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6roucho

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Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« on: January 21, 2017, 04:09:02 AM »
Evidence of the Trump administration's assault on science is already documented in several threads here, but now that he's President, and the science melt season proper has started, it seems appropriate to keep a record.

Within moments of yesterday's inauguration, all references to combating climate change disappeared from the White House website [https://www.whitehouse.gov]. A search for "climate" returns three results:

Quote
An America First Energy Plan | whitehouse.gov
www.whitehouse.gov/america-first-energy
...and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the
Lou Henry Hoover | whitehouse.gov
www.whitehouse.gov/1600/first-ladies/louhoover
Charles D. Henry, decided that the climate of southern California would favor
Mamie Geneva Doud Eisenhower | whitehouse.gov
www.whitehouse.gov/1600/first-ladies/mamieeisenhower
...visits to relatives in the milder climate of San Antonio, Texas. There, in 1915
The page that once detailed the potential consequences of climate change was replaced by a page entitled, "An America First Energy Plan." which vows to eliminate “harmful and unnecessary policies” such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the United States rule.

Thus the new administration is committing to a reduction in policy in place of a reduction in emissions.
« Last Edit: May 16, 2018, 05:55:27 PM by 6roucho »

logicmanPatrick

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2017, 04:26:53 AM »
Welcome to the Wipe House  but  Archive.org is your friend.  See e.g. this page on climate policy with free pdf file.

Download pages like crazy!  Tommorow, Trump may nuke the wayback machine.
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logicmanPatrick

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2017, 04:49:12 AM »
Update: Obama web pages archived at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/

hat tip to http://www.snopes.com/white-house-web-site-trump-changes/

But I would still download and save stuff.  "Accidents" happen, or so I am told.
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DrTskoul

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2017, 04:55:37 AM »
Climate change marches on and science never dies.  Screw them all... They will get their comeuppance....
« Last Edit: January 21, 2017, 01:59:45 PM by DrTskoul »

6roucho

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2017, 05:50:00 AM »
Update: Obama web pages archived at https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/

hat tip to http://www.snopes.com/white-house-web-site-trump-changes/

But I would still download and save stuff.  "Accidents" happen, or so I am told.

Fair play to Snopes. It notes that "Whitehouse.gov is sparsely populated". And legacy content will indeed live on in the ObamaWhiteHouse.gov site. It'll be interesting to see if they become competing poles of information.

NeilT

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2017, 12:36:19 PM »
To be honest we've become used to Politicians spouting rhetoric then doing very little about it.  Obama was actually the opposite on Climate Change, his rhetoric was low, initially, but his actions were high.

Sadly, with Trump, what you see is what you get.  He told people what he was going to do and now he's doing it.  How shocking is that???

There is hope though, for those who think that destroying the likes of Trump is hopeful, in the article, yesterday, on the Washington Post where they discussed the likely attempts to impeach Trump over his refusal to sell of his business interests just to become president of the US.

I've said this consistently for more than a decade now and very few in the Climate Lobby want to listen.

You do not tax people into submission.  You do not look like a tree hugger who wants to take the population back to candles and smallholding.  You do not constantly take away people's choices on energy and replace it with a lack of choice.

If you do, you get Trump, you get Brexit, the little person (not the activist and not even the intelligent or aware), stands up and uses that most dangerous of things; a vote.

Once you have pushed and bullied the little person into using that vote, then they will continue to use that vote until they think they have buried you.

The only possible way out of this mess is to do what I advocated right from the beginning.

Do not Price Carbon out of the Market.  Produce OTE for renewables.  Make it worth More than carbon to switch.

Do not produce CFL's which are poisonous, shoddily made and very little longer lasting than an incandescent bulb and produces poor quality light; then tell people that it's "good" because it uses 30% less electricity.  LED's were always the way and their potential is way greater than the incandescent bulbs.  But, hey, CFL is there now and we're never going to get rid of it.

If you want businesses to go where they need to go, you do not punish them into submission.  You lead them to opportunity.  Because they will always trend to the easiest and best profit regardless to the damage it is doing the liveable biosphere.

We have reaped what we sowed.  Now we need to find a way of turning it around, properly, so that we have a sustainable path (politically), to a sustainable climate and a sustainable biosphere.

I spend a lot of time saying "I told you so".  It's not a place I like being in times like this.  But it is what it is.

This is another dark day out of many dark days on the way to climate Armageddon.  Hopefully we will learn something from it.
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magnamentis

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2017, 01:32:32 PM »
Sadly, with Trump, what you see is what you get.  He told people what he was going to do and now he's doing it.  How shocking is that???

a good point. people are so much used to all of them uttering one lie after an other, especially while campaigning, that probably not many took his verbal excesses for real. while the most stupid fellow humans will still acclaim now, i'm quite sure that some voters who voted for that guy are starting get a bad gut-feeling. at least i hope so :-)

you get what you see is theoretically exactly my way and what i advertise all over the place whenever i can, but of course it's necessary to LOOK carefully, so to SEE something to make appropriate decisions and most people are blindly stumbling through there "EGO-CENTERED" live with mostly low level instincts driven interest. we all know the story about the sheep following their lead over the cliff and we are animals with the urge to belong to a group after all. the only difference is the capability, the willingness to reflect on what we are doing and even more difficult, to overcome our lower instincts in favour of what we think is right.

considering how few that leaves who at least do their best to do things right according to their best knowledge, we are where we are now, again, what we see (know) is what we get, just that it's not opportune nowadays to name things, hypocrisy is "TRUMP" while this is probably one of the things which the man with that name is not LOL
« Last Edit: January 21, 2017, 08:18:38 PM by magnamentis »

DrTskoul

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2017, 02:03:00 PM »
...
You do not constantly take away people's choices on energy and replace it with a lack of choice...

Meaning? What energy choices have been taken away?...

wili

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2017, 05:50:12 PM »
Trump just canceled National Park Service's twitter account because they showed how poorly attended his inauguration. The censorship and pettiness has begun. And of course this hinders NSPs ability to rally support when he starts mountaintop removal and other destructive extractive activities.

The energy plan is called 'American First' an old (and current) US Nazi Party slogan.

We in the US are now living in a one-party fascist state
"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."

logicmanPatrick

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2017, 09:15:45 PM »
Trump just canceled National Park Service's twitter account because they showed how poorly attended his inauguration. The censorship and pettiness has begun. And of course this hinders NSPs ability to rally support when he starts mountaintop removal and other destructive extractive activities.

The energy plan is called 'American First' an old (and current) US Nazi Party slogan.

We in the US are now living in a one-party fascist state

Twitter restored, apparently, but this is a very odd reason for deleting posts -

Quote
National Park Service spokesman Thomas Crosson declined to comment on the tweeting ban, according to The Post. But he said that it is against Park Service policy to estimate the size of crowds at events, because they are often inaccurate.

thenewstribune.com
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MrVisible

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2017, 09:21:12 PM »
Steve Bannon, Chief Strategist to President Donald Trump and co-author of yesterday's inaugural address, used to be in charge of the Biosphere 2 project.

"A lot of the scientists who are studying global change and studying the effects of greenhouse gases, many of them feel that the Earth's atmosphere in 100 years is what Biosphere 2's atmosphere is today. We have extraordinarily high CO2, we have very high nitrous oxide, we have high methane. And we have lower oxygen content. So the power of this place is allowing those scientists who are really involved in the study of global change, and which, in the outside world or Biosphere 1, really have to work with just computer simulation, this actually allows them to study and monitor the impact of enhanced CO2 and other greenhouse gases on humans, plants, and animals."

He went on to found the climate-change denying Breitbart network, and leveraged that to put Trump in the Presidency.

These aren't people who don't believe in climate change. These are people who are using climate change denial as a position of political advantage. It gives them access to a huge bloc of voters who are easily swayed.

Just remember that when they claim not to believe in climate change, they're lying. It calls for different tactics.

NeilT

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2017, 10:51:36 PM »
Meaning? What energy choices have been taken away?...

It is always useful to know the other side of the argument.  Because what we know is to come, in the next few decades, is less important to the masses than what is coming tomorrow.

So when we talk about choices we need to see how people who are not yet convinced about clean power see.

Then when you look at the real time generation/demand figures people start to get worried.

Then when you factor in that coal provides 41% of US power generation and the sum total of all renewables in the country comes to 14.3% people worry even more.  Especially they worry that in deep winter or high summer there simply won't be the power available for the lives they expect.

That is taking away choices and no matter how needed it is, no matter how warranted it is, unless a clear and viable strategy evolves to show them how they are going to get the same power today and more power in the future, for the same cost base, then they see it as a reduction in choice.

Not pretty is it?  It is what brings people like Trump to power.  Obama did a lot but explained less.  He made things happen but did not give options, just outcomes.

So long as people don't have a vote that doesn't matter. Witness the EU commission and council of ministers and what they have done on climate.  When people do have a vote, the way you present things really does matter.
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DrTskoul

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2017, 12:13:12 AM »
Nobody is taking away coal. Markets decided.  It becomes more expensive vs natural gas since natural gas combined cyclebhas become so much more efficient and cheaper. If solar becomes much cheaper it will naturally increase in capacity. If a town or city wants a coal boiler go ahead. Spend more money.
 
That is why coal has declined... Same for nuclear and other choices...

logicmanPatrick

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #13 on: January 22, 2017, 06:54:07 PM »
Quote
Fearing White House Purge Of Climate Science, Scientists Frantically Copying Data


In 2014, the Military Advisory Board came out with a report, called National Security and the Accelerating Risks of Climate Change, that discusses what the military sees as the threats of climate change and the actions to be taken to mitigate them:

“The potential security ramifications of global climate change should be serving as catalysts for cooperation and change. Instead, climate change impacts are already accelerating instability in vulnerable areas of the world and are serving as catalysts for conflict.”

<<Oops, this website was also taken down, but I did copy the information>>

Get that report from archive.org before Trump's team torpedos it completely.

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NeilT

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2017, 01:06:49 AM »
Nobody is taking away coal. Markets decided. 

It helps if you actually read the linked articles.  Because, believe me, those shouting loudest do read them.  So here are the relevant points of the "first" article I linked.

Quote
Power plants generating 72 gigawatts (GW) of electricity in 37 states have either closed or are scheduled to shut their doors to comply with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations

Quote
The loss of generating capacity is “over seven times the amount originally predicted by EPA modeling,”

Quote
“Originally, EPA calculated that only 9.5 GW of electrical generating capacity would close as a result of its MATS (Mercury and Air Toxics Standard) and CSAPR (Cross State Air Pollution Rule) rules,”

Quote
Before President Obama’s newly proposed [carbon dioxide] regulations on existing power plants even begin to take effect, however, it is clear that actual number will now be much higher,”
(bold and underline are mine)

Quote
Over 94 percent of the closures involve coal-fired power plants, which currently provide one-fifth of the nation’s electricity, even though coal was the only fuel that was able to keep up with the higher demand during last January's polar vortex.

Quote
Coal accounts for the majority (41 percent) of the fuel generated for PJM's section of the grid, followed by nuclear (18 percent), natural gas (16 percent), and oil (6 percent)

People read this stuff.  They say "why the hell are you taking my energy away and replacing it with renewable crap".

Enacting laws and directives to remove energy from the grid, without a coherent plan which replaces that energy with the same, or preferably more" energy from a source which is cleaner, is viewed as taking away people's energy choice.

I'm just the messenger.  Shoot me if you want, but, please, don't ignore the articles I link then spout something, unsubstantiated, which is not true.  That's Trump's job.
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DrTskoul

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #15 on: January 23, 2017, 01:39:46 AM »
Look, if you like eating mercury laden fish, go ahead keep polluting plants open. Or if you like your NOx and SOx in your air.

If nothing else EPA is severely understaffed to monitor what needs monitoring.

We should have never installed scrubbers anywhere then because that reduces people's choices. Welcome back acid rain because we need our energy and our choices. Seriously ?


sidd

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #16 on: January 23, 2017, 01:45:06 AM »
If indeed coal plant closures were affecting grid reliability, i do not see it in the prices at PJM or the other markets. In fact i see utilities rushing to put in more solar, wind, natgas and powering/repowering hydro.

coal is dead. utilities recognize this already.

AbruptSLR

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #17 on: January 23, 2017, 02:09:53 AM »
I think that one issue that is worth noting is that the US justice system is an adversarial system, much like the currently polarized US political system has become.  And in the US justice system (which Donald Trump is well practiced at manipulating) the two opposing sides are allowed to present lies ('alternate facts') for the jury to sift through.  Thus just as Mitch McConnell was able to circumvent the US Constitution by refusing to give Obama's Supreme Count nominee a hearing, without any meaningful consequences from the voters in the last election; it may well be possible for the Trump administration to use 'alternate facts' (to lie) to damage climate science so long as the American voters do not hold the GOP accountable for the consequences of such amoral acts (no matter what science indicates to be the actual facts).

Edit, the linked article entitled: "White House vows to fight media 'tooth and nail' over Trump coverage", is Exhibit A that in the US political system the Trump Administration feels justified in creating 'alternate facts' (lies) to maintain its 'legitimacy' (control of power in a 'democracy').

https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-says-media-delegitimizing-trump-says-wont-144814317.html

Extract: "The White House vowed on Sunday to fight the news media "tooth and nail" over what it sees as unfair attacks, with a top adviser saying the Trump administration had presented "alternative facts" to counter low inauguration crowd estimates.

On his first full day as president, Trump said he had a "running war" with the media and accused journalists of underestimating the number of people who turned out Friday for his swearing-in.

White House officials made clear no truce was on the horizon on Sunday in television interviews that set a much harsher tone in the traditionally adversarial relationship between the White House and the press corps.

"The point is not the crowd size. The point is the attacks and the attempt to delegitimize this president in one day. And we're not going to sit around and take it," Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on "Fox News Sunday.""

See also the following linked article entitled: "Trump’s war on the truth"

http://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/Trump-s-war-on-the-truth-10875671.php

Extract: "President Trump’s White House wasted no time in coming up with a term for its propaganda: “alternative facts.” On his first full day in office, the new president told CIA employees he had a “running war with the media” and then escalated it by accusing journalists of distorting the size of the crowd at his inauguration.

“We caught them in a beauty,” Trump said of the news media, “and I think they’re going to pay a big price.”

Trump also made the ludicrous argument that his feud with the intelligence community was a media creation."
« Last Edit: January 23, 2017, 03:02:15 AM by AbruptSLR »
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NeilT

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #18 on: January 23, 2017, 09:03:01 AM »
Look, if you like eating mercury laden fish, go ahead keep polluting plants open. Or if you like your NOx and SOx in your air.

If nothing else EPA is severely understaffed to monitor what needs monitoring.

We should have never installed scrubbers anywhere then because that reduces people's choices. Welcome back acid rain because we need our energy and our choices. Seriously ?

You didn't get the point.  Not One Single Word of it.

It does not matter for one second what I think.  It matters what 51% of the voters think and I'm telling you that the voters see reduction in choices and quality of life (not about eating mercury by the way they don't even see that), from the actions to curb climate change.

I am not discussing the impact of climate change or the coal power itself.  I am discussion the impression the climate mitigation actions have made and the use Trump is making of those impressions.

There is no point in discussing this further if you keep throwing things at me that I have known for 25 years instead of reading and understanding what I have said.
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NeilT

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #19 on: January 23, 2017, 09:11:05 AM »
If indeed coal plant closures were affecting grid reliability, i do not see it in the prices at PJM or the other markets. In fact i see utilities rushing to put in more solar, wind, natgas and powering/repowering hydro.

coal is dead. utilities recognize this already.

Natural Gas from Fracking has  become the cheapest form of energy there is, currently.  So it is the fastest growing form of power generation, just as it was in the UK when the North Sea oil fields started producing huge quantities of cheap natural gas.

Renewables are 13% of the grid after huge government investment in pushing the renewable energy agenda.  Natural Gas has grown faster and is still a net CO2 producer.

If you take your viewpoint offline for a second and see it from the viewpoint of the man in the street who could give a damn about the slow moving climate change, you see that after 20 years renewables have only gone 13% of the grid.  Yet in the next decade or so they expect to lose 41% of the grid powered by coal (should the restrictions come into effect that Obama signed).

Is it any wonder that they are voting to halt this action?  I'm not surprised.  It is self destructive action from a population that should be clamouring for coal to be replaced wholesale by clean or cleaner energy.  I may not agree with them but I totally understand their viewpoint from their narrow view of reality.

This whole position of mine is not about what you or I believe or what you or I think about what is happening.  It is about what the administration has communicated and what the person on the street sees.

Until we up our game and the climate aware administration ups their game, then Trump's will be voted in.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #20 on: January 23, 2017, 05:38:41 PM »
Will Fowler:  Trump administration doesn't just want to restrict the EPA now they want to cripple it permanently. Deeply alarming

The 1 thing: Trump's first acts
Quote
Big plans for EPA

Super Swan got his hands on the Trump team's "Agency Action" plan for the EPA. It's a tightly-held document that fleshes out Trump's campaign promises to gut the agency. It's the handiwork of Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Center for Energy and Environment. Trump appointed Ebell, a prominent opponent of climate change activists, to lead the EPA transition.

Our takeaway: Environmental Protection Agency is set for an absolute hammering under Trump.

The deets:

—"Potential opportunities for budget reductions": A category that includes $513 million in cuts to the "states and tribal assistance grants" … $193 million in savings from terminating climate programs … $109 million in savings from "environment programs and management."

Listed as initiatives to stop: "Clean Air Act greenhouse gas regulations for new (NSPS) and existing (ESPS or the 'Clean Power' Plan) coal and natural gas power plants … [CAFE] Standards … Clean Water Section 404: Waters of the U.S. Rule (wetlands) … TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) for Chesapeake Bay.

"Key opportunities": "Issue an executive order barring EPA from overruling federal/state regulatory/permit decisions unless in clear violation of established law."

Changing the way the EPA uses science: "Unless major reforms of the agency's use of science and economics are achieved, EPA will be able to return to its bad old ways as soon as an establishment administration takes office."
https://www.axios.com/axios-am-2207230091.html
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NeilT

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #21 on: January 23, 2017, 07:54:55 PM »
Back in Obama's first term I spent a lot of time defending Obama and what he was doing on climate.  When the climate lobby were shouting about him not "doing enough" or "saying enough", I was standing up and shouting "who cares get behind him and PUSH".

The end result? As I feared!  Those who don't listen properly and can't be bothered to look only heard "Obama is doing it wrong" and they heard it from "US", not from the corrosive coal lobby.

"Tell them he's doing the right thing" I said.  So, despite us, the climate lobby, he achieved great things.

Then he had to stand down and all those who heard the climate lobby saying Obama was wrong were swayed by Trump and his "Destroying America" platform.

Now where are we?  Spilt milk and tears.  Trump, yet again, has done exactly what he said.

There are times when I really, really detest having to say "I told you so".  This is one of them.

However, on the upside, Trump also promised to the NATO nations who did not put in their 2%; that he would not come to their aid....  Germany, the 4th largest economy in the world and the largest economy in Europe, 1.1%.  When Vlad comes calling I'm sure "we spent it on the budget deficit" will go down really well.  Bring a crocodile tear to my eye that will.

When I say "tell them what your plan is and how you are going to replace coal fired baseload power", I'm seriously NOT joking.  When I say shut up about TAX and talk about opportunity, I'm seriously NOT joking.  When I say shut up about price on carbon and start talking about how "cheap" solar, wind, tidal and geothermal are, I am seriously NOT joking.

Because if we don't change our way of communicating to the individual with a vote, those individuals are going to stampede us off the cliff and we're going to go over with them.
Being right too soon is socially unacceptable.

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AbruptSLR

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #22 on: January 23, 2017, 08:10:53 PM »
Will Fowler:  Trump administration doesn't just want to restrict the EPA now they want to cripple it permanently. Deeply alarming

The related linked article is entitled: "Donald Trump is getting ready to hammer the EPA".

http://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2017/1/23/14356652/trump-epa-regulations
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #23 on: January 24, 2017, 04:42:11 AM »
Looks like administration muzzling of science on Day 3 isn't unique to the EPA—U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service also ordered not to share info with the public.
https://twitter.com/ericholthaus/status/823734011943993344

ARS mission: To lead USA towards a better future thru agricultural research https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/programs & https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/
https://twitter.com/larry_parnell/status/823706429605445632

Full mission: ARS conducts research to develop and transfer solutions to agricultural problems of high national priority and provide information access and dissemination to:
1) ensure high-quality, safe food, and other agricultural products; 
2) assess the nutritional needs of Americans; 
3) sustain a competitive agricultural economy;
4) enhance the natural resource base and environment and provide economic opportunities for rural citizens, communities, and society as a whole.
People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #24 on: January 24, 2017, 06:29:37 AM »
Thanks sigmetnow for keeping us informed about the extent of denialism in the current US government. I'll assume the black cars will soon be coming for bee farmers complaining about CCD

6roucho

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #25 on: January 24, 2017, 06:32:33 AM »
Myron Ebell, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Center for Energy and Environment.
For those not familiar with Ebell, he was one of seven “climate criminals” wanted for “destroying our future.” according to posters put up by activist groups during the 2015 Paris talks. Not that that means anything, but as a contrarian activist he's been one of the most persistent and well-organised global warming deniers over the years.

More on Ebell's EPA paper at the Independent:

Quote
Donald Trump plans to 'reform' the way environmental agency uses science, report claims

Donald Trump is planning to "reform" the way that the Environmental Protection Agency uses science, according to a new report.
The new claim comes just days after the first thing on the new White House was an energy policy that called for the EPA to focus primarily on clean air and water, and not on its climate change activity. That same document didn't mention global warming at all – and neither does any other post on the administration's website.

That same approach appears to have carried on to the changes in the way that the EPA will use science in its work. A new document from inside the Trump camp says that the administration will seek to "reform" how the agency uses information.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/donald-trump-plan-reform-epa-environmental-protection-agency-science-climate-change-report-a7542191.html

The use of language is frightening, redolent of book burning, and Orwellian doublespeak.


6roucho

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #26 on: January 24, 2017, 06:58:16 AM »
Not that this has anything directly to do with science, but it's of a piece:

Quote
Trump Declares His Inauguration Date as ‘Day of Patriotic Devotion’

Donald Trump on Friday issued a proclamation declaring January 20, 2017, the day of his inauguration, a “National Day of Patriotic Devotion.” The decree was uploaded to the Federal Register on Monday and spotted by journalist Ken Klippenstein. The document is scheduled for official publication on Tuesday. “I, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 20, 2017, as National Day of Patriotic Devotion, in order to strengthen our bonds to each other and to our country—and to renew the duties of Government to the people,” the decree reads.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/01/23/trump-sets-day-of-patriotic-devotion.html

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/01/24/2017-01798/special-observances-national-day-of-patriotic-devotion-proc-9570

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #27 on: January 24, 2017, 07:06:24 AM »
ClimatechangePsychology took a snapshot from the wikipedia page of The new climate change denier head of CIA anticipating much rewrite. Hopefully this gets to be stored outside US too :  http://climatechangepsychology.blogspot.fi/2017/01/our-new-cia-head-mike-pompeo-tea-party.html

6roucho

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #28 on: January 24, 2017, 09:36:54 AM »
ClimatechangePsychology took a snapshot from the wikipedia page of The new climate change denier head of CIA anticipating much rewrite. Hopefully this gets to be stored outside US too :  http://climatechangepsychology.blogspot.fi/2017/01/our-new-cia-head-mike-pompeo-tea-party.html
Clearly a very capable man: a mechanical engineer before he became a lawyer, and first in his class at West Point is no small achievement. So, what causes him to reject mainstream science and become a climate contrarian? It just doesn't scan.

DrTskoul

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #29 on: January 24, 2017, 01:02:12 PM »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #30 on: January 24, 2017, 01:09:54 PM »
More on the EPA freeze.  Is dirty the new clean?

Trump Administration Imposes Freeze On EPA Grants and Contracts
Quote
The Trump administration has imposed a freeze on grants and contracts by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a move that could affect a significant part of the agency’s budget allocations and even threaten to disrupt core operations ranging from toxic cleanups to water quality testing, according to records and interviews.

In one email exchange obtained by ProPublica on Monday, an EPA contracting officer concluded a note to a storm water management employee this way:

“Right now we are in a holding pattern. The new EPA administration has asked that all contract and grant awards be temporarily suspended, effective immediately. Until we receive further clarification, this includes task orders and work assignments.”
...
Monday night, Myron Ebell, who ran the EPA transition for the incoming administration, confirmed the basics of the freeze, but said the actions were not unprecedented.

“They’re trying to freeze things to make sure nothing happens they don’t want to have happen, so any regulations going forward, contracts, grants, hires, they want to make sure to look at them first,” said Ebell, who returned over the weekend to his position directing energy and global warming policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market, industry-aligned group that has long fought the EPA’s growth and influence....
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-administration-imposes-freeze-on-epa-grants-and-contracts
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DrTskoul

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #31 on: January 24, 2017, 01:11:55 PM »
Climate Change still mentioned at DOE website. How log before it is scrubbed??

https://www.energy.gov/science-innovation/climate-change

Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #32 on: January 24, 2017, 01:23:32 PM »
In this 9-minute video of DT speaking at the start of his "business leaders" meeting yesterday, he mentions "reducing regulations by 75%" to lessen the burdens on manufacturing.

“We want to start making our products again”: President Trump meets with business leaders
https://twitter.com/cnn/status/823539914054782976
« Last Edit: January 24, 2017, 01:41:35 PM by Sigmetnow »
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DrTskoul

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #33 on: January 24, 2017, 01:41:42 PM »
In this 9-minute video of DT speaking at the start of his "business leaders" meeting, he mentions "reducing regulations by 75%" to lessen the burdens on manufacturing.

“We want to start making our products again”: President Trump meets with business leaders
https://twitter.com/cnn/status/823539914054782976

No matter what the cost to the environment. Look at the Chinese billionaires. The produced their products, made their money.  Who cares if the population is dying of cancer, asthma and many other ailments. We want some of that too!! They want jobs right...We'll give them some.... /Sarc off


 

Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #34 on: January 24, 2017, 04:04:06 PM »
When your leader is bonkers, don't call attention to yourself.

CDC Cancels Conference on Climate Change and Health
Quote
The government's top public health agency has canceled a conference next month on climate change and health but isn't saying why publicly.

But a co-sponsor was told by the Centers for Disease and Prevention that the agency was worried how the conference would be viewed by the Trump administration.
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cdc-cancels-conference-climate-change-health-n711076
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #35 on: January 24, 2017, 04:33:29 PM »
Reuters:  BREAKING: Trump, at automaker CEO meeting, cites pledge to cut regulations, says environmentalism is out of control.
https://twitter.com/reuters/status/823898807519809537
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #36 on: January 24, 2017, 05:55:52 PM »
Every step you take, every move you make, we'll be watching you.

Climate Regulations Under a Watchful Internet Eye
Bracing for a rollback, website run by Columbia Law School alerts any time President Trump or Congress change a rule involving climate change or energy.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/23012017/climate-change-regulations-donald-trump-columbia-law-school
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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #37 on: January 24, 2017, 06:43:36 PM »
This is just insane. The guy has kids. Is he so hollow that their future means nothing compared to money and power? Sociopath?

Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #38 on: January 24, 2017, 09:15:04 PM »
This is just insane. The guy has kids. Is he so hollow that their future means nothing compared to money and power? Sociopath?

I'm thinking dementia, actually.  That would explain the continual lying, forgetting, illogic, and inability to alter his abnormal social behavior (e.g., 3am tweets).
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #39 on: January 24, 2017, 09:43:41 PM »
@sinderbrand:  Reminder for federal workers getting silence orders this week: here's a secure way to reach the Washington Post:  washingtonpost.com/securedrop/

https://twitter.com/sinderbrand/status/823963818384564224
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #40 on: January 24, 2017, 09:47:39 PM »
The National Park Service (which is responsible for the parks and monuments in Washington, D.C.) was recently ordered to stop all tweeting (after someone tweeted comparison pics of recent inauguration crowd sizes).  So this is happening:


Eric Holthaus:  The Badlands National Park account is currently engaged in an act of radical political resistance by tweeting —facts and science—

https://twitter.com/ericholthaus/status/823994490771816449

@kate_sheppard:  I salute you, Badlands National Park tweeter who is probably going to get fired but is going out in style.
https://twitter.com/kate_sheppard/status/823992434992574464


Badlands National Park:  Today, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. #climate
https://twitter.com/badlandsnps/status/823978872152715265
« Last Edit: January 24, 2017, 10:52:08 PM by Sigmetnow »
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #41 on: January 24, 2017, 09:59:22 PM »
Inside Climate News:  Protesters are heading back to the White House, this time in response to Trump's executive orders on #DAPL and #KXL
https://twitter.com/insideclimate/status/823992543532777472

350.org: TODAY: Rally at White House against Keystone XL and Dakota Access. facebook.com/events/3740606… #noKXL #noDAPL #resist
https://twitter.com/350/status/823940502894551040

350.org co-founder Bill McKibben issued a statement declaring the moment "a dark day for reason, but we will continue the fight."
Tsunami of Outrage, Vows of Resistance Follow Trump's Pipeline Order
"We will resist this with all of our power and we will continue to build the future the world wants to see," said Greenpeace's Annie Leonard
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/24/tsunami-outrage-vows-resistance-follow-trumps-pipeline-order
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #42 on: January 24, 2017, 10:08:53 PM »
Alex Steffen:  If you don't live in California, you probably aren't hearing about the degree of mobilization happening now. Unlike anything I've ever seen.
  Every single Californian I know isn't just bracing for battle w the Trump gang, they're eager for it—for action and change. Truly inspiring.
https://twitter.com/alexsteffen/status/823984159668346880

@kellygarvy:  @AlexSteffen oh we are mobilizing here in NC!
https://twitter.com/kellygarvy/status/823984425964867584
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Buddy

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #43 on: January 24, 2017, 10:13:06 PM »
May need to adjust the title of the thread:

"Trump Administration Assaults on Science, Math, Spanish, Reality, etc...etc....etc..."

 :o

FOX (RT) News....."The Trump Channel.....where truth and journalism are dead."

Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #44 on: January 24, 2017, 10:15:10 PM »
Federal Workers Told To Halt External Communication In First Week Under Trump
Staff have been told to stop talking to Congress and the press.
Quote
WASHINGTON ― Multiple federal agencies have told their employees to cease communications with members of Congress and the press, sources have told The Huffington Post.

The freeze has startled aides on the Hill and people at those agencies, who worry that it could abruptly upend current operations and stifle work and discussions that routinely take place between branches of government.

Officials at sub-agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services, for example, have been told not to send “any correspondence to public officials” according to a memo shared with HuffPost. Instead, they have been asked to refer questions to agency leadership until the leadership has had time to meet with incoming White House staff about the new administration’s policies and objectives, according to a congressional official who was also informed of the communications freeze.

An official with the National Institutes of Health told HuffPost after the initial publication of this piece that an email had been sent to the directors of NIH institutes and centers providing guidance from HHS on how to handle new or pending regulation, policy or guidance.

“The HHS guidance instructs HHS Operating Divisions to hold on publishing new rules or guidance in the Federal Register or other public forums and discussing them with public officials until the Administration has had an opportunity to review them,” the official said....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-communication-freeze_us_58878b3ae4b0441a8f7114e2
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ritter

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #45 on: January 24, 2017, 10:23:29 PM »
USDA and EPA under gag order. EPA grants frozen--this is really bad if you like clean air and water.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/01/24/white-house-temporarily-freezes-epa-grants-contracts.html


DrTskoul

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #46 on: January 24, 2017, 10:40:10 PM »
Quote
Trump seeks 'balance' on climate — spokesman

Robin Bravender

January 23, 2017

E&E News

698 Words

President Trump is looking to "balance" environmental policies with economic growth, his spokesman told reporters today.

         In his first formal press briefing from the White House, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer was asked about the president's plans for addressing climate change.

         "I think he's going to meet with his team, figure out what policies are best for the environment," Spicer said.

He actually said that we a straight face...??



NeilT

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #47 on: January 24, 2017, 11:52:53 PM »
He actually said that we a straight face...??

Of course he did.  This is not about what we believe or what we know. This is about what he believes.

I must admit that I'm reading through the thread at the manic organisation and focus on Trump and what he's doing.  It's as if people didn't believe he would do what he said.  That they believed he was really a politician even though he is not.

All of this saving of scientific data and organising to oppose Trump in any way should have started the second he won the nomination.  But it seems that everyone was waiting to see if he would do what he said.

For anyone in any doubt, the only way Trump is not going to do what he has promised over the next 4 years is if he is impeached for his refusal to divest his business portfolio.

Best to keep that in mind.

I'm British, not American. So I have, essentially, no influence over him in any way, not even a single vote.

In Britain we're kind of focused on getting out of the EU right now and climate and Trump is taking a back seat except where Trump impacts our negotiations.  I've been telling the Brits I talk to for months now; Trump will do what he says.  They were dubious and expected him to Politick his way through his first 3 months.  Probably the way many Americans have.  After all the 100 day honeymoon is traditional isn't it.

Day1 must have been a pretty big wakeup call.  Day2 even more so.

Trump fully intends that no more state or federal funds will go to promoting climate change actions over business expansion and jobs.  If anyone is in doubt, better to save everything they can now because it's going to be a rough ride.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #48 on: January 25, 2017, 12:09:55 AM »
See #40 above. 

Here are the —now deleted— tweets from @BadlandsNPS. As you can see, all statements of objective fact about climate science. Heroic.

https://twitter.com/athertonkd/status/824021109515259904
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AbruptSLR

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #49 on: January 25, 2017, 12:10:34 AM »
This is just insane. The guy has kids. Is he so hollow that their future means nothing compared to money and power? Sociopath?

I'm thinking dementia, actually.  That would explain the continual lying, forgetting, illogic, and inability to alter his abnormal social behavior (e.g., 3am tweets).

Per the linked article by Joe Romm is entitled: ""Flawed individuals will victimize you", Trump is almost certainly has Narcissistic Personality Disorder, NPD. The article states that a top FBI profiler classifies Trump as an extreme narcissists, and has very little empathy.

http://www.salon.com/2016/12/10/an-fbi-profiler-explains-trumps-narcissism_partner/

Extract: "There are 130 warning signs of the narcissistic personality.  Trump checks off at least 90.

As Navarro told me, "the purpose is to warn people that these traits are fixed and rigid" and that those who possess them in the extreme are a danger to everyone they have power or influence over."

Edit, see also the following linked article about the dark side of emotional intelligence, EI, and narcissists:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/05/when-emotional-intelligence-goes-wrong/389546/

Extract: "… scores of researchers have shown how being in touch with feelings—both your own and other people’s—gives you an edge: compared with people who have average EI, those with high EI do better at work, have fewer health problems, and report greater life satisfaction.
There’s a catch, though: other researchers have recently examined what they call “the dark side” of EI, and their findings suggest an unnerving link between understanding people and using them. Last year, a group of Austrian psychologists reported a correlation between EI and narcissism, raising the possibility that narcissists with high EI might use their “charming, interesting, and even seductive” qualities for “malicious purposes,” such as deceiving others. Similarly, a 2014 study linked “narcissistic exploitativeness” with “emotion recognition”—those who were prone to manipulating others were better at reading them."
« Last Edit: January 25, 2017, 12:17:14 AM by AbruptSLR »
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