#environmental deregulation

[thoughtlessarse]

EU rollback on environmental policy is gaining momentum, warn campaigners

Observers shocked at scale and speed of deregulation drive they say is watering down European Green Deal and laws

The European Union’s rollback of environment policy is gaining momentum, campaigners have warned, in a deregulation drive that has shocked observers with its scale and speed. EU policymakers have dealt several critical blows to their much-vaunted European Green Deal since the end of 2023, when opinion polls suggested a significant rightward shift before the 2024 parliamentary elections. Environment groups say the pace has picked up under the competition-focused agenda of the new European Commission. The most striking examples are the “omnibus” packages that water down sustainable finance rules, some of which have been put on hold even before they came into force, and which member states proposed diluting further on Monday. The European Commission has promised more simplification measures to “radically lighten the regulatory load” on people and businesses. In the first six months of the new European Commission mandate, the EU also delayed a law to stop deforestation in supply chains by one year, gave carmakers two extra years to meet pollution targets and downgraded the protection status of the wolf. Environmental NGOs have found themselves in the crosshairs of a funding freeze they argue undermines democracy. The political tensions reached a high this week after an anti-greenwashing law was seemingly killed in the final stages of negotiations. The warnings of green backsliding come amid a global slump in efforts to cut pollution. In the UK, the government has faced growing political resistance to its target to hit net zero by 2050. In the US, Donald Trump has begun his second term with a series of attacks on environment agencies and policies as he seeks to promote fossil fuels. “DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!!” he told the US Department of Energy in a social media post on Monday. “And I mean NOW!!! Green groups say similar – albeit less sensational – shifts are under way in Brussels, which boasts some of the most ambitious rules to clean up a polluting economy.

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[rjzimmerman]

A handful of major climate rules reversed or weakened under Mr. Trump will have a big effect on future emissions.

A handful of major climate rules reversed or weakened under Mr. Trump could have a significant effect on future emissions. Each dot = 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent

Together, these rollbacks are expected to result in an additional 1.8 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by 2035.

[rjzimmerman]

Investors urge drillers, miners not to take advantage of Trump environmental rollbacks

A group of U.S. institutional investors urged energy, timber and mining companie...

Excerpt from this story from Reuters:

A group of U.S. institutional investors urged energy, timber and mining companies on Wednesday not to take advantage of Trump administration rollbacks of environmental regulations, such as moving operations into public lands that are being opened up.

The investors representing nearly $113 billion in assets sent a letter to 58 companies saying that firms seeking to make use of the rule changes put themselves and their investors at “significant risk of public backlash and stranded assets, should these actions be legally challenged or protections be restored by the courts or by future administrations.”

The companies include Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp and Weyerhaeuser Co.

Lauren Compere, director of shareowner engagement at Boston Common Asset Management, one of the 40 investment groups that sent the letter, said that if the companies did not take heed, the investors could escalate pressure by filing shareholder resolutions.

President Donald Trump has rolled back some protections on public lands including in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments that may eventually allow companies to stake claims for drilling and mining in the areas.

Other investors that signed the letter include Trillium Asset Management and the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia.

[rjzimmerman]

Yes, trump, you and your people are trying to eliminate environmental rules. But you lied to these electricians, because most of your efforts have been held back by the courts because you and your people are too damn stupid to do anything legally and properly. As to your plans to appeal those court rulings and do more damage to environmental laws and regulations, please tell those electricians and others who listen to you that what you’re doing will kill thousands of people and make more thousands of people sick. But you don’t care so long as any business enterprise can make one more nickel of profit.

Excerpt:

President Donald Trump promised more environmental deregulation at an event in Philadelphia Tuesday afternoon, telling a group of electrical contractors that his recent moves to roll back environmental rules will help business.

“We took regulations off that allow us to do things we would never have been able to do,” Trump told a gathering of the National Electrical Contractors Association at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia. “Think about it. We’re the single largest energy producer in the world.”

The U.S. is expected to surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia in crude oil production this year.

Trump began his talk by telling attendees that he had “paid them so much money over the years,” referring to his career as a builder.

As president, Trump has worked to get rid of environmental regulations. He told the contractors that will mean more business.

“To get you more contracts and more jobs we’ve slashed a record number of regulations,” he said.

[dee85719]

What Is Environmental Deregulation Going to Cost You?

What Is Environmental Deregulation Going to Cost You?

Forget “global warming.”  Forget the cuteness of spotted squirrels.  I’m here to talk about how much environmental deregulation is going to cost you, taxpayer and middle class citizen of this country – in money – and how it’s poised to create dependence on foreign resources that will make our current problems with foreign oil look like a country picnic.

This issue is so often parsed in terms of…

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[aaroncamp]

Indisputable evidence that Scott Walker illegally coordinated with right-wing front group

Indisputable evidence that Scott Walker illegally coordinated with right-wing front group

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is reporting that documents released earlier today by a federal appeals court shows that Scott Walker himself illegally coordinated with the Wisconsin chapter of Club for Growth (CfG Wisconsin), a right-wing front group that has spent millions of dollars getting Republicans elected in Wisconsin, and that Gogebic Taconite, the company that pushed for the…

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[greengrumblr]

The US Chamber of Commerce has been given an ironic award this month: the Rubber Dodo. According to the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the award is give to 'those who have done the most to drive endangered species extinct.'  Voted on by members of the conservation organization, this year's award—the fifth of its kind—was given to the US Chamber of Commerce for its unwavering support of the fossil fuels industry and for environmental deregulation. 

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/1019-hance_rubberdodo.html