Common Dreams has been providing breaking news & views for the progressive community since 1997. We are independent, non-profit, advertising-free and 100% reader supported. Our Mission: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
"The Trump administration is once again putting its thumb on the scale to help old, dirty power sources at the expense of air quality, public health, and higher energy bills," said one opponent. Green groups warned Tuesday that the Trump administration's plan to invoke a bogus "energy emergency" in order to keep old, polluting coal-fired plants running will make electricity generation dirtier and more expensive while failing to produce enough power to keep up with surging demand.
that includes plans for boosting fossil-fueled electricity generation, including at coal-fired plants. The report cites President Donald Trump's executive ordersof the nation's electric grid, and highlights the DOE's plan to classify aging fossil fuel plants as critical to system reliability. The administration is also likely to continue invoking Although the analysis acknowledges that "old tools won't solve new problems," its methodology supports keeping expensive and pollutingclimate emergency , it does not even mention the word "climate" once in its 73 pages. This tracks with the Trump administration's "The methodology released today is another attempt to push the false narrative that our country's energy future depends upon decades-old coal and gas plants, rather than clean renewables,"senior attorney Greg Wannier. "The only energy crisis faced by the American public is the catastrophic increase in costs that theWannier noted that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and states "are already well equipped to meet any projected resource needs through the existing regulatory process, which ensures that electricity demand is reliably met at the least public cost." "Any effort by DOE to override this process to forcibly keep coal plants online past their planned retirements would be an extraordinary and unlawful overreach of its regulatory authority," Wannier added. "It would be particularly harmful and costly to the communities living near these power plants who face the possibility of continued exposure to toxic levels of air and water The Trump administration is once again putting its thumb on the scale to help old, dirty power sources at the expense of air quality,, and higher energy bills for American families and businesses. This time it has issued a methodology that uses dodgy accounting to ignore all the clean energy we have at our disposal—including solar, wind, and battery technologies that are helping meet our nation's energy needs and support the reliability of our electric grid—in order to make a bogus case that these old, dirty power plants are needed. The administration's deeply flawed approach can't hide the fact that clean energy resources are helping keep lights on and lower electricity bills across the country, while keeping old, dirty power plants on life support will mean higher power bills for families and more toxic, cancer-causing pollution in the air we breathe."No matter how they try to gussy it up, bailing out coal or other fossil fuels when low-cost solar and wind power is growing so quickly makes even less sense today than it did in 2017 when the previous Trump administration tried it before," Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at the Natural Resources Defense Council was right to reinstate its waiver, dating back to the 1970s, which allows California to impose stricter emissions standards than the federal government.by hundreds of thousands of tons annually, was introduced to help the state address smog stemming from congested freeways and roads in Los Angeles.was "vital to California" and would have a "positive ripple effect on states across the country, driving forward climate progress and delivering cleaner air for millions of Americans.""The D.C. Circuit has reaffirmed California's critical role in protecting its residents from harmful vehicle emissions, thereby benefiting the many states that rely on adoption of California's standards to achieve and maintain the Clean Air Act's air quality mandate," said Berman.Alice Henderson, director and lead counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, said the upheld standards "will save lives, protect people from the climate crisis and unhealthy airin support of California's waiver, called on the state to now "go full speed ahead with strong car standards." "This year California should continue to show national leadership on clean vehicles by adopting ambitious new standards for gas-powered cars, pickups, and SUVs," said Hochberg. "Importantly, this ruling ensures that the 17 other states that follow California can keep driving towards a future with cleaner air and cleaner vehicles."One campaigner called it "a foundational step toward protecting the health and safety of communities and workers on the fenceline of the petrochemical industry."almost daily in the United States, often at fossil fuel facilities, and the Biden administration won praise on Friday for stepping up safeguards for impacted communities.) for what she called "a foundational step toward protecting the health and safety of communities and workers on the fenceline of the petrochemical industry."that many communities "vulnerable to chemical accidents are in overburdened and underserved areas," EPA Administrator Michael Regan framed the rule as a key piece of the administration's "commitment to advancing environmental justice."Accidental releases from RMP facilities cost over $540 million annually and highly impact approximately 131 million people who live within three miles of such sites—including 44 million earning less than or equal to twice thelevel, 32 million who identify as Hispanic or Latino, and 20 million who identify as Black or African American, according to EPA estimates. "Over 1 in every 3 schoolchildren in the U.S. attends a school within the danger zone of these facilities. Children are uniquely vulnerable to the health impacts caused by toxic chemical exposures such as respiratory illnesses and cancers," said Moms Clean Air Force vice president Dominique Browning. "Moms—and all caregivers—support EPA's important step in the strengthening of the Risk Management Program. We urge EPA to swiftly implement and enforce the new rules to help protect the health and safety of all children."Requiring a safer technologies and alternatives analysis, and in some cases, implementation of reliable safeguard measures for certain facilities in industry sectors with high accident rates; Advancing employee participation, training, and opportunities for employee decision-making in facility accident prevention; Reiterating the allowance of a partial or complete process shutdown in the event of a potential catastrophic release; Implementing a process to allow employees and their representatives to anonymously report specific unaddressed hazards; Requiring third-party compliance audits and root cause analysis incident investigation for facilities that have had a prior accident; Enhancing facility planning and preparedness efforts to strengthen emergency response by ensuring chemical release information is timely shared with local responders and a community notification system is in place to warn the community of any impending release;Increasing transparency by providing access to RMP facility information for communities nearby. "While there is certainly more that must be done to prevent chemical disasters, EPA's rule is a major step forward for ensuring that the most hazardous facilities implement safer technologies and provide greater public access to information," saidthe update, stressing that "a strong RMP rule empowers workers and saves lives. It protects workers and emergency responders and safeguards communities in the shadow of these chemical facilities."and Democracy, pointed out that "the previous administration severely weakened those rules, depriving communities of information about what hazardous chemicals they might be exposed to and rolling back critical safety requirements intended to protect workers at facilities covered by the RMP."have occurred at facilities covered by the RMP—imposing a serious cost to workers and people living in harm's way, as well as to first responders and local governments that have to deal with the aftermath," Jones continued. "The new rule, while not perfect, will go a long way to protect people's health."The Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters, which has tracked incidents involving hazardous chemicals since January 2021, documented at least 323 events last year, at least 81 of which occurred at RMP facilities. "We're glad that EPA stood its ground despite strong industry pressure and required more RMP facilities to report on safer chemicals and processes that could be implemented to prevent chemical disasters," Maya Nye, federal policy director at coalition member Coming Clean,RMP facilities to identify and transition to safer chemicals and processes in accordance with the principles laid out in the, as part of our ongoing work to transform the chemical industry so that it's no longer a source of harm," Nye added. Michele Roberts, co-coordinator of another coalition member, the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform, celebrated the EPA's new online"We have a right to know whether our houses, schools, and places of worship are threatened by a potential chemical disaster," she said. "We look forward to a time when a database on RMP facility and hazard information will no longer be needed because every facility will have transitioned to safe chemicals and processes, but in the meantime EPA making this critical information more accessible to communities is a huge step."Sanders, Warren Help Form Senate Democratic ‘Fight Club’ Challenging Schumer’s Leadership Living Wage, Affordability Platforms Like Mamdani and Platner’s Have 'Major Electoral Advantage': Polls2 National Guard Troops Shot Near White House
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Colombian President Petro Says Venezuela Oil 'At Heart' of Trump AggressionJon Queally is managing editor of Common Dreams.
Read more »
'Unspeakably Cruel': Trump Freezes Green Cards to 235,000 Refugees Admitted Under BidenStephen Prager is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
Read more »
New Research Shows True Death Toll From Israeli Genocide in Gaza Could Be 126,000 or Even HigherBrad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
Read more »
'This Is the Scandal': DHS Data Shows ICE Mostly Targeting People With No Criminal ConvictionsJessica Corbett is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
Read more »
2 National Guard Troops Shot Near White HouseThis article was written by Common Dreams staff.
Read more »
Farmers Say Trump Tariffs Crushing Operations, Forcing Higher Prices Ahead of Holiday SeasonBrad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
Read more »