With air-quality standards, is the cure worse than the disease?

[Source: Orange County Register] Have we reached the point where air pollution regulations are harming people more than air pollution itself? That’s the question at the heart of the dispute between the Trump administration and California about the Environmental Protection Agency’s air pollution program known as NAAQS, the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. President Trump Read More…

Trump targets smog standards, ordering EPA to make it easier for companies to comply

[Source: Los Angeles Times] President Trump took aim at federal air quality standards Thursday, directing the Environmental Protection Agency to relax restrictions on state governments and businesses that have been key to cutting smog. In a memo, the president instructed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to more quickly review states’ smog-reduction plans, make it easier for businesses Read More…

Trump administration moves on two fronts to challenge California environmental protections

[Source: Los Angeles Times] The Trump administration openly threatened one of the cornerstones of California’s environmental protections Monday, saying that it may revoke the state’s ability under the Clean Air Act to impose stricter standards than the federal government sets for vehicle emissions. The announcement came as the administration confirmed it is tearing up landmark Read More…

A year-end look at Scott Pruitt’s EPA

[Source: The Washington Post] Given the pace at which the Environmental Protection Agency chief has rolled back his predecessors’ work (or at least attempted to), Scott Pruitt secured his place as a one of the most consequential Cabinet-level officials within the Trump administration with an aggressive first year at the helm. The Post’s Brady Dennis Read More…

California’s top air agency condemns EPA’s move to allow high-polluting, older trucks on roads

[Source: California Air Resources Board] Decades of clean air progress stand to be reversed if the US EPA opts to repeal its rule on limiting production of “glider kits,” said Steve Cliff, Deputy Executive Officer of the California Air Resources Board, testifying at a public hearing today at EPA headquarters in Washington D.C. A ‘glider Read More…

Trump’s environmental rollbacks hit California hard, despite Sacramento’s resistance

[Source: Los Angeles Times] When 50,000 acre-feet of water went gushing out of the Sacramento River last month, it fast became a test of California’s ability to protect its environmental policies from an increasingly hostile Trump administration. The episode proved humbling. Heeding the calls of big agriculture interests and area congressional Republicans, the administration pumped Read More…