further review by administration officials. The freeze is expected to end today, but as of this writing it听hadn't yet been lifted.

Although Myron Ebell, a climate change skeptic and Trump transition team leader, told Reuters that freezes like this were “routine”听for incoming administrations, an anonymous EPA employee told ProPublica听“he had never seen anything like it in nearly a decade with the agency,” and that “hiring freezes happened, but freezes on grants and contracts seemed extraordinary.”

On Friday, Ebell 听he would like to see the EPA鈥檚 staff slashed in half鈥攖he agency currently employs 15,000 people across the country鈥攁nd that he expected the president to seek to cut about $1 billion of the agency鈥檚 $8 billion budget.

3. Regulations on the Chopping Block

Earlier in the week, the new political news site 听claimed to have received a copy of the Trump transition team鈥檚 鈥淎gency Action鈥� plan for the EPA. It identifies a host of EPA initiatives the administration aims to halt, including: Clean Air Act greenhouse gas regulations that cover new and existing coal and natural gas power plants; CAFE standards, which regulate fuel economy rates for cars; of the Clean Water Act, which prevents water pollution caused by infrastructure or development; and regulations designed to protect wetlands and the Chesapeake Bay.

Ebell, the official who headed up planning on the EPA for the transition, 听the document was prepared before Trump took office and is not the most up-to-date action plan for the agency. However, other 听have come to fruition, including the planned withdrawal from the Trans Pacific Partnership, the implementation of the Mexico City Rule on funding foreign NGOs that provide abortion, and a broad hiring freeze across the federal government.

The same leaked memo suggests that the new administration does not believe its own scientists at the EPA. “EPA does not use science to guide regulatory policy as much as it uses regulatory policy to steer the science. This is an old problem at EPA,” the leaked document reads. “In 1992, a blue-ribbon panel of EPA science advisers that [sic] 'science should not be adjusted to fit policy.' But rather than heed this advice, EPA has greatly increased its science manipulation.”

4. Pruitt Moves Forward

Finally, the EPA was brought one step closer to being run by a person who has dedicated himself to halting its policies. On Monday, the Republican chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said that Scott Pruitt, Trump鈥檚 nominee for EPA Administrator, and demonstrated his ability to lead the agency.

Pruitt, who is currently the attorney general of the state of Oklahoma, is skeptical of the science behind climate change. While attorney general, he sued the EPA at least 14 times to halt the Obama administration鈥檚 environmental policies and Pruitt听 as 鈥渁 leading advocate against the EPA鈥檚 activist agenda.鈥� Last week, at his confirmation hearing Pruitt , 鈥淪cience tells us that the climate is changing and human activity in some manner impacts that change. The human ability to measure with precision the extent of that impact is subject to continuing debate and dialogue, as well they should be.鈥�

Although Democrats widely听oppose Pruitt, they are a minority in the Senate, and his chances of leading the EPA are improving.

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