‘See you in court’: activists ready for Trump to relax smog and drilling rules

With the Trump administration poised to roll back rules on smog and drilling off Alaska and the east coast, environmental campaigners are ready for legal action. Environmental campaigners promised on Saturday to wage fierce and protracted legal battles against “outrageous and wrong-headed” Trump administration moves to open Atlantic and Arctic waters for drilling and loosen smog limits. Such moves, which would be only the latest rollbacks of Obama-era environmental protections, were signalled by administration officials this week. Donald Trump has already made sweeping efforts to boost fossil fuel industries and undo landmarkefforts to combat the effects of climate change. On Friday, attorneys for the government asked a federal court in Washington to delay a key case so the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could review its stance on rules capping smog pollution. It also emerged that the day before, interior secretary Ryan Zinke told industry insiders that Trump plans overturn bans on drilling off Alaska and the Eastern Seaboard, while making new oil and gas exploitation rights available. The case over smog limits was brought by a coalition of conservative states and business groups, led by the US Chamber of Commerce, and concerns limits imposed under President Obama in 2015. “EPA intends to closely review the 2015 rule, and the prior positions taken by the agency with respect to the 2015 rule may not necessarily reflect its ultimate conclusions after that review is complete,” the attorneys wrote in their submission to the court of appeals for the District of Columbia. The 2015 rule cut the amount of ozone allowed in the air at ground level from 75 parts per billion to 70, limiting one byproduct of pollutants from power plants and vehicle exhaust that is a major component of smog. The rule has also been challenged by environmental groups, for being too lax. The Trump administration has made no official indication of its position on the smog rule, so when justice department attorneys requested “adequate time to fully review” the government’s position, campaigners received a powerful signal. “Smog is dangerous to kids, seniors and asthmatics,” said Seth Johnson, an attorney with environmental advocacy group Earthjustice, in a statement. “The Trump administration is taking the first step toward tearing down a crucial protection against dirty air.” A statement from the group said the court filing was “likely an indication that the federal government will try to stop defending, or will weaken implementation of, the more protective smog standard set by the EPA in October 2015”.

Read More: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/apr/09/trump-smog-offshore-drilling-rules-climate#img-1

Posted by admin on Apr 10 2017. Filed under News at Now. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry