Welcome to Ocean Watch; a weekly recap of federal and regional
actions that impact the coastal and marine water quality and ecosystems of the
Mid-Atlantic Ocean. Clean Ocean Action will aggregate and analyze these
actions, and signify the impact and threat level to the Mid-Atlantic using
color coding – Red is a high level threat, orange is intermediate, yellow is a
caution, and green would be a positive action. While many of these actions have
taken place in Washington DC, and don’t affect the mid-Atlantic directly, the
direction of national energy, climate, and regulatory policy will have
implications and impacts for the mid-Atlantic region.
Mid-Atlantic
Ocean Watch – Week 12
Mid-Atlantic
Back in the Drilling Cross Hairs?
We
have been reporting for several weeks now about the near imminent threat of
expanding oil and gas drilling in outer continental shelf (OCS) federal waters.
COA
is awaiting a Trump administration executive order and related actions that
would target not just a reopening of the OCS Lease Plan (and the potential
reinclusion of the mid-Atlantic in this plan), but also actions aimed
at shrinking or eliminating national monuments or nixing another
offshore order signed by former President Obama that placed 98 percent of
the U.S. Arctic under protection.
Keep
an eye on our social media and webpage over the coming days and weeks, as we
continue to monitor the situation. The thousands of coastal economies that
depend upon a clean and healthy Atlantic Ocean are incompatible with oil and
gas drilling anywhere in our region. Oil does not respect state boundaries.
Seismic blasting to discover these reserves does not discriminate between a
dolphin from New Jersey and a whale from Florida. Call your congressional representatives TODAY, and tell them that
offshore oil and gas drilling anywhere in the Atlantic is not acceptable!
Trump
EPA Takes Aim at Vehicle Emissions Standards
It is clear that the Trump Administration is taking aim at all
fossil fuel related regulations, from extraction to generation, and everywhere
in between. Not even vehicle emission regulations are safe from this onslaught.
In an agreement struck with automakers in 2012, the Obama
administration required
that cars run 54.4 miles per gallon of fuel by 2025. This standard, up from
27.5 miles per gallon, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6bn tons over
the lifetime of new vehicles and save 2m gallons of oil per day by 2025– a
clear win for the environment, for consumers who would be free to use that gas
money for other expenses, and for energy efficiency. Unfortunately, these rules
are squarely in the Trump Administration’s cross hairs.
This assault starts with the federal budget, and
ends with direct rollbacks to regulations. According to a White House budget
document , the EPA’s vehicle testing budget would be cut by 99 percent and the
staff that does that testing would be cut by more than half. The cuts would be
to the department that certifies emissions are met and that fuel economy claims
are accurate. The proposal, which would also cut 168 out of 304 full-time jobs,
seeks to partially fund current operations by boosting fees automakers and
engine manufacturers pay for testing. An EPA official confirmed the document's
authenticity. This news comes as Volkswagen recently settled one of the largest
vehicle emissions fraud cases in history, paying out $25 billion dollars in
fines for cheating emissions tests. Along with these budget cuts, Trump has
directed the Environmental Protection Agency to review fuel efficiency
standards that were a key plank of Barack Obama’s effort to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, apparently seeking a regulatory rollback to go with his budget
cuts.
EPA
Shutting Down its Climate Adaptation Office
Reports from Washington indicate that Scott Pruitt’s EPA is closing the
Climate Adaptation Office within EPA’s headquarters. The Unit, though small in
size, was focused on preparing for the effects of climate change, such as
sea-level rise and more extreme weather; a critical task as all those who live
in coastal areas can tell you.
Key Federal Job Positions, Environmental Regulations, and Services
on the Chopping Block
The
Trump administration has finally lifted its federal hiring freeze, however with
this news comes reports that the administration has ordered the heads of every
federal agency to start significantly reducing their personnel over the next
year. Although the memo did not get into specific staffing cuts, Politico
reports that Trump definitely put a target on the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency. Budget documents indicate that the White
House would like to see EPA staffing reduced by as much as one-third – a
devastating and catastrophic reduction in staff and funding that oversees
contaminated site remediation, interstate pollution issues such as air and
water discharges, and more. Moreover, the EPA has been directed to identify two
regional offices for closure by June 15. Ultimately, Congress has the power to
accept, reject, or alter the Trump budget— this is why our message to our
Congressional delegation must be clear and powerful – Save EPA, fund
environmental protection, and do not sacrifice our future for short term
interests. Furthermore, the Trump administration through EPA, has opened a
notice and comment period to gather information on regulations
that may be appropriate for repeal, replacement, or modification. This input is
intended to help inform EPA’s response to President Trump’s Executive Order on Promoting
Energy Independence and Economic Growth. These budget cuts,
hiring freezes, regulatory rollbacks, and fossil fuel energy expansion policies
are clearly designed to create more profit for fossil fuel corporations, while
the public pays the price, and US manufacturing and technological innovation
fall further behind the rest of the world.
Whitehouse
Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ) Withdrawals Climate Change Guidance
In more regressive and fossil friendly
news, the Trump Whitehouse led CEQ has announced in a federal register notice
that they are withdrawing their ‘‘Final Guidance for Federal Departments and
Agencies on Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Effects of
Climate Change in National Environmental Policy Act Reviews”.
Climate
Change Godfather Endorses a Republican Climate Plan
Back
in February, we wrote on the proposal put forward by several leading
Republicans, including three former Cabinet
secretaries, supporting a Carbon Fee in an effort to reduce emissions and
address the worst impacts of climate change. See that story here. This week,
the leading scientific voice on climate change, Dr. James Hansen, endorsed a Carbon market based proposal such as a carbon fee. The
backing of Dr. Hansen of a republican proposal to address carbon emissions
should be seen a positive movement toward building a consensus market based
approach for carbon emissions. Tell your elected officials that this is the
path forward to heading off the worst of climate change impacts.
YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED!
·
The executive
orders and congressional actions of the last week have reinforced how vital it
is that every citizen engage with their elected officials. In this day and age
of instant communication, there is no excuse for not contacting your elected
officials. Use the links below to find your representatives and let them know
how important clean water and strong environmental protections are.
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Federal:
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State Level:
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For NJ residents,
contact your State Senate and Assembly Representatives: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/njmap210.html
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For NY residents,
contact your State Senate and Assembly Representatives: http://www.elections.ny.gov/district-map/district-map.html
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