The Joe Biden transition team announced Thursday that the president-elect has picked Michael Regan, the 44-year-old head of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. If confirmed, he would be the first African American man to hold that post. One of his key tasks will be restoring the reputation, morale, and […]
President-elect Joe Biden will nominate Michael Regan, the top environmental official in North Carolina, to head the Environmental Protection Agency, according to multiple news reports Thursday. By Andrea Germanos Common Dreams The news drew a range of responses from environmental campaigners, including praise that the apparent choice means the rejection of California Air Resources Board […]
Grassroots environmental groups that have been demanding a Cabinet dedicated to pursuing an ambitious climate agenda applauded President-elect Joe Biden’s reported decision to nominate former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to lead the Energy Department and Natural Resources Defense Council head Gina McCarthy to serve as national climate adviser. By Jake Johnson Common Dreams These selections are a […]
On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency declined to put in place stricter regulations on coal. This is despite the evolving evidence that air pollution is correlated with worse Covid-19 outcomes. Ecological studies have shown that even a small increase in exposure to particulate matter of 1 µg/m3 (PM2.5) in the air leads to an 8% increase in Covid-related mortality. […]
With President Donald Trump’s first term soon coming to an end, the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday finalized a rule that critics are calling a last-minute attempt to “sabotage” future efforts by President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration to tackle the intertwined climate and pollution crises. By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams Capping off nearly four years […]
Climate Hawk Democrats can flip the Senate by ousting Susan Collins, the endangered Senate Republican who tries to pretend that she’s moderate. Her moment in the national spotlight came in September 2018 when she defended Brett Kavanaugh and cast the deciding vote to confirm him to the Supreme Court, declaring that he would respect settled […]
It’s been no big secret that when presidential candidate Trump promised to drain the swamp, he meant he was going to purge the experts and replace them with industry employees who would — instead of protecting the public from polluters — protect their (former) employers’ profits. This “revolving door,” as it’s known in DC, between […]
Today humans are exposed to thousands of man-made chemicals. Yet the effects on people’s health are still not fully understood. By Alexander Suvorov, University of Massachusetts Amherst The Conversation In 2020 the number of registered chemicals reached 167 million. Every day people are exposed to them through food, water, contaminated air, drugs, cosmetics and other […]
With President Donald Trump’s re-election very much in doubt, his administration is rushing to ram through regulatory rollbacks that could adversely affect millions of Americans, the environment, and the ability of Joe Biden—should he win—to pursue his agenda or even undo the damage done over the past four years. By Brett Wilkins Common Dreams Reporting […]
In a little-noticed development last week that drew ire after being reported Monday, the Trump administration’s EPA granted the state of Oklahoma wide-ranging environmental regulatory control on nearly all tribal lands in the state, stripping dozens of tribes of their sovereignty over critical environmental issues. By Brett Wilkins Common Dreams Background: One more broken treaty: EPA’s Wheeler […]
Back in July, a Supreme Court ruling on a complicated matter of jurisdiction gave way to a surprisingly straightforward ruling. The ruling recognized that the eastern half of Oklahoma still belonged to the Native American nations put on reservations there after their forced relocation on the Trail of Tears from their ancestral homeland in what is now […]
When last we discussed the tobacco industry’s plan to hamstring the government’s ability to regulate pollution, the Trump administration was defending its attempt to adopt it by invoking an obscure statute from 1874 that doesn’t actually even apply to the EPA. People who actually care about public health have consistently pointed out that the Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science rule is actually a tobacco industry plan to censor […]
Testimony of the Rev. Mitch Hescox of the Evangelical Environmental Network regarding the ozone national ambient air quality standard, presented to the Environmental Protection Agency. By Rev Mitch Hescox Evangelical Environmental Network Good Afternoon. I am The Rev. Mitchell C. Hescox, President/CEO of the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN), father, grandfather of seven (7), a resident […]
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler is under fire for a Thursday speech laying out a vision for the agency that critics warn would unleash untold environmental devastation should it come to pass. By Andrea Germanos Common Dreams Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, delivered the remarks at the Nixon Library in southern California to commemorate the 50th anniversary […]
In what critics called yet “another toxic giveaway” to corporate polluters, the Trump administration late Monday afternoon announced final revisions to Obama-era regulations designed protect lakes, rivers, and streams near coal-fired power plants by imposing strict treatment requirements for wastewater containing toxic pollutants. By Jessica Corbett Common Dreams The new Environmental Protection Agency guidelines relax a 2015 […]