Environmental Politics

"President Trump plans to nominate a former utility executive and Hill aide to serve as EPA deputy administrator, the White House announced today."

"Top Republicans are taking heat from all sides after rolling out the first part of their legislative plan to reduce carbon emissions, demonstrating the kind of hiccups the GOP faces as it attempts to develop climate policy after years of silence coupled with science skepticism."

"An environmental group is trying to block one of President Trump’s most far-reaching environmental rollbacks from taking effect, arguing the administration has not provided proper access to public documents on a new rule that would limit the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)."

"Last April, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Andrew Wheeler, proclaimed at an auto show ... that he would soon roll back President Barack Obama’s stringent fuel efficiency standards. ... Nearly a year later, the rollback is nowhere near complete and may not be ready until this summer — if ever."

"Democrats' wide-ranging anti-plastics bill garnered a severe reaction from the plastic industry after Sen. Tom Udall of New Mexico and Rep. Alan Lowenthal of California introduced the legislation yesterday."

"The Trump administration has offered oil companies a chunk of the American west and the Gulf of Mexico that’s four times the size of California – an expansive drilling plan that threatens to entrench the industry at the expense of other outdoor jobs, while locking in enough emissions to undermine global climate policy."

"The House Natural Resources Committee voted Wednesday to give Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) the power to subpoena the Department of the Interior after Republicans scored a significant win that limited the chairman’s power."

"The Virginia House and Senate passed sweeping energy legislation Tuesday that would overhaul how Virginia’s utilities generate electricity and, supporters say, move the state from the back of the pack to the forefront of renewable energy policy in the United States."

"Experts and advocates on Tuesday criticized the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed rule to combat lead in the water supply, calling for the agency to require that service lines containing lead be replaced."

"The Department of Justice has requested more money to protect the Trump administration's environmental rule changes during the last year of the president's term."