Chemical industry officials are urging Congress to quickly approve legislation renewing EPA’s authority to collect industry fees to support quick pesticide registration reviews, with the agency poised to imminently lose its power because lawmakers did not renew it as part of the broad funding deal to avert another government shutdown.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) is planning to introduce a resolution stating that climate change is a national emergency -- a direct response to President Trump's declaration about border security.
EPA appears to have halted the long-running and controversial effort by its research office to assess the human health risks of formaldehyde, a move that could bolster efforts by the chemical industry which is preparing for the possibility that EPA's toxics office may select the chemical for evaluation, an approach the industry has long favored.
Some Republicans fear the president's border wall emergency declaration could give a future Democratic president a roadmap to pursue policies on hotly contested issues, including climate change.
Five GOP senators say they will have “serious concerns” about acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler’s nomination to head the agency permanently unless he gives them details on a plan to reform the renewable fuel standard (RFS) that satisfies them, which would be enough GOP votes to reject Wheeler in a floor vote if all Democrats oppose him.
“Trust me, we'll be fine because the American people know that our entire party actually believes that climate change is happening and caused by humans,” the Democratic Leader said.
An environmental group says power sector modeling shows that carbon capture deployments would replace “uncontrolled fossil-fired power, not new or existing renewable energy.”
Capitol Hill Republicans are increasingly unified in their opposition to the ambitious “Green New Deal” climate change plan championed by many Democrats, allowing them to place less of an emphasis on prior disputes over climate science that could give them problems with voters increasingly concerned about global warming.
Industry and other sources are lowering their expectations that Congress will enact major infrastructure legislation because lawmakers have made little progress toward a deal on new project funding, though the White House is pressing ahead on eased rules for environment and climate reviews that many infrastructure projects must undertake.
The non-binding resolution says Congress “reaffirms its commitment to the Paris Agreement and that the United States is still in and should not withdraw.”
