January, 13 2021, 11:00pm EDT
Watchdog Calls on President-Elect Biden, Congress to Reverse Trump Admin Policies that Weaken Climate Protections
Government watchdog Accountable.US is calling on President-Elect Joe Biden and Congress to reverse harmful Trump administration policies that jeopardize climate protections and were finalized over the last four years as favors to industry and former lobbyists for large corporations focused on maximizing profits, not protecting the environment.
WASHINGTON
Government watchdog Accountable.US is calling on President-Elect Joe Biden and Congress to reverse harmful Trump administration policies that jeopardize climate protections and were finalized over the last four years as favors to industry and former lobbyists for large corporations focused on maximizing profits, not protecting the environment.
As part of its Damage Control project, Accountable.US is highlighting the actions taken by the Trump administration to benefit industry, its lobbyists, and those that filled the president's campaign coffers.
"The Trump administration rarely saw an environmental protection that they did not want to do away with as a kick-back to the oil and gas industry," said Chris Saeger, spokesperson for Accountable.US. "The incoming Biden administration and Congress are duty-bound to fix the damage done over the past four years -- and to do it as quickly as they can. We need leaders who follow science, listen to experts, and refuse to put industry demands over the needs of the environment and the American people. Protecting our planet can't wait."
The Biden administration should immediately take action in the following areas that will help repeal the dangerous standards set during the past four years under Trump:
- Restore regulations for air pollution sources that were at any time considered "major sources." Under the Trump administration, the EPA finalized a rule that removed the "once in, always in" standard that required hazardous air pollutant sources to remain "major sources" once they pass the ten tons of emissions threshold. Under the new rule, if sources reduce their hazardous air pollutant they can be reclassified as "area sources" and endure less stringent requirements. This risks a large increase in pollution and undermines the Clean Air Act, and the Biden administration must reverse this rule. [See details here.]
- Strengthen standards and timelines for coal ash pond closures to reduce toxic waste emissions. The Trump administration rolled back a 2015 rule to allow coal ash pond operating to delay closing ponds and seek more time to store toxic waste. [See details here.]
- Re-do the EPA's study on anti-backsliding with updated models. The Trump administration, with the support of the oil and gas industry -- including many with deep connections to the Trump administration -- supported a rule that purported no additional measures are necessary to mitigate the adverse impact on air quality of renewable fuel volumes. The rule was based on a study which used a flawed modeling system, which the Biden administration should immediately re-do. [See details here.]
- Reduce unnecessary barriers to additional Clean Air Act regulations. Trump's administration proposed unnecessary procedural requirements for providing all information regarding the cost-benefit analysis of Clean Air Act regulatory decisions. This rule, supported by the energy industry, slowed down regulations and allowed polluters to continue while procedural problems were solved. The Biden administration should refuse to move forward with finalizing this rule. [See details here.]
- Refuse to implement Trump-era deregulations that are parting gifts for the oil and gas industry. In 2020, the Trump administration proposed a rule to backtrack on three Obama-era public lands oil and gas regulations in response to "concerns" from "representatives of the oil and gas industry." This rule-making is just a parting gift to the oil industry after the industry lobbyists running Trump's Interior spent four years bending over backwards to deregulate public lands leasing for their clients' benefit and the Biden administration should keep the 2016 regulations as-is. [See details here.]
- Halt any lease sales or oil production in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Trump administration fought to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas drilling, and a lease sale took place last week. Oil development in Alaska's ANWR could have serious implications for Alaska's climate and could disturb Alaska's caribou herds, which the Gwich'in people rely on for subsistence. [See details here.]
- Halt coal leasing and reinstate the Obama-era moratorium on new lease sales. The Trump administration sought to end an Obama-era moratorium on new coal leases on federal land. The long-term impacts of coal mining and power generation threaten environmental quality, the climate, and Western public lands important to tribes like the Northern Cheyenne. The Biden administration should reinstate the moratorium and halt coal leasing. [See details here.]
- Reinstate rule preventing fracking companies from abusing weak state regulations. In 2017, the Trump administration got rid of a rule that required oil and gas operators to apply through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) before fracking on public lands managed by the BLM. Without federal regulation such as this rule, fracking companies are free to use and abuse lax state rules, further contributing to the climate crisis and destroying our natural resources. [See details here.]
- Reinforce strong standards for vehicles' fuel and carbon dioxide emissions. Following a request from the auto industry, the Trump administration weakened vehicles' fuel and carbon dioxide standards. The Biden administration should direct the EPA to issue a replacement rule that would recognize California's authority to standards and pursue more stringent standards going forward from models 2026 and beyond. [See details here.]
- Withdraw the Trump administration's failed "guidance" on the treatment of greenhouse gasses. In June 2019, the White House Council on Environmental Quality published draft guidance on the treatment of greenhouse gases -- guidance that did not address climate change and its impact, provided little clarity to federal agencies on how to weigh emissions and climate impacts in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews, and appeared to encourage agencies to avoid those considerations entirely. The Biden administration should withdraw the 2019 guidance and replace it. [See details here.]
- Establish standards greenhouse gas emissions for airplanes that help reduce emissions -- not appease aviation industry executives. The Trump administration proposed a rule establishing greenhouse gas emissions standards for airplanes that reflected current industry practices. This meant that the standards would have little impact on emissions by the aviation sector, which are responsible for accelerating climate change and exacerbating respiratory illness, and whose executives supported Trump in 2016 and 2020. [See details here.]
- Direct EPA to tighten the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter after the Trump administration retained looser standards. This came even as EPA scientists recommended lowering the annual particulate matter standard, noting that reducing the limit to 9 micrograms per cubic meter could save between 9,050 and 34,600 lives per year. [See details here.]
- Reinstate reputable climate scientists who were removed and replaced -- by science skeptics -- by the Trump administration. [See details here.]
A non-partisan federal watchdog, Accountable.US has released full documentation for the corrupt origins of these harmful policies on its Damage Control site, which catalogs solutions to harmful Trump policies the Biden administration should pursue to make the government work for all Americans again.
Accountable.US is a nonpartisan watchdog that exposes corruption in public life and holds government officials and corporate special interests accountable by bringing their influence and misconduct to light. In doing so, we make way for policies that advance the interests of all Americans, not just the rich and powerful.
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An analysis released Tuesday by the German nonprofit Urgewald estimated that the World Bank spent nearly $4 billion on fossil fuel financing last year, when it was under the leadership of a climate denier nominated by former U.S. President Donald Trump.
The World Bank pledged in 2017 to end financing for upstream oil and gas—with narrow exceptions—after 2019. But Urgewald observed in its new report that the World Bank's pledge applied only to direct finance, allowing the powerful institution to funnel cash to oil and gas projects through "trade finance" dished out by its private-sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
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The World Bank has long been accused of reneging on its climate commitments. A report released last year by Big Shift Global estimated that the World Bank has spent nearly $15 billion supporting fossil fuels since the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015.
Late last year, former World Bank President David Malpass sparked global outrage by saying he's not sure whether he accepts the scientific consensus that climate change is caused by the burning of fossil fuels, further validating climate activists' longstanding calls for systemic reforms at the bank.
"I don't know," Malpass said in response to a reporter's question about his views on climate change. "I'm not a scientist."
The comments prompted widespread calls for Malpass to step down, which he did in June. Current World Bank President Ajay Banga, who U.S. President Joe Biden nominated to replace Malpass, is a former private equity executive who has worked for Nestlé, PepsiCo, and Citibank.
Urgewald warned in its report Tuesday that the World Bank will remain a major source of funding for the fossil fuel industry until it enacts reforms that prevent the IFC from bolstering oil and gas under the guise of "trade finance."
"The easiest way for a big oil company or coal operation to escape attention surrounding public assistance is to cloak it in trade finance," the group said. "It is a huge loophole that must be closed and evaluated through public disclosure."
Urgewald added that "there is no doubt" the World Bank and IFC "are going to deny" its findings and "claim the figures are inaccurate."
That's exactly what an IFC spokesperson did on Tuesday, tellingThe Guardian that "Urgewald's report contains serious factual inaccuracies and grossly overstates IFC's support for fossil fuels."
"IFC regularly reports accurate and timely project information through various channels," the spokesperson added.
Urgewald disputed that narrative in its report, asserting that the "continued secrecy surrounding trade finance makes it impossible to determine how much fossil fuel business the IFC is ultimately facilitating and whether the World Bank is actually aligned with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement."
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The union has since lowered its wage-hike demand to 36% over four years, according toBloomberg. "It is now asking for a series of increases over nearly five years that would start with an 18% boost and then alternate between 5% and 4% annually over the subsequent years of the contract," the outlet reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the UAW's offer.
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Former U.S. President Donald Trump's legal team on Monday asked the judge overseeing his federal election interference case—stemming from his efforts to overturn the 2020 results and him provoking the January 6, 2021 insurrection—to recuse herself, citing comments she made during cases involving some of his supporters who stormed the Capitol.
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"Judge Chutkan has, in connection with other cases, suggested that President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned. Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying," Trump's lawyers argued in the Monday motion. "Although Judge Chutkan may genuinely intend to give President Trump a fair trial—and may believe that she can do so—her public statements unavoidably taint these proceedings, regardless of outcome."
The motion points out that during a December 2021 hearing for Robert Palmer, Chutkan said: "Mr. Palmer—you have made a very good point, one that has been made before—that the people who exhorted you and encouraged you and rallied you to go and take action and to fight have not been charged... So you have a point, that the people who may be the people who planned this and funded it and encouraged it haven’t been charged, but that’s not a reason for you to get a lower sentence."
The filing adds that during an October 2022, the judge told another defendant, Christine Priola:
This was nothing less than an attempt to violently overthrow the government, the legally, lawfully, peacefully elected government by individuals who were mad that their guy lost. I see the videotapes. I see the footage of the flags and the signs that people were carrying and the hats they were wearing and the garb. And the people who mobbed that Capitol were there in fealty, in loyalty, to one man—not to the Constitution, of which most of the people who come before me seem woefully ignorant; not to the ideals of this country; and not to the principles of democracy. It's a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.
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"The case for refusing Judge [Aileen] Cannon in Florida would be far stronger and so far, the [government] has not chosen to bring it," Vance added of the Trump appointee overseeing the other federal case, which involves classified documents.
Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics professor at New York University School of Law, reached a similar conclusion.
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