This week on my podcast, I read my Medium column, “Regulatory Capture: Beyond Revolving Doors and Against Regulatory Nihilism,” about the left/right split on theories of sound regulation. By Cory Doctorow Pluralistic If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, it follows the podcast embed. Play Now The column opens […]
David Bernhardt, former Interior Secretary under President Donald Trump and a lobbyist for the Westlands Water District and Big Oil who oversaw the creation of the environmentally devastating Trump Water Plan in California, is back in the news over alleged bribery he engaged in during his tenure as Secretary. By Dan Bacher Natural Resources Committee […]
Environmental and Indigenous advocates on Friday cheered as a federal judge rejected a Biden administration request to temporarily keep in place a Trump-era Clean Water Act rule that one attorney said would have “devastated” states’ ability to manage their rivers. By Brett Wilkins Common Dreams On Thursday, Judge William H. Alsup of the United States District […]
A Trump-appointed federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Biden administration from enforcing a temporary pause on new leases for oil and gas drilling on public lands and waters, a decision the Interior Department said it “will comply with” amid warnings about the order’s potentially destructive climate impact. By Jake Johnson Common Dreams “The judge’s order turns a blind […]
Dozens of Republican lawmakers who oppose President Joe Biden’s executive order temporarily halting new oil and gas leasing on federal lands have taken tens of millions of dollars in career campaign contributions from fossil fuel, energy, and natural resources industry interests, a report published Wednesday revealed. By Brett Wilkins Common Dreams The Public Citizen report—entitled Big Oil’s […]
On Tuesday, the Senate Agriculture Committee will hold a confirmation hearing for Agriculture Secretary nominee Tom Vilsack. But Vilsack’s record as Agriculture Secretary under President Obama shows his allegiance is to big agribusiness — not farmers, workers, and consumers. That’s why a broad coalition of environmentalists, family farm advocates, and social justice advocates opposes his nomination. By Food […]
President Biden made a splash this week with an executive order on the climate crisis, and with good reason. It shows a commitment to prioritizing climate and environmental justice throughout the government, domestically and internationally. But he also signed two other important documents on Climate/Jobs/Infrastructure Day: an executive order establishing a President’s Council of Advisors on Science and […]
On top of concerns about his close industry ties, corporate-friendly policy record, and alarming civil rights history, President Joe Biden’s Agriculture Secretary nominee Tom Vilsack is also facing scrutiny over what one watchdog organization on Friday characterized as “disturbing” evidence that he improperly meddled in and suppressed scientific research during his previous tenure as head of USDA. By Jake Johnson Common […]
When President Biden named Rep. Deb Haaland to be secretary of the interior, most of the public response was immensely positive. Here was a Native woman, a citizen of the Laguna Pueblo, chosen to oversee a department with an impact on Indigenous Americans greater than any other except the War Department. Authority over the Native population was transferred to […]
The Trump administration dedicated itself to deregulation with unprecedented fervor. It rolled back scores of regulations across government agencies, including more than 80 environmental rules. By Daniel Farber, University of California, Berkeley The Conversation The Biden administration can reverse some of those actions quickly – for instance, as president, Joe Biden can undo Donald Trump’s […]
Not only only did Donald Trump instigate an attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in the final days of his presidency, but on January 14 he bestowed a parting gift upon the oil companies. By Dan Bacher The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has finalized its “fair access” rule, designed to protect oil companies from lenders […]
In the wake of Trump’s deadly white supremacist insurrection last week, it seems that the revolving door between the energy industry and the Trump government may finally be closing. Ben Lefebvre and Zack Colman reported yesterday for PoliticoPRO that even oil and gas companies are now cutting ties with members of the Trump administration, with one (anonymous) […]
Environmental and government accountability advocates expressed concern over a report that President-elect Joe Biden is considering a corporate attorney who defended oil giant Royal Dutch Shell in climate liability lawsuits for the post of solicitor general. By Brett Wilkins Common Dreams HuffPost reports David Frederick, a partner at the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel […]
A report published Tuesday by the eco-advocacy group Environment America urges President-elect Joe Biden to immediately restore critical environmental protections gutted by Trump administration regulatory rollbacks. The report, entitled First Things to Fix (pdf), notes that President Donald Trump has overseen the reversal or weakening of around 100 environmental regulations during his nearly four years in office. By Brett Wilkins […]
If progressives ever want to gain more votes in rural America, they must rid the Democratic Party of the Corporate Agribusiness stranglehold over everything rural and strike fear into any politician who attempts to pander to those interests. By Bryce Oates, Jake Davis Common Dreams While there is increasing concern about the direction of Joe […]