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EPA head shifts makeup of panel science advisers

Nov 1, 2017
Pruitt is installing new science advisors who have a history of being more industry friendly.

If there has been a war on coal, Obama’s Clean Power Plan was never the main front

Oct 10, 2017
The Environmental Protection Agency has started the process to repeal the Clean Power Plan, an Obama-era measure to reduce emissions from power plants. In his announcement, Scott Pruitt characterized the repeal as an end to a “war on coal.” But in the real world of energy markets, not a whole lot is expected to change. […]

The Clean Power Plan is a zombie that will be hard to kill

Oct 3, 2017
The Obama-era regulation known as the Clean Power Plan is expected to be the next target for the White House to cut back regulations. It’s something of a zombie, since the Supreme Court halted its rollout, yet the EPA is required to take measures to regulate carbon pollution (due to an agency finding that greenhouse […]

EPA turns to environmental cleanup, away from climate change

Jul 31, 2017
Tomorrow , the Senate subcommittee that oversees the EPA’s Superfund program is scheduled to hold a hearing on the program’s work. That’s the initiative, begun in 1980, that cleans up sites contaminated with hazardous materials. Under EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the agency is refocusing its attention toward environmental cleanups. But that doesn’t necessarily mean many […]

When a big carbon emitter is the main economic driver in town

Jul 20, 2017
For local residents, the Miller power plant is the economic center of the city.
The James H. Miller Jr. Electric Generating Plant is a massive coal-fired plant that also is the nation’s top emitter of greenhouse gases.
Gigi Douban/for Marketplace

California’s federal waiver for higher fuel efficiency rules is 'not under review' by EPA

Jun 16, 2017
There are two forces pushing cars and fuel efficiency in opposition directions: the federal government and California. California for decades has had special permission to set environmental rules that are stricter than the federal rules. The Trump administration had suggested it might try to revoke the waiver that grants that permission. But in a bit […]

Counting up American coal jobs: What's the real total?

Jun 15, 2017
Here are the numbers behind the much-discussed coal industry in the U.S.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks with coal miners at the Harvey Mine in Sycamore, Pennsylvania, in April.
Justin Merriman/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Prospective cuts have EPA workers weighing their options

May 23, 2017
The question of staying or going comes up anytime political control shifts. For some, the time to go may come soon.
EPA staffers have been dealing with massive shifts in the way their agency operates, with executive orders that have mandated reviews or canceled several environmental initiatives and rhetoric about reducing regulation.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

What happened when an industry-friendly EPA leader in the '80s went too far

May 2, 2017
Anne Gorsuch's goal was to rein in the young agency during the anti-regulatory Reagan era.
In 1981, Ronald Reagan tapped conservative Anne Gorsuch to run the EPA. She oversaw a one-quarter budget cut at the agency, and enforcement cases by investigators plummeted.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Automakers meet with EPA, DOT about federal fuel efficiency standards

Apr 27, 2017
The auto industry came to Washington today for talks with the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation. On the table: tweaks to the emissions and mileage requirements currently in place. The White House and automakers want lower standards to be considered. Click the audio player above to hear the full story.