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Author Topic: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment  (Read 213620 times)

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #550 on: August 19, 2019, 05:54:08 PM »
Top CDC Health and Climate Scientist Files Whistleblower Complaint
He’s one of several federal scientists working on climate change who say they have been silenced, sidelined or demoted under the Trump administration.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/16082019/cdc-scientist-whistleblower-complaint-climate-health-research-trump-usda-epa

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #551 on: August 22, 2019, 01:30:02 AM »
Quote
Putting a positive spin on oil exploration in the Arctic Refuge
The Trump administration pressed scientists for quick findings, dismissed bad news and revised a report in its push for lease sales, records show.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/21/us/oil-drilling-arctic.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #552 on: August 22, 2019, 10:34:12 AM »
Suppressed Federal Report Shows How Trump's Water Plan Would Endanger California Salmon
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-suppressed-federal-trump-endanger-california.html

Federal officials suppressed a lengthy environmental document that details how one of California's unique salmon runs would be imperiled by Trump administration plans to deliver more water to Central Valley farms.

The July 1 assessment, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, outlines how proposed changes in government water operations would harm several species protected by the Endangered Species Act, including perilously low populations of winter-run salmon, as well as steelhead trout and killer whales, which feed on salmon.

But the 1,123-page document was never released.

Two days after federal scientists submitted their review, called a biological opinion, a regional fisheries official pulled the document and replaced the team that wrote it with a new group tasked with revising it, as The Times reported in July.

Had the opinion been adopted and released, it would have interfered with efforts to ramp up irrigation deliveries to powerful California farm interests with ties to the Trump administration.
The revision, critics say, is another example of the administration intervening to weaken environmental protections and reverse the findings of federal scientists.

In the report, the National Marine Fisheries Service unequivocally concludes that increasing water deliveries would likely jeopardize the continued existence of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon, threatened spring-run Chinook and threatened Central Valley steelhead, as well as endangered Southern Resident killer whales that dine on salmon.

... Revision of the July 1 biological opinion is "unquestionably an effort to subvert the best available science," said Noah Oppenheim, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, which represents commercial fishermen.

"Literally before our eyes, we're seeing science suppressed by monied political interests," he argued.

... One of the biggest beneficiaries of the Trump proposal to increase water deliveries is the Westlands Water District, a sprawling irrigation district on the arid west side of the San Joaquin Valley led by some of the state's wealthiest growers. In 2018, the district's biggest crops were almonds, pistachios, canning tomatoes and cotton.

Westlands and other districts that depend on water supplies from the delta have bitterly fought Endangered Species Act restrictions for delta smelt and migrating salmon that have restricted their deliveries

Critics of the act now have a major ally, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt. Before joining the Trump administration, Bernhardt was a partner in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, a top-grossing law and lobbying firm that sued Interior four times on behalf of Westlands. Bernhardt was a lobbyist for Westlands and personally argued an appeals case challenging salmon protections.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #553 on: August 25, 2019, 02:57:09 AM »
Maybe he has stock in it ...

Trump Told the VA to Order ‘a Lot’ of Ketamine for Vets
https://www.defenseone.com/politics/2019/08/trump-told-va-order-lot-ketamine/159414/

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the government will purchase “a lot” of the drug esketamine, a derivative of ketamine.

Though ketamine is known as a recreational hallucinogen, Trump asserted that a new nasal-spray derivative would be of great benefit to veterans with depression. As he left the White House for a veterans’ conference in Kentucky, he told reporters that he had instructed the Department of Veterans Affairs to make a large purchase—overriding a recent decision by the doctors who manage the hospitals’ formulary of which drugs are to be prescribed. Trump said:

Quote
... “There’s a product that’s made right now that just came out by Johnson & Johnson which has a tremendously positive—pretty short term, but nevertheless positive—effect”

... But that statement is contrary to the evidence. A review by the Food and Drug Administration of what limited studies have been done with esketamine found mixed results, leaving many scientists unsure if the drug is indeed effective and safe. Just last week, the agency published a report that said the drug was not reliably better than placebo.

... In March, the FDA granted a controversial fast-track approval to the drug (which is sold under the brand name Spravato) for use in severe depression. Only one of three four-week clinical trials showed any benefit.

The drug was not shown to decrease suicide: three patients who were taking the drug died by suicide during the clinical trials, compared with none who weren’t.


This is a far cry from the promises the president made to veterans. Hopefully we are getting it at a very good cost,” Trump said. “I guess it’s a form of a stimulant where if somebody is really in trouble from the standpoint of suicide it can do something.

The drug is, in fact a sedative; ketamine has long been used as an anesthetic. And its daily cost is $737.50.

Speaking to veterans later that day in Kentucky, Trump reiterated the promise: “I’ve instructed the top officials to go out and get as much of it as you can from Johnson and Johnson.”


... Trump called on Johnson & Johnson, which makes Spravato, to provide the drug to the VA for free — prompting applause from the crowd of veterans.

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said at the time that he was “incredibly alarmed” Spravato was rushed through the review process.

“Questions remain about the ultimate impact on the health and safety of veterans, who should not be made into a “test case” while the clinical community continues to gather data about this treatment,” Takano said in a statement.

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/trump-proclaims-controversial-new-drug-has-incredible-potential-to-prevent-veteran-suicide-1.595251

--------------------


Drug Pusher-in-Chief

------------------------

J&J is going to need the business

-------------------------

Johnson & Johnson Ordered to Pay $572 Million in Landmark Opioid Trial
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/26/health/oklahoma-opioids-johnson-and-johnson.html

A judge in Oklahoma on Monday ruled against Johnson & Johnson, the deep-pocketed corporate giant, and ordered it to pay the state $572 million in the first trial of an opioid manufacturer for the destruction wrought by prescription painkillers.

Johnson & Johnson, which contracted with poppy growers in Tasmania, supplied 60 percent of the opiate ingredients that drug companies used for opioids like oxycodone, the state had argued, and aggressively marketed opioids to doctors and patients as safe and effective.
« Last Edit: August 26, 2019, 11:40:07 PM by vox_mundi »
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

TerryM

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #554 on: August 26, 2019, 11:44:49 PM »
^^
They're in direct competition with the CIA's growers in Afghanistan - no wonder the justice department is on they're tail!
Terry

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #555 on: September 05, 2019, 02:45:38 PM »
Trump Administration Pulls Plug On Energy-Efficient Bulb Rules
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-trump-administration-energy-efficient-bulb.html

Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday issued a new rule reversing a requirement for all new light bulbs to be energy-efficient by 2020, a move welcomed by industry but strongly criticized by climate change groups.

The rollback represents the latest in the US president's running battle since taking office against nearly all forms of environmental regulation, coming shortly after his administration axed rules limiting leaks of the greenhouse gas methane and after weakening a key wildlife protection law.

---------------------

TRump's New Executive Order: ... Everyone must use torches

“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #556 on: September 05, 2019, 06:47:25 PM »
I know this is trivial use, but wouldn't you need incandescent bulbs for a lava lite?

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #557 on: September 05, 2019, 06:49:06 PM »
You're right Tom - it's trivial.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

gerontocrat

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #558 on: September 05, 2019, 07:12:34 PM »
Trump Administration Pulls Plug On Energy-Efficient Bulb Rules
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-trump-administration-energy-efficient-bulb.html

Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday issued a new rule reversing a requirement for all new light bulbs to be energy-efficient by 2020, a move welcomed by industry but strongly criticized by climate change groups.

a move welcomed by industry. Now that's a surprise. Lighting technology is advancing by leaps and bounds. Is the US lighting industry determined to join the manufacturers of buggy-whips and valve radios in the dustbin of history?
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
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FrostKing70

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #559 on: September 05, 2019, 07:16:45 PM »
They are also useful for keeping plants worm or water in liquid state (for wildlife) during short freezing periods; mainly because they emit so much heat!

FrostKing70

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #560 on: September 05, 2019, 07:17:42 PM »
It is probably the industries which have to use the lights, not sure it matters much to the light bulb producers....

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #561 on: September 05, 2019, 07:19:58 PM »
Which are better, compact fluorescent or light emitting diode? I use LEDs.

gerontocrat

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #562 on: September 06, 2019, 11:24:37 AM »
It is probably the industries which have to use the lights, not sure it matters much to the light bulb producers....
Nope....

Quote
Opponents of the expanded federal standards include the National Electrical Manufacturers Assn., whose members included General Electric Co., Osram Sylvania Inc. and Signify. They said it would risk American jobs and consumer choice.
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-09-05/trump-rolls-back-energy-requirements-for-billions-of-lightbulbs

Quote
The DoE said the repeal, backed by a handful of lighting companies that rely upon the older technology, was because the Obama-era rule was “not consistent” with the law. The department said the new regime will give consumers more choice.

Critics of the move point out it will create more planet-warming pollution and cost Americans more in energy bills, due to long-term savings associated with using LEDs. “It’s like trying to protect the horse and buggy from the automobile technology,” said Andrew deLaski, executive director of the Appliance Standards Awareness Project.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/05/lightbulbs-energy-efficient-trump-scraps-obama-rule
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
"And that's all I'm going to say about that". Forrest Gump
"Damn, I wanted to see what happened next" (Epitaph)

KiwiGriff

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #563 on: September 06, 2019, 01:44:15 PM »

 Like all fluorescent lamps, CFLs contain toxic mercury[2] which complicates their disposal. In many countries, governments have banned the disposal of CFLs together with regular garbage. These countries have established special collection systems for CFLs and other hazardous waste.
Animals can be driven crazy by placing too many in too small a pen. Homo sapiens is the only animal that voluntarily does this to himself.
Notebooks of Lazarus Long.
Robert Heinlein.

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #564 on: September 07, 2019, 01:03:35 AM »
‘THIS IS NO LONGER ABOUT THE SCIENCE. THIS IS SOMEBODY’S IDEOLOGY.’
https://www.alleghenyfront.org/trump-on-earth-this-is-no-longer-about-the-science-this-is-somebodys-ideology/
An interview with Lewis Ziska
Quote
“But then something strange happened,” he said. “We got a response from the media people that the national program staff, the same program staff that approved the paper in the first place, is now saying that your data do not support the conclusions of the paper.”

Ziska says the first thing he thought was, ‘this is no longer about the science; this is about somebody’s ideology.’ The research Ziska presented was peer reviewed evidence showing that rising CO2 is affecting rice nutrition. He says the agency’s response indicated to him that there was a paradigm shift in how science was being treated at USDA.

“That’s when I realized I needed to to leave the agency,” he said.

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #565 on: September 08, 2019, 10:28:33 PM »
White House Issues a "National" Science & Tech Agenda
https://fas.org/blogs/secrecy/2019/09/national-science/

A new White House budget memo presents science and technology as a distinctly American-led enterprise in which U.S. dominance is to be maintained and reinforced. The document is silent on the possibility or the necessity of international scientific cooperation.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/FY-21-RD-Budget-Priorities.pdf

The document, which is intended to inform executive branch budget planning for fiscal year 2021, contains no acknowledgment that many scientific challenges are global in scope, that foreign countries lead the U.S. in some areas of science and technology, or that the U.S. could actually benefit from international collaboration.



*    *    *

The White House memo begins by designating the entire post-World War II period until now as America’s “First Bold Era in S&T [Science & Technology].”

It goes on to proclaim that the “Second Bold Era in S&T [Science & Technology]” has now begun under President Trump.


The Trump Administration continues to prioritize the technologies that power Industries of the Future Past (IotF),” the memo declares.

Many of the proposed technology priorities are already in progress — including artificial intelligence, robotics, and gene therapy. Some are controversial or disputed — such as the purported need to invest in protection against electromagnetic pulse attacks.

Meanwhile, the memo takes pains to avoid even mentioning the term “climate change,” which is disfavored by this White House. Instead, it speaks of “Earth system predictability” and “knowing the extent to which components of the Earth system are practically predictable.”

Today’s Second Bold Era is “characterized by unprecedented knowledge, access to data and computing resources, ubiquitous and instant communication,” and so on. “Unfortunately, this Second Bold Era also features new and extraordinary threats which must be confronted thoughtfully and effectively.”

The White House guidance suggests vaguely that the Second Bold Era could require a recalibration of secrecy policy in science and technology. “[Success] will depend upon striking a balance between the openness of our research ecosystem and the protection of our ideas and research outcomes.”

*    *    *

As for the Trump Administration’s pending FY2020 budget request for research and development, it does not convey much in the way of boldness (or Boldness).

“Under the President’s FY2020 budget request, most federal agencies would see their R&D funding decline. The primary exception is the Department of Defense,” according to the Congressional Research Service.

“The President’s FY2020 budget request would reduce funding for basic research by $1.5 billion (- 4.0%), applied research by $4.3 billion (- 10.5%), and facilities and equipment by $0.5 billion (- 12.8%), while increasing funding for development by $4.5 billion (8.3%).” See Federal Research and Development (R&D) Funding: FY2020, updated August 13, 2019.

-------------------------

Time for some more Victory Gin ...
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Bruce Steele

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #566 on: September 09, 2019, 05:01:13 AM »
Vox...Mundi, I wonder how many people even notice ? JISAO hasn't published the PDO index for a year now. The PDO index is a good indicator for salmon abundance . It has predictive abilities for future biological conditions. Driving blind now.
 I will try and call Nate Mantua and see if he can fill us in on the missing numbers.

http://research.jisao.washington.edu/pdo/PDO.latest.txt


vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #567 on: September 09, 2019, 09:44:04 PM »
Bruce: They're drawing the shades. The Twilight of Science is Coming.

- 'Here on the level sand, between the sea and land, what shall I do or write against the fall of night?' -  ("Smooth Between Sea And Land") - A. E. Housman

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NOAA’s Chief Scientist Will Investigate Why Agency Backed Trump Over Its Own Experts on Dorian, Email Shows
https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/09/09/noaas-chief-scientist-will-investigate-why-agency-backed-trump-over-its-experts-dorian-email-shows/

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s acting chief scientist, Craig McLean, said in an email to colleagues Sunday that he is investigating whether the agency’s response to President Trump’s Hurricane Dorian tweets constituted a violation of NOAA policies and ethics. Also on Monday, the director of the National Weather Service broke with NOAA leadership over its handling of Trump’s Dorian tweets and statements.

In his email to employees Sunday, McLean criticized his agency’s public statement, saying it prioritized politics over NOAA’s mission.

“The NWS Forecaster(s) corrected any public misunderstanding in an expert and timely way, as they should,” McLean wrote. “There followed, last Friday, an unsigned news release from 'NOAA’ that inappropriately and incorrectly contradicted the NWS forecaster. My understanding is that this intervention to contradict the forecaster was not based on science but on external factors including reputation and appearance, or simply put, political.”

He also wrote that “the content of this news release is very concerning as it compromises the ability of NOAA to convey life-saving information necessary to avoid substantial and specific danger to public health and safety."

“If the public cannot trust our information, or we debase our forecaster’s warnings and products, that specific danger arises,” McLean wrote.

-----------------------------

National Weather Service (NWS) Director Louis Uccellini defended the forecasters who tweeted out correct information about Hurricane Dorian after President Trump wrongly said the storm was predicted to hit Alabama.

"They did that with one thing in mind: public safety," Uccellini said Monday at a National Weather Association meeting, according to The Associated Press.

... The assembled forecasters reportedly gave a standing ovation after Uccellini asked members of the Birmingham team to stand and be recognized.

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Commerce Chief Threatened Firings at NOAA After Trump’s Hurricane Tweets
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/09/climate/hurrican-dorian-trump-tweet.html

The Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, threatened to fire top employees at NOAA on Friday after the agency’s Birmingham office contradicted President Trump’s claim that Hurricane Dorian might hit Alabama, according to three people familiar with the discussion.

That threat led to an unusual, unsigned statement later that Friday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration disavowing the office’s own position that Alabama was not at risk. The reversal caused widespread anger within the agency and drew criticism from the scientific community that NOAA, a division of the Commerce Department, had been bent to political purposes.

--------------------------

Trump just said there are people in line for his rally and "they are soaking wet." Per CNN's @betsy_klein, "it is 88 and sunny here in Fayetteville. It has not rained here today."

https://mobile.twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1171193261035327490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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Scientists Decry 'Ignorance’ of Rolling Back Species Protections in the Midst of a Mass Extinction
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/08/16/scientists-decry-ignorance-rolling-back-species-protections-midst-mass-extinction/

-----------------------------

How Not to Run the World
https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2019/09/how-not-run-world/159699/

U.S. Forced to Extract Top Spy from Russia after Trump Revealed Classified Information to Russians in Oval Office meeting
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/politics/russia-us-spy-extracted/index.html
« Last Edit: September 10, 2019, 01:58:04 AM by vox_mundi »
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #568 on: September 10, 2019, 05:47:48 PM »
Surprise! Surprise! ...

Trump Interior Official Who Pushed Arctic Drilling Joins Oil Company In Alaska
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/04/757542234/trump-interior-official-who-pushed-arctic-drilling-joins-oil-company-in-alaska

A top U.S. Department of the Interior appointee who pushed to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil leasing is taking a job with an oil company seeking to develop a major project in Alaska.

Joe Balash, an assistant secretary at the department who oversaw the Bureau of Land Management, left his job last week. On Wednesday he announced his new position as senior vice president for external affairs with Oil Search, a Papua New Guinea-based company that first expanded into Alaska in 2017.

"This was not an easy decision, but I am excited to be coming home with a company that is doing great things," he wrote in a Facebook post. Balash said he considers Oil Search's project "a key piece of Alaska's economic and fiscal future."

In a statement, Oil Search said Balash "brings significant regulatory and external affairs experience," noting that it is a relatively new player in the U.S.

By current count, at least 230 former and current registered lobbyists have worked in the Trump administration.



----------------------------------

Former Trump Officials Are Supposed to Avoid Lobbying. Except 33 Haven’t.
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-lobbying-swamp-is-flourishing-in-trumps-washington

In his first 10 days in office, Trump signed an executive order that required all his political hires to sign a pledge. On its face, it’s straightforward and ironclad: When Trump officials leave government employment, they agree not to lobby the agencies they worked in for five years. They also can’t lobby anyone in the White House or political appointees across federal agencies for the duration of the Trump administration. And they can’t perform “lobbying activities,” or things that would help other lobbyists, including setting up meetings or providing background research. Violating the pledge exposes former officials to fines and extended or even permanent bans on lobbying.

Former officials — including ex-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke — have found ways to sidestep the administration’s ethics pledge. At least 18 of them are now registered federal lobbyists and the rest work in jobs that closely resemble lobbying. Typically, they have been careful to avoid violating the ethics pledge. That usually means they interact with representatives, senators and congressional staff, but not with appointees at federal agencies or the White House.

Increasingly, both lobbyists and the firms that hire them are taking advantage of a loophole unique to the Trump ethics pledge: A clause that allows former political appointees to lobby on “any agency process for rulemaking, adjudication or licensing” despite the five-year lobbying ban. “Rulemaking” includes deregulation, a Trump administration priority. “Rulemaking is mostly what agencies do, and that’s what most lobbyists do. So that’s a pretty big carve-out,” said Virginia Canter, a former Obama administration ethics attorney who now works for the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Companies have taken notice.

Quote
(n) “Lobbying activities” has the same meaning as that term has in the Lobbying Disclosure Act, except that the term does not include communicating or appearing with regard to: a judicial proceeding; a criminal or civil law enforcement inquiry, investigation, or proceeding; or any agency process for rulemaking, adjudication, or licensing, as defined in and governed by the Administrative Procedure Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C. 551 et seq.

—An excerpt from the Trump ethics pledge
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #569 on: September 10, 2019, 11:02:14 PM »
US Expands Hunting and Fishing at National Wildlife Refuges
https://phys.org/news/2019-09-fishing-national-wildlife-refuges.html

The Trump administration is expanding hunting and fishing in 77 national wildlife refuges in what it says is a bonus for hunters and anglers but what critics contend is deferring management to states with potential harm to wildlife.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a final rule posted Tuesday in the Federal Register that 2,200 square miles (5,700 square kilometers) will open in 37 states.

Fish and Wildlife says some 5,000 regulations have been eliminated or simplified at the national wildlife refuges and 15 national fish hatcheries to match state regulations.

It's the latest effort by the Trump administration to open public lands to recreation and industry, including oil and gas drilling, that critics say is coming at the expense of the environment and wildlife.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

nanning

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #570 on: September 11, 2019, 07:36:25 AM »
vox_mundi, thanks for all the info and the very nice and suitable cartoons :).
"It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly" - Bertrand Russell
"It is preoccupation with what other people from your groups think of you, that prevents you from living freely and nobly" - Nanning
Why do you keep accumulating stuff?

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #571 on: September 11, 2019, 09:05:53 PM »
Trump Adviser Who Lamented 'Demonization of Carbon Dioxide' Follows Bolton Out the White House Door
https://earther.gizmodo.com/trump-adviser-who-lamented-demonization-of-carbon-dioxi-1838041167

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, was fired (or resigned) on Monday. Now it appears the flotsam he brought with him to the National Security Council could be following him out the door. And it could have a surprising climate upside.

Bloomberg’s Ari Natter reported on Tuesday that William Happer has turned in his resignation from the National Security Council. Happer is a physicist, but he’s best known for being a climate denier who once said the “demonization of carbon dioxide is just like the demonization of the poor Jews under Hitler.” Seriously, you can’t make this shit up.

One of Happer’s big endeavors during his year with the Trump administration was trying to spearhead a “debate” over the validity of climate science between actual scientists and a bunch of doofuses from conservative think tanks. The idea was a favorite of grift master Scott Pruitt, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency. After he resigned in disgrace, Happer took up the mantle of making the debate happen with Bolton’s blessing. Thankfully, it never did because it would be a huge waste of time for everyone involved, America at large included.

It’s unclear what else, if anything, Happer accomplished on the National Security Council. But with him and Bolton out, there are at least two fewer idiots on the council trying to put a torch to climate science and even worse, ignore its impacts on national security. It’s easy to forget just how outlandish it is to have climate deniers providing key national security advice, but step back and it’s quickly clear how fucked up it is.

Climate change poses one of the biggest national security threats to the U.S. Science backs this up, showing that military bases could be flooded out by sea level rise and storms and that changing weather patterns could destabilize parts of the world. People who don’t acknowledge the threat of climate change let alone the scientific reality shouldn’t be in positions of power. And yet, Bolton (who does not deny climate change but has opposed international efforts to curb rising temperatures) and Happer (who has claimed climate scientists are wrong) have both managed to have long had access to the halls of power; Bolton has had a position in every Republican administration since Regan, and Happer worked in George W. Bush’s Department of Energy.

In fact, Bolton’s lobbying for endless war in the Middle East to keep the flow of oil running uninterrupted has spurred climate change along. The U.S. military is also the largest consumer of oil in the world, and the 21st century “War on Terror” that Bolton backed has kicked carbon emissions into high gear. A report earlier this year found an astounding 35 percent of the military’s emissions since 2001 are tied to the war, helping speed climate change along and resulting in a more unstable future.
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Bruce Steele

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #572 on: September 12, 2019, 01:37:30 AM »
Vox Mundi, I was able to talk with NOAA and was directed to a site that is keeping the PDO index.
It is not in the old monthly index I am used to. The graph provided shows the PDO index increased in 2019 over the same twelve months in 2018.

. We have been in positive territory since Jan 2014.

https://oceanview.pfeg.noaa.gov/erddap/tabledap/cciea_OC_PDO.graph

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #573 on: September 12, 2019, 01:44:21 AM »
Thanks for the link Bruce  :)
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Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Bruce Steele

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #574 on: September 12, 2019, 02:08:11 AM »
You're welcome, I also posted over on the Ocean Temperature page . Thanks for giving the impetus to ask around. Nothing nefarious , some health issue caused the delay.

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #575 on: September 12, 2019, 04:32:53 PM »
Trump Administration to Finalize Rollback of Clean Water Protections
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/administration-finalizes-repeal-of-2015-water-rule-trump-called-destructive-and-horrible/2019/09/11/fddfa49a-d4aa-11e9-9343-40db57cf6abd_story.html

On Thursday, the Trump administration plans to scrap the Obama-era definition of what qualifies as “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act, returning the country to standards put in place in 1986.

Trump’s executive order said federal officials should rely on the opinion of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who argued that the law should apply only to “navigable waters.

... “We want to make sure that we have a definition that once and for all will be the law of the land in all 50 states,” Wheeler said.

But critics say the rollback will speed the conversion of wetlands and headwaters, which provide critical habitat for wildlife and support the nation’s drinking water supply. Americans drained about half of the 220 million acres of wetlands in the contiguous United States between the 1780s and 1980s, most of it to expand farmland. That rate began to slow after George H.W. Bush took office, pledging to stem the tide of wetlands loss.

“The administration wants to go back to an era where we are destroying wetlands heedlessly,” Robert Irvin, president of American Rivers, said of President Trump’s latest deregulatory effort.

... Targeting the Obama-era regulation ranked among Trump’s top priorities when he took office. In February 2017, he issued an executive order directing the EPA to review the regulation in an effort to pave the way for what Trump called “the elimination of this very destructive and horrible rule.”



Thursday’s move is part of a broader effort by the administration to roll back regulations affecting the private sector by the end of Trump’s first term. Among the dozens already reversed: easing rules on everything from curbing methane emissions from drilling operations to holding oil and gas companies responsible for killing birds that get ensnared in their rigs’ waste pits
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #576 on: September 13, 2019, 06:08:31 PM »
'National Tragedy': Trump Begins Border Wall Construction in Unesco Reserve
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/12/border-wall-organ-pipe-cactus-arizona

Construction of a 30ft-high section of Donald Trump’s border barrier has begun in the Organ Pipe Cactus national monument in southern Arizona, a federally protected wilderness area and Unesco-recognized international biosphere reserve.

Wall will traverse the entirety of the southern edge of the Organ Pipe Cactus national monument, one of the most biologically diverse regions in the US

The Trump administration has deemed the new structures necessary due to a 'national emergency' of unauthorized immigration into the US. According to CBP, in the 2019 fiscal year there have been 14,265 apprehensions in the Tucson sector, where the Organ Pipe wall is going up, compared to 51,411 in the nearby Yuma sector of Arizona and over 205,000 in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

Quote
... Wells are being drilled onsite to extract desert groundwater for #BorderWall construction. We came across this rig today near the construction site, water flowing.

All this happening  in a national monument designated to protect endangered species & the fragile desert ecosystem
https://twitter.com/laikenjordahl/status/1166440970151268354

The government’s ability to build in protected areas along the Mexican border is unique. A 2005 law grants DHS the power to waive any laws “necessary to ensure expeditious construction” of border barriers. It has been used ever since. The Trump administration has waived numerous state and federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air Act, to construct barriers in protected areas in every southern border state.

... “This is one of the true gems of the Sonoran desert,” ... “It would be a tragedy if it all was lost for an unnecessary and deadly wall.”

« Last Edit: September 13, 2019, 08:53:52 PM by vox_mundi »
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

nanning

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #577 on: September 13, 2019, 08:20:33 PM »
Thanks vox_mundi. This wall is abominable and obscene.
(I think you forgot to give the link to the article)
"It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly" - Bertrand Russell
"It is preoccupation with what other people from your groups think of you, that prevents you from living freely and nobly" - Nanning
Why do you keep accumulating stuff?

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #578 on: September 14, 2019, 01:58:45 PM »
Gov Says Warming Arctic Could Be Good for Alaska
https://www.juneauempire.com/news/gov-says-warming-arctic-could-be-good-for-alaska/

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) said a warming Arctic could turn some of Alaska’s unique characteristics into further business opportunities. (... melting permafrost, eroding native villages, disappearing wildlife)

... “Take a look at Alaska,” Dunleavy said encouragingly to potential investors in the audience. “Our international airport hub is getting more and more investment. The Arctic is warming. Fifty years from now, if this trend continues, there will be seasonal, if not regular, travel through the Northwest Passage.” (... and no life anywhere on Earth)

We have enormous resources. ... He listed timber reserves, national forests, lead, zinc, gold, silver and copper as being among those resources. (... all for the taking)
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

philopek

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #579 on: September 14, 2019, 08:15:52 PM »
Gov Says Warming Arctic Could Be Good for Alaska
https://www.juneauempire.com/news/gov-says-warming-arctic-could-be-good-for-alaska/

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) said a warming Arctic could turn some of Alaska’s unique characteristics into further business opportunities. (... melting permafrost, eroding native villages, disappearing wildlife)

... “Take a look at Alaska,” Dunleavy said encouragingly to potential investors in the audience. “Our international airport hub is getting more and more investment. The Arctic is warming. Fifty years from now, if this trend continues, there will be seasonal, if not regular, travel through the Northwest Passage.” (... and no life anywhere on Earth)

We have enormous resources. ... He listed timber reserves, national forests, lead, zinc, gold, silver and copper as being among those resources. (... all for the taking)

Alaska First ;) [sarc]

Shortsighted as usual those "Govs"

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #580 on: September 15, 2019, 06:12:41 PM »
Hunter Can Keep 'Skin, Skull, Teeth and Claws' of Trophy Tanzanian Lion, US Says
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/15/us-says-man-can-bring-back-skin-skull-teeth-and-claws-of-hunted-tanzania-lion

The Trump administration has authorized a Florida man to bring back the “skin, skull, teeth and claws” of a lion he hunted in Tanzania, granting the first permit to import a lion from that country since the species gained protection under the US Endangered Species Act.

Environmental organizations say the move could open the floodgates for importing other endangered species like lions and rhinos. A freedom of information request made public by the US Fish and Wildlife Services also revealed that the hunter, Carl Atkinson, was represented by lawyer John Jackson III, who is also a member of the Trump administration’s International Wildlife Conservation Council, a controversial advisory board that promotes trophy hunting.

“This is all very concerning,” said Tanya Sanerib, the international legal director for the Center for Biological Diversity. “It signals that the administration is ready to approve, trophy imports from Tanzania despite that country’s history of wildlife mismanagement.



-------------------------

Trump Sons’ Hunting in Focus as US Lifts Import Ban on African Elephant Trophies
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/16/trump-sons-us-lifts-import-ban-african-elephant-trophies

- Obama administration imposed ban because of conservation concerns

The Trump administration’s decision to loosen restrictions around the import of elephant trophies from Zimbabwe and Zambia has turned attention back to the president’s family’s own connection to the controversial sport.

Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump are prolific big-game hunters and during the 2016 campaign, images re-emerged of the pair on a 2011 hunting trip posing with animals they had killed on safari, including an elephant, a buffalo and a leopard.

https://mobile.twitter.com/MiaFarrow/status/598484069287108609

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Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #581 on: September 16, 2019, 05:18:21 PM »
Scuttling Science
https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/scuttling-science/
Quote
Today’s show looks at the Trump administration’s pattern of pushing expert scientists out of policy discussions.

Alexander555

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #582 on: September 16, 2019, 06:14:11 PM »
Is that hunting thing not a more traditional left/right story. Rather than want to do something about it. Because we are killing all wildlife with our way of life, we don't have to hunt for them to kill them. And i think the leftwingers/democrats even more than all the rest. Because the places where they live, they are so crowded that there is no wildlife left. Even in a nature reserve, like the Kruger National Park. They have to hunt elephants, otherwise they destroy everything, all the forests. All the old roads the elephants took long ago. They are blocked, by civilisation. Normaly they went from the south of Mozambique across South-Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana to the Okavanga delta. And that balanced the ecosystem. Now they can not leave the Krugerpark anymore, so the hurds get bigger and bigger. And the impact on the forests gets bigger and bigger. So they have to hunt them. Ofcourse, there are some sad stories between it.

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #583 on: September 16, 2019, 06:21:04 PM »
As House Passes Arctic Drilling Ban, Interior Goes the Other Way
https://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/as-house-passes-arctic-drilling-ban-interior-goes-the-other-way

The Interior Department and the House are moving in different directions on Arctic drilling.

Hours after the House voted 225-193 to block oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the agency said it was moving to open a portion of the area to drilling.

The Republican-controlled Senate is unlikely to consider any such ANWR drilling ban.

Exposing some of ANWR to drilling was a provision of the tax law President Donald Trump signed in December 2017.

The Bureau of Land Management released what it said was its final environmental impact statement for the oil-and-gas leasing program for a 1.5-million-acre portion of ANWR known as Area 1002.

In its environmental impact statement, the Interior Department identified three drilling plans — Alternatives B, C and D — and picked plan B as its preference.

The agency said air pollution emissions would “likely be the highest” under plan B because more oil and gas facilities would be included. Aircraft emissions under that scenario would also likely be the greatest, it said in its report.

------------------

According to Carbon Tracker, a financial and climate research firm, $545 billion in oil projects in the U.S. is exposed to so-called “transition risk” — what it will take to move away from a fossil fuel-centered economy and comply with international climate goals to limit warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius beyond pre-industrial levels.

--------------------

The Pompeo Doctrine: A Formula for Catastrophe in the Arctic
https://www.salon.com/2019/09/14/the-pompeo-doctrine-a-formula-for-catastrophe-in-the-arctic_partner/
https://www.defenseone.com/politics/2019/09/mike-pompeo-bigger-pentagon-now/159863/?oref=d-river

How to seize the Arctic’s resources, now accessible due to climate change (just don’t mention those words!)

... Under the prodding of Mike Pompeo, the White House increasingly views the Arctic as a key arena for future great-power competition, with the ultimate prize being an extraordinary trove of valuable resources, including oil, natural gas, uranium, zinc, iron ore, gold, diamonds, and rare earth minerals. Add in one more factor: though no one in the administration is likely to mention the forbidden term “climate change” or “climate crisis,” they all understand perfectly well that global warming is what’s making such a resource scramble possible.

... Usually a forum for anodyne statements about international cooperation and proper environmental stewardship, the lid was blown off the latest Arctic Council meeting in May when Pompeo delivered an unabashedly martial and provocative speech that deserves far more attention than it got at the time. So let’s take a little tour of what may prove a historic proclamation (in the grimmest sense possible) of a new Washington doctrine for the Far North.

“In its first two decades, the Arctic Council has had the luxury of focusing almost exclusively on scientific collaboration, on cultural matters, on environmental research,” the secretary of state began mildly. These were, he said, “all important themes, very important, and we should continue to do those. But no longer do we have that luxury. We’re entering a new age of strategic engagement in the Arctic, complete with new threats to the Arctic and its real estate, and to all of our interests in that region.”

In what turned out to be an ultra-hardline address, Pompeo claimed that we were now in a new era in the Arctic. Because climate change — a phrase Pompeo, of course, never actually uttered — is now making it ever more possible to exploit the region’s vast resource riches, a scramble to gain control of them is now officially underway. That competition for resources has instantly become enmeshed in a growing geopolitical confrontation between the U.S., Russia, and China, generating new risks of conflict.

Quote
... “I think that Pompeo is now running foreign policy in the Trump administration in the way that Cheney ran it in the Bush administration, which is to say that all foreign policy decisions seem to run through Pompeo regardless of whether or not they are supposed to” ... “He’s controlling the national security establishment in ways that not even [Vice President Mike Pence] can touch.”

------------------

Longtime Pentagon watchers say Pompeo’s actions are not, in themselves, unusual. Secretaries of State are often openly engaged in policy around combat theaters, said Loren DeJonge Schulman, a former defense hand at the Pentagon and the National Security Council during the Obama administration.

What’s unusual is Pompeo’s comparative lack of activity in traditional diplomatic arenas,” said Schulman, deputy director of studies at the Center for New American Security. “The comparison between the two makes this stand out.”
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

morganism

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #584 on: September 17, 2019, 12:01:47 AM »
Not just Kavanaugh: Another alarming reason to fear the Supreme Court

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/09/16/not-just-kavanaugh-another-alarming-reason-fear-supreme-court/?noredirect=on

"A new study offers an alarming answer to that question. It concludes that even if Democrats win the White House and Congress, the high court will likely strike down much of what they do to address the climate change crisis, even as the window for action is closing, perhaps exacerbating the threat of civilizational catastrophe.

The study represents a serious effort — one undertaken by two well-known academics — to develop a realistic projection of how the conservative justices might rule on climate legislation. As such, it may also fuel discussion among the Democratic presidential candidates about their various proposals to expand the court.

“Climate change legislation,” the report starkly concludes, is “unlikely to survive judicial review,” at a time when “leading scientists have concluded that only twelve years remain to avoid planetary climate change catastrophe.”

What makes the study interesting is that it uses the justices’ past rulings, as well as other conservative legal scholarship, to elaborate a picture of the specific legal doctrines they might employ to strike down efforts to legislate against global warming. The study concludes that their records clearly demonstrate they will have many such doctrines to weaponize in this fashion.

pdf:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ce33e8da6bbec0001ea9543/t/5d7d429025734e4ae9c92070/1568490130130/Supreme+Court+Will+Overturn+Climate+Legislation+FINAL.pdf

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #585 on: September 17, 2019, 12:06:34 AM »
So when the Dems win in 2020 we get 13 Justices, and when the GOP wins in 2028 we get 19, then when the Dems win again in 2036 we get 29...

gerontocrat

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #586 on: September 17, 2019, 12:02:33 PM »
It is really bad, scary, evil. One of those articles that need to be read.

6 stories from scientists who've been shafted. There must be hundreds more.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/17/whistleblowers-scientists-climate-crisis-trump-administration

'The silenced': meet the climate whistleblowers muzzled by Trump
Six whistleblowers and ex-government scientists describe how the Trump administration made them bury climate science – and why they won’t stay quiet
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
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TerryM

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #587 on: September 17, 2019, 12:40:18 PM »
So when the Dems win in 2020 we get 13 Justices, and when the GOP wins in 2028 we get 19, then when the Dems win again in 2036 we get 29...
Kind of nixes the whole concept of "Justice" doesn't it?


If justice itself depends on whether your side won the last election, why bother with a Supreme Court at all?
Why bother with trials for that matter? all we need is a snap election, then decide any legal questions based on the results.
Justice won't just be blind, she'll be deaf and only respond to bribes campaign donations..
Terry

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #588 on: September 17, 2019, 12:53:24 PM »
'The silenced': meet the climate whistleblowers muzzled by Trump
^ +1 gerontocrat

I've been reviewing government files related to the environment (and other subjects) for over 15 years and in the last 2 years much of that tax-supported information has been 'disappeared'. These are files that I 'know' the agencies have because I copied them over 3-4 years ago. We're talking 1000's of pages.

It's next to impossible to find hard data anymore.
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vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #589 on: September 29, 2019, 12:25:41 AM »
EPA Wants to Push Through Bad New FOIA Regulations without Public Comment
https://unredacted.com/2019/06/27/trump-and-putins-g20-meeting-puts-spotlight-on-the-pra-senators-hone-in-on-bad-epa-foia-regs-and-more-frinformsum-6-27-2019/

The Environmental Protection Agency wants to publish new FOIA regulations in the Federal Register – without public comment – under which rules “the administrator and other officials would be allowed to review all materials that fit a FOIA request criteria, known as responsive documents, and then decide ‘whether to release or withhold a record or a portion of a record on the basis of responsiveness or under one or more exemptions under the FOIA, and to issue ‘no records’ responses.

As it stands, the new regulations, which appear to expand the circle of non-FOIA officials who can make final determinations on FOIA requests and allows the agency to functionally ignore any requests sent to regional offices, would go into effect 30 days after the publication in the Federal Register.


Long-time FOIA champion Senator Chuck Grassley wasn’t having it, and tweeted,

Quote
“Americans deserve 2kno what their govt is up to Freedom of Information Act designed to promote transparency when govt lacks openness but recent SCOTUS ruling+EPA &Interior regs undermine FOIA I will write legislation 2fix TRANSPARENCY BRINGS ACCOUNTABILITY.”

Senator Patrick Leahy added,

Quote
“Congress won’t sit idly by while @EPA further guts FOIA w. an offensive rule allowing politicals to reject #FOIA requests w/o explanation. @EPAAWheeler: a friendly reminder that #Appropriations has oversight responsibilities. We’ll be chatting about this.”
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #590 on: October 01, 2019, 04:57:19 PM »
EPA's Proposed Coal Ash Amendments Will Boost Risk of Toxic Contamination
https://phys.org/news/2019-10-epa-coal-ash-amendments-boost.html

Federal rules currently prohibit the uncontrolled disposal of coal ash into the environment, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recently proposed amendments to the federal 2015 Coal Ash Rule that will allow coal ash to be spread on soil or stored in unlined pits and landfills and remove other safeguards if the ash is dumped or spread for a "beneficial use," such as fill.

That's a bad idea, said Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment. ... "Our experiments suggest that when coal ash interacts with water—as it will if it is spread on soil or buried in soil without protective liners—there is extensive mobilization of arsenic, selenium, and chromium, in the form of highly toxic hexavalent chromium," Vengosh said.

"Our experiments also demonstrate that coal ash chemistry induces high pH when the ash interacts with freshwater and this further enhances the mobilization and solubility of elements like hexavalent chromium and arsenic," he said.

"The amendments proposed by the EPA would allow the 'beneficial' placement of unlimited quantities of coal ash in the environment, potentially near drinking water wells, rivers and lakes, without any restrictions or safeguards," he said. "That could create countless new sources of leached contamination that will infiltrate into the subsurface and contaminate soil and water resources across the nation."

------------------------

Trump Administration is Sidelining Science - and It Puts Us All In Danger
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/oct/01/linda-birnbaum-environmental-public-health-climate-crisis
« Last Edit: October 01, 2019, 06:37:52 PM by vox_mundi »
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #591 on: October 03, 2019, 01:53:58 PM »
Trump Administration's War on Science Hits 'Crisis Point', Experts Warn
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/oct/03/science-trump-administration-crisis-point-report



The treatment of science by the Trump administration has hit a “crisis point” where research findings are manipulated for political gain, special interests are given improper influence and scientists are targeted for ideological reasons, a nonpartisan taskforce of former government officials has warned.

Safeguards meant to ensure that government research is objective and fully available to the public have been “steadily weakening” under recent administrations and are now at a nadir under Trump, according to a report released on Thursday by the National Task Force on Rule of Law and Democracy.

There are now “almost weekly violations” of previously cherished norms, the report states, with the current administration attempting “not only to politicize scientific and technical research on a range of topics, but also, at times, to undermine the value of objective facts themselves”.

“Politics is driving decisions and has been for some time,” said Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican who was formerly administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Whitman co-chairs the taskforce with former US attorney Preet Bharara.

“Right now, any finding that seems to be restricting business, especially the energy industry, appears to be destined for elimination,” Whitman said.

The problem has escalated under Trump due a combination of hefty campaign contributions from special interests, the appointment of unqualified cronies to senior positions and the reluctance of Congress to act as a proper check.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/proposals-reform-volume-ii-national-task-force-rule-law-democracy]report

“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #592 on: October 05, 2019, 12:57:21 AM »
Yellow Cedar Trees Denied US Threatened Species Listing
https://m.phys.org/news/2019-10-yellow-cedar-trees-denied-threatened.html

A federal agency has rejected an iconic Alaska tree for listing as a threatened species due to climate warming.

-----------------------

It’s Happening Now: Climate Change Is Killing Off the Yellow Cedar
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/its-happening-now-climate-change-killing-yellow-cedar/

You can see the dead and dying from the air.

In coastal Alaska and British Columbia, swaths of yellow cedar trees are losing their needles and withering away. Under normal conditions, these economically and culturally valuable trees can live 1,000 years or more, but enough of them are dying that the trees are now being considered for protection under the US Endangered Species Act.

A yellow cedar’s demise is not instantaneous. It takes years for a tree to die, slowly, from the inside out. It has similarly taken a long time to prove exactly why these trees are dying.

“Yellow cedar is dying because of warmer weather,” says Paul Hennon, a forest pathologist with the US Forest Service in Juneau, Alaska. But getting to that conclusion—and ruling out reams of other potential causes—took years of detective work. ...
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #593 on: October 05, 2019, 09:53:06 PM »
'Outrage': New Video Shows Bulldozers Destroying America's Most Iconic Cacti to Build Trump's Border Wall
https://earther.gizmodo.com/outrage-new-video-shows-bulldozers-destroying-americas-1838787163

... One of the first stretches of the Trumpified wall is going up in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (yes, they really chose a park as a starting point). Video shot by Kevin Dahl, the senior program manager for the National Parks Conservation Association in Arizona, shows construction crew toppling saguaros in their rush to prepare the site for wall construction.

Saguaro cactus are a Federally protected speices.

The cactus you drew all the time when you were a little kid? You know, the one with three arms reaching to the sky? Yeah, that’s what they’re bulldozing in the desert right now so the land can instead be covered with a 30-foot tall steel beam wall.

What happens to the piles of dead brush is anyone’s guess. The Army Corps of Engineers released a video last month saying that the agency would relocate saguaros along with organ pipe, ocotillo, and other types of cacti out of the wall construction site. The video says the agency is “taking great care to take care of the protected species.”

https://mobile.twitter.com/LaikenJordahl/status/1180206058649706497
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

vox_mundi

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #594 on: October 15, 2019, 03:34:22 AM »


In 2004, AccuWeather supported a bill in Congress that would prevent the NWS from doing anything a private company does, such as putting content on its website or providing daily forecasts.

As a reward, Donald Trump nominated former AccuWeather CEO Barry Myers to lead the National Weather Service in 2017.

Bogged down by conflicts of interest and a labor department investigation into AccuWeather’s culture of sexual harassment, Barry Myers’s nomination has stalled for two years in the Senate; if they don’t approve him by the end of 2019, Trump will have to resubmit his name. Which prompts the question: “Why not find another guy?” Oliver ranted.

“Any other guy! Except of course, for that to happen, Trump would have to do stuff, know stuff and think workplace harassment is a bad thing, and none of us should be holding our breath on that.”
“There are three classes of people: those who see. Those who see when they are shown. Those who do not see.” ― anonymous

Insensible before the wave so soon released by callous fate. Affected most, they understand the least, and understanding, when it comes, invariably arrives too late

wili

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #595 on: October 15, 2019, 04:15:17 AM »
vox quoted John Oliver:

"...Donald Trump nominated former AccuWeather CEO Barry Myers to lead the National Weather Service in 2017.

Bogged down by conflicts of interest and a labor department investigation into AccuWeather’s culture of sexual harassment, Barry Myers’s nomination has stalled for two years in the Senate; if they don’t approve him by the end of 2019, Trump will have to resubmit his name. Which prompts the question: “Why not find another guy?” Oliver ranted.

“Any other guy! Except of course, for that to happen, Trump would have to do stuff, know stuff and think workplace harassment is a bad thing, and none of us should be holding our breath on that.”

Watch out, vox. Don't you know that around here the gospel is that the real enemy is the corporate Democrats!! :) :)
"A force de chercher de bonnes raisons, on en trouve; on les dit; et après on y tient, non pas tant parce qu'elles sont bonnes que pour ne pas se démentir." Choderlos de Laclos "You struggle to come up with some valid reasons, then cling to them, not because they're good, but just to not back down."

sidd

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #596 on: October 15, 2019, 05:33:24 AM »
Re: around here the gospel is that the real enemy is the corporate Democrats

Wait, what ? Now i'm confused. I thought that was a different thread. On this one, I thought Trump was the real enemy.

I demand clearly delineated areas of fear, uncertainty, doubt and enemies !

sidd

blumenkraft

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #597 on: October 15, 2019, 04:58:58 PM »
Watch out, vox. Don't you know that around here the gospel is that the real enemy is the corporate Democrats!! :) :)

Wili, i think you got that wrong.

For me at least, corporatism (neoliberalism) is the problem. This is not about a political party per se. But when both (all) political parties in the US are neoliberal, you also have to call out the Democrats for that.

And here the accusation becomes a different one. We are talking about a lag lack of alternatives which is not even recognized as a problem by most in the US.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2019, 08:41:44 PM by blumenkraft »

Tom_Mazanec

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #598 on: October 15, 2019, 07:31:58 PM »
If you meant "lack" of alternatives, I well recognize it.

blumenkraft

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #599 on: October 15, 2019, 08:41:20 PM »
Right, i mean lack, not lag. I always screw those up. :-/
Thanks for the correction, Tom.