EnviroPolitics Blog

Pennsylvania A.G. launches investigation into Sunoco pipeline spill

Earlier this month, the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered Energy Transfer to supply residents with bottled water.

By Frank Kummer, Philadelphia Inquirer/ March 17, 2025, 11:41 a.m.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office said Monday that its environmental crimes section is investigating a Sunoco pipeline spill that contaminated drinking water wells in a Bucks County community.

“I can confirm we are investigating,” said Brett Hambright, a spokesperson for the office.

Last week, Edward Louka, first assistant district attorney to Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn, told residents and representatives of Sunoco during a public meeting that the office had asked the state to look into the spill detected in January.

“We are aware and concerned with the situation,” Louka said at the March 11 meeting. “The Attorney General’s Office has an environmental crimes section. On Feb. 13, District Attorney Schorn did refer this to them.”

Louka said that the state investigation is in its “initial stages.”

Sunoco is owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer. Representatives for Energy Transfer could not be reached Monday for comment.

Read the full story here

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Steel Buyers Meet Trump Tariff Era as Ships Rerouted, Trucks Halted

From Bloomberg

An ocean freighter from India pulled into the bustling Port of Tampa Bay Tuesday loaded with hundreds of tons of aluminum destined for multiple US stops. Abruptly, the entire shipment was ordered to be unloaded then and there.

The vessel, carrying aluminum for window frames and semi-truck parts, was supposed to make subsequent stops in Mobile, Alabama and Houston, but given US tariffs set to commence the next day, the logistics provider’s client canceled the remaining destinations.

This is the kind of disruption that has been replicated across the country as US President Donald Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs played out. From the Florida coast to America’s heartland, ripples materialized with broad-reaching impacts on automakers, builders and consumers.

At 12:01 a.m. Wednesday US Customs and Border Protection began collecting the 25% import duty on all raw steel and aluminum as well as on products. Trying to beat the tariffs clock, the Tampa Bay shippers realized it would be cheaper to deliver the Indian aluminum via expensive flatbed trucks to the other destinations than to pay duties the next day, said Jose Severin, a business development manager for Mercury Resources, the logistics provider.

“One particular client had a vessel making three stops in the states and had to drop everything on the first one because they wouldn’t have gotten to step number two before the tariffs,” Severin said. “It’s really disruptive.”

Since Trump’s inauguration the cost to buy US-produced steel has surged to the highest in more than a year. American aluminum consumers are ponying up rising shipping charges that Ford Motor Co. has warned could “blow a hole” through their industry. Two of the US’s biggest import sources, Canada and Mexico, are threatening broad retaliation that will only further roil unified supply chains built over decades and rebuilt in recent years to benefit North American industries.

Read the full story here

Steel Buyers Meet Trump Tariff Era as Ships Rerouted, Trucks Halted Read More »

Trump’s Team Outlines Plans for a ‘Golden Era’ of American Energy

By: J. Michael Showalter , Samuel A. Rasche, Sarah L. Lode / ArentFox Schiff LLP

The Trump Administration is beginning to roll out its policy plans to “dominate” the global energy space. These plans tackle energy transition issues in a dramatically different manner than did the Biden Administration, particularly by leaning into fostering the development of resources, including fossil fuels, nuclear, and hydroelectric power that provide reliable “baseload” supply. This comes as no surprise given President Trump’s promise to “drill, baby, drill” at the inauguration.

We previously reported on the Trump Administration’s early plans for energy policy, and in the weeks since those plans are coming into sharper focus. Key policy blueprints include the following:

A memorandum released by US Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Chris Wright on February 5 classified as a plan for “Unleashing the Golden Era of American Energy Dominance” and framing out DOE’s initial slate of actions.
An executive order issued on February 14 establishing the “National Energy Dominance Council” to advise the president on ways to increase domestic energy production and take full advantage of the nation’s “amazing national assets” including oil, natural gas, biofuels, uranium and critical minerals, geothermal heat, and the “kinetic energy of moving water. The council is tasked with preparing a detailed report on the state of “energy dominance” to be prepared within 100 days.

The council will be made up of at least 17 cabinet members and other federal officials, and the US Secretary of the Interior will serve as the Council Chair. The executive order stresses the importance of energy dominance on national security, and the Energy Dominance Council chair will be given a seat on the National Security Council.

We break down the policy framework, which dovetails with the USEP Environmental Protection Agency’s priorities (summarized here), and accompanying context for the Trump Administration’s energy-related plans below. Highlights include:

Streamlining government oversight.
Renewing focus on fossil fuels like oil and natural gas in place of wind and solar.
Prioritizing lowering the cost of energy to consumers instead of emissions reductions.
Promoting nuclear technology.
Preparing for increased energy demand.

Read the full story here

Trump’s Team Outlines Plans for a ‘Golden Era’ of American Energy Read More »

California governor sends EPR rules back to the drawing board

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 54 into law in 2022, with an aim of using less plastic and increasing circularity for plastic packaging and food ware. Draft regulations designed to implement the law were shared a year ago, followed by public input. But now, Newsom has flipped the script, returning the regulations to CalRecycle for a restart. Environmental groups said they feel that the governor has caved to business pressures.

Read the full story here

California governor sends EPR rules back to the drawing board Read More »

Former NJ Governor and EPA chief Christie Whitman decries Trump regulatory reversal of environmental protections

Former Gov. Christie Whitman, who once led the federal Environmental Protection Agency, has termed President Donald Trump’s sweeping plan to roll back environmental regulation “unconscionable.”

“I mean people are dying because of air and water pollution,” Whitman said. “If we start stopping regulation and controlling some of these emissions, we’re going to be in a much, much worse place.”

Trump’s EPA chief, Lee Zeldin, on Thursday announced plans to reconsider such regulations as those covering coal-burning power plants and the petroleum industry.

The former Long Island congressman and staunch Trump supporter hailed the changes as “a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.”

Whitman, a frequent critic of Trump, cautioned that the changes would be subject to review in the courts and would not be implemented immediately.

She acknowledged, however, that staff cuts at the federal agency would significantly impair the agency’s enforcement power.

Whitman made the comments in an interview with NJ Spotlight News Anchor Briana Vannozzi (below).

WATCH IT HERE

Former NJ Governor and EPA chief Christie Whitman decries Trump regulatory reversal of environmental protections Read More »

Award of NJ Turnpike’s $1.73 billion E-ZPass deal raises questions

By Briana Vannozzi, NJ Spotlight News anchor

Several lawmakers are raising questions about the state’s new $1.73 billion E-ZPass deal, after a recent news report revealed the contract was awarded through a mostly closed-door process with virtually no public disclosure.

The report by investigative journalist Jeff Pillets of The Jersey Vindicator found the New Jersey Turnpike Authority selected a company named TransCore LP to run NJ E-ZPass operations, despite its bid being $250 million higher than the next-lowest qualified bidder and the company having alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

The new contract comes as tolls on the Turnpike have shot up more than 40% over the past few years and amid broader concerns about government transparency.

“The Turnpike Authority said that they were chosen because they had the best experience and that they offered the best solutions to customer service that have plagued the Turnpike and E-ZPass for a long time now,” said Pillets in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “But we found that there were questions about the background of this company, connecting it to security issues, connecting it to foreign governments, China in particular.

Read the full story here

Award of NJ Turnpike’s $1.73 billion E-ZPass deal raises questions Read More »

Pennsylvania A.G. launches investigation into Sunoco pipeline spill

Earlier this month, the state Department of Environmental Protection ordered Energy Transfer to supply residents with bottled water.

Steel Buyers Meet Trump Tariff Era as Ships Rerouted, Trucks Halted

Trump’s Team Outlines Plans for a ‘Golden Era’ of American Energy

California governor sends EPR rules back to the drawing board

Former NJ Governor and EPA chief Christie Whitman decries Trump regulatory reversal of environmental protections

Award of NJ Turnpike’s $1.73 billion E-ZPass deal raises questions

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