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AbruptSLR

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #350 on: November 15, 2017, 03:31:02 PM »
It looks like Trumps proposed budget cuts to NOAA, and other related agencies will severely limit data need to calibrate climate models, for years to come:

Title: "Flying Blind: The Dangerous Decline of the U.S. Ocean Monitoring Fleet"

https://www.newsdeeply.com/oceans/articles/2017/11/14/flying-blind-the-dangerous-decline-of-the-u-s-ocean-monitoring-fleet

Extract: "Budget shortfalls and aging ships are starting to undermine key climate-change data-collection programs that help scientists gauge the state of the world’s oceans.

President Trump’s proposed budget contains deep cuts to NOAA and other agencies collecting climate-related data. NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research said that the cuts would kill “Arctic research focused on improvements to sea ice modeling and predictions that support the safety of fishermen, commercial shippers, cruise ships and local communities,” Science reported.

Even if such programs are restored, Ekwurzel said, “it could take years to recover.” Periods of data blackouts detract from robust results, and knowledge is lost when scientists leave ongoing projects.

“Cuts in one year can have big consequences in such complicated science,” she said."
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gerontocrat

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #351 on: November 17, 2017, 02:50:32 PM »
Herewith some extracts from the official FY 2018 budget proposal documents of the US budget offices of NOAA and the Department of Energy. Just google budget office and department name and off you go.

Read and despair - the devil is in the detail.

The sums involved are chump change compared with the hundreds of billions of tax cuts to be thrown at those who don not need them but are hugely damaging to science, especially on Planet Earth research. e.g. Will the GRACE follow-on project be cancelled / crippled ?

« Last Edit: November 17, 2017, 03:10:41 PM by gerontocrat »
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sidd

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #352 on: November 17, 2017, 08:55:12 PM »
Thats interesting: fossil energy budget at DOE cut by 45% since 2016 ? Is that an error or are they sneaking the money back in somehow ?

sidd

Rob Dekker

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #353 on: November 18, 2017, 05:29:56 AM »
Thats interesting: fossil energy budget at DOE cut by 45% since 2016 ? Is that an error or are they sneaking the money back in somehow ?

The bulk of dollars that got cut in the "fossil energy" section is in "Fossil Energy Research and Development".

Here is an overview of that program :
https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/04/f0/14_Budget_Brief.pdf

Quote
Secure, affordable and environmentally acceptable energy sources are
essential to the Nation’s security and economic prosperity. The Fossil
Energy Research and Development (FER&D) program leads Federal research,
development, and demonstration efforts on advanced carbon
capture, and storage (CCS) technologies
to facilitate achievement of the
President’s climate goals. FER&D also develops technological solutions
for the prudent and sustainable development of our unconventional domestic
resources.

So we are mainly looking at the Trump administration killing off CCS technology.

Overall, the biggest looser in this budget is "Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy" which got cut by far the largest amount ($1.4 billion; a whopping -69%).
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Rob Dekker

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #354 on: November 18, 2017, 05:49:59 AM »
While Trump is running a reality show from the White House, his Republican Congress is passing bills favoring the fossil fuel industry and against science.

Latest one is this bill, which will hand over Public land and water to the oil industry.
Keep your eye on it while it moves through the process :

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4239
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #355 on: November 19, 2017, 03:23:35 AM »
Maybe, just maybe, they won't put this industry shill in charge of regulating his own industry?

GOP opposition endangers Trump’s pick to regulate toxic chemicals
Quote
Two Republican senators have announced they oppose President Donald Trump's controversial pick to become the nation's top regulator of toxic chemicals, putting his nomination in serious jeopardy.
...
Dourson has elicited a fierce backlash from Democrats and public-health advocates for his long record of industry-funded research, which chemical manufacturers have used to downplay the risks of potentially hazardous substances. ...
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/gop-opposition-endangers-trump-s-pick-regulate-toxic-chemicals-n821416
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Susan Anderson

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #356 on: November 19, 2017, 06:17:54 AM »
It does look like some Republicans are seeing the handwriting on the wall and detaching themselves from a tiny bit of the worst of the worst, though they've already OK'd worlds of harm (literally). Thanks for sharing this.

Maybe, just maybe, they won't put this industry shill in charge of regulating his own industry?

GOP opposition endangers Trump’s pick to regulate toxic chemicals
Quote
Two Republican senators have announced they oppose President Donald Trump's controversial pick to become the nation's top regulator of toxic chemicals, putting his nomination in serious jeopardy.
...
Dourson has elicited a fierce backlash from Democrats and public-health advocates for his long record of industry-funded research, which chemical manufacturers have used to downplay the risks of potentially hazardous substances. ...

AbruptSLR

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #357 on: November 29, 2017, 04:29:29 PM »
The GOP has added legislation to allow drilling in ANWR to the Senate's tax code overhaul bill.

Title: "Democrats worry Arctic National Wildlife Refuge being lost amid tax debate"

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/29/arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-267819

Title: "The prospect of drilling in the untouched Alaskan tundra is as close to reality as it's been in more than a decade, with none of the political drama that in past decades turned the refuge's fate into a top-tier rallying cry for liberals. Legislation to allow drilling in ANWR is quietly hitching a ride on the tax code overhaul that Senate Republicans hope to complete by the end of the week, overshadowed by larger debates on whether the bill is a giveaway to rich people and corporations at the expense of the poor and working class."
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6roucho

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #358 on: November 29, 2017, 04:55:45 PM »
Thats interesting: fossil energy budget at DOE cut by 45% since 2016 ? Is that an error or are they sneaking the money back in somehow ?

The bulk of dollars that got cut in the "fossil energy" section is in "Fossil Energy Research and Development".

Here is an overview of that program :
https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/04/f0/14_Budget_Brief.pdf

Quote
Secure, affordable and environmentally acceptable energy sources are
essential to the Nation’s security and economic prosperity. The Fossil
Energy Research and Development (FER&D) program leads Federal research,
development, and demonstration efforts on advanced carbon
capture, and storage (CCS) technologies
to facilitate achievement of the
President’s climate goals. FER&D also develops technological solutions
for the prudent and sustainable development of our unconventional domestic
resources.

So we are mainly looking at the Trump administration killing off CCS technology.

Overall, the biggest looser in this budget is "Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy" which got cut by far the largest amount ($1.4 billion; a whopping -69%).

The real ‘budget’ for extraction industries comes in the form of subsidies across their business cycle, from exploration to construction to distribution networks, which amount to trillions of dollars over time. The forthcoming corporate tax cut is more of the same, since the fossil fuel industry remains nx the size and profitability of the renewables sector. That amount of money pays for an awful lot of competitive advantage.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #359 on: December 07, 2017, 06:59:14 PM »
Let’s review.

Trump science job nominees missing advanced science degrees
Quote
WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to filling jobs dealing with complex science, environment and health issues, the Trump administration is nominating people with fewer science academic credentials than their Obama predecessors. And it’s moving slower as well.

Of 43 Trump administration nominees in science-related positions — including two for Health and Human Services secretary — almost 60 percent did not have a master’s degree or a doctorate in a science or health field, according to an Associated Press analysis. For their immediate predecessors in the Obama administration, it was almost the opposite: more than 60 percent had advanced science degrees.
https://apnews.com/fc357285cc2d491abfa5cc0d817603ba/Trump-science-job-nominees-missing-advanced-science-degrees
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #360 on: December 08, 2017, 01:47:51 AM »
EPA Chief Pruitt asked mining industry to tell Trump to pull out of Paris Accord.

EPA watchdog to investigate Pruitt meeting with industry group
Quote
Pruitt met with the mining group in April and reportedly urged association members to tell President Trump to pull the United States out of the Paris climate deal.

Critics of the meeting, including Democrats and liberal groups, say a request like that from a Cabinet member violates anti-lobbying laws for government officials. They want the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to provide a legal opinion on that question, and they asked the inspector general to first “develop a comprehensive factual record" for use in such an analysis. ...
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/363586-epa-watchdog-to-investigate-pruitt-meeting-with-industry-group
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #361 on: December 08, 2017, 08:42:43 PM »
Congress Questions Pruitt on Industry's Growing Influence in EPA
In his first oversight hearing, the environment agency chief said he would replace Obama’s Clean Power Plan and challenge a key finding with a 'red team' exercise.
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/07122017/scott-pruitt-epa-testimony-congress-hearing-climate-clean-power-plan-red-team-fossil-fuel-lobby
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #362 on: December 08, 2017, 08:58:15 PM »
How Fossil Fuel Donors Shaped the Anti-Climate Agenda of a Powerful Congressional Committee
Rep. Lamar Smith has led a strategic attack on climate science using the committee he chairs. Back in Texas, his constituents face the effects of global warming.
Quote
Sixteen-term Republican Lamar Smith has used his power as chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee for the past five years to do battle on behalf of the fossil fuel industry. Embracing the arguments of a small group of climate contrarians, Smith acknowledges that warming is happening but says more research is needed to determine the amount and causes, and whether it does more good than harm. ...
https://insideclimatenews.org/news/05122017/lamar-smith-congress-climate-change-fossil-fuel-industry-house-science-committee
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NevB

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #363 on: December 12, 2017, 02:35:16 AM »
How much will this transfer of knowledge to France affect US climate science?
 
Quote
Eighteen climate scientists from the US and elsewhere have hit the jackpot as France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, awarded them millions of euros in grants to relocate to France for the rest of Donald Trump’s presidential term.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/11/macron-awards-grants-to-us-scientists-to-move-to-france-in-defiance-of-trump


AbruptSLR

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #364 on: December 14, 2017, 04:44:39 PM »
The linked article refutes Rick Perry's assertion about anthropogenic climate change:

Title: " Analysis: Why scientists think 100% of global warming is due to humans"

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-why-scientists-think-100-of-global-warming-is-due-to-humans

Extract: "During a recent congressional hearing, Rick Perry, the US energy secretary, remarked that “to stand up and say that 100% of global warming is because of human activity, I think on its face, is just indefensible”.

However, the science on the human contribution to modern warming is quite clear. Humans emissions and activities have caused around 100% of the warming observed since 1950, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) fifth assessment report."
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wili

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #365 on: December 14, 2017, 10:36:26 PM »
In fact, it may be more than 100%, since without the enormous industrial carbon dump into the atmosphere in the last hundred plus years, the global temperature probably would have continued its gradual downward trend evident over the last 8000 some years.
"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."

AbruptSLR

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #366 on: December 15, 2017, 04:35:01 PM »
Sad.

Popkin, G. (2017), Major federal tropical research project to cease 7 years early, Eos, 98, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017EO088505. Published on 11 December 2017.

https://eos.org/articles/major-federal-tropical-research-project-to-cease-7-years-early?utm_source=eos&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EosBuzz121517

Extract: "When the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) $100 million Next-Generation Ecosystem Experiment–Tropics (NGEE-Tropics) launched in 2015, Ariel Lugo, an ecologist and director of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, was excited.  He felt that the project’s large budget and international scope might help it take on one of the field’s long-standing challenges: helping computer models accurately represent how tropical forests will respond to climate change.

The plan was for it to run until 2025. But this spring, sometime after the release of the White House’s 2018 budget request in May, the NGEE-Tropics project’s leaders began telling collaborators the project would shut down in 2018. The project is slated to end 7 years ahead of schedule."
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #367 on: December 16, 2017, 02:16:28 AM »
After the huge Democratic swing in recent state elections, Republicans in Congress may be evaluating the possible effects on their own re-election chances, given their abominable choices for some administration positions.

Another Trump Nominee Drops Out
Quote
EPA chemical safety nominee Michael Dourson, who has ties to the chemical industry and writes “science-Bible stories," has just withdrawn his nomination. He’s at least the 39th Trump nominee to drop out of consideration for federal government positions. ...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/zahrahirji/michael-dourson-withdraws-epa-chemical-safety
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #368 on: December 16, 2017, 06:13:56 PM »
The coal miner’s president: Trump moves to weaken black lung protections
Trump praised coal miners on the campaign trail, but hasn’t been treating them well in office
Quote
President Donald Trump is considering weakening a regulation intended to protect the health of one of the demographics he has often claimed to care most about — America's coal miners.

A notice labeled "Regulatory Reform of Existing Standards and Regulations; Retrospective Study of Respirable Coal Mine Dust Rule" was published on Thursday by the White House for the Labor Department’s Mine Safety and Health Administration, according to the Charleston Gazette-Mail. The stated purpose of the reevaluation would be to determine how a 2014 rule passed under President Barack Obama regulating coal miners' exposure to coal dust "could be improved or made more effective or less burdensome."

When the rule was first implemented, it utilized new technologies and increased sampling in mines so that workers would have real-time information about dust levels. This would in turn allow both the miners and operators to minimize the chances that workers would be overexposed to coal dust, which has caused an epidemic of black lung disease among coal miners. ...
https://www.salon.com/2017/12/15/the-coal-miners-president-trump-moves-to-weaken-black-lung-protections/
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SteveMDFP

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #369 on: December 16, 2017, 08:37:55 PM »
CDC gets list of forbidden words: fetus, transgender, diversity

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cdc-gets-list-of-forbidden-words-fetus-transgender-diversity/2017/12/15/f503837a-e1cf-11e7-89e8-edec16379010_story.html?utm_term=.2cfadb874ce0
Quote
The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation’s top public health agency from using a list of seven words or phrases — including “fetus” and “transgender” — in any official documents being prepared for next year’s budget.

Policy analysts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta were told of the list of forbidden words at a meeting Thursday with senior CDC officials who oversee the budget, according to an analyst who took part in the 90-minute briefing. The forbidden words are “vulnerable,” “entitlement,” “diversity,” “transgender,” “fetus,” “evidence-based” and “science-based.”
More detail at the link.  Sigh.

TerryM

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #370 on: December 17, 2017, 12:35:11 AM »
After the huge Democratic swing in recent state elections, Republicans in Congress may be evaluating the possible effects on their own re-election chances, given their abominable choices for some administration positions.

Another Trump Nominee Drops Out
Quote
EPA chemical safety nominee Michael Dourson, who has ties to the chemical industry and writes “science-Bible stories," has just withdrawn his nomination. He’s at least the 39th Trump nominee to drop out of consideration for federal government positions. ...
https://www.buzzfeed.com/zahrahirji/michael-dourson-withdraws-epa-chemical-safety
His falling be the wayside won't be mourned by many.


Whenever science and bible are combined in a CV, or a rap sheet, nothing good can follow.


My local MP was a chiropractor with a degree from an unaccredited school who believed the world was 4K yrs old. The Conservatives made him Minister of Science and Technology.
It was a joy to campaign against him.
Terry

Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #371 on: December 17, 2017, 07:19:48 PM »
“Since Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt took over the top job at the agency in March, more than 700 employees have either retired, taken voluntary buyouts, or quit, signaling the second-highest exodus of employees from the agency in nearly a decade.”

More than 700 employees have left the EPA since Scott Pruitt took over
https://thinkprogress.org/epa-employees-leaving-under-pruitt-11b36a220062/
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Pmt111500

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #372 on: December 18, 2017, 05:58:03 AM »
“Since Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt took over the top job at the agency in March, more than 700 employees have either retired, taken voluntary buyouts, or quit, signaling the second-highest exodus of employees from the agency in nearly a decade.”

More than 700 employees have left the EPA since Scott Pruitt took over
https://thinkprogress.org/epa-employees-leaving-under-pruitt-11b36a220062/

All according to the plan to diminsh the US population, I'd wager. The republicans are considering the slow poisoning of people a valid method of combating climate change. Some of us may disagree.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2017, 06:04:46 AM by Pmt111500 »

Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #373 on: December 18, 2017, 10:19:25 PM »
Bucking Pentagon and intel agencies, Trump's security strategy omits climate change from list of major threats
http://mashable.com/2017/12/18/trump-national-security-strategy-omits-climate-change-threat.amp

The Trump administration's national security strategy has a section on embracing "energy dominance" starting on page 32.  (See image below.)
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P-maker

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #374 on: December 19, 2017, 12:34:49 AM »
Quote
U.S. leadership is indispensable to countering an anti-growth energy agenda that is detrimental to U.S. economic and energy security interests,"

On the other hand, one could argue that the new Trump doctrine on fossil fuel energy dominance could soon become the
Quote
millstone around the neck”
of the US of A.

All this crap about the US to:
Quote
… serve as a model to other countries, flows from innovation, technology breakthroughs, and energy efficiency gains,”
is completely ridiculous considering the most recent tax cuts and the proposed federal research budget cuts for 2018.

TerryM

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #375 on: December 19, 2017, 06:53:01 AM »
I don't see anything "new" in an American doctrine advocating fossil fuel domination.
This has been SOP since at least the Gulf of Tonkin false flags.


Without America's unquenchable lust for oil we might all have lived in peaceful times.
Terry

Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #376 on: December 21, 2017, 12:46:14 AM »
What It’s Like Inside the Trump Administration’s Regulatory Rollback at the EPA
https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-trump-regulatory-rollback-epa
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TerryM

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #377 on: December 21, 2017, 06:52:36 PM »
What It’s Like Inside the Trump Administration’s Regulatory Rollback at the EPA
https://www.propublica.org/article/inside-trump-regulatory-rollback-epa
Excellent article and comments.
I'd never known that Clinton-era reforms required that each regulation had to justify it's costs. How do you put a dollar value on a child's IQ?


Any odds on when the next river catches on fire?


Terry

AbruptSLR

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #378 on: December 23, 2017, 05:04:18 PM »
The GOP tax bill is bad news for science:

Title: "The Republican Tax Bill Will Devastate Science"

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-republican-tax-bill-will-devastate-science/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sa-editorial-social&utm_content=&utm_term=policy_blog_&sf177239730=1

Extract: "By adding at least $1.5 trillion to the debt, we are hamstringing our ability to invest in the programs, researchers, and ideas to keep our country innovative and competitive

In any household, how you budget is an indication of your priorities. And as many of us know, the earlier you start investing, the more it pays off. The same is true for the federal government. The Republican tax bill passed by Congress this week is estimated to cost our country, at best, $1.5 trillion over the next ten years, and other estimates put that closer to $2.3 trillion. Trillion—that’s a figure with twelve zeros (000,000,000,000)—which are more zeros than most of us can comprehend. I’ve been doing a lot of math over the last couple weeks, and it turns out that amount of debt means $4,600 - $7,100 on the credit card for every man, woman and child in this country."
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #379 on: December 23, 2017, 07:15:29 PM »
Trump EPA pick for Chicago office cut enforcement, scrapped climate change information in Wisconsin
Quote
The Trump administration's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency's Midwest office is a former Wisconsin state official who rolled back enforcement of anti-pollution laws, reduced funding for scientific research and scrubbed references to human-caused climate change from government websites.

Cathy Stepp, who since August has been a deputy regional administrator in the EPA's Kansas City, Kan., office, will take over the top spot at the agency's Chicago outpost less than two years after the Obama administration ousted a predecessor over the agency's lax response to the Flint, Mich., water crisis.

The Midwest office traditionally has been one of the agency's biggest and busiest, prosecuting companies that pollute the air, water and land in Illinois and five other states around the Great Lakes. The Trump administration has been pushing for deep cuts in the EPA's budget and proposing massive layoffs of agency employees.

An EPA statement announcing Stepp's appointment Tuesday included references to her background as a homebuilder, Republican state lawmaker and director of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources under Republican Gov. Scott Walker. ...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-trump-midwest-epa-director-20171219-story.html
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #380 on: December 25, 2017, 01:56:20 AM »
This study aimed to make offshore drilling safer. Trump just put a stop to it.
Quote
Two months after proposing to open a massive area of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas companies for offshore drilling, the Trump administration has halted a study that aimed to make drilling platforms safer.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine announced Thursday that the Interior Department suspended a $580,000 study to update and enhance the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s oil and gas inspection program. “The stop work order, dated Dec. 7, says that within 90 days [it] will either be lifted or work on the study can resume, or the contract to perform the study will be terminated.” ...
Quote
It was the second time in four months that the administration has blocked a National Academies study. In August, a study of health effects related to mountaintop removal to extract coal in West Virginia was abruptly curtailed “largely as a result of the Department’s changing budget situation,” Interior said. ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/12/21/this-study-aimed-to-make-offshore-drilling-safer-trump-just-put-a-stop-to-it/
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #381 on: December 25, 2017, 08:25:32 PM »
100-year-old bird protection law, repealed.

The White House Turns Its Back on America’s Birds
The Trump Administration will no longer hold industry accountable for bird deaths.
Quote
WASHINGTON—“Christmas came early for bird killers. By acting to end industries’ responsibility to avoid millions of gruesome bird deaths per year, the White House is parting ways with more than 100 years of conservation legacy,” said David O’Neill, Audubon’s chief conservation officer, in response to the Trump Administration's decision to no longer enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in cases of incidental bird deaths.

“Gutting the MBTA runs counter to decades of legal precedent as well as basic conservative principles—for generations Republicans and Democrats have embraced both conservation and economic growth and now this Administration is pitting them against each other. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is one of the most important conservation laws we have.

“We will engage our 1.2 million members to defend the MBTA from this and any other attack on the laws that protect birds.”

Congress passed the MBTA in 1918 (2018 will be its centennial year) in response to public outcry over the mass slaughter of birds, which threatened egrets and other species with extirpation. The law prohibits killing or harming America’s birds except under certain conditions, including managed hunting seasons for game species. The law protects more than 1,000 bird species in part because it requires industries implement commonsense best management practices like covering tar pits and marking transmission lines. ...
http://www.audubon.org/news/the-white-house-turns-its-back-americas-birds
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #382 on: December 28, 2017, 06:46:19 PM »
White openly supported a TCEQ policy of subtracting the margin of error from tests for radiation contamination in water.

Quote
A Trump administration nominee is embroiled in controversy about alleged radiation contamination of drinking water.

“Kathleen Hartnett White, President Trump’s pick for a powerful White House environmental post, is backing away from her testimony before senators denying a role in under reporting radiation contamination in Texas drinking water,” Scripps News reported. ...
https://connect.wateronline.com/doc/trump-environmental-nominee-allegedly-ignored-water-rule-0001
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pileus

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #383 on: December 29, 2017, 03:33:06 AM »
We all knew we would see this mindless and favorite denier tactic from Trump eventually during the cold snap in the US.  Here it is.

Juan C. García

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #384 on: December 29, 2017, 06:55:46 AM »
We all knew we would see this mindless and favorite denier tactic from Trump eventually during the cold snap in the US.  Here it is.

But while Trump denies climate change in Eastern USA...

Trump Resort in Ireland Gets Approval for Sea Walls
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/world/europe/trump-resort-ireland-sea-wall.html
Which is the best answer to Sep-2012 ASI lost (compared to 1979-2000)?
50% [NSIDC Extent] or
73% [PIOMAS Volume]

Volume is harder to measure than extent, but 3-dimensional space is real, 2D's hide ~50% thickness gone.
-> IPCC/NSIDC trends [based on extent] underestimate the real speed of ASI lost.

gerontocrat

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #385 on: December 29, 2017, 10:43:59 AM »
The more I read about the Trump Presidency and perhaps more than anything the assaults on science and environmental protection, the more I realise that Judas Iscariot was an amateur.
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magnamentis

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #386 on: December 29, 2017, 04:25:51 PM »
The more I read about the Trump Presidency and perhaps more than anything the assaults on science and environmental protection, the more I realise that Judas Iscariot was an amateur.

interesting analogy that brings us to the "anti-christ" who is expected to be in a powerful position and let loose all kinds of horrible scenarios.

for those who are not privy with the above hinted read the book:

"And His Number Is 666" ( Number Of The Beast )

i'm not saying anything but that it's a good read no matter what someone believes because
independent of believes the general pattern of how humanity "works" applies and is visible all over the place and it's well describe although not holistically :-)

the moment an outright liar, manipulator, sexist and more who is offending 80% of all people or more can be elected by around 50% of people in a developed country i think it's time to raise flaggs stay tuned and very alert. we all know when that happened last and how it ended.

it's such a case with predictions, many things are predictable but not so many times the point in time when they will happen, similarly to the current development of the freezing season.

no surprise indeed but no-one knows when what happens, hence better being alert and  provident.
i personally think that this guy will pass and disappear like GWB did but not if he will be elected a second term. i really hope that many enough U.S.-American fellow humans fully understand what hour the clock of this planet has hit.
« Last Edit: December 29, 2017, 04:36:43 PM by magnamentis »

Murph

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #387 on: January 02, 2018, 01:32:53 PM »
100-year-old bird protection law, repealed.

The White House Turns Its Back on America’s Birds
The Trump Administration will no longer hold industry accountable for bird deaths.
Quote
WASHINGTON—“Christmas came early for bird killers. By acting to end industries’ responsibility to avoid millions of gruesome bird deaths per year, the White House is parting ways with more than 100 years of conservation legacy,” said David O’Neill, Audubon’s chief conservation officer, in response to the Trump Administration's decision to no longer enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in cases of incidental bird deaths.

“Gutting the MBTA runs counter to decades of legal precedent as well as basic conservative principles—for generations Republicans and Democrats have embraced both conservation and economic growth and now this Administration is pitting them against each other. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is one of the most important conservation laws we have.

“We will engage our 1.2 million members to defend the MBTA from this and any other attack on the laws that protect birds.”

Congress passed the MBTA in 1918 (2018 will be its centennial year) in response to public outcry over the mass slaughter of birds, which threatened egrets and other species with extirpation. The law prohibits killing or harming America’s birds except under certain conditions, including managed hunting seasons for game species. The law protects more than 1,000 bird species in part because it requires industries implement commonsense best management practices like covering tar pits and marking transmission lines. ...
http://www.audubon.org/news/the-white-house-turns-its-back-americas-birds

Are there any estimates on how this repeal will impact the bird populations? I feel like no though has been put into this decision.
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TerryM

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #388 on: January 02, 2018, 07:09:35 PM »

Are there any estimates on how this repeal will impact the bird populations? I feel like no though has been put into this decision.
Unfortunately this seems to be the norm for much emanating from Washington recently.


If some good must be found in these declarations, it's that the public becomes so outraged that they take compliance into their own hands, or the corporations involved begin voluntary compliance with regulations they themselves had opposed, to gain some needed good publicity. ::)
Terry

Alexander555

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #389 on: January 02, 2018, 07:58:56 PM »
100-year-old bird protection law, repealed.

The White House Turns Its Back on America’s Birds
The Trump Administration will no longer hold industry accountable for bird deaths.
Quote
WASHINGTON—“Christmas came early for bird killers. By acting to end industries’ responsibility to avoid millions of gruesome bird deaths per year, the White House is parting ways with more than 100 years of conservation legacy,” said David O’Neill, Audubon’s chief conservation officer, in response to the Trump Administration's decision to no longer enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in cases of incidental bird deaths.

“Gutting the MBTA runs counter to decades of legal precedent as well as basic conservative principles—for generations Republicans and Democrats have embraced both conservation and economic growth and now this Administration is pitting them against each other. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is one of the most important conservation laws we have.

“We will engage our 1.2 million members to defend the MBTA from this and any other attack on the laws that protect birds.”

Congress passed the MBTA in 1918 (2018 will be its centennial year) in response to public outcry over the mass slaughter of birds, which threatened egrets and other species with extirpation. The law prohibits killing or harming America’s birds except under certain conditions, including managed hunting seasons for game species. The law protects more than 1,000 bird species in part because it requires industries implement commonsense best management practices like covering tar pits and marking transmission lines. ...
http://www.audubon.org/news/the-white-house-turns-its-back-americas-birds

Are there any estimates on how this repeal will impact the bird populations? I feel like no though has been put into this decision.

Most of these birds are going to die anyway. Twenty years ago, we had butterfly everywhere. Today you have to be lucky to find one. Because  people keep moving in, mainly from Africa. So they have to keep building and building and building.

Pmt111500

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #390 on: January 03, 2018, 12:54:37 PM »
Traffic has likely been the largest killer before, nowadays neonicotinoids exterminate their food, so birds are going to get starved to death..

Daniel B.

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #391 on: January 03, 2018, 08:30:55 PM »
100-year-old bird protection law, repealed.

The White House Turns Its Back on America’s Birds
The Trump Administration will no longer hold industry accountable for bird deaths.
Quote
WASHINGTON—“Christmas came early for bird killers. By acting to end industries’ responsibility to avoid millions of gruesome bird deaths per year, the White House is parting ways with more than 100 years of conservation legacy,” said David O’Neill, Audubon’s chief conservation officer, in response to the Trump Administration's decision to no longer enforce the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) in cases of incidental bird deaths.

“Gutting the MBTA runs counter to decades of legal precedent as well as basic conservative principles—for generations Republicans and Democrats have embraced both conservation and economic growth and now this Administration is pitting them against each other. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is one of the most important conservation laws we have.

“We will engage our 1.2 million members to defend the MBTA from this and any other attack on the laws that protect birds.”

Congress passed the MBTA in 1918 (2018 will be its centennial year) in response to public outcry over the mass slaughter of birds, which threatened egrets and other species with extirpation. The law prohibits killing or harming America’s birds except under certain conditions, including managed hunting seasons for game species. The law protects more than 1,000 bird species in part because it requires industries implement commonsense best management practices like covering tar pits and marking transmission lines. ...
http://www.audubon.org/news/the-white-house-turns-its-back-americas-birds

Are there any estimates on how this repeal will impact the bird populations? I feel like no though has been put into this decision.

It is unlikely to have any impact.  The administration did not repeal the 100-year-old bird protection law, as claimed.  They only removed the 2-year-old unintentional killings enacted by the Obama administration, which has not even been enforced yet.  The original MBTA is still intact. 

Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #392 on: January 03, 2018, 08:57:17 PM »
...
It is unlikely to have any impact.  The administration did not repeal the 100-year-old bird protection law, as claimed.  They only removed the 2-year-old unintentional killings enacted by the Obama administration, which has not even been enforced yet.  The original MBTA is still intact.

The decision removes the responsibility for industry to act in ways that prevent bird deaths. As long as they don’t set out to directly kill birds, they get a pass to do whatever isn’t otherwise illegal.

“The law protects more than 1,000 bird species in part because it requires industries implement commonsense best management practices like covering tar pits and marking transmission lines.”
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Daniel B.

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #393 on: January 04, 2018, 08:31:07 PM »
...
It is unlikely to have any impact.  The administration did not repeal the 100-year-old bird protection law, as claimed.  They only removed the 2-year-old unintentional killings enacted by the Obama administration, which has not even been enforced yet.  The original MBTA is still intact.

The decision removes the responsibility for industry to act in ways that prevent bird deaths. As long as they don’t set out to directly kill birds, they get a pass to do whatever isn’t otherwise illegal.

“The law protects more than 1,000 bird species in part because it requires industries implement commonsense best management practices like covering tar pits and marking transmission lines.”

That is true.  However, this is no change from past practices.

Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #394 on: January 06, 2018, 04:40:37 PM »
This administration has targeted the environment, more than any other area, for the rollback or repeal of rules.
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #395 on: January 08, 2018, 03:41:56 AM »
The Interior Department Has Cleared the Way for Energy Developers to Destroy Natural Habitats
Quote
Just before Christmas, the Interior Department quietly rescinded an array of policies designed to elevate climate change and conservation in decisions on managing public lands, waters and wildlife. Order 3360, signed by Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, explains that the policies were rescinded because they were “potential burdens” to energy development.

The order echoes earlier mandates from President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to Interior’s 70,000 employees: Prioritize energy development and de-emphasize climate change and conservation. The order is another in a long string of examples of science and conservation taking a backseat to industry’s wishes at the Interior Department under Zinke. ...
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/01/the-interior-department-has-cleared-the-way-for-energy-developers-to-destroy-natural-habitats/
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gerontocrat

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #396 on: January 08, 2018, 03:36:10 PM »
The Interior Department Has Cleared the Way for Energy Developers to Destroy Natural Habitats
Quote
Just before Christmas, the Interior Department quietly rescinded an array of policies designed to elevate climate change and conservation in decisions on managing public lands, waters and wildlife. Order 3360, signed by Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, explains that the policies were rescinded because they were “potential burdens” to energy development.

The order echoes earlier mandates from President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to Interior’s 70,000 employees: Prioritize energy development and de-emphasize climate change and conservation. The order is another in a long string of examples of science and conservation taking a backseat to industry’s wishes at the Interior Department under Zinke. ...
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2018/01/the-interior-department-has-cleared-the-way-for-energy-developers-to-destroy-natural-habitats/

Perhaps we need another thread - Trump Administration assaults on the natural environment ?
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #397 on: January 12, 2018, 08:24:41 PM »
...

Perhaps we need another thread - Trump Administration assaults on the natural environment ?

Not a bad idea.  But I also feel the fewer Trump threads, the better. ;) :-\
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gerontocrat

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #398 on: January 12, 2018, 08:33:30 PM »
...

Perhaps we need another thread - Trump Administration assaults on the natural environment ?

Not a bad idea.  But I also feel the fewer Trump threads, the better. ;) :-\

I agree - compromise? Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Envionment ?
"Para a Causa do Povo a Luta Continua!"
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Sigmetnow

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Re: Trump Administration Assaults on Science and the Environment
« Reply #399 on: January 12, 2018, 08:35:33 PM »
The Trump Administration has been quietly removing content from federal websites — here's the before and after
Quote
The Trump Administration is quietly changing things on .gov websites - and a group of academics and non-profits is keeping track.

The Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) released a new report on Wednesday that details how references to our changing climate and greenhouse gases have been erased from federal webpages since President Donald Trump took office.

But new side-by-side comparisons from EDGI provide a kind of virtual trip back in time to the web before Trump took office, shedding light on the subtle ways that the administration is making it harder to track down information about climate change and alternative energy sources online. ...
https://amp.businessinsider.com/trump-administration-climate-change-references-scrubbed-from-websites-2018-1


Those daring rogues over at the National Park Service are restoring much of their site at a new link: https://altnps.org   
They are on Twitter as @ALTNPS
“We are happy to announce the launch of our new website after some slight setbacks yesterday. Our website will soon feature all the removed climate change information from federal websites by the Trump administration. Visit us at https://altnps.org/

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