Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 4/11/18
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(ACC Mentioned) A Trade War Could Hit Grundy County Particularly Hard
Apr 11, 2018 | Morris Daily Herald
By Kevin Solari
As China and the United States set and exchange threats of tariffs, it turns out farmers and manufacturers in Grundy County could be caught in the middle of the potential trade war. -
(ACC Mentioned) Pruitt's Successes, Like Pruitt's Offenses, Are Rooted in Corruption
Apr 11, 2018 | Republic Report
By David Halperin
Scott Pruitt is under heavy fire for an unbelievably long list of ways that he’s sought to wrap himself in luxury and security while running the EPA. -
With Pruitt in Limbo, Udall Wants More 'Vetting' of Wheeler
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Geof Koss
New Mexico Democratic Sen. Tom Udall is pressing to delay confirmation votes for EPA deputy administrator nominee Andrew Wheeler, arguing that agency chief Scott Pruitt's ethics woes make it likely that the deputy will end up in charge of the agency. -
This Lobbyist Could Become EPA Chief Soon – and He May Be Worse Than Pruitt
Apr 11, 2018 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Keith Gaby
Given the tenuous hold Scott Pruitt has on his job leading the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, attention has now turned to the pending nomination of coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to become the embattled agency’s deputy administrator. -
IG Plans Review of EPA's Implementation of 2-For-1 Order
Apr 11, 2018 | Inside EPA
EPA's Office of Inspector General (IG) is planning a review of EPA's implementation of President Donald Trump's executive order (EO) 13771, which directs agencies to target two existing regulations for repeal for each new rule issued, to assess the order's implementation and identify best practices to support future implementation. -
Agency Moves to End Skin-Irritation Testing on Animals
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Corbin Hiar
EPA is now evaluating the skin irritation potential of some chemicals without testing them on animals. -
EPA Details Plan To Craft Lead Dust Rule, Bolstering Environmentalists
Apr 11, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Maria Hegstad
EPA has detailed a lengthy list of actions it plans to take to update its policies addressing lead paint, actions that leave one environmentalist cautiously optimistic about the changes EPA is expected to make its lead-paint dust standard for when renovators in residential buildings must conduct abatement by a new court-ordered deadline. -
Analysts Say Trade War Could Hurt U.S. Petrochemicals Boom
Apr 11, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Katherine Blunt
The escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China could hinder a global boom in petrochemicals production largely centered on cheap natural gas liquids from American shale fields, according to an analysis by IHS Markit. -
Cove Point LNG Launches East Coast Exports
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Jenny Mandel
Dominion Energy Inc.'s Cove Point liquefied natural gas project was put into full commercial service yesterday after extensive work to transform it from an LNG-receiving terminal into an import-export facility. -
Texas Efficiencies Gaining as State Churns Out Higher Natural Gas, Oil Volumes with Fewer People
Apr 11, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Carolyn Davis
Texas natural gas output increased 3% in February from a year ago to nearly 638.5 Bcf, while crude oil production climbed by 21% to a near-record 110.5 million bbl-plus, according to the latest Texas Petro Index (TPI). -
Preliminary Research Says Fracking Harms the Psychosocial Well-Being of Rural Communities
Apr 11, 2018 | AG Week
By Mike Rosmann
A recent review of published research and policy literature concerning the mental health consequences to rural — and often agricultural — communities in which fracking has been undertaken to extract oil and natural gas indicates initial temporary benefits of this industry, usually followed by longer-term detriments to most communities. -
White House Departure Creates Another Cyber Vacancy
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
President Trump's top homeland security adviser resigned yesterday, leaving another key cybersecurity post vacant as the U.S. government tries to rein in foreign hackers. -
DHS Brews a 'Cyber Storm' for Critical Infrastructure
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
U.S. homeland security officials put vital infrastructure networks to the test yesterday morning as they kicked off the biennial "Cyber Storm" exercise. -
Trump's Team Ignoring Obama Sustainability Mandate
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
Dozens of federal agencies have not released reports on environmental sustainability during the Trump administration, failing to abide by an Obama-era rule. -
Shell's Emissions Tick Back Up
Apr 11, 2018 | Bloomberg (In E&E Climatewire)
By Kelly Gilblom
Royal Dutch Shell PLC's greenhouse gas emissions rose last year to the highest level since 2014, suggesting a tough road ahead for a company whose investors are demanding it pivot toward a low-carbon future.
Industry and Association News
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Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) A Trade War Could Hit Grundy County Particularly Hard
Apr 11, 2018 | Morris Daily Herald
By Kevin Solari
As China and the United States set and exchange threats of tariffs, it turns out farmers and manufacturers in Grundy County could be caught in the middle of the potential trade war.
When China announced a list of 106 U.S. products that would be subject to tariffs, it included a number of items familiar to many in Grundy County: soybeans, corn, corn flour and several types of chemical products that are either manufactured at area facilities or the area facilities are part of the supply chain.
Victoria Wax, manager at the Grundy County Farm Bureau, said farmers are going to be hit hard.
“When your looking at costs increasing, that’s going to cut into profits they’re making,” Wax said.
Adding to the problems, 2018 is forecasting to be yet another down year for crops and commodities prices. Wax said it is looking to be the fifth straight year of declining farm income.
Soybeans are big business in Grundy County. In 2017, 96,000 acres of soybeans were planted, yielding 5,485,000 bushels of soybeans. Even in a down year, that equals tens of millions of dollars in income.
About 30 percent of soybeans grown in the United States are exported to China, Wax said. And although the demand from China means they will always have to export some of the United States’ crop, she said higher prices means they could also look to places like South America for less expensive products.
On April 4, China announced the American products that would now be subject to tariffs when entering China. Tariffs are taxes or duties imposed on imports or exports by a country. Tariffs often will increase the cost of a product, and can be used to control imports or protect a country’s native industry.
The Chinese tariffs were a response to threat made by President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Chinese products entering the United States. The tit-for-tat exchange has created fears of a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. The two nations also are some of each other’s largest trading partners.
The list of products impacted by China’s tariffs include numerous agriculture products, not just the corn and soybeans. Dried cranberries are on the list, along with wheat and sorghum, frozen meat, orange juice and various types of tobacco. Because the list is so varied, it could affect Grundy County farmers in various ways.
“It will be kind of a chain reaction,” Wax said.
For example, if Chinese consumers buy less American meat, then fewer American livestock will need to be fed corn and soybeans.
“This is a real concern to our membership,” Wax said.
In response, the farm bureau is encouraging its members to contact legislators and voice their concerns.
Industrial effects
It’s not just agriculture that can be hit. Automobiles, aircraft and more than a dozen different chemicals also are included on the list.
Polyethylene is one of them, and it is one of the products manufactured at the LyondellBasell Morris Complex.
The complex is one of the largest employers in Grundy County, with more than 300 employees, according to Grundy County Economic Development. LyondellBasell’s publications said it contributes more than $300 million into the local economy.
The company did not respond to a request for comment, but it is represented by the American Chemistry Council, a group that represents more than 160 chemical companies across the nation.
In a letter released by Cal Dooley, president and chief executive officer of the ACC, it said that chemical manufacturers support free trade, and that the tariffs are in large part targeted towards chemicals.
“China is one of the U.S. chemical industry’s most important trading partners, importing 11 percent, or $3.2 billion, of all U.S. plastic resins in 2017,” Dooley’s letter reads. “We are particularly concerned that 40 percent of the products to which China has assigned new tariffs are chemicals, including polyethylene, PVC, polycarbonates, acrylates and others.”
Dooley urged the two countries to reach and agreement before the tariffs are implemented.
China appears to have cooled its rhetoric, with President Xi Jingping saying in a speech on Tuesday that he would like to work to open China’s economy, with the stock market positively responding to the results.
http://www.morrisherald-news.com/2018/04/05/a-trade-war-could-hit-grundy-county-particularly-hard/alumwcc/
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(ACC Mentioned) Pruitt's Successes, Like Pruitt's Offenses, Are Rooted in Corruption
Apr 11, 2018 | Republic Report
By David Halperin
Scott Pruitt is under heavy fire for an unbelievably long list of ways that he’s sought to wrap himself in luxury and security while running the EPA. The list includes, so far, regular first-class flights, private jets, frequent trips home to Oklahoma, questionable overseas travel, a troubling Paris layover, a soundproof booth in his office, a requested bulletproof desk, 20 staff committed to the 24/7 security detail everywhere he goes including personal trips to Disneyland and the Rose Bowl, a $50-per-sleepover sweetheart condo rental from a lobbyist’s wife, a middle-of-the-work-week nap in the $50-per-sleepover rental that spurred his security detail to break down the door, a siren-blaring motorcade to a fancy French dinner at DC’s Le Diplomate, the bypassing of the White House to give raises to close aides, the reported extensive absenteeism of recently-resigned top Pruitt aide Samantha Dravis, and the demotion and dismissal of senior EPA staff who questioned Pruitt’s spending and security demands.
Obviously the concern here is corruption — that the hyper-entitled Pruitt is spending way too much of the taxpayers’ money on his own personal comfort, convenience, and pleasure; and also, in the case of the condo deal and possibly the Rose Bowl trip, that he is getting personal benefit from special interests that want to curry favor with him and influence EPA decisions.
President Trump and conservative organizations have rallied to Pruitt’s side. But rather than focusing on defense of Pruitt’s indefensible over-spending, they are implying that these transgressions should be overlooked because Pruitt is doing such valuable work implementing policy and enforcement changes at the EPA. Trump tweeted, “While Security spending was somewhat more than his predecessor, Scott Pruitt has received death threats because of his bold actions at EPA. Record clean Air & Water while saving USA Billions of Dollars. Rent was about market rate, travel expenses OK. Scott is doing a great job!” Meanwhile scores of conservative activists released a statement praising Pruitt and listing numerous actions Pruitt has taken to roll back environmental regulations and commitments, including the Paris climate agreement.
But the actions that Trump and conservatives insist outweigh Pruitt’s spending offenses are, in fact, much larger, more damaging manifestations of Pruitt’s essential corruption.
Pruitt’s rise from Oklahoma state legislator to state attorney general to EPA chief has been fueled by his willingness at every level to do the bidding of fossil interests, to mold policy to the wishes of the most polluting oil, gas, coal, and chemical companies.
As a legislator, Pruitt was active in the controversial American Legislative Exchange Council, a business lobby backed by Koch Industries and other energy companies. Harold Hamm, the billionaire who runs the oil and gas giant Continental Resources, co-chaired Pruitt’s 2014 re-election campaign. Pruitt became chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association, which is heavily financed by fossil fuel and corporate interests.
As Oklahoma AG, Pruitt repeatedly sued the Obama EPA, sometimes alongside corporate supporters like coal giant Murray Energy, and, in sending letters to the EPA and other federal agencies complaining about regulations, he cribbed language, almost word for word, from drafts provided by Oklahoma oil and gas company Devon Energy.
As EPA head, Pruitt has rarely met with environmental advocates but has frequently sat down with fossil fuel and other corporate executives and lobbyists, often before rendering decisions that benefit those special interests. The Washington Post has documented numerous examples of Pruitt meeting with representatives of mining, automobile, oil, utility, and agriculture groups and then giving those lobbyists exactly what they wanted. Pruitt traveled to a luxury resort in South Carolina to address the American Chemistry Council, an industry lobbying group that has been getting the policy changes it wants, on issues from toxic chemical use to chemical plant safety, from Pruitt’s EPA. Pruitt has selected as his number two, the deputy administrator at EPA (pending Senate approval this week), Andrew Wheeler, previously Murray Energy’s top DC lobbyist.
Pruitt would likely expect the support of those same special interests as he eyes higher office; reportedly he has his eye on the U.S. attorney general job, the Senate seat that 83-year-old James Inhofe (R-OK) may vacate in 2020, perhaps even the White House.
While elite conservative leaders, many of whose operations get support from fossil fuel and other corporate interests, are aggressively trying to save Pruitt’s career, there is little evidence that people at the grassroots much care. Why should they? If your home is near the coasts or the gulf, if you live or work near toxic chemicals, if you make your living farming or fishing, if you enjoy the beauty of our lands, you have no reason to celebrate Pruitt actions that accelerate pollution and global climate change. And if you’ve cast your votes in recent elections in part aimed at draining the D.C. swamp and reducing the corruption of our politics by special interests, why would you stand by Pruitt, this parasite of taxpayer dollars, this swampiest of swamp creatures?
The oil, gas, and coal companies themselves, the real beneficiaries of Scott Pruitt’s corruption, have said remarkably little to defend Pruitt as his scandal has mounted. Although they surely will keep financing Pruitt’s campaigns for higher office if he survives, for now their high-paid public relations advisers are smart enough to steer them away from embracing such a shamelessly dishonorable public official.
https://www.republicreport.org/2018/pruitts-successes-like-pruitts-offenses-are-rooted-in-corruption/
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With Pruitt in Limbo, Udall Wants More 'Vetting' of Wheeler
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Geof Koss
New Mexico Democratic Sen. Tom Udall is pressing to delay confirmation votes for EPA deputy administrator nominee Andrew Wheeler, arguing that agency chief Scott Pruitt's ethics woes make it likely that the deputy will end up in charge of the agency.
Wheeler, a former staff director on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee who has also lobbied for coal interests, should meet with additional senators, given Pruitt's troubles, Udall said this morning.
"He should go through everything that you would expect from an incoming EPA administrator," he told E&E News. "I don't think most senators know what he's about. I don't think they have any good understanding of him, so we just need a very thorough process."
Udall said he is "pushing them hard to do this," and signaled again that Democrats are unlikely to yield the customary 30 hours of post-cloture debate on Wheeler's nomination.
"Right now, it looks like we're going to have to use all 30 hours and just push hard to stop him and hope that the administration specifically weighs in and says, 'We don't want this to move forward at this point; more spadework needs to be done,'" he said.
The timing of Senate action on Wheeler is unclear. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said earlier this week that the chamber will remain in session until the current slate of six pending nominees are confirmed.
Under the schedule McConnell set in motion last month, Wheeler is in line behind Patrick Pizzella, Trump's pick to be deputy secretary of Labor, whose nomination will begin to be debated this afternoon.
If Democrats don't agree to allow the GOP majority to expedite the process, a confirmation vote on Wheeler might require weekend work.
Asked about the possibility of a delay on Wheeler, a McConnell spokesman noted that altering the order of votes would require the consent of all 100 senators, adding that Democrats have already had six months to review the nomination.Pruitt's 'imperial tenure'
As they seek to stall Wheeler, Senate Democrats today continued to beat the drum for Pruitt's exit from EPA (E&E Daily, April 11).
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) unloaded on Pruitt this morning at a news conference organized by Udall.
"The Trump administration campaigned on draining the swamp, yet EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt not only embodies the swamp, he's created a new definition of the swamp," Schumer told reporters.
"I've never seen anybody who has such disregard for the public in his environmental stance but also on his ethical and moral stands about how Cabinet officials should conduct themselves," the senator said.
The Trump administration, Schumer continued, has "made the swamp deeper and stinkier than any administration in history, and Scott Pruitt is the embodiment of that stench."
Udall said he continues to gather signatures on a resolution he plans to introduce in the coming days that will call on Pruitt to resign (E&E Daily, April 11).
"It's time for his imperial tenure to end," the senator told reporters, flanked by activists bearing anti-Pruitt posters.
EPA defended Pruitt from the criticism in a statement. "From advocating to leave the Paris Accord, working to repeal Obama's Clean Power Plan and WOTUS, declaring a war on lead and cleaning up toxic Superfund sites, Administrator Pruitt is focused on advancing President Trump's agenda of regulatory certainty and environmental stewardship," agency spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/04/11/stories/1060078747
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This Lobbyist Could Become EPA Chief Soon – and He May Be Worse Than Pruitt
Apr 11, 2018 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Keith Gaby
Given the tenuous hold Scott Pruitt has on his job leading the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, attention has now turned to the pending nomination of coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler to become the embattled agency’s deputy administrator.
In the event Pruitt were forced from office by the avalanche of scandalsswirling around him, Wheeler – if confirmed as the agency’s number two – would suddenly be running the EPA.
His tenure as acting administrator could be lengthy, too, given the closely divided Senate and the controversial policies of the Trump administration in this area.
And things are moving fast: Wheeler’s nomination is scheduled to come before the Senate this week. It is critically important that Americans get educated on his career to date.Wheeler spent years as an energy industry lobbyist
Here’s the bottom line: Andrew Wheeler running EPA would go far beyond having an administrator overly influenced by lobbyists. If he’s confirmed, the head of EPA would, in fact, be an energy industry lobbyist.
On Wheeler’s client list was Murray Energy, one of the worst corporate citizens in America.
Working for a big lobbying firm, Faegre Baker Daniels, Wheeler lobbied on behalf of energy companies for nearly a decade, including Murray. He earned more than $3 million in income for his firm from the large coal mining company.His coal mining client paid millions in fines
Since Wheeler began lobbying for Murray Energy, the company has paid millions in fines and penalties for contaminating waterways in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania with coal slurry and discharge, and for other health and safety violations.
In 2010, Murray Energy contaminated the Captina Creek in Ohio for the fourth time since 2000, with coal slurry. According to the Columbus Dispatch, coal slurry from Murray Energy spilled into the creek in 2000, 2005 and 2008.
In 2015, federal regulators accused Murray Energy of attempting to silence whistleblowers and said that “Murray Energy chided 3,500 workers for making too many confidential safety complaints to regulators and – at one of the mines – threatened to retaliate by closing down operations.”
As Wheeler’s client, Murray Energy created an “action plan” for EPA that called for overturning rules limiting mercury pollution, carbon pollution and air pollution that crosses state lines. It also called for cutting the EPA “at least in half.”Insider knowledge could make him dangerous
Wheeler’s lobbying list of clients regulated by the EPA is extensive. It also includes corporate names such as Bear Head LNG Corporation, Celanese Corporation, Domestic Fuel Solutions Group, ICOR International and the Nuclear Energy Institute.
He’s devoted his career to defending the interests of the nation’s largest polluters, as a lobbyist and in jobs on Capitol Hill. As deputy administrator, Wheeler would likely use his bureaucratic knowledge to continue to work for the goals of his past clients – with tragic results for our air, water, kids and heath.
That could make him even more dangerous than Scott Pruitt.
https://www.edf.org/blog/2018/04/10/lobbyist-could-become-epa-chief-soon-and-he-may-be-worse-pruitt
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IG Plans Review of EPA's Implementation of 2-For-1 Order
Apr 11, 2018 | Inside EPA
EPA's Office of Inspector General (IG) is planning a review of EPA's implementation of President Donald Trump's executive order (EO) 13771, which directs agencies to target two existing regulations for repeal for each new rule issued, to assess the order's implementation and identify best practices to support future implementation.
In an April 10 letter to EPA's Office of Policy, IG Director of Toxics, Chemical Management and Pollution Prevention Jeffrey Harris announces the review of the agency's “Implementation of Executive Order 13771, 'Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,'” and seeks to plan a discussion on the audit's purpose.
“The OIG’s objective is to evaluate the EPA’s management controls for implementing Executive Order 13771,” Harris says. “The anticipated benefits of this project include an assessment of the agency’s compliance with the executive order and the quality, transparency and consistency of its implementing policies and procedures.”
The letter is addressed to Samantha Dravis, the former associate administrator for the Office of Policy who had been charged with implementing the order and other Trump administration deregulatory efforts.
Dravis, a long-time confidant of Administrator Scott Pruitt, recently resigned from the agency just days before two Democratic senators alleged she had not shown up for work for three months -- an issue the IG is also investigating.
EO 13771 is the lynchpin of the Trump administration's far-reaching deregulatory agenda, requiring agencies to repeal two rules for every new measure issued. It also requires agencies to offset the cost of new regulations.
But it has drawn pushback from environmentalists and public interest groups, as well as concerns from government economists who allege that the order significantly increases workload and raises implementation questions.
EPA and other government economists have said the order doubles the workload of regulatory impact analysis and raises other uncertainties.
About 100 economists and lawyers, in a May 22 letter to Pruitt, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and others, urged the Trump administration to either revoke or amend the order and ensure that all de-regulatory actions pass muster under benefit-cost analysis.
Public interest environmental groups are seeking to undo their Feb. 26 loss in a lawsuit challenging the order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing in an April 2 motion to file an amended complaint that rules agencies have delayed as a result of the order have caused harm.
In the letter to the policy office, Harris says IG would like to discuss areas of concern that agency officials have.
The letter also says staff will conduct the review at headquarters, and seek to identify best practices and lessons learned that will assist with the EO's implementation.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ig-plans-review-epas-implementation-2-1-order
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Agency Moves to End Skin-Irritation Testing on Animals
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Corbin Hiar
EPA is now evaluating the skin irritation potential of some chemicals without testing them on animals.
The testing change was announced as part of an interim science policy on skin sensitization that is open to public comment through June 9.
"This draft policy is another step toward achieving EPA's goal of reducing the use of animals and increasing the use of cutting-edge science in chemical testing," EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a statement yesterday.
EPA currently will accept "new approach methodologies" only for testing single chemicals, such as pesticide active or inert ingredients. Those tests evaluate the acute oral, dermal and inhalation lethal toxicity of chemicals as well as their potential for skin irritation and sensitization or eye irritation.
"However, EPA expects expansion of this interim policy in the near term to include some pesticide formulations or other mixtures evaluated by [the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics]," the draft says. EPA is waiting for initial test results of some complex toxic products to come back from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences before it will broaden the testing change.
"This interim policy focuses on those [chemicals] that will be accepted for regulatory use in the near term due to their simplicity, ease of implementation, and their use will not compromise the protection of public health," the draft says.
The 13-page document also outlines a couple of defined approaches that the agency has "deemed acceptable" for testing the skin irritation potential of chemicals.
The move to accept some test tube, computer or chemical reaction-based evaluations instead of those done on living organisms was called for in the Toxic Substances Control Act reforms enacted in 2016. It is also part of a broader shift away from animal testing that began several years ago and is now taking place both internationally and across the federal government (Greenwire, Jan. 30).
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/04/11/stories/1060078749
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EPA Details Plan To Craft Lead Dust Rule, Bolstering Environmentalists
Apr 11, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Maria Hegstad
EPA has detailed a lengthy list of actions it plans to take to update its policies addressing lead paint, actions that leave one environmentalist cautiously optimistic about the changes EPA is expected to make its lead-paint dust standard for when renovators in residential buildings must conduct abatement by a new court-ordered deadline.
But Tom Neltner, chemical policy director of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), says he is less certain of the agency's ability to propose a new definition of how much lead paint may contain.
While Neltner says EPA staff still have "got a lot more work to do. The 9th Circuit decision says they need to deal with both [the] paint [definition] and [the] dust [hazard standard]," Neltner tells Inside EPA. "On the dust [hazard standard], that looks doable. … Getting the dust standard lowered is a high priority. Based on this, I'm hoping they can do the proposed [rule on dust] within 90 days."
But Neltner adds that he's "not sure what to expect on the definition of [lead-based] paint."
Neltner's comments come in response to a declaration from Jeffrey Morris, director of EPA's toxics office, detailing the steps the agency has taken as it seeks to revise the lead paint dust rule. The declaration was submitted to the 9th Circuit alongside a motion that asked the court to extend by 90 days the deadline for EPA to propose the new rules.
Late last month, the 9th Circuit, in In Re: A Community Voice et al v. EPA, granted without comment EPA's motion to allow for an additional 90 days -- until June 26 -- for the agency to propose its rule.
Days later, EPA withdrew from White House Office of Management and Budget review a draft proposal that it had previously submitted. But an EPA source says the withdrawn proposal "just was nothing."
The source says officials had "been counting on more time," adding that the withdrawn proposal "would have presented problems going from baked to final."
Morris' declaration includes lists of projects related to updating the lead dust hazard standard and separately, for revising EPA's definition of lead-based paint, further divided between completed projects and those yet to be finished.
Morris' declaration indicates, for instance, that agency staff has determined "modeling inputs and defaults for non-dust parameters used for background estimates of blood-lead levels for use in the Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic (IEUBK) model -- the model the Agency has determined is most appropriate for rulemaking; estimated dust-lead concentrations for a wide range of dust-lead loadings considering the relative contribution of floor and sill dust, time spent in different microenvironments, and approaches to convert from dust-lead loading to dust-lead concentration"; "coordinated across EPA to ensure that current approaches and data are used to estimate IQ change associated with blood lead change; and completed three initial drafts of a technical support document which have been shared with the Agency workgroup for feedback."
'Fits Nicely'
Neltner noted that "a lot of these details" in these completed activities are efforts EPA undertook earlier, "driven by Flint, MI, and the drinking water. . . . It fits nicely for paint."
These activities examine lead exposure from various media and pathways -- an issue in drinking water regulations known as relative source contribution -- and would include exposure from lead-based paint and household dust.
Morris' document also outlines a series of projects related to updating the hazard standard that are "initiated but not yet completed," among them "working on a sensitivity analysis for IEUBK modeling for dust and non-dust parameters including coordination with other EPA offices that have conducted recent blood-lead modeling in other environmental media" and "working on completing a final draft of a technical support document such that all parameters used to estimate exposure, blood lead and IQ changes are transparently documented and available for use in the economics assessment."
Neltner explains that EPA's existing hazard standard for lead in dust is 40 micrograms of lead per square foot (ug/ft2) of a homes' floors, based on how much lead is "likely to wipe off on a kid's hand" with the dust.
"The current standard is based on a child in the home having a greater than five percent chance of a blood lead level greater than 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood (ug/dL)," Neltner says.
The 10 ug/dL standard used to be the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) "action level" for lead, where efforts would be taken to reduce lead exposure to children whose blood-lead levels exceeded this amount. The CDC lowered its action level to 5 ug/dL in 2012, and an advisory committee is debating the possibility of further lowering that action level this year.
But Neltner said that EPA's lead dust standard is less protective than intended. He points to an American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) 2016 analysis of lead exposures and harms to children. It finds EPA's residential lead dust hazard standard "failed to protect children from having a blood lead concentration greater than or equal to10 ug/dL (greater than or equal to 100 ppb) when they were first promulgated . . . and they provide an illusion of safety. At a floor standard of 40 ug/ft2, the current EPA standard for floors, 50% of children were estimated to have a blood lead concentration greater than or equal to 5 ug/dL (greater than or equal to 50 ppb); 5% of children have a blood lead concentration greater than or equal to 5 ug/dL (greater than or equal to 50 ppb) at a median floor dust lead level of 1.5 ug/ft2."
Such analyses were behind the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) February 2017 decision to lower its lead dust hazard standard to 10 ug/ft2, Neltner says, adding that HUD leaders "got tired of waiting for EPA" to lower its own standard from 40 ug/ft2.
"If we want to get that risk [of a child having a blood lead level greater than 10 ug/dL] below five percent, it'll be really tight," Neltner said.
Lead-Based Paint Definition
Neltner appears less certain of the outcome of EPA's activities related to updating the definition of lead-based paint, an issue intertwined with the other agencies' rules regarding lead exposure in household dust. This issue, he explains, is complicated by the different definitions used by different agencies.
He points as one example to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), which in its 1978 rule barred lead-based paint at levels greater than 0.06 percent, or 600 ppm, lead in paint. The AAP notes that this standard was set not based on health concerns but "because there was evidence that paint could be manufactured with this lower level of [lead] contamination."
Neltner explains that because of different agencies' definitions, there is a gap in the regulation of the substance. An "odd place [exists] where new paint couldn't be over 600 parts per million (ppm) lead, but old paint could be [up to] 6,000" ppm lead before remediation was required, because of the definitions in lead-related rules and legislation. The gap between those two numbers has since increased, with Congress lowering CPSC's definition of lead-based paint to 90 ppm in the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.
EPA's own definition of lead-based paint means paint or other surface coatings that contain lead equal to or in excess of . . . 0.5 percent by weight. HUD's lead-dust standard has traditionally been the same as EPA's of 40 ug/ft2. But in "February 2017, [HUD] told new lead hazard control grantees that they were expected to meet a [new] 10 ug/ft2 standard," Neltner says.
Lowering the numbers in EPA's definition of lead-based paint is "an essential part of the" rule, Neltner explains. "We're hoping that HUD and EPA will coordinate so they are using one definition" of lead-based paint," he adds.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-details-plan-craft-lead-dust-rule-bolstering-environmentalists
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Analysts Say Trade War Could Hurt U.S. Petrochemicals Boom
Apr 11, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Katherine Blunt
The escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China could hinder a global boom in petrochemicals production largely centered on cheap natural gas liquids from American shale fields, according to an analysis by IHS Markit.
Both countries have proposed tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of imports, including certain chemicals and plastics. IHS Markit anticipates that the measures, if implemented, would deal a blow to U.S. producers of polyethylene, propane and vinyls and force them to search for export opportunities in other Asian countries.
The back-and-forth began last month, when the Trump Administration imposed tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. China then retaliated with tariffs on some $3 billion in U.S. goods, and each country has since threatened to target additional imports.
China has for years been a key U.S. trading partner, importing $130 billion in American goods last year, IHS Markit noted. The U.S. imported $505 billion in Chinese goods during the same period.
China's recently proposed tariffs target only certain types of polyethylene, the world's most common plastic. Low-density polyethylene, used in bags and packaging, would be most affected, but IHS Markit anticipates that producers of those materials would look for export opportunities in Europe and supply China with facilities in Asia and the Middle East.
"No doubt some shuffling will occur and trade will rebalance," the analysis stated.
IHS Markit noted, however, that the proposed tariffs could affect U.S. polyethylene prices if the measures last beyond 2019, when more than a millions tons of low-density polyethylene production capacity is expected to come online as Dow Chemical, Formosa and Sasol complete major projects.
The tariffs could also affect prices for U.S. propane, 3.4 million metric tons of which was exported to China last year, according to IHS Markit. The firm expects producers would look for new export opportunities in Japan and Korea should the Chinese measures take effect.
However, U.S. producers of certain types of vinyls, including ethylene dichloride, have fewer export options outside of China, and IHS Markit anticipates that they would likely reduce domestic operating rates to avoid a supply glut.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Analysts-say-trade-war-could-hurt-U-S-12824822.php
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Cove Point LNG Launches East Coast Exports
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Jenny Mandel
Dominion Energy Inc.'s Cove Point liquefied natural gas project was put into full commercial service yesterday after extensive work to transform it from an LNG-receiving terminal into an import-export facility.
The plant becomes the second LNG facility in the Lower 48 states to compete on global export markets following Cheniere Energy Inc.'s Sabine Pass LNG terminal, which opened in May 2016 (Energywire, May 3, 2016).
After the facility operated as an LNG import plant since the 1970s, Dominion's project in the fall of 2014 began to transform the then-largely idle terminal into one that could take advantage of the boom in domestically produced shale gas.
Dominion says the $4 billion construction project is the largest ever completed in Maryland. It is located just under 10 miles from the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant near Lusby, Md., along the Chesapeake Bay.
Cove Point is designed to liquefy up to 770 million cubic feet per day of natural gas and has 20-year contracts with subsidiaries of Japan's Sumitomo Corp. and India's Gail Ltd. for the plant's full output.
The plant exported its first cargoes last month under an agreement with Royal Dutch Shell PLC following startup testing of the equipment (Energywire, March 5).
The Cove Point and Sabine Pass LNG terminals that are now operational are scheduled to be joined in international markets by four terminals that are under construction in Louisiana, Texas and Georgia. Three more terminals have been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency in charge of onshore LNG terminal permitting, but are not currently in construction.
The only other export terminal in the U.S. is a small one in Kenai, Alaska, that was built in the late 1960s and exported LNG regularly to Japan until 2011, after which it made only sporadic shipments before being closed in 2015.
U.S. LNG export capacity is expected to reach 10 billion cubic feet per day by the end of this decade, putting it in a league with Qatar and Australia as one of the biggest shippers of LNG.
U.S. LNG supplies are generally credited with opening global natural gas markets, thanks to the use of more liberal contract terms than that had long been used in the industry. U.S. LNG exporters have separated gas prices from those for crude oil and allow buyers to resell unwanted cargoes, spurring stronger short-term markets for the commodity.
Those changes, as well as the surge in LNG availability that occurred as the U.S. stopped importing cargoes and turned to domestic gas supplies, have given buyers like Japan and South Korea more market power and shifted the calculus for Russia, which has long been the dominant gas supplier in Europe via pipeline exports.
Dominion led reporters on a tour of the Cove Point facility before construction work started but has been close-lipped about the project since then. In a brief statement yesterday on the commencement of full commercial operations, the company said, "After completing a planned maintenance outage, the facility has been ramping up to full production of LNG from natural gas provided by its export customers since late March."
Throughout the project's planning and construction phases, Dominion has been under fire from environmentalists for the export plant's role in supporting foreign demand for U.S. shale gas.
It has also faced opposition from local residents who say that the plant is closer to residential communities than most similar industrial facilities and poses a risk to nearby homes in case of an accident (Energywire, April 15, 2014).
Yesterday, LNG advocates hailed the facility's full launch as a milestone for the domestic energy industry.
"Now that the facility has entered into commercial service, Cove Point will bring U.S. natural gas and energy options to allies and partners across the globe looking to reduce emissions and pollution," said Charlie Riedl, executive director of the Center for LNG.
In a recent editorial, Energy Secretary Rick Perry lauded the natural gas industry's tilt last year from a net import basis to net exports.
Perry claimed the surge in LNG exports — permitted during the Obama administration — as a victory for President Trump's deregulatory agenda.
"Facilities like these represent opportunities for high-paying American careers — not just at the export facilities themselves, but up and down the supply chain," Perry wrote, pledging to continue the administration's efforts to streamline energy permitting.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/04/11/stories/1060078703
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Texas Efficiencies Gaining as State Churns Out Higher Natural Gas, Oil Volumes with Fewer People
Apr 11, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Carolyn Davis
Texas natural gas output increased 3% in February from a year ago to nearly 638.5 Bcf, while crude oil production climbed by 21% to a near-record 110.5 million bbl-plus, according to the latest Texas Petro Index (TPI).
Economist Karr Ingham, who created the TPI and updates it monthly, said it took fewer people to recover the volumes, “defying nearly all usually reliable economic indicators.” The upstream economy in Texas also continues to expand, with the TPI up for the 15th consecutive month.
“Most of the components used to calculate the TPI -- including crude oil and natural gas prices, the rig count, drilling permits, well completions, and upstream industry employment -- are down compared to their pre-downturn peak levels,” Ingham said. “What’s not lagging behind prior peak levels? Crude oil production, and most likely by the time 2018 is said and done, natural gas production as well.
“The implications are striking: record crude oil and natural gas production at significantly lower prices, rig counts, and number of industry workers,” he said. “It means that fewer employees are needed to produce more crude oil in Texas and the U.S. than has ever been produced.”
In 2008, each Texan employed in the upstream oil and gas industry produced about 2,000 bbl of crude, according to the TPI. Crude oil production per employee began to climb in 2009, with sharp annual increases from 2012 through 2016, which pushed the recovery in Texas to more than 6,000 bbl/employee.
“The ratio slowed in 2017 as industry employment began improving on the heels of the downturn, but was still higher than in 2016,” Ingham said.
Events are more nuanced than that relationship might suggest, he noted. The economist said growing industry employment and other measures of activity from 2002-2008, when nearly 90,000 jobs were added and expanded industry employment by nearly 75%, brought about a big expansion of gas production, even as oil output continued to decline.
“In many ways, that set the stage for the growth in crude oil production from 2009-2015,” Ingham said. “The fact that crude oil and natural gas can now be produced at record levels in Texas (and the U.S.), with significantly fewer employees and rigs is the result of extraordinary industry expansion from 2002-2008 and 2009-2014, and also achieving greater operating efficiency to attain ever-higher levels of productivity.”
The TPI is a composite index based upon a group of upstream economic indicators. It climbed in February to 191.5, up from 188.7 in January and 155.7 in February 2017. Before the most recent economic downturn, the TPI peaked at a record 313.9 in November 2014, which marked the peak of an economic expansion that began in December 2009, when the TPI stood at 188.7.
According to the index, oil prices in February averaged $58.72/bbl, putting the value of Texas-produced crude oil at about $6.49 billion, or roughly 42.1% more than in February 2017.
Gas prices during February averaged $2.67/Mcf, which meant the value of Texas-produced gas increased about 40% year/year to more than $2.34 billion.
Ingham also noted that the Baker Hughes Inc. active rig count in Texas averaged 476 units in February, 28.5% higher year/year when an average of 370 rigs were working.
The number of original drilling permits issued in February also climbed from a year ago to 1,097, 10.7% higher.
An estimated average of 215,500 Texans remained on upstream oil and gas industry payrolls in the second month of 2018, about 13.8% more people than the revised average of 189,400 in February 2017, but about 27.5% fewer than the estimated high of 297,130 in December 2014.
According to revised TPI estimates per the revised data from the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), the trough of upstream oil and gas employment in Texas in the most recent downturn occurred in September 2016 at 181,600. The TWC in March issued revised monthly industry employment data for 2016 and 2017, requiring the TPI to be updated.
The TPI is a service of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, which is the nation’s largest state association of independent oil and gas producers.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/113993-texas-efficiencies-gaining-as-state-churns-out-higher-natural-gas-oil-volumes-with-fewer-people
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Preliminary Research Says Fracking Harms the Psychosocial Well-Being of Rural Communities
Apr 11, 2018 | AG Week
By Mike Rosmann
A recent review of published research and policy literature concerning the mental health consequences to rural — and often agricultural — communities in which fracking has been undertaken to extract oil and natural gas indicates initial temporary benefits of this industry, usually followed by longer-term detriments to most communities.
This analysis of available research studies was undertaken by the Committee on Rural Health of the American Psychological Association, beginning in 2015 and culminating some two years later in a recent publication by Jameson Hirsch, Bryant Smalley, Emily Selby-Nelson, Jane Hamel-Lambert, Michael Rosmann, Tammy Barnes and others in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. The full report can be found online: DOI 10.1007/s11469-017-9792-5.
According to the article summary, "The process...known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a controversial energy acquisition technique often viewed with disdain by the public, due to its potential for environment harm. However, the mental health and psychological well-being of fracking communities, including potential benefits and detriments, are often overlooked.
"We reviewed the literature on the association between fracking and psychological functioning, finding that although people living in fracking communities may experience some minimal benefits such as land lease income or infrastructure development, they may also experience worry, anxiety and depression about lifestyle, health, safety and financial security, as well as exposure to neurotoxins and changes to the physical landscape.
"Indeed, entire communities can experience collective trauma as a result of the 'boom/bust' cycle that often occurs when industries impinge on community life. Impacted communities are often already vulnerable, including poor, rural or indigenous people, who may continue to experience the deleterious effects of fracking for generations.
"An influx of workers to fracking communities often stokes fears about outsiders and crime: yet it must be recognized that this population of mobile workers is also vulnerable, often ostracized and without social support.
"Practitioners, researchers, and policy makers alike should continue to investigate the potential psychological implications of fracking, so that effective and targeted intervention strategies can be developed, disseminated and implemented to improve mental health in fracking communities."
Fracking is occurring in many agricultural regions of the country, such as Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New York, California, Oklahoma and many other states. An online report from 2015 notes that this petroleum-based, energy-harvesting technique was being undertaken in at least 21 states.
Although public opinions suggest an overall negative impression of the process, most consumers do not object to relatively low current motor vehicle fuel and natural gas prices. Moreover, many people in the extraction and petroleum industries have benefited economically.
As the review article indicates, personal views "may be dependent on one's perception."
The authors found no rigorous studies of the psychosocial consequences of fracking that used comparison groups of people exposed to fracking versus those not exposed to fracking. Many of the studies used surveys, interviews, analyses of public comments and focus groups to gather their data, all of which are useful methods to gather information that defines the scope of an issue.
Available studies should be considered as preliminary efforts to assess the impact of fracking on the mental health of people in areas where fracking has — or continues to be — undertaken. The suggestions of these initial studies should not be taken lightly, because they point to probable negative effects of these extraction processes on the mental health of not only individuals, but also communities.
The ascertained psychosocial consequences of fracking on whole communities and regions is only slightly clearer from this review of available studies, but also negative for the most part, and may include collective trauma. The long-term residents "have to bear the cost of the activity of others."
The original — and remaining — residents often have to deal with the problems left behind after the "boom era," which may include displaced workers, over-used infrastructure in need of repair (e.g., roads, utilities), increased costs for many items such as housing that rose during the boom but which didn't decline proportionately afterwards, negative changes to their overall habitat, and a shrinking tax base, among other matters.
The authors concluded that "fracking remains a poorly understood yet controversial energy extraction technique that appears to be related to poor physical, social and psychological consequences for impacted and community members, who often are rural and poor."
They went on to say, "There appears to be an array of levels of psychosocial functioning that are deleteriously affected by the fracking process and industries and their aftermath. It is hard to ignore the consistency of findings that point to widespread and potentially permanent effects on mental health.
"From a social justice and psychological activism perspective, grassroots organizations as well as indigenous groups (e.g., Native American tribes) have recently been using legal avenues to challenge and enact change in industry and government decision-making."
https://www.agweek.com/opinion/columns/4430108-preliminary-research-says-fracking-harms-psychosocial-well-being-rural
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White House Departure Creates Another Cyber Vacancy
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
President Trump's top homeland security adviser resigned yesterday, leaving another key cybersecurity post vacant as the U.S. government tries to rein in foreign hackers.
Tom Bossert's work at the White House included parrying cyberthreats and recovering from natural disasters, and experts saw him as a steady hand in cyberdefense. He drove the U.S. response to a pair of devastating cyberattacks last summer that the Trump administration blamed on North Korea and Russia.
Bossert resigned on the second day of John Bolton's tenure as national security adviser, fueling speculation that Bolton is pushing to refresh Trump's lineup of cyber and counterterrorism confidants.
"Tom led the White House's efforts to protect the homeland from terrorist threats, strengthen our cyber defenses, and respond to an unprecedented series of natural disasters," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement announcing Bossert's departure yesterday (Greenwire, April 10).
White House officials credited Bossert's "aggressive approach" to cybersecurity, from helping craft an executive order on the subject last year to calling out the behavior of hackers linked to Russia, Iran, China and North Korea.
Last month, the Department of Homeland Security and FBI blamed Russia for a series of cyber intrusions targeting the U.S. energy sector, including nuclear power plant operators. Weeks before that warning, the White House claimed the Kremlin was responsible for the "NotPetya" ransomware outbreak last June, cast as "the most destructive and costly cyber-attack in history" (Energywire, Feb. 16).
The Trump administration pinned another "ransomware" epidemic, dubbed WannaCry, on the North Korean government last year (Energywire, Dec. 19, 2017). The attack effectively locked users out of their computer files in the U.S. and abroad, causing millions of dollars in damages.
Bossert was viewed as an influential player during those incidents, able to draw on his past experience crafting a cybersecurity strategy for the George W. Bush administration and working as a senior cybersecurity fellow at the Atlantic Council.
"I'm a bit shocked because Bossert has been one of the more effective people in the White House regarding homeland security issues," noted Mark Weatherford, chief cybersecurity strategist at data security firm vArmour, who previously served as the first DHS deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity. "I guess I would chalk it up to politics — Bolton probably has someone specific in mind for the job."Empty desks
Rob Joyce, a former National Security Agency official who reported directly to Bossert as White House cybersecurity coordinator, is keeping that position, a White House official confirmed. Joyce is also still serving as the acting principal deputy homeland security adviser, the official noted.
Experts said Bossert's position is unlikely to stay open for long. Still, the high-level departure adds to a long list of vacancies in government cyber roles, from the White House to the Department of Energy and DHS.
Chris Krebs, a former Microsoft Corp. security policy specialist who has spent nearly six months leading DHS's top cyber office in an acting capacity, clinched a formal nomination from Trump in February but is awaiting Senate confirmation. Other less senior roles, such as a DHS assistant secretary for cyber, infrastructure and resilience policy, are still open.
A newly created cybersecurity post at the Department of Energy has yet to be filled by Trump (Energywire, Feb. 27). Meanwhile, Hank Kenchington, another senior official who steered DOE's cyber research and development efforts for years, has retired from the agency as of last month, sources confirmed.
"I don't think we're at the hair-on-fire point at this stage," said Frank Cilluffo, director of the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at the George Washington University, citing several recent cyber-related nominations advanced by Trump, such as his pick of Lt. Gen. Paul M. Nakasone to lead the NSA and the U.S. Cyber Command. "When it comes to priority issues, I certainly think the homeland security and cybersecurity mission has to be at the top of the list; so you want those key positions filled."
Cilluffo said it was "a little bit surprising" to see Bossert go, given his solid reputation and long-standing seat on the National Security Council.
"[Bossert]'s not really one known to play the palace intrigue games," Cilluffo said. "He's kind of a wonk, knows the issues and served in a very positive way."
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/04/11/stories/1060078669
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DHS Brews a 'Cyber Storm' for Critical Infrastructure
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
U.S. homeland security officials put vital infrastructure networks to the test yesterday morning as they kicked off the biennial "Cyber Storm" exercise.
The three-day event is designed to push operators of critical sectors, including the energy, information technology and telecommunications industries, over the brink via simulated cyberattacks.
This year's scenario takes aim at transportation and manufacturing systems, planners said, though fallout from the hacking scenario won't stop there.
Jeanette Manfra, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, said Cyber Storm VI would test "fundamental" networks that would cause global disruptions if they shut down. "It's important that this represents something that we could encounter in the real world," she said of the scenario.
The event is drawing more than 1,000 participants from various companies and seven state governments, according to DHS. Players tune in from their normal work locations, while organizers slowly turn up the heat from the exercise control room in U.S. Secret Service headquarters in Washington, D.C.
"The goal is to push participants out of their comfort zone," Manfra said at a press conference yesterday morning. Earlier, she sent out the first scenario "inject" — an email laying out some bad news.
"These injects will move the scenario forward, eventually escalating to the point where we are dealing with a significant national issue," Manfra explained.
This year, the exercise will model public reaction on simulated social media sites, as participants rush to address mounting problems.
Later, participants will review what went wrong and whether any tweaks are needed to cyber emergency planning.
Today, DHS will also host a classified spinoff of the exercise, dubbed "Ice Storm," to test how the government's secret response mechanisms would fare in a worst-case scenario.
"You want to stress till failure, so you can understand where your breaking points are," said retired Brig. Gen. Gregory Touhill, president of Cyxtera Technologies' federal group and a former DHS official.
Touhill led the last Cyber Storm in 2016 and helped craft this year's scenario as a representative of the IT sector. He said Cyber Storm VI is giving industry-run information-sharing hubs a "workout," flooding them with data as the threat gathers steam.
"We're leveraging the information-sharing and analysis centers [ISACs] a lot more than we have in the past, for getting word out to the constituent companies and critical infrastructure partners," he said.
The electricity sector recently announced it would expand its own ISAC, which is run through the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (Energywire, Feb. 7). The goal of such organizations is to raise costs for attackers by getting the word out quickly about new hacking threats and tactics. That way, the theory goes, hackers won't be able to recycle techniques.
"Nation-state actors, hacker groups, criminals — they don't necessarily just attack a single organization, individually," said Touhill. "It's part of an overall campaign."
DHS and the FBI blew the lid off one such campaign last month, alleging that Russian hackers targeted computers in the power grid, critical manufacturing and nuclear sectors, among others (Energywire, March 16).
Manfra declined to confirm whether this year's Cyber Storm will simulate nation-state hackers, citing the desire to preserve the element of surprise for participants. But she said countering such threats would remain a priority for DHS.
"The cyberthreat to critical infrastructure continues to grow and represents one of the most serious national security challenges we must confront," Manfra said. "The risk landscape continues to expand, and attacks can quickly escalate to levels of national and even international significance."
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/04/11/stories/1060078701
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Trump's Team Ignoring Obama Sustainability Mandate
Apr 11, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
Dozens of federal agencies have not released reports on environmental sustainability during the Trump administration, failing to abide by an Obama-era rule.
In 2015, President Obama signed an executive order on federal sustainability, requiring agencies to write reports called strategic sustainability performance plans, or SSPPs. The reports provide synopses of what agencies do on a swath of energy and environmental topics like climate change resilience, greenhouse gas reduction, power-hungry data centers, water use and the vehicles in their fleets. The order required agencies to publish them online annually.
That's not happening.
According to a review by E&E News of 24 agencies, only one agency — the Department of Homeland Security — is up to date in publishing its sustainability reports.
While President Trump has rescinded many of Obama's executive orders, this provision has so far survived, placing his administration in violation of the order, officially called "Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade." And while executive orders aren't as powerful as laws or regulations, they have the force of law unless they're rescinded by the president.
"It has not been revoked," Colleen Morgan, president of Corporate Sustainability Advisors LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in federal contracting, said by phone. "That said, it's not a priority, and in some cases isn't not even being followed."
Since the later years of the George W. Bush administration and throughout the Obama presidency, the U.S. government has moved to cut down its carbon footprint and the footprint of the companies with which it does business, Morgan said.
But the fact the Trump has yet to undo this order has Morgan and her peers puzzled, given Trump's moves to roll back so many other Obama-era environmental actions.
"Why they haven't revoked it, I don't know," she said. "We've all been scratching our heads."
The administration is choosing not to enforce the order, she said. "They're supposed to annually publish these SSPPs," she added. "Every federal agency."
Heather Zichal, a former top climate aide to Obama, said the previous administration pursued these reports because "we needed an accountability mechanism."
The reports helped agencies compare their progress against one another and helped the White House reinforce sustainability as a priority, she said in an interview.
"If you can't measure it, there's no way to track it," Zichal said. "So producing these reports helps provide a certain degree of transparency and accountability, which is incredibly important when you're trying to move agencies in a different, more green and sustainable direction."
The reports typically come out over the summer, meaning the administration, aside from DHS, is nearly two years behind schedule.
Of the 24 agencies E&E News contacted and whose reports E&E News reviewed, only DHS replied with a copy of its latest report.
Still, it's possible the reports have been held up at the White House's Office of Management and Budget, run by Mick Mulvaney. Under the order, Mulvaney, as OMB director, is required to sign off on their publication.
An Army Corps of Engineers spokesman said his agency filed its annual sustainability report to OMB in June. A State Department official said the agency filed its 2017 report with the White House last year and is working on its 2018 report.
"We refer you to the White House Council on Environmental Quality for questions on how the administration shares these reports with the public," the official said.
Separately, a spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture provided copies of its available reports, all of which were published during the Obama administration.
Damian Bednarz, who worked during the Obama administration as a liaison between the Department of Energy and the White House, said the reports offered a look at the guts of an agency.
"I think it was like a 360-degree view of everything from how they do business, how they maintain their energy, where they're getting their energy from, are they increasing energy efficiency policies, reducing demand," he said by phone.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2018/04/11/stories/1060078683
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Shell's Emissions Tick Back Up
Apr 11, 2018 | Bloomberg (In E&E Climatewire)
By Kelly Gilblom
Royal Dutch Shell PLC's greenhouse gas emissions rose last year to the highest level since 2014, suggesting a tough road ahead for a company whose investors are demanding it pivot toward a low-carbon future.
The company's direct emissions increased to 73 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from 70 million tons in 2016, the company said Monday. Part of the increase came from acquiring refineries in the United States and restarting units at a Singapore manufacturing site.
The company is pushing growth as it tries to catch up with Exxon Mobil Corp., but CEO Ben van Beurden has found it hard to do that while holding down emissions.
"As living standards rise, energy demand could double over the course of the century," van Beurden said in Shell's sustainability report. "The world is going to have to make meeting this demand part of the approach to cutting emissions."
The company says it plans to halve its carbon footprint by 2050 (Kelly Gilblom, Bloomberg, April 9). — AAA
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2018/04/11/stories/1060078675
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