"Firstly, drilling in ANWR is deeply unpopular with the American public; secondly, it still has to get past the House, where some Republicans are opposed to opening up ANWR; thirdly, even oil industry consultants think drilling now is not economically sensible and fourthly any development will be fought tooth and nail in the courts.
"E.P.A. Head Stacks Agency With Climate Change Skeptics" (New York Times; 3/7/17)
"To friends and critics, Mr. Pruitt seems intent on building an E.P.A. leadership that is fundamentally at odds with the career officials, scientists and employees who carry out the agency’s missions. That might be a recipe for strife and gridlock at the federal agency tasked to keep safe the nation’s clean air and water while safeguarding the planet’s future."
"Don't Roll Back the Vehicle Fuel Standards" (New York Times; 3/8/17)
"The EPA’s Science Office Removed 'Science' From Its Mission Statement" (New Republic; 3/7/17)
"Environmentalists often argue for performance-based regulations, where air and water is required to meet a certain standard of quality, no matter how companies choose to meet that standard. Gehrke says removing “science” from OST’s missions and replacing it with “technologically achievable” means the EPA is moving toward more technology-based standards, where polluters just have to install certain types of technology."
"A Lesson Trump and the E.P.A. Should Heed" (New York Times; 3/7/17)
"A strong and credible regulatory regime is essential to the smooth functioning of our economy. Unless people believe their health and the environment are being safeguarded, they will withdraw their permission for companies to do business. The chemical industry executives who came in to see me that day felt this loss of public support and were asking me to reassure Americans that the government would do its job to protect them."
"Judge denies tribe's request to block Dakota Access pipeline" (The Hill; 3/7/17)
"The Cheyenne River Sioux tribe said the controversial oil pipeline project violates its religious freedom due to its placement under Lake Oahe. The tribe uses the lake for sacred ceremonies, and its lawyers argued that the mere presence of an oil pipeline under the lake desecrates the water and violates their religious freedom.
But U.S. District Judge James Boasberg dismissed that argument on Tuesday."
"The Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule: What It Is and Why It’s Important" (Audubon; 3/1/17)
"The EPA under the Obama Administration argued that the rule makes life easier for businesses, since clearer definitions would give them a better shot of understanding the regulatory issues involved. It also left the rules entirely unchanged for agriculture, adding no new requirements. President Trump disagrees; his executive order calls for a policy that balances keeping pollution out of navigable waters with 'promoting economic growth' and 'minimizing regulatory uncertainty.'"
5 Things You Must Know About Scott Pruitt (FiveThirtyEight; 1/19/17)
"Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt made a name for himself by suing the Environmental Protection Agency and fighting against its regulatory power. That work has also made him a contentious choice for EPA administrator, drawing comparisons to President Ronald Reagan’s first EPA administrator, Anne Gorsuch Burford, who cut the agency’s enforcement budget by more than 45 percent and was ultimately forced to resign after being found in contempt of Congress. Burford’s legacy could be felt in how the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works approached Pruitt in his confirmation hearing Wednesday — Republicans praised Pruitt for fighting federal overreach and regulatory madness, while Democrats voiced serious concerns that Pruitt would be working for the good of industry, rather than the good of the environment and Americans’ health."
"Donald Trump’s EPA Pick Imperils Science—And Earth" (TIME; 1/17/17)
"As the Attorney General of Oklahoma, Pruitt has shown he is not only a relentless opponent of EPA standards for climate pollution. He has been a relentless opponent of basic pollution limits as well, the kind that protect us from mercury, smog, arsenic and other deadly air toxics. He questions whether toxic mercury pollution is hazardous to public health. He shut down his office’s Environmental Protection Unit. And now he wants to do for the United States what he did for Oklahoma."
"Rex Tillerson is big oil personified. The damage he can do is immense." (The Guardian; 1/11/17)
"But instead of telling the rest of us, the investigations revealed [Exxon's] deep involvement in the effort to spread doubt and confusion about climate change. Given the consequences, this is a series of corporate crimes that makes VW’s emissions cheating seem like stealing a candy bar from the 7/11. In a rational world, Congress would be grilling Tillerson about the company’s conduct, not preparing to hand him the country’s plum unelected job."