EnviroPolitics Blog

Automakers Tell Trump His Pollution Rules Could Mean ‘Untenable’ Instability and Lower Profits

SUV production at a General Motors plant in Arlington, Tex.CreditCreditMatthew Busch/Bloomberg

Coral davenport reports for the New York Times

WASHINGTON — The world’s largest automakers warned President Trump on Thursday that one of his most sweeping deregulatory efforts — his plan to weaken tailpipe pollution standards — threatens to cut their profits and produce “untenable” instability in a crucial manufacturing sector.

In a letter signed by 17 companies including Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Volvo, the automakers asked Mr. Trump to go back to the negotiating table on the planned rollback of one of President Barack Obama’s signature policies to fight climate change.

The carmakers are addressing a crisis that is partly of their own making. They had sought some changes to the pollution standards early in the Trump presidency, but have since grown alarmed at the expanding scope of the administration’s plan.

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Mr. Trump’s new rule, which is expected to be made public this summer, would all but eliminate the Obama-era auto pollution regulations, essentially freezing mileage standards at about 37 miles per gallon for cars, down from a target of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. The policy makes it a near certainty that California and 13 other states will sue the administration while continuing to enforce their own, stricter rules — in effect, splitting the United States auto market in two.

For automakers, a bifurcated market is their nightmare scenario. In the letter to Mr. Trump, they warned of “an extended period of litigation and instability” should his plans be implemented.

The letter was delivered to the White House on Thursday morning, the same time as a similar letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, according to a senior auto industry lobbyist.

In the letter to Mr. Newsom, the automakers said they would like to see a standard that is “midway” between the current Obama rules and the rollback proposed by Mr. Trump.

The letter to Mr. Trump said, “We strongly believe the best path to preserve good auto jobs and keep new vehicles affordable for more Americans is a final rule supported by all parties — including California.”

A White House spokesman, Judd Deere, in an email put the blame on California, saying the state “failed to put forward a productive alternative.”

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21 secret Jersey Shore spots we bet you’ve never visited – 2019 edition

Peter Genovese reports for NJ.com – Posted June 07, 2019

By Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com — Andrew Mills I The Star-Ledger

The Jersey Shore is our greatest treasure and a source of jealousy for at least 45 other states. Yeah, it’s maddening and mobbed in the summer, but that doesn’t stop millions of us from making the trek down the Parkway every year just to enjoy pesky parking meters, packed beaches, and overpriced boardwalk food, among other indignities.

Why do we put up with it all?

Because the Shore is in our DNA, that’s why. We all have our special places down the Shore — the towns, beaches and restaurants we hit every summer, and that bring with them a flood of wonderful summertime memories. We also have our secret spots — the ones we don’t always want to share with others for fear that they will spoil our tiny slice of paradise.

Here’s our list of those places. You may have heard of some of them, but chances are you’ve never been there. We did similar lists in 2018 and 2017, but this is an all-new one.

What are your favorite secret Shore spots? Let us know in the comments section.

Crabby Jack’s, Somers Point

The Crab Trap in Somers Point is an enormously popular Shore restaurant; long waits for a table are often common. Avoid the crowds and get a spectacular view in the process by heading to Crabby Jack’s, a tiki bar behind the Crab Trap. You can order from a scaled-down menu from the Crab Trap, and the waterfront setting is marvelous. That’s Ocean City in the shimmering distance.

New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Allaire State Park, Wall

Did you know there is a New Jersey Museum of Transportation? I sure didn’t until recently. It’s supported exclusively by train fares, souvenir sales and private contributions is not funded by the state, and is staffed by volunteers. It operates the Pine Creek Railroad, one of the oldest operating narrow gauge rail lines in the country. You can ride the train seven days a week from July 1 to Sept. 2, and on weekends in the fall. The fare for the 15-minute ride is $4 for anyone 3 and older.

Lakes Bay Preserve, Egg Harbor Township

“Down a sand and clamshell road, away from the bustle of nearby Atlantic City, there is a secluded stretch of beach and marsh that juts into Lakes Bay.” If that description, from the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, doesn’t convince you Lakes Bay Preserve is worth a visit, nothing will. The 27-acre site, a mix of saltwater marshes, bayberry thickets, and sandy beaches, is a paradise for windsurfers, board sailors and kayakers. The New Jersey Conservation Foundation saved the property from development in 1998 and now operates it with the help of the nonprofit Lakes Bay Recreation Association. You can become an association member and enjoy full privileges, but the preserve is open to the public. Public parking is outside the gate on Bayport Drive. The bay is named after Simon Lake, a Pleasantville native whose submarine was the first to make a successful voyage on the open sea.

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If climate truth doesn’t fit your politics, deny it. If that doesn’t work, repress it.

According to the National Park Service, Glacier National Park’s ice sheets are a fraction of the size they were 100 years ago. (Beth J. Harpaz/AP)By

Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey and Brady Dennis
report for the Washington Post – June 7 at 9:33 PM

White House officials barred a State Department intelligence staffer from submitting written testimony this week to the House Intelligence Committee warning that human-caused climate change could be “possibly catastrophic” after State officials refused to excise the document’s references to the scientific consensus on climate change.

The effort to edit, and ultimately suppress, the written testimony of a senior analyst at the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research comes as the Trump administration is debating how best to challenge the idea that the burning of fossil fuels is warming the planet and could pose serious risks unless the world makes deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade. Senior military and intelligence officials have continued to warn climate change could undermine America’s national security, a position President Trump rejects.

Officials from the White House’s Office of Legislative Affairs, Office of Management and Budget and National Security Council all raised objections to parts of the testimony that Rod Schoonover, who works in the office of geography and global affairs, prepared to present on the bureau’s behalf for a hearing Wednesday.

According to several senior administration officials, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk about internal deliberations, Trump officials sought to cut several pages of the document on the grounds that its description of climate science did not mesh with the administration’s official stance. Critics of the testimony included William Happer, a National Security Council senior director who has touted the benefits of carbon dioxide and sought to establish a federal task force to challenge the scientific consensus that human activity is driving recent climate change.

Administration officials said the White House Office of Legislative Affairs ultimately decided that Schoonover could appear before the House panel, but could not submit his office’s statement for the record because it did not, in the words of one official, “jibe” with what the administration is seeking to do on climate change. This aide added that legislative affairs and OMB staffers routinely review agency officials’ prepared congressional testimony before they submit it.

A House Intelligence Committee aide confirmed that the panel received the written testimony of the two other intelligence officials who testified at Wednesday’s public hearing, but not Schoonover’s.

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Bank of America expands onsite solar to more than 60 locations

Alyssa Danigelis reports for Energy Manager Today

Bank of America is installing onsite solar at more than 60 locations across the country, including financial centers, ATMs, and offices. The investment bank and financial services company expects that their onsite solar initiative will generate more than 25 megawatts of electricity.

Six financial centers located in California, Florida, and Pennsylvania as well as and two office locations in Nevada and North Carolina already have onsite solar installations. In 2019, the bank plans to install solar panels at 15 financial centers and on 10 ATMs. Over the next three years, the company says it expects to add more than 60 solar installations across their operations.

“The onsite solar initiative is a critical component that will directly offset the bank’s energy use and lower energy costs, resulting in an estimated savings of $50 million over 25 years,” says Tom Scrivener, global real estate and enterprise initiatives executive at Bank of America.

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In 2018, the company says its total sourcing of renewable electricity was 1.8 million megawatt hours, amounting to 91% of its global energy use. Last November, the bank formed a partnership with Juhl Energy to support a solar hybrid project in Minnesota.

This year, the bank’s onsite solar initiative is focusing on installing panels at locations in these states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia. In 2020 and 2021, Bank of America plans to install panels on select administrative offices in Arizona, Delaware, Florida, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Texas.

Bank of America, which is a member of RE100, indicated that increased onsite solar should help the company meet its broader operations commitment to carbon neutrality and purchasing 100% renewable electricity by the end of 2020, plus reducing location-based GHG emissions by 50% and energy use by 40% during the same time-frame.

“Having solar energy onsite to power our facilities is part of our responsible growth strategy and reduces our operational impact on the environment,” said Andrew Plepler, Bank of America’s global head of ESG.

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Bill to control public use of a pesticide harmful to bees advances in NJ Senate but could face floor amendments

An attorney for the National Resouces Development Council told the committee that neonicotinoids were found in 90 percent of surface water samples in Bergen County, with all being above federal safety limits.

By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor

Legislation sponsored by the New Jersey Senate Environment and Energy Committee Chair Senator Bob Smith and Senator Christopher Bateman, that would direct the Department of Environmental Protection to classify neonicotinoid pesticides as restricted use pesticides, cleared the Senate Environment and Energy committee on Thursday (6/6/19).

“The use of neonicotinoid pesticides must be restricted to protect New Jersey’s citizens and environment,” said Senator Smith (D-Middlesex / Somerset). “These insecticides should only be used by those who know the ramifications of excessive use and those who will use them appropriately to protect New Jersey’s agriculture and economy.”

The bill, S2288, would direct the Department of Environmental Protection to classify neonicotinoid pesticides as restricted use pesticides. This classification would mean that neonicotinoids could only be purchased and used by certified and licensed pesticide applicators or by those under the direct supervision of these applicators

Neonicotinoids are a class of neuro-active insecticides chemically similar to nicotine. The neonicotinoid family includes acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid, nitenpyram, nithiazine, thiacloprid, and thiamethoxam.

They have been linked to adverse ecological effects such as honey-bee colony collapse disorder. This bill follows similar bills that have been passed in other states and the European Union to curb the negative ecological effects of neonicotinoid pesticides.

A number of New Jersey environmental organizations went on record in support of the legislation. Representatives from the chemical industry, retail stores, and landscapers, however, said the measure was too broadly written and could limit efforts to fight invasive species.

The NJ Farm Bureau said the bill would not have a significant on state farmers since most already are certified to apply insecticides or hire licensed applicators when necessary.

Senator Smith said he might consider floor amendments that would limit the bill’s application.

An identical bill, A4562, sponsored by Assemblymen Clinton Calabrese and Raj Mukherji, has seen no action in the Assembly Agriculture and National Resources Committee since it was introduced and referred there on October 15, 2018

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Major union, SEIU, endorses Green New Deal. Others remain skeptical

ZACK BUDRYK reports for The Hill – 06/06/19 03:07 PM EDT

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) on Thursday endorsed the Green New Deal, putting it at odds with other unions that have been critical of the ambitious environmental agenda.

SEIU’s International Executive Board passed a resolution in support of the sweeping environmental proposal at its board meeting in Minneapolis.

“We’ve been inspired by the fearlessness and courage of the climate change activists whose direct action and bold demands for change have put this issue front and center in the national conversation,” said Mary Kay Henry, the international president of SEIU. “The Green New Deal makes unions central to accomplishing the ambitious goal of an environmentally responsible and economically just society.”

SEIU called the Green New Deal vitally important for people of color, saying their communities are most impacted by the environmental issues the proposal is intended to address. The union added that its members support “immediate, bold action” on climate change.

SEIU said it is the first national union to endorse the Green New Deal.

Other union leaders have been skeptical of the environmental proposal introduced earlier this year by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

Terry O’Sullivan, general president of the Laborers’ International Union of North America called the Green New Deal “exactly how not to enact a progressive agenda to address our nation’s dangerous income inequality” and “exactly how not to win support for critical measures to curb climate change.”

Separately, seven unions told House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) that they had “grave concerns about unrealistic solutions such as those advocated” by the Green New Deal.

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