DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Environmentalist apology

http://environmentalprogress.org/big-new...e-climate-scare

On behalf of environmentalists everywhere, I would like to formally apologize for the climate scare we created over the last 30 years. Climate change is happening. It’s just not the end of the world. It’s not even our most serious environmental problem.

I may seem like a strange person to be saying all of this. I have been a climate activist for 20 years and an environmentalist for 30.

But as an energy expert asked by Congress to provide objective expert testimony, and invited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to serve as Expert Reviewer of its next Assessment Report, I feel an obligation to apologize for how badly we environmentalists have misled the public.

Here are some facts few people know:

Humans are not causing a “sixth mass extinction”

The Amazon is not “the lungs of the world”

Climate change is not making natural disasters worse

Fires have declined 25% around the world since 2003

The amount of land we use for meat — humankind’s biggest use of land — has declined by an area nearly as large as Alaska

The build-up of wood fuel and more houses near forests, not climate change, explain why there are more, and more dangerous, fires in Australia and California

Carbon emissions are declining in most rich nations and have been declining in Britain, Germany, and France since the mid-1970s

Netherlands became rich not poor while adapting to life below sea level

We produce 25% more food than we need and food surpluses will continue to rise as the world gets hotter

Habitat loss and the direct killing of wild animals are bigger threats to species than climate change

Wood fuel is far worse for people and wildlife than fossil fuels

Preventing future pandemics requires more not less “industrial” agriculture

I know that the above facts will sound like “climate denialism” to many people. But that just shows the power of climate alarmism.

In reality, the above facts come from the best-available scientific studies, including those conducted by or accepted by the IPCC, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and other leading scientific bodies.

Some people will, when they read this imagine that I’m some right-wing anti-environmentalist. I’m not. At 17, I lived in Nicaragua to show solidarity with the Sandinista socialist revolution. At 23 I raised money for Guatemalan women’s cooperatives. In my early 20s I lived in the semi-Amazon doing research with small farmers fighting land invasions. At 26 I helped expose poor conditions at Nike factories in Asia.

I became an environmentalist at 16 when I threw a fundraiser for Rainforest Action Network. At 27 I helped save the last unprotected ancient redwoods in California. In my 30s I advocated renewables and successfully helped persuade the Obama administration to invest $90 billion into them. Over the last few years I helped save enough nuclear plants from being replaced by fossil fuels to prevent a sharp increase in emissions

But until last year, I mostly avoided speaking out against the climate scare. Partly that’s because I was embarrassed. After all, I am as guilty of alarmism as any other environmentalist. For years, I referred to climate change as an “existential” threat to human civilization, and called it a “crisis.”

But mostly I was scared. I remained quiet about the climate disinformation campaign because I was afraid of losing friends and funding. The few times I summoned the courage to defend climate science from those who misrepresent it I suffered harsh consequences. And so I mostly stood by and did next to nothing as my fellow environmentalists terrified the public.

I even stood by as people in the White House and many in the news media tried to destroy the reputation and career of an outstanding scientist, good man, and friend of mine, Roger Pielke, Jr., a lifelong progressive Democrat and environmentalist who testified in favor of carbon regulations. Why did they do that? Because his research proves natural disasters aren’t getting worse.

But then, last year, things spiraled out of control.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said “The world is going to end in twelve years if we don’t address climate change.” Britain’s most high-profile environmental group claimed “Climate Change Kills Children.”

The world’s most influential green journalist, Bill McKibben, called climate change the “greatest challenge humans have ever faced” and said it would “wipe out civilizations.”

Mainstream journalists reported, repeatedly, that the Amazon was “the lungs of the world,” and that deforestation was like a nuclear bomb going off.

As a result, half of the people surveyed around the world last year said they thought climate change would make humanity extinct. And in January, one out of five British children told pollsters they were having nightmares about climate change.

Whether or not you have children you must see how wrong this is. I admit I may be sensitive because I have a teenage daughter. After we talked about the science she was reassured. But her friends are deeply misinformed and thus, understandably, frightened.

I thus decided I had to speak out. I knew that writing a few articles wouldn’t be enough. I needed a book to properly lay out all of the evidence.

And so my formal apology for our fear-mongering comes in the form of my new book, Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All.

It is based on two decades of research and three decades of environmental activism. At 400 pages, with 100 of them endnotes, Apocalypse Never covers climate change, deforestation, plastic waste, species extinction, industrialization, meat, nuclear energy, and renewables.

Some highlights from the book:

Factories and modern farming are the keys to human liberation and environmental progress

The most important thing for saving the environment is producing more food, particularly meat, on less land

The most important thing for reducing air pollution and carbon emissions is moving from wood to coal to petroleum to natural gas to uranium

100% renewables would require increasing the land used for energy from today’s 0.5% to 50%

We should want cities, farms, and power plants to have higher, not lower, power densities

Vegetarianism reduces one’s emissions by less than 4%

Greenpeace didn’t save the whales, switching from whale oil to petroleum and palm oil did

“Free-range” beef would require 20 times more land and produce 300% more emissions

Greenpeace dogmatism worsened forest fragmentation of the Amazon

The colonialist approach to gorilla conservation in the Congo produced a backlash that may have resulted in the killing of 250 elephants

Why were we all so misled?

In the final three chapters of Apocalypse Never I expose the financial, political, and ideological motivations. Environmental groups have accepted hundreds of millions of dollars from fossil fuel interests. Groups motivated by anti-humanist beliefs forced the World Bank to stop trying to end poverty and instead make poverty “sustainable.” And status anxiety, depression, and hostility to modern civilization are behind much of the alarmism

Once you realize just how badly misinformed we have been, often by people with plainly unsavory or unhealthy motivations, it is hard not to feel duped.

Will Apocalypse Never make any difference? There are certainly reasons to doubt it.

The news media have been making apocalyptic pronouncements about climate change since the late 1980s, and do not seem disposed to stop.

The ideology behind environmental alarmsim — Malthusianism — has been repeatedly debunked for 200 years and yet is more powerful than ever.

But there are also reasons to believe that environmental alarmism will, if not come to an end, have diminishing cultural power.

The coronavirus pandemic is an actual crisis that puts the climate “crisis” into perspective. Even if you think we have overreacted, Covid-19 has killed nearly 500,000 people and shattered economies around the globe.

Scientific institutions including WHO and IPCC have undermined their credibility through the repeated politicization of science. Their future existence and relevance depends on new leadership and serious reform.

Facts still matter, and social media is allowing for a wider range of new and independent voices to outcompete alarmist environmental journalists at legacy publications.

Nations are reverting openly to self-interest and away from Malthusianism and neoliberalism, which is good for nuclear and bad for renewables.

The evidence is overwhelming that our high-energy civilization is better for people and nature than the low-energy civilization that climate alarmists would return us to.

The invitations from IPCC and Congress are signs of a growing openness to new thinking about climate change and the environment. Another one has been to the response to my book from climate scientists, conservationists, and environmental scholars. "Apocalypse Never is an extremely important book,” writes Richard Rhodes, the Pulitzer-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb. “This may be the most important book on the environment ever written,” says one of the fathers of modern climate science Tom Wigley.

“We environmentalists condemn those with antithetical views of being ignorant of science and susceptible to confirmation bias,” wrote the former head of The Nature Conservancy, Steve McCormick. “But too often we are guilty of the same. Shellenberger offers ‘tough love:’ a challenge to entrenched orthodoxies and rigid, self-defeating mindsets. Apocalypse Never serves up occasionally stinging, but always well-crafted, evidence-based points of view that will help develop the ‘mental muscle’ we need to envision and design not only a hopeful, but an attainable, future.”

That is all I hoped for in writing it. If you’ve made it this far, I hope you’ll agree that it’s perhaps not as strange as it seems that a lifelong environmentalist, progressive, and climate activist felt the need to speak out against the alarmism.

I further hope that you’ll accept my apology.

Meh, he's trying to sell books. He was probably funded by Monsanto and big oil.

There is most likely a good bit of truth to the alarmism side, but his conclusions seem paid for.

Well, you found "one".

I've found many. You either can't count or remember.

Would you like to try and find how many that used to deny it have finally awoke to the realities and now support it? Of course not.

Right after you post a list of environmentalist wackos that actually live the life they try to force the rest of us into. The jet setter faces of climate change aren't them, just to give you a hint.

He's too busy trying to find people that take his side in helping kill the planet to pay attention to what's going on. He likes when America was great. Like back when the Cuyahoga River was on fire.

Why do you say that kind of stuff?

Why not? Since MAGA means "Make America Great Again", what does that mean? Obviously if you have to make something "great again" you're saying it's not great now.

So when was it great? When the Cuyahoga River was on fire? During Jim Crow days? Before slavery became illegal?

I have no idea what time period MAGA means, do you?

I'm not a huge Trump supporter, but I think that most people see it as a call to return the US to a position of national and global economic power.

So you then also have no idea what MAGA actually means. Just how, "you think most people see it". My take is when you use such an abstract saying anyone can take it to mean anything they wish.

Yet his actions have done exactly the opposite. We are now hated by many of those that were once our allies.

We are doing Russias bidding, pulling out of places where we were once held in High esteem. That leaves a void that is being filled by Russia and China.

No,, he's done more to position in the world. He's an idiot with a communistic way of thinking.

America 1st...protect our borders...protect our citizens...provide opportunity. It's not hard to figure out really...he's spoken it many times.

He's done every single one of those things.

Our military is strong again and other countries now understand that we KNOW that they need us more than we need them...they now have to do their fair share...and they don't like it after the previous POTUS knelt to kiss their rings.

Three total miles of "new border wall" has been built.

Protect our citizens?

"15 cases and it will be down to zero."

Trump says people wear masks "to signal disapproval of him".

When it comes to the virus, whatever happens he "takes no responsibility".

While Trump goes to his knees for Putin you say this?



We are a laughing stock in the eyes of the world.

Murica!

I actually agree with you here. MAGA is better than just kneeling and saying nothing, but it's splitting hairs.

It's another of those things that sound great on the surface, but in the way it is used is rather counterproductive.

Trump 2020 GAMA!

Great Again My Ass.

I answered this once, but I don't know where my post went.

I don't recall there being any major environmental disaster in the past 4 years, so I guess Trump's record is pretty good. I know you'll remind me if I missed one, but I don't watch news.

I really didn't like the obummer epa. They even went after people building ponds on their own land. They shut down farming in a large part of CA for a small fish. They basically weaponized the epa. I like Trump's version better.

As for the pebble mine, if they are able to mine those materials without destroying the entire watershed, they should. I've said many times we should be good stewards of the land, but we shouldn't cut off our noses to spit our faces either.

I will say this...

The ozone hole closed up after we got rid of the deadly forms of Freon.

Acid rain disappeared after coal fired power plants installed SO2 scrubbers.

You probably never were in LA in the 60’s or this year to realize man’s effect upon the environment.

Catalytic converters helped.

You may have observer the impact of wastewater treatment on the Chesapeake Bay, or Lake Erie... no one fished in Lake Erie when I was a youth.

And I have to point out that the Cuyahoga river caught on fire.

What does that mean in today’s terms? Those scientists are more often right than wrong, so put your mask on and practice social distancing.

Mock them, I don’t know how much I buy into climate change at the amounts predicted, but I find irony in the comparison of the Netherlands success give the failure in New Orleans.

You can only crap int the water so much before it is no good...

there it is again.

Always the tell tail of a huge trump supporter.

What it means is that we realized the harm we could be wreaking on the environment and decided to become good stewards of the land.

If you remember the 60s, then you should remember 'leaded or unleaded', the trash on the side of the roads, the crying Indian on tv, the smog in all major cities not just CA (saw the big red machine around 75, could barely see the central trust bank sign from the stadium), garbage in rivers and washing up on beaches, piles of batteries outside mechanic's shops, etc. People forget how much we've changed over the years.

And many also refuse to speak out against how much and quickly we've been going backwards over the past four years...

The Trump Administration Is Reversing 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List.

After three years in office, the Trump administration has dismantled most of the major climate and environmental policies the president promised to undo.

Calling the rules unnecessary and burdensome to the fossil fuel industry and other businesses, his administration has weakened Obama-era limits on planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and from cars and trucks, and rolled back many more rules governing clean air, water and toxic chemicals. Several major reversals have been finalized in recent weeks as the country has struggled to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.

In all, a New York Times analysis, based on research from Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School and other sources, counts more than 60 environmental rules and regulations officially reversed, revoked or otherwise rolled back under Mr. Trump. An additional 34 rollbacks are still in progress.

Air pollution and emissions 19 completed 8 in progress 27 total.

Drilling and extraction 12 completed 8 in progress 20 total

Infrastructure and planning 11 completed 1 in progress 12 total

Animals 9 completed 2 in progress 11 total

Toxic substances and safety 6 completed 2 in progress 8 total

Water pollution 4 completed 7 in progress 11 total

Other 5 completed 6 in progress 11 total

Totals 66 completed 34 in progress 100 total



With elections looming, the administration has sought to wrap up some of its biggest regulatory priorities quickly, said Hana V. Vizcarra, a staff attorney at Harvard Law School’s Environmental and Energy Law Program. Further delays could leave the new rules vulnerable to reversal under the Congressional Review Act if Democrats are able to retake Congress and the White House in November, she said.

The bulk of the rollbacks identified by the Times have been carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency, which repealed and replaced the Obama-era emissions rules for power plants and vehicles; weakened protections for more than half the nation's wetlands; and withdrew the legal justification for restricting mercury emissions from power plants.

At the same time, the Interior Department has worked to open up more land for oil and gas leasing by cutting back protected areas and limiting wildlife protections.

“Over the past three years, we have fulfilled President Trump’s promises to provide certainty for states, tribes, and local governments,” a spokeswoman for the E.P.A. said in a statement to The Times, adding that the agency was “delivering on President Trump’s commitment to return the agency to its core mission: Providing cleaner air, water and land to the American people.”

But environmental and legal groups said the rollbacks have not served that mission. Ms. Vizcarra, who has tracked environmental rollbacks for Harvard since 2018, said the agency under Mr. Trump has often limited its own power to regulate environmental harm, especially when it comes to climate change.

Many of the rollbacks have faced legal challenges by states, environmental groups and others, and some could remain mired in court beyond November, regardless of the outcome of the election.

Hillary Aidun, who tracks deregulation at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, said many of the rollbacks had not been adequately justified, leaving them vulnerable to legal challenge.

The New York Times analysis identified 10 rules that were initially reversed or suspended but later reinstated, often following lawsuits and other challenges. Other rollbacks were rebuffed by the courts but later revised by the administration and remain in effect.

All told, the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks could significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions and lead to thousands of extra deaths from poor air quality each year, according to energy and legal analysts.

Below, we have summarized each rule that has been targeted for reversal over the past three years.

Air pollution and emissions

Completed

1. Weakened Obama-era fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for passenger cars and light trucks.
E.P.A. and Transportation Department

2. Revoked California’s power to set stricter tailpipe emissions standards than the federal government.

3. Withdrew the legal justification for an Obama-era rule that limited mercury emissions from coal power plants.

4. Replaced the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which would have set strict limits on carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants, with a new version that would let states set their own rules.

5. Canceled a requirement for oil and gas companies to report methane emissions.

6. Revised and partially repealed an Obama-era rule limiting methane emissions on public lands, including intentional venting and flaring from drilling operations.

7. Loosened a Clinton-era rule designed to limit toxic emissions from major industrial polluters.

8. Revised a program designed to safeguard communities from increases in pollution from new power plants to make it easier for facilities to avoid emissions regulations.

9. Amended rules that govern how refineries monitor pollution in surrounding communities.

10. Weakened an Obama-era rule meant to reduce air pollution in national parks and wilderness areas.

11. Weakened oversight of some state plans for reducing air pollution in national parks.

12. Relaxed air pollution regulations for a handful of plants that burn waste coal for electricity.

13. Repealed rules meant to reduce leaking and venting of powerful greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons from large refrigeration and air conditioning systems.

14. Directed agencies to stop using an Obama-era calculation of the social cost of carbon that rulemakers used to estimate the long-term economic benefits of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

15. Withdrew guidance directing federal agencies to include greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews. But several district courts have ruled that emissions must be included in such reviews.

16. Revoked an Obama executive order that set a goal of cutting the federal government’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent over 10 years.

17. Repealed a requirement that state and regional authorities track tailpipe emissions from vehicles on federal highways.

18. Lifted a summertime ban on the use of E15, a gasoline blend made of 15 percent ethanol. (Burning gasoline with a higher concentration of ethanol in hot conditions increases smog.)

19. Changed rules to allow states and the E.P.A. to take longer to develop and approve plans aimed at cutting methane emissions from existing landfills.

In progress

20. Submitted notice of intent to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement. (The process of withdrawing cannot be completed until November 2020.)

21. Proposed relaxing Obama-era requirements that companies monitor and repair methane leaks at oil and gas facilities.

22. Proposed eliminating Obama-era restrictions that, in effect, required newly built coal power plants to capture carbon dioxide emissions.

23. Proposed revisions to standards for carbon dioxide emissions from new, modified and reconstructed power plants.

24. Began a review of emissions rules for power plant start-ups, shutdowns and malfunctions. One outcome of that review: In February 2020, E.P.A. reversed a requirement that Texas follow emissions rules during certain malfunction events.

25. Opened for comment a proposal limiting the ability of individuals and communities to challenge E.P.A.-issued pollution permits before a panel of agency judges.

26. Delayed issuing a rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft. (The E.P.A. acknowledged it is legally required to issue the rule, but has not done so yet. The delay is being challenged by environmental groups.)

27. Proposed limiting pesticide application buffer zones that are intended to protect farmworkers and bystanders from accidental exposure.

Drilling and extraction

Completed

28. Made significant cuts to the borders of two national monuments in Utah and recommended border and resource-management changes to several more.
Presidential Proclamation; Interior Department | Read more »
29. Lifted ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

30. Rescinded water pollution regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands.

31. Scrapped a proposed rule that required mines to prove they could pay to clean up future pollution.

32. Withdrew a requirement that Gulf oil rig owners prove they can cover the costs of removing rigs once they stop producing.

33. Approved construction of the Dakota Access pipeline less than a mile from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation after the Army Corps of Engineers had said it would explore alternative routes. (A court has since ruled the agency must investigate how the pipeline is impacting the environment and local tribes, but it can continue to operate in the meantime.)

34. Moved the permitting process for certain projects that cross international borders, such as oil pipelines, to the office of the president from the State Department, exempting them from environmental review.

35. Changed how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission considers the indirect effects of greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews of pipelines.

36. Revoked an Obama-era executive order designed to preserve ocean, coastal and Great Lakes waters in favor of a policy focused on energy production and economic growth.

37. Permitted the use of seismic air guns for gas and oil exploration in the Atlantic Ocean. The practice, which can kill marine life and disrupt fisheries, was blocked under the Obama administration.

38. Loosened offshore drilling safety regulations implemented by the Obama after following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, including reduced testing requirements for blowout prevention systems.

39. Lifted an Obama-era freeze on new coal leases on public lands. In April 2019, a judge ruled that the Interior Department could not begin selling new leases without completing an environmental review. In February, the agency published an assessment that concluded restarting federal coal leasing would have little environmental impact.

In progress

40. Proposed opening most of America’s coastal waters to offshore oil and gas drilling but delayed the plan after a federal judge ruled that Mr. Trump’s reversal of an Obama-era ban on drilling in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans was unlawful.

41. Repealed an Obama-era rule governing royalties for oil, gas and coal leases on federal lands, which replaced a 1980s rule that critics said allowed companies to underpay the federal government. A federal judge struck down the Trump administration’s repeal. The Interior Department is reviewing the decision.

42. Proposed revising regulations on offshore oil and gas exploration by floating vessels in the Arctic that were developed after a 2013 accident. The Interior Department previously said it was “considering full rescission or revision of this rule.”

43. Proposed “streamlining” the approval process for drilling for oil and gas in national forests.

44. Recommended shrinking three marine protected areas or opening them to commercial fishing.

45. Proposed opening more land in the Alaska National Petroleum Reserve for oil drilling. The Obama administration had designated about half of the reserve as a conservation area.

46. Proposed lifting a Clinton-era policy that banned logging and road construction in Tongass National Forest, Alaska.

47. Approved the Keystone XL pipeline rejected by President Barack Obama, but a federal judge blocked the project from going forward without an adequate environmental review process. Mr. Trump later attempted to sidestep the ruling by issuing a presidential permit. Initial construction has started, but the project remains tied up in court.

Infrastructure and planning

Completed

48. Revoked Obama-era flood standards for federal infrastructure projects that required the government to account for sea level rise and other climate change effects.

49. Relaxed the environmental review process for federal infrastructure projects.

50. Overturned an Obama-era guidance that ended U.S. government financing for new coal plants overseas except in rare circumstances.
Executive Order; Treasury Department | Read more »
51. Revoked a directive for federal agencies to minimize impacts on water, wildlife, land and other natural resources when approving development projects.

52. Revoked an Obama executive order promoting climate resilience in the northern Bering Sea region of Alaska, which withdrew local waters from oil and gas leasing and established a tribal advisory council to consult on local environmental issues.

53. Reversed an update to the Bureau of Land Management’s public land-use planning process.

54. Withdrew an Obama-era order to consider climate change in the management of natural resources in national parks.

55. Restricted most Interior Department environmental studies to one year in length and a maximum of 150 pages, citing a need to reduce paperwork.

56. Withdrew a number of Obama-era Interior Department climate change and conservation policies that the agency said could “burden the development or utilization of domestically produced energy resources.”

57. Eliminated the use of an Obama-era planning system designed to minimize harm from oil and gas activity on sensitive landscapes, such as national parks.

58. Withdrew Obama-era policies designed to maintain or, ideally, improve natural resources affected by federal projects.

In progress

59. Proposed plans to speed up the environmental review process for Forest Service projects.

Animals

Completed

60. Changed the way the Endangered Species Act is applied, making it more difficult to protect wildlife from long-term threats posed by climate change.

61. Relaxed environmental protections for salmon and smelt in California’s Central Valley in order to free up water for farmers.

62. Overturned a ban on the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on federal lands.

63. Overturned a ban on the hunting of predators in Alaskan wildlife refuges.

64. Amended fishing regulations to loosen restrictions on the harvest of a number of species.

65. Proposed revising limits on the number of endangered marine mammals and sea turtles that can be unintentionally killed or injured with sword-fishing nets on the West Coast. (The Obama-era rules were initially withdrawn by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, but were later finalized following a court order. The agency has said it plans to revise the limits.)

66. Loosened fishing restrictions intended to reduce bycatch of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna.

67. Rolled back a roughly 40-year-old interpretation of a policy aimed at protecting migratory birds, potentially running afoul of treaties with Canada and Mexico.

68. Overturned a ban on using parts of migratory birds in handicrafts made by Alaskan Natives.

In progress

69. Opened nine million acres of Western land to oil and gas drilling by weakening habitat protections for the sage grouse, an imperiled bird. An Idaho District Court injunction temporarily blocked the measure.

70. Proposed ending an Obama-era rule that barred using bait to lure and kill grizzly bears, among other sport hunting practices that many people consider extreme, on some public lands in Alaska.

Toxic substances and safety

Completed

71. Rejected a proposed ban on chlorpyrifos, a pesticide linked to developmental disabilities in children. (Several states have banned its use and the main manufacturer of the pesticide in 2020 stopped producing the product because of shrinking demand.)

72. Narrowed the scope of a 2016 law mandating safety assessments for potentially toxic chemicals like dry-cleaning solvents. The E.P.A. said it would focus on direct exposure and exclude indirect exposure such as from air or water contamination. In November 2019, a court of appeals ruled the agency must widen its scope to consider full exposure risks.

73. Reversed an Obama-era rule that required braking system upgrades for “high hazard” trains hauling flammable liquids like oil and ethanol.

74. Removed copper filter cake, an electronics manufacturing byproduct comprised of heavy metals, from the “hazardous waste” list.

75. Ended an Occupational Safety and Health Administration program to reduce risks of workers developing the lung disease silicosis. In February released guidance to include silica in OSHA's National Emphasis Program, a worker safety program.

76. Rolled back most of the requirements of a 2017 rule aimed at improving safety at sites that use hazardous chemicals that was instituted after a chemical plant exploded in Texas.

In progress

77. Proposed changing safety rules to allow for rail transport of the highly flammable liquefied natural gas.

78. Announced a review of an Obama-era rule lowering coal dust limits in mines. The head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said there were no immediate plans to change the dust limit but has extended a public comment period until 2022.

Water pollution

Completed

79. Scaled back pollution protections for certain tributaries and wetlands that were regulated under the Clean Water Act by the Obama administration.

80. Revoked a rule that prevented coal companies from dumping mining debris into local streams.

81. Withdrew a proposed rule aimed at reducing pollutants, including air pollution, at sewage treatment plants.

82. Withdrew a proposed rule requiring groundwater protections for certain uranium mines. Recently, the administration’s Nuclear Fuel Working Group proposed opening up 1,500 acres outside the Grand Canyon to nuclear production.

In progress

83. Attempted to weaken federal rules regulating the disposal and storage of coal ash waste from power plants, but a court determined the rules were already insufficient. Proposed a new rule to allow coal ash impoundments of a type previously deemed unsafe a pathway to proving safety.

84. Proposed a rule exempting certain types of power plants from parts of an E.P.A. rule limiting toxic discharge from power plants into public waterways.

85. Proposed weakenning a portion of the Clean Water Act to make it easier for the E.P.A. to issue permits for federal projects over state objections if the projects don't meet local water quality standards, including for pipelines and other fossil fuel facilities.

86. Proposed extending the lifespan of unlined coal ash holding areas, which can spill their contents because they lack a protective underlay.

87. Proposed a regulation limiting the scope of an Obama-era rule under which companies had to prove that large deposits of recycled coal ash would not harm the environment.

88. Proposed a new rule allowing the federal government to issue permits for coal ash waste in Indian Country and some states without review if the disposal site is in compliance with federal regulations.

89. Proposed doubling the time allowed to remove lead pipes from water systems with high levels of lead.

Other

Completed

90. Repealed an Obama-era regulation that would have nearly doubled the number of light bulbs subject to energy-efficiency standards starting in January 2020. The Energy Department also blocked the next phase of efficiency standards for general-purpose bulbs already subject to regulation.

91. Changed a 25-year-old policy to allow coastal replenishment projects to use sand from protected ecosystems.

92. Limited funding of environmental and community development projects through corporate settlements of federal lawsuits.

93. Stopped payments to the Green Climate Fund, a United Nations program to help poorer countries reduce carbon emissions.

94. Reversed restrictions on the sale of plastic water bottles in national parks desgined to cut down on litter, despite a Park Service report that the effort worked.

In progress

95. Proposed a sweeping overhaul of the National Environmental Policy Act that would limit the scope of environmental concerns federal agencies need to take into account when constructing public infrastructure projects, such as roads, pipelines and telecommunications networks.

96. Proposed limiting the studies used by the E.P.A. for rulemaking to only those that make data publicly available. (Scientists widely criticized the proposal, saying it would effectively block the agency from considering landmark research that relies on confidential health data.)

97. Proposed changes to the way cost-benefit analyses are conducted under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other environmental statutes.

98. Proposed withdrawing efficiency standards for residential furnaces and commercial water heaters designed to reduce energy use.

99. Created a product category that would allow some dishwashers to be exempt from energy efficiency standards.

100. Initially withdrew, and then delayed, a proposed rule that would inform car owners about fuel-efficient replacement tires.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/climate/trump-environment-rollbacks.html