Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 07/08/18
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(ACC Mentioned) Coalition Builds Membership in Fight Over Proposed Tariffs on Chinese Vinyl Flooring
Aug 7, 2018 | Floor Daily
The American Consumers & Workers Justice Coalition (ACWJC) has been adding members who oppose the proposed tariffs on vinyl flooring imports from China. -
(ACC Mentioned) Recycled Paper Pulp Facing Tariff Threat
Aug 7, 2018 | Resource Recycling
By Colin Staub
China is proposing tariffs on U.S. pulp made from recycled paper, a material that has received recent attention as a potential export to China to replace recovered paper bales. -
Groups Urge Wheeler to Drop Science Adviser Policy
Aug 7, 2018 | Inside EPA
A broad coalition of environmentalists, public health advocates and academic groups are urging Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to drop his predecessor's policy barring scientists who receive EPA research grants from serving on its advisory panels, arguing that doing so is easy and will repair damage done to the agency's credibility. -
Oil's Well After Sanctions?
Aug 7, 2018 | Politico
By Kelsey Tamborrino
OIL'S WELL? -
EPA to Reconsider Parts of Risk Evaluation Rule
Aug 7, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Amanda Reilly
EPA is reconsidering some pieces of a rule it issued last year that set up a system for evaluating chemical risks. -
Advocacy Group Warns of Toxic Asbestos in Crayons
Aug 7, 2018 | Washington Post (In E&E Greenwire)
By Abha Bhattarai
A consumer advocacy group warns that it found toxic levels of asbestos in Playskool brand crayons. -
Eurasian Economic Union to Establish EU-Like Rapid Alert System
Aug 7, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Linas Jegelevicius
The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is launching a pilot project to create an online system that would allow member states to share information about goods that pose a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers. -
Gasoline Makers Are Reaping Big Profits
Aug 7, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Rebecca Elliott
American fuel makers are posting their best second-quarter profits in years, thanks to soaring domestic oil production and regional pipeline bottlenecks that are allowing them to buy crude on the cheap. -
Oil Industry Needs Dealmaker To Come Through With China, Saudi Arabia
Aug 7, 2018 | Forbes
By Dan Eberhart
President Donald Trump better be as good of a negotiator as he claims. U.S. oil and natural gas producers – and American consumers – have a lot riding on President Trump’s unorthodox approach to foreign affairs and trade. -
Colorado Drilling Setback Measure Tentatively Qualifies for November Ballot
Aug 7, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
Colorado Rising, a coalition of environmental organizations, said a statewide ballot initiative has qualified for the November election, which, if it were to pass, would increase setback requirements to 2,500 feet from 500 feet for new oil and natural gas drilling. -
API Stalwart Jumps to Natural Gas Giant
Aug 7, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Zack Colman
A longtime lobbyist for the oil and gas industry's top trade association is heading to a natural gas giant to lead its federal affairs office. -
FERC Rules in Favor of New York Pipeline Developers
Aug 7, 2018 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Ben Lefebvre
FERC approved a controversial Northern Access natural gas pipeline, rejecting a request from New York to reconsider its earlier ruling that the state’s environmental regulators waited too long to deny the granting of a water quality certificate. -
15 California Aerospace Workers Exposed to Unknown Chemical
Aug 7, 2018 | AP (In The New York Times)
Fifteen employees at a Southern California aerospace facility have been hospitalized after they were exposed to an unknown chemical. -
Denton County Trains First in Texas to Test Safety Equipment
Aug 7, 2018 | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
By Larry Collins
Public transportation agencies across the country are racing the clock to install and test mandated safety equipment installed or face possible shutdown. -
TSA Launches New, More Secure Design for TWIC
Aug 6, 2018 | WorkBoat
By Pamela Glass
If you are getting a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) for the first time or renewing, the new credential will look a lot different and contain more security features than the old one. -
Why Hasn't the US Put a Price on Carbon Yet?
Aug 7, 2018 | RealClearEnergy
By Hugh C. Welsh
It’s time to rethink how our country approaches carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the use of fossil fuels. -
EPA Has No Records to Support Pruitt's Warming Claims
Aug 7, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Scott Waldman
EPA has not produced any scientific evidence to support the claims of former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt that humans are not primary contributors to climate change. -
The Summer of Plastic-Straw Bans: How We Got There
Aug 7, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Corinne Ramey and Bob Tita
When reality-TV star Kim Kardashian West told her 115 million Instagram followers that her household had stopped using plastic straws, the head of an environmental nonprofit responded in disbelief. -
How to Reduce Plastic, Foil and Other Kitchen Disposables
Aug 7, 2018 | AP (In The Washington Post)
By Katherine Roth
Disposables have become a mainstay of many American kitchens — plastic baggies, plastic wrap, paper towels, aluminum foil, plastic straws and more.
Industry and Association News
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(ACC Mentioned) Coalition Builds Membership in Fight Over Proposed Tariffs on Chinese Vinyl Flooring
Aug 7, 2018 | Floor Daily
The American Consumers & Workers Justice Coalition (ACWJC) has been adding members who oppose the proposed tariffs on vinyl flooring imports from China. The group believes the tariffs will have a negative impact on U.S. consumers and many domestic flooring businesses, especially those benefitting from the explosive growth of LVT and multilayer flooring.
The proposed third round of U.S. sanctioned Chinese tariffs totaling $200 billion includes several classes of flooring products including vinyl. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer recently released the following statement regarding further action under section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974:
"On June 18, the President directed me to identify $200 billion worth of Chinese goods for additional tariffs at a rate of 10 percent, in response to China's decision to cause further harm to U.S. workers, farmers and businesses by imposing retaliatory duties on U.S. goods. I initiated this process on July 10.
"This week, the President has directed that I consider increasing the proposed level of the additional duty from 10 percent to 25 percent. The 25 percent duty would be applied to the proposed list of products previously announced on July 10."
Already with 34 members and growing daily, the coalition is standing up for the small businesses and consumers who would be effected by the proposed tariffs:
· Higher consumer prices on LVT/vinyl flooring
· Fewer flooring choices for the American consumer
· Stifled innovation in product design, performance, safety and sustainability
· Potential job losses in the sales and supply channel (flooring distributors/ retailers/ installers/contractors)
Said Harlan Stone, one of the founders of ACWJC and president of the Multilayer Flooring Association: “The dynamics of this situation are creating a greater need to respond. Not only is it a question of ‘if’ and ‘when’, but now it is also a question of ‘how much’.
“A 25% tariff would be felt in every corner of the flooring industry; from the regional distributor to independent retail outlets,” Stone continued. “It will negatively impact the installer, home improvement contractors and even truck drivers and warehouse workers. We can’t stand idly by while the American consumer and worker is asked to bear the brunt of this unfair taxation.”
The coalition’s submission to testify before the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) was approved, and Stone will testify on behalf of ACWJC later this month in Washington, D.C.
Shaw, Novalis, CFL, Metroflor, the American Chemistry Council and the Vinyl Institute are supporting the effort.
The first round of U.S. santioned Chinese tariffs totaled $34 billion with the second totaling $16 billion.
https://www.floordaily.net/flooring-news/coalition-formed-to-fight-proposed-tariffs-on-chinese-vinyl-flooring-products
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(ACC Mentioned) Recycled Paper Pulp Facing Tariff Threat
Aug 7, 2018 | Resource Recycling
By Colin Staub
China is proposing tariffs on U.S. pulp made from recycled paper, a material that has received recent attention as a potential export to China to replace recovered paper bales.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce last week proposed new tariffs on roughly $60 billion in imports from the U.S. The list includes more than 5,000 product codes, and a few have relevance for the recycling industry.
China’s list was issued in response to a decision by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office to raise previously planned tariffs covering $200 billion in Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent. According to Chinese state media, the U.S. action meant China was “forced to take the countermeasures.”
The new Chinese proposal contains four lists with tariffs levied at different levels, from 5 percent to 25 percent. The list of products to be hit with a 20 percent tariff includes “fiber pulp extracted from recycled paper or cardboard.”
Multiple industry experts said that would cover any pulp produced from a recycled paper mill.
The proposal comes at a time when imports of recycled pulp are a key topic for Chinese buyers. Chinese mills are experiencing feedstock shortages that are forcing downtime, and fiber research firm RISI recently reported (subscription required) that “the import of recycled pulp has emerged as a viable option.”
Fiber consultant Bill Moore told Resource Recycling recycled pulp shipments from the U.S. to China have been negligible in the past. This year, only small amounts are being exported on a trial basis.
But the concept of U.S. fiber companies shipping excess recycled pulp to China has gained traction lately. Many of the top U.S. recovered fiber end users touched on the idea during recent earnings calls.
The tariffs would also impact Chinese companies looking to set up recycled paper mills in the U.S., because their output would be more expensive to ship into China. There have not been major investments in U.S. recycled paper mill capacity by Chinese companies, although Nine Dragons recently purchased two U.S. virgin paper mills that will be used primarily for the company’s internal consumption.
Still, Chinese companies are reportedly interested in the idea of investing in U.S. recycled paper processing infrastructure. That type of investment has already begun to take place on the plastics front.Other impacts
Beyond recycled fiber pulp, the newest back-and-forth between the U.S. and China could have wider reverberations.
Numerous plastic products, both virgin resins and finished goods, appear on both the $200 billion U.S. tariff list and the Chinese list. The American Chemistry Council said the U.S. tariff increase would be “devastating” for chemicals and plastics producers. The industry group also calculated that nearly a fifth of the products included in China’s latest proposal are chemicals or plastics, according to ICIS.
Both the U.S. and Chinese lists cover a variety of paper products, as well. The U.S. list names hundreds of paper categories, including all recovered fiber, pulp from recovered fiber, corrugated paper and more. U.S. imports of those products from China are very low, according to customs data.
The Chinese lists also include virgin pulp, corrugated paper, paperboard, newsprint and more.
https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2018/08/07/recycled-paper-pulp-facing-tariff-threat/
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Groups Urge Wheeler to Drop Science Adviser Policy
Aug 7, 2018 | Inside EPA
A broad coalition of environmentalists, public health advocates and academic groups are urging Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler to drop his predecessor's policy barring scientists who receive EPA research grants from serving on its advisory panels, arguing that doing so is easy and will repair damage done to the agency's credibility.
“The longer the Pruitt Directive remains in place, the greater the damage it will do to the integrity of the scientific process. Unless it is rescinded, more top scientists will be removed from EPA’s advisory panels, more scientific research will be disrupted, and the scientific credibility of EPA will sink lower,” the groups say in an Aug. 6 letter.
The letter's authors argue that former Administrator Scott Pruitt's policy barring scientists who received EPA grants from serving on the agency's scores of advisory panels “undermines the agency’s ability to access the best scientific and technical expertise, damages the integrity of the scientific process at EPA, and undermines the agency’s ability to protect public health and the environment.”
As such, the letter urges Wheeler to “abandon this harmful policy and rededicate the agency to its core mission of using the best science to protect public health and the environment.”
The authors, ranging from the Natural Resources Defense Council to the American Public Health Association, argue that Pruitt's directive “undermines” Wheeler's stated goals in his July 11 address to staff where he said his “instinct will be to defend your work and to seek the facts from you before drawing conclusions.”
“By excluding leading scientists from service on EPA advisory committees without any legitimate basis, the Directive damages staff morale and isolates EPA from the scientific community,” the letter says.
One result of the policy, they say, is that “the Directive disproportionately and predictably excludes highly qualified academic scientists -- who rely on such funding to conduct research in the public interest -- while favoring individuals who work for regulated industries.”
The letter also decries Pruitt's proposal to bar EPA's use of any science in decision-making where the underlying data and modeling is not publicly available -- though it does not ask Wheeler to withdraw that policy, perhaps because it is more difficult to withdrawn a proposed rule than a policy directive.
The letter notes that “Because the Pruitt Directive was adopted by the stroke of a pen, without any formal process, Acting Administrator Wheeler can rescind it immediately.”
Instead, the authors suggest that “Promptly repealing the Pruitt Directive ... would represent a good start in a larger effort to right the ship at EPA.”
The letter, whose authors include some of the groups who have sued EPA over the policy, also argues the policy “exposes the agency to costly litigation. Not only is the Directive itself currently the subject of several lawsuits, but any rules that EPA subsequently issues with input from an advisory committee that has a skewed membership will be legally vulnerable as well. This creates legal risk and uncertainty and wastes resources that should be directed to achieving the mission of the agency.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/groups-urge-wheeler-drop-science-adviser-policy
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Aug 7, 2018 | Politico
By Kelsey Tamborrino
OIL'S WELL? Does the world have enough oil to go around if 2.5 million barrels of Iranian petroleum is put behind a wall of U.S. sanctions? That’s the questions oil traders are trying to answer after the Trump administration said it would be resuming sanctions on Iran’s oil in November, and ME will be casting a keen eye on the Energy Information Administration’s short-term energy outlook due out today for clues on what might be in store. Traders seemed a little skeptical in the wake of Monday’s announcement from the White House: Oil prices settled 52 cents higher Monday after the White House said sanctions would come down. And by saying the sanctions would start on Nov. 5 — the day before the midterm elections — the White House may be signaling it’s also unsure what sanctions would do to voters’ pocket books. The short-term outlook, which EIA releases monthly, is not expected to break out the effects of the sanctions themselves, but it should give oil buyers and sellers a sense of what the market may look like when the sanctions kick in this fall. The new EIA report will be here.
Does this look tight? Normally, taking Iran out of the export picture wouldn’t be a huge blow to the international oil market, analysts told ME. But former petroleum powerhouse Venezuela is imploding, Saudi Arabia seems to be producing nearly as much as it can, and international oil demand is on the rise, said Matt Badiali, senior analyst at Banyan Hill Research. President Donald Trump’s sanctions could remove slack in the oil market just as the November elections near, meaning any other supply disruptions will push oil and gasoline prices even further. “We can certainly look at gasoline prices and say, if you’re a mom and pop voter, that’s instant inflation,” Badiali said. “There’s just no way they can get around who’s to blame for rising oil prices.”
Thanks, Obama: So far, drivers seem to be shrugging off the fact that prices at the pump are already 50 cents higher than where they were a year ago. Part of the reason is that prices had been relatively low, and the economy is chugging along, said Dan McTeague, analyst at GasBuddy.com, a website that tracks fuel prices. Another reason: Fuel efficiency standards are higher than they were the last time gas prices hit the three-dollar mark, meaning drivers have to fuel up less often than they would have otherwise. (The Trump administration last week proposed freezing those standards.) “Fuel economy has picked up over the last several years,” McTeague said. “We’re buying cars that are far more fuel efficient than what we were say 10 years ago. People may be grumbling [about higher prices], but the fact is they’re absorbing it.”
BREAKING DOWN THOSE TWEETS: Trump’s spate of wildfire tweets sparked confusion in California, where officials are trying to set the record straight on the 17 worsening wildfires that have resulted in the deaths of nine people. After Trump's deleted-and-then-resent tweet that referenced California’s “bad environmental laws” as a cause of the wildfires, he doubled-down in another tweetMonday, where he specifically targeted California Gov. Jerry Brown and said the outgoing governor “must allow the Free Flow of the vast amounts of water coming from the North and foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean."
The tweets have bewildered Californian officials and scientists who say a lack of water hasn't been a problem — but climate change, which the president doesn't acknowledge, has. “We have plenty of water to fight these wildfires, but let’s be clear: It’s our changing climate that is leading to more severe and destructive fires,” Daniel Berlant, the assistant deputy director of the state’s fire agency, told The New York Times.
In a purely political sense, Trump is continuing to align himself with California Republicans, who have long complained that the state unfairly prioritizes environmental uses for water over the state’s agricultural industry, POLITICO’s Annie Snider, Carla Marinucci and Jeremy B. White write. “Fish over farms” is a popular formulation that has been invoked by Trump allies from California’s agricultural heartland, such as Reps. Devin Nunes and Kevin McCarthy, both of whom are up for reelection in November. “Forests should be managed properly and water should be allowed for farmers to grow food to feed people,” Nunes tweeted in response to Trump’s Sunday tweet.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, who oversees the Bureau of Reclamation that does most of the water diverting, on Monday cited California’s wildfires in his own tweet, calling for policies that would allow loggers to remove more trees. Zinke’s wife, Lola, added on in a tweet, which read in part, “Use responsible forest management or these are the consequences.”
GOOD TUESDAY MORNING! I'm your host, Kelsey Tamborrino. Entergy’s Rob Hall knew the name of the chief justice who served the shortest term on the Supreme Court. John Rutledge was appointed under a temporary commission while the Senate was in recess and served for only 5 months and 14 days before the Senate rejected his nomination. Let’s try a geography question today: What’s the name of the island country that’s powered entirely by solar? Send your tips, energy gossip and comments to ktamborrino@politico.com, or follow us on Twitter @kelseytam, @Morning_Energy and @POLITICOPro.
PRESSURE'S ON? Like his predecessor, acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler has voiced support for the landmark Chesapeake Bay cleanup plan, but when he meets today with governors and cabinet officials of the Chesapeake Bay states, the question will be whether he presses for swifter progress in stanching agricultural and urban water pollution. Trump’s EPA has threatened to crack down on Pennsylvania, which is far off pace in reducing farm field pollution, using “backstop” actions if progress doesn’t accelerate, and Wheeler last week defendedthe agency’s authority to do so.
But actually using that backstop authority is another matter entirely. In a June letter to Pennsylvania, EPA floated the possibility of requiring the state’s animal feeding operations and city stormwater systems to get pollution permits and policing air and water pollution permits more closely — moves that would be politically volatile with many of the Trump administration’s industry allies. And don’t forget: Even the Obama administration disappointed environmental groups when it declined to take aggressive action against Pennsylvania when it fell behind.
FOIA SUIT SEEKS BAILOUT DOCS: The Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund are taking the Energy Department to court over the release of documents requested under the Freedom of Information Act. In their sights? Documents related to the Trump administration’s reported push to bail out economically struggling coal and nuclear plants. “We are taking them to court to demand answers about what’s really behind this bailout that only benefits millionaire energy executives who backed Trump’s campaign,” said Mary Anne Hitt, senior director of Sierra Club’s “Beyond Coal” campaign, in a statement announcing the filing.
EPA WANTS TO REDO MINOR PARTS OF TSCA EVALUATION RULE: EPA has asked a federal court to remand three limited provisions of its Toxic Substances Control Act implementation rules, saying environmentalists’ lawsuits have made the agency reconsider those parts. All three provisions have to do with how data is submitted to EPA during risk evaluations, when the agency determines whether a chemical is any threat. Greens argued that one provision warns of criminal prosecution for submitting “incomplete” data, which they said would “chill” public comments. Two other sections on data to be submitted by manufacturers gave the companies too much authority to determine what data is relevant and whether it is consistent with EPA’s standards, the groups argued.
EPA said that, upon further reflection, it has decided to revisit those parts of the rule. The agency asked that only one provision, dealing with the punishment for "incomplete" information, should be vacated. The other two provisions, the agency argued, can be fixed without being vacated, meaning they would remain in effect until EPA finalizes any update. EPA's brief says the public health groups challenging the rule will weigh in on the request to vacate the prosecution provision until after reading the brief. The groups are opposed to remanding without vacating the other two provisions. It’s not unusual for EPA to ask for specific, often more technical provisions of a rule to be remanded upon legal challenge. The bulk of the lawsuits against the TSCA implementation rules will continue.
JUDGE UPHOLDS MOST OF ROYALTY RULE: A federal judge in Wyoming upheld most of an Obama-era Interior royalty penalty rule on Monday, siding with the oil industry challenger on just one narrow provision, Pro’s Alex Guillén reports. The Office of Natural Resources Revenue rule was first issued in August 2016 as an update to a 1999 rule and strengthened royalty-related civil penalties for energy development on public lands for certain violations and boosted fines to account for inflation. The judge vacated the part of the rule that allowed administrative law judges to retroactively reinstate penalties and accrued interest that had been put on hold if the company's argument for a stay was deemed "frivolous."
SITE STABILIZATION UNDERWAY FOR PIPELINE: Responding to last week’s FERC order stopping construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality said it is currently working on site stabilization. The state’s DEQ issued an advisory highlighting that its rules require site stabilization within seven days, and noted that FERC has similar guidelines. “DEQ will work with FERC to ensure appropriate erosion and sediment control measures are in place throughout Virginia,” it said. The only work “underway in Virginia is site stabilization,” DEQ Director David Paylor said in a statement.
CLEARPATH ACTION ENDORSES 2: Two Republicans will get backing today from ClearPath Action Fund, the political arm of Jay Faison’s ClearPath Foundation. The fund will announce its endorsements of California Rep. Steve Knight for a third term in the House and Arizona Rep. Martha McSally in her Senate bid. It will also soon begin running digital ads highlighting Knight’s and McSally’s records on clean energy.
MAIL CALL! Florida’s harmful and widespread algal blooms have prompted Rep. Francis Rooney to ask the president for a major disaster declaration. “Your declaration will help us overcome the economic damage which a combination of harmful discharges from [Lake Okeechobee] and an incursion of red tide have wrought,” Rooney wrote in a letter. Pro’s Anthony Adragna has more here.
QUICK HITS
— “Are toxic chemicals in our drinking water? Statewide testing should let us know,” The Charlotte Observer.
— “To kill climate rule, EPA wants to redefine danger of soot,” E&E News.
— “Flood thy neighbor: Who stays dry and who decides?” ProPublica.
— “World at risk of heading toward irreversible ‘hothouse’ state,” Reuters.
— “Too big to fail: How one gas company can leave a mark on Pennsylvania,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-energy/2018/08/07/oils-well-after-sanctions-307870
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EPA to Reconsider Parts of Risk Evaluation Rule
Aug 7, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Amanda Reilly
EPA is reconsidering some pieces of a rule it issued last year that set up a system for evaluating chemical risks.
The agency acknowledged there may be legal issues with the three provisions and yesterday asked a federal court to remand them so they can be fixed.
But while environmentalists are pleased that EPA has agreed there are problems, they are concerned about the agency's request that the court vacate one piece of the rule and leave the other two in effect.
"It's not really the solution we were looking for," said Eve Gartner, an attorney at Earthjustice who is representing environmental groups in the litigation challenging the rule.
At issue are three provisions included in a rule EPA finalized in June 2017 that established the system for determining if the chemicals present an unreasonable risk to health or the environment. The rule, along with one establishing the process and criteria for identifying high-priority chemicals for risk evaluations, was required under the reform to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act that Congress passed in 2016 (E&E News PM, July 22, 2017).
Environmentalists challenged both rules, and the litigation was ultimately consolidated in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Greenwire, Dec. 11, 2017).
EPA says it learned of the concerns with the three provisions in the risk evaluation rule thanks to environmentalists' opening brief in the court case.
One provision was meant to establish penalties for submitting inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information to the agency, while the others established that manufacturers submit all relevant information on chemical substances and that submitted information is scientifically sound.
In their opening brief, environmentalists raised concerns that EPA dropped the words "by a manufacturer" from the final penalty provision, raising the possibility that anybody — not just chemical makers — could get penalized.
Environmentalists argued that the other provisions unlawfully allowed manufacturers to determine which information is relevant and scientifically sound.
"In light of the arguments raised by Petitioners in their opening brief and upon further consideration and review by EPA, EPA intends to reconsider these provisions and take appropriate agency action," the agency's motion said.
EPA asked the federal court to vacate the penalty revision entirely but to leave the other two in place during the reconsideration, in part because their unintended consequences "are not serious."
Gartner of Earthjustice said EPA's requests are problematic.
"If they vacate this provision [the penalty provision], it means that there's no penalty if manufacturers submit inaccurate information," she said.
For the others, she added, "EPA is basically asking the court not to rule on the legality of the provisions but also not making any kind of representation of how it would fix them or when it would fix them. That also doesn't provide the solution that we want."
Gartner also said that fixing the three provisions doesn't get to the heart of environmentalists' concerns about the rule's system for evaluating conditions of use for chemicals and exposure pathways.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/08/07/stories/1060092929
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Advocacy Group Warns of Toxic Asbestos in Crayons
Aug 7, 2018 | Washington Post (In E&E Greenwire)
By Abha Bhattarai
A consumer advocacy group warns that it found toxic levels of asbestos in Playskool brand crayons.
The U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund bought 36 packs of the crayons at a Chicago Dollar Tree store. It also tested five other brands but did not find asbestos in them.
Eating or inhaling asbestos can cause lung cancer or mesothelioma. The group called for retailers — which also include Amazon, eBay and DollarDays.com — to stop selling Playskool crayons.
"There is no reason to be exposing kids to a known carcinogen, especially in crayons," said Kara Cook-Schultz, toxics director for U.S. PIRG.
Hasbro Inc., the parent company of Playskool, and crayon manufacturer Leap Year Publishing said they would look into the claims. Dollar Tree officials say their own tests have not found asbestos in the store's crayons.
"The safety of our customers and associates is our top priority," Randy Guiler, Dollar Tree's vice president of investor relations, said in an email. "We are aware of the report and have since re-verified that each of the listed products successfully passed inspection and testing."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/08/07/stories/1060092915
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Eurasian Economic Union to Establish EU-Like Rapid Alert System
Aug 7, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Linas Jegelevicius
The Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is launching a pilot project to create an online system that would allow member states to share information about goods that pose a serious risk to the health and safety of consumers. This is expected to include notifications of hazardous chemicals in articles.
It will be based on international schemes, including the EU’s Rapid Alert System (Rapex) for dangerous non-food products.
Once identified by the system, the product will be removed from the markets of EEU member states Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
It will incorporate EEU‘s technical regulations on the safety of products, including those on:chemical products; andtoys.
The Eurasian Economic Commission – the governing body of the EEU – is developing a transitional order that will define the project requirements for interaction between member state competent authorities.
The pilot is slated to begin later this year.
In May last year, environmental NGO Greenpeace said it found high concentrations of phthalates in toys marketed in the EEU. It had previously campaigned for a ban on the substances in toys sold in the region.Regulatory activity
The Union has stepped up chemicals-related controls in the last few years. In March, it aligned its regulation on the restriction of the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment with the EU RoHS legislation.
It has also taken measures on detergents and disinfectants, as well as cosmetics. Additionally, it notified the WTO of draft amendments to the technical regulation of the Customs Union on oils, lubricants and special liquids, which sets requirements on the content of methanol in coolants
And after a delay of almost three years, in March last year the EEU adopted a technical regulation on the safety of chemical products. Expected to come into force by June 2021, it will also set single rules and assessment criteria for identification, terminology, labelling and use of substances.
https://chemicalwatch.com/69305/eurasian-economic-union-to-establish-eu-like-rapid-alert-system
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Gasoline Makers Are Reaping Big Profits
Aug 7, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Rebecca Elliott
American fuel makers are posting their best second-quarter profits in years, thanks to soaring domestic oil production and regional pipeline bottlenecks that are allowing them to buy crude on the cheap.
Refining companies typically suffer as oil prices rise because drivers scale back their travel, reducing demand for gasoline and diesel. But record U.S. production, coupled with insufficient pipeline capacity in Canada and West Texas, has depressed the cost of oil in many parts of the country, even as oil prices have been rising in general.
That has boosted margins for many stand-alone refiners, propelling some, includingPhillips 66 PSX +0.51% and Marathon Petroleum Corp. MPC +1.84% , to their highest second-quarter profits on record.
Phillips 66, the largest independent refiner by market capitalization, earned an average of $12.28 per refined barrel during the second quarter, up from $8.44 for the comparable period last year. The company reported profit of $1.3 billion, up 143% from 2017’s second quarter.
Marathon Petroleum earned $15.40 per refined barrel, compared with $11.32 a barrel in the year-earlier period. Its second-quarter profit rose 118% to $1.1 billion.Cooking With GasSecond-quarter profit in each yearSource: Intelligize.billion
Phillips 66Valero EnergyMarathon PetroleumAndeavor2013’14’15’16’17’180.00.20.40.60.81.01.21.4$1.6
Both companies seized on the favorable economics by operating their facilities at full capacity.
“Our ability to take advantage of crude differentials provided substantial benefits in the quarter,” Marathon Petroleum finance chief Timothy Griffith said.
Valero Energy Corp. VLO +1.49% reported a refining margin of $10.80 a barrel, compared with $8.66 a year earlier. Its quarterly profit of $845 million marked a 54% rise and its best second-quarter showing since 2015.
Andeavor, which Marathon Petroleum is set to acquire for $23 billion, also posted its best second-quarter earnings since 2015. Its profit of $515 million was more than 12 times that of last year’s second quarter, with its refining margin rising to $14.26 a barrel, from $9.45 a barrel.
Distribution pains associated with rapid production increases have played to refiners’ advantage. Benchmark crude prices in the U.S. fell to as much as $11 a barrel below international prices during the second quarter, the widest spread in three years, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
What's Fueling the Rise in Gas PricesThe days of $2 a gallon gas are over in the U.S., as shifts in global oil production drive up prices. The WSJ's Stephanie Yang explains what's fueling the recent rise. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg News
The discount on oil sold in Canada and West Texas, home to the Permian Basin, the U.S.’s most active oil field, was far steeper because of regional pipeline bottlenecks.
That was a boon for sellers of refined products, which are typically priced to the global market. The U.S. exported daily about 3.4 million barrels of refined products, including gasoline and diesel, as of May, according to the Energy Information Administration.
“They’re in the catbird seat as far as buying their raw materials,” said Sandy Fielden, director of oil research for Morningstar Inc., who called refining a “cash cow.”
American refiners are the grunts of the energy industry, largely operating fuel-making facilities that have been in place for decades. But during the shale boom their stocks so far have outperformed other sectors of the oil and gas business.Newsletter Sign-up
The four largest stand-alone refining businesses in the U.S.—Phillips 66, Valero, Marathon Petroleum and Andeavor ANDV +1.75% —have produced the highest stock returns among energy companies on the S&P 500 index since April 2012, when Phillips 66 was spun off as an independent company.
The businesses benefited in the early days of the shale boom from a U.S. ban on crude exports that depressed domestic prices, giving them an edge over foreign competitors.
Some expected the companies’ fortunes to waneafter the U.S. lifted the export ban in 2015, causing the price differential between domestic and foreign crude to shrink. The recovery in oil prices following their crash in 2014 was seen as a potential headwind, too.
But bottlenecks and rising production have continued to create buying bargains for refiners. Those discounts are expected to widen over the coming year as production in Canada and the Permian Basin continues to overwhelm existing pipelines, analysts said.
“It’s going to recur in coming quarters,” Doug Terreson, an analyst with Evercore ISI, said of refiners’ performance.
An economic slowdown could of course tamp down demand for gasoline, drying up refiners’ profits. Another factor, Mr. Fielden said, is political change in Mexico, where energy reforms proposed by the country’s president-elect could reduce demand for U.S. exports.
Longer term, an international air-pollution rule to cut emissions from oceangoing ships is poised to boost U.S. refining companies, particularly those with more technologically advanced facilities on the Gulf Coast and in the Midwest.
Set to go into effect in 2020, the regulation by the International Maritime Organization is designed to reduce the amount of sulfur in marine fuel. Most large vessels now run on a high-sulfur fuel known as bunker fuel, which is made from the leftovers of the diesel and gasoline refining processes.
Valero Chief Executive Joe Gorder told investors he expects the regulation to benefit the company.
“We should see significant increases in our free cash flow,” he said.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/gasoline-makers-are-reaping-big-profits-1533634201?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=2
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Oil Industry Needs Dealmaker To Come Through With China, Saudi Arabia
Aug 7, 2018 | Forbes
By Dan Eberhart
President Donald Trump better be as good of a negotiator as he claims. U.S. oil and natural gas producers – and American consumers – have a lot riding on President Trump’s unorthodox approach to foreign affairs and trade.
The president may yet come out on top in trade spats with China, Saudi Arabia, the European Union, and our NAFTA neighbors, but nervous traders looking at the scoreboard today are seeing plenty of signals for higher energy prices.
President Trump speaks often about the importance of putting “America first” and “energy dominance” but his administration’s policies don’t always appear to support those goals. The unintended consequence of the Trump administration’s get-tough-on-trade stance includes cutting off access to the growing Chinese market and ceding control over global oil markets to OPEC, and especially, Saudi Arabia.
Beijing on Friday added liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the list of U.S. goods on which it intends to levy import duties, pulling a growing American business sector into the escalating trade war with Trump. LNG exports would face a 25% tariff that would make American gas uncompetitive in the Chinese market. China was the third biggest market for U.S. LNG in 2017, after South Korea and Mexico. China has become the world’s fastest-growing LNG market after imports surged by nearly 50% last year to nearly 40 million tons.
That growth is expected to continue as China tries to lower its chronic air pollution and switch from coal-fired power production to natural gas. U.S. LNG exports were expected to escape tariffs given China’s growing energy appetite, but no.MORE FROM FORBESBraintree BRANDVOICEGlobal Payment Demystified: How Merchants Are Profiting From Digital WalletsGrads of Life BRANDVOICEThe U.S. Has Over 6 Million Job Openings. Why Aren't They Being Filled?Civic Nation BRANDVOICEThe Politics Of Friendship
Beijing added LNG to the tariff list after Trump’s trade team surprised China by announcing tariffs of 25% rather than the 10% originally proposed. There is still time for both sides to reconsider and back away from the brink while still saving face. U.S. tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods don’t take effect until September, and officials say no final decision has been made about imposing them.
President Trump could be bluffing or more precisely, seeking leverage in trade talks by pushing all of his chips onto the table. But it’s a risky game and the president has already shown that he doesn’t back down. After all, he initiated the trade war with levies on $34 billion in Chinese goods, as well as tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum – measures that are already being felt in the energy sector which relies on steel imports.
That is why the oil and gas industry is upset. American crude is already slated to be hit by a 25% levy by Beijing if President Trump goes through with his expanded tariffs in September. Now, U.S. energy exporters face the prospect of being shut out of the world’s most coveted import market altogether. China is also expected to turn to alternative LNG producers in the Middle East and Russia, as well as Australia, to replace U.S. supplies.
American LNG exporters may need China more than China needs them. The United States in recent months has provided less than 10% of China’s LNG imports. China has purchased more than 20% of U.S. LNG exports. There could be long-term impacts on the U.S. LNG industry, too, as new developers of export projects – multi-billion dollar schemes that require long-term contracts with LNG buyers for financing – reconsider their options with the world’s fastest-growing market off the table.
Meanwhile, in oil markets, it must now be asked whether Saudi Arabia has played Trump. The President said he received assurances from the kingdom that it would ramp up its production to help offset the impact of renewed US sanctions on Iran’s oil sector, but Saudi oil output fell in July to 10.3 million barrels a day, from 10.5 million barrels a day in June. This is extremely concerning. Saudi officials had said the OPEC giant would pump 11 million barrels a day in July with preparations to produce at near full capacity of 12.5 million barrels a day, to offset mounting supply disruption fears – not just from Iran but Venezuela and Libya.
Instead, it appears that Saudi Arabia is more concerned about its bottom line than a stable oil market. Oil prices have fallen from over $80 a barrel in May to the low $70s and, based on its July output, Saudi Arabia appears unwilling to let prices fall further. Crude markets have, unsurprisingly, responded bearishly to the escalating trade war that threatens global economic growth and oil demand.
It’s possible Saudi Arabia did not see enough demand in the market last month to justify pumping more oil. But with so many fires burning these days in oil-producing countries, it’s easy to see how even the smallest supply disruption could cause oil prices to surge toward $80 a barrel if Saudi Arabia continues to skimp on production.
The good news for oil markets is lower Saudi output equals greater spare production capacity in the event of such a disruption. The bad news is that nobody has a clue what the Saudi oil agenda is in a highly politicized market where Riyadh is trying to satisfy very different allegiances – to the United States, Russia and its fellow Gulf OPEC members.
President Trump should make sure Saudi Arabia is on the same page. Trump’s Iran sanctions took the focus off rapidly growing U.S. shale production – which had been keeping oil prices in check – and re-focused them on potential supply disruptions. Trump has cast himself as the “great dealmaker.” For the sake of America’s continued energy dominance and economic recovery, now is the time to make a deal.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/daneberhart/2018/08/07/oil-industry-needs-dealmaker-to-come-through-with-china-saudi-arabia/#1dc1ffb8a9c6
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Colorado Drilling Setback Measure Tentatively Qualifies for November Ballot
Aug 7, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
Colorado Rising, a coalition of environmental organizations, said a statewide ballot initiative has qualified for the November election, which, if it were to pass, would increase setback requirements to 2,500 feet from 500 feet for new oil and natural gas drilling.
Access to full text unavailable – subscription required.
Story can be found here:
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/115339-colorado-drilling-setback-measure-tentatively-qualifies-for-november-ballot?v=preview
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API Stalwart Jumps to Natural Gas Giant
Aug 7, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Zack Colman
A longtime lobbyist for the oil and gas industry's top trade association is heading to a natural gas giant to lead its federal affairs office.
Khary Cauthen left the American Petroleum Institute to lead Cheniere Energy Inc.'s office in Washington. The departure was confirmed by API spokesman Mike Tadeo, who noted Cauthen's new position.
Khary Cauthen. Energi Insurance Services, Inc
Cheniere has been an active player in the natural gas space. It owns the first liquefied natural gas export facility in the United States and signed a 25-year export contract with China National Petroleum Corp.
The Trump administration has made expanding natural gas and other energy exports central to its economic and trade agenda. It sought to boost ties between energy producers and China on a trip last fall. Cheniere and other energy firms, however, have grown increasingly concerned about the administration's escalating trade tensions with other nations. China, which analysts expect to lead global natural gas demand growth, proposed a 25 percent tariff on imported U.S. natural gas last week.
Cauthen had been with API for 12 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Prior to API, Cauthen was a special assistant to Council on Environmental Quality Chairman Jim Connaughton in the George W. Bush administration. He also served at EPA under Administrator Christine Todd Whitman, for whom he'd worked when she was governor of New Jersey.
Cheniere did not return a request for comment.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/08/07/stories/1060092949
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FERC Rules in Favor of New York Pipeline Developers
Aug 7, 2018 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Ben Lefebvre
FERC approved a controversial Northern Access natural gas pipeline, rejecting a request from New York to reconsider its earlier ruling that the state’s environmental regulators waited too long to deny the granting of a water quality certificate.
The ruling, handed down late Monday, gives the developers of the 97-mile pipeline a win in a legal battle that has gone on for more than a year. The project has been stalled since New York’s Department of Environmental Quality denied the application for a water quality waver in April 2017.
The DEQ waived its ability to deny the application by taking more than the legally mandated year to issue its decision, FERC ruled.
“The agency received the companies’ application on March 2, 2016, and was obligated to act on the application within one year,” the FERC ruling reads. “New York DEC failed to act by March 2, 2017, and so waived its authority under section 401 of the Clean Water Act.”
The Sierra Club and local residents have also been fighting the pipeline, saying it would lead to greater methane emissions, and they have criticized the companies’ use of eminent domain to obtain land.
FERC Commissioner Richard Glick dissented with the decision, saying the majority did not sufficiently prove the pipeline project was needed nor adequately evaluate its environmental impact.
WHAT'S NEXT: The pipeline is still being contested in the courts.
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
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15 California Aerospace Workers Exposed to Unknown Chemical
Aug 7, 2018 | AP (In The New York Times)
Fifteen employees at a Southern California aerospace facility have been hospitalized after they were exposed to an unknown chemical.
Los Angeles County firefighters were dispatched late Monday to Esterline TA Aerospace in the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles.
Crews were unable to determine what the irritant was. City News Service says the workers were taken to hospitals in unknown condition.
The company makes clamps, insulation and other materials for the aerospace industry.
A telephone message left with the company Tuesday morning seeking comment was not immediately returned.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/08/07/us/ap-us-chemical-exposure-california.html
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Denton County Trains First in Texas to Test Safety Equipment
Aug 7, 2018 | NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
By Larry Collins
Public transportation agencies across the country are racing the clock to install and test mandated safety equipment installed or face possible shutdown.
The National Transportation Safety Board says the technology, called “positive train control,” is meant to prevent potentially deadly accidents, and should be fully implemented on trains by the end of the year.
PTC uses wireless technology and GPS, allowing train computers, as well as train operators, to communicate with one another to avoid collisions. The equipment also alerts operators when they are going too fast and shoots alerts when they are approaching a problem on the track. The equipment can bring the train to a safe stop.
The Denton County Transportation Authority said it is well on the way to keeping trains on the tracks. Their trains had PTC technology installed at the beginning of the year and testing started in May. The testing will continue throughout September. DCTA was the first public transit agency in Texas to start testing.Paul Manafort’s Lavish Lifestyle on Display During TrialThe Department of Justice has released photos and documents detailing Paul Manafort’s expensive clothing, home renovations, and spending habits.(Published Monday, Aug. 6, 2018)
According to DCTA officials, the agency started early and chose to move forward with installing PTC technology (Enhanced Automatic Train Control/E-ATC).
“This was the right PTC technology system for DCTA to install on the A-train that eliminated complexities by allowing us to leverage fiber networks and enhance our existing signal system,” Raymond Suarez, DCTA Chief Operating Officer said via e-mail.
DCTA released video of the PTC testing to NBC 5 showing employees on the A-train exceeding the speed limit for a section of track. The equipment starts beeping and when the operator ignores it, the train comes to a stop.DALLASNEWSWhich Restaurant Serves the Best Breakfast Taco in DFW?
Elsewhere in North Texas, the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) is moving forward to complete installation and testing before the Dec. 31 deadline.
TRE issued the following update:
• 53 percent of on board hardware installation
• 100 percent of wayside hardware installation
• 100 percent back office hardware installation
• Back office software installation: scheduled to be installed in August
• 100 percent procurement of spectrum (ready to use)
• Progress on training: date TBD
• Pre-field testing has begunTEXRail faces a separate PTC implementation timeline.
The following is an update for TEXRail:
• On board hardware installation: begins in October
• 100 percent of wayside hardware installation
• 100 percent back office hardware installation
• Back office software installation: date TBD
• 100 percent procurement of spectrum (ready to use)https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Denton-County-Trains-490223381.html
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TSA Launches New, More Secure Design for TWIC
Aug 6, 2018 | WorkBoat
By Pamela Glass
If you are getting a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) for the first time or renewing, the new credential will look a lot different and contain more security features than the old one.
The Transportation Security Administration, which oversees the TWIC program, has announced that the card is getting a facelift. On July 10, the TSA discontinued issuance of the 2007 design. While the 2007 design will no longer be issued, TWIC is a five-year credential. Thus, the old design will remain valid until 2023.
Called TWIC NexGen, the new design aims to deter counterfeiting and curb the fraudulent use of the credential by incorporating enhanced security features, the TSA said on its website. The new card is also designed to be compatible with qualified TWIC readers.
Current TWIC cards will remain valid until their expiration dates, and cardholders aren’t required to request a new or replacement card until the card expires.
Regulated facilities or vessels that require TWIC for access will accept and recognize both the current and new designs. As with the current credential, it will be valid for five years. The price will remain at $125.25 for first time and renewals and $60 for a replacement card.
This is the first design update since the TWIC was launched in 2007. The vast majority of regulated facilities and vessels often use the TWIC as a “flash pass” for entry, and the new card is designed to prevent an ongoing problem of counterfeiting.
Among the most visual changes: the card will contain more authentication features: 11 on the front and six on the back. The expiration date will be more prominent, there will be new images on the front like a compass, eagle and ship, and the card’s color will change at different angles.
Since the program began, there have been 3.1 million enrollments. There are currently 2.1 million active cards and 60,000 applicants have been deemed ineligible for the credential, according to TSA. The agency approves about 30,000 new enrollments a month.
The TWIC is required under the Maritime Transportation Security Act, which was passed as a security enhancement after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The credential allows access to secure areas of maritime facilities and vessels. As part of the application process, TSA conducts a background check on applicants. Most mariners licensed by the Coast Guard are required to carry the credential.
TWIC has been widely criticized within the maritime community over the years for being burdensome and costly while providing little security improvements. Many in the industry are encouraging the Trump administration to eliminate the program as part of a wider effort to trim overreaching federal regulations.
https://www.workboat.com/news/government/tsa-launches-new-more-secure-design-for-twic/
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Why Hasn't the US Put a Price on Carbon Yet?
Aug 7, 2018 | RealClearEnergy
By Hugh C. Welsh
It’s time to rethink how our country approaches carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the use of fossil fuels. Right now, we know that the release of CO2 damages the environment but emitters bear none of the cost. American tax payers, meanwhile, are subsidizing these environmentally harmful practices by paying taxes on fossil fuels and accompanying infrastructure and then confronting the challenges brought about by the climate change caused by CO2.
Does that sound fair ?
No, of course, it's not fair. But the good news is that with leadership from both the private and public sectors, the U.S. is now making progress toward policies that will both reduce our carbon footprint and spur continued economic growth.
The most practical way to significantly reduce emissions is to finally put a price on carbon.
This would make companies pay for the amount of fossil fuels they consume and the emissions they create. The revenues generated through could be repurposed — lowering other types of taxes, funding highway and airport improvements, keeping utility bills lower for Americans, and making the country more resilient to the effects of climate change.
Some of us in the private sector recognized long ago that pricing carbon and strengthening the economy are not mutually exclusive. And companies like ours, DSM North America, have begun imposing a carbon price on ourselves. But we can’t do it alone: We need a comprehensive policy change that emanates from our leaders in Washington.
Finally, after years of leadership by folks like Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), we are encouraged to see growing bipartisan support for such climate change efforts. Rep. Carlos Curbelo’s (R-FL) recently introduced MARKET CHOICE Act is one good example of a practical carbon price policy.
The bill would monetize carbon output with a view to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Just as importantly, Curbelo’s bill would then take those revenues and put them towards domestic infrastructure improvements. Inside Climate News offers the details:
Rep. Carlos Curbelo’s bill would set a tax on carbon emissions starting at $24 per ton in 2020. The tax would rise 2 percent a year above inflation until 2030. It would go up an additional $2 a ton in any year when emissions failed to fall. As carbon prices go, this is pretty low.
Not only would this piece of legislation put us on track to fulfill (and likely exceed) the Paris Agreement CO2 reduction requirements, it would also allow for lower taxes on transportation, such as those tied to gasoline and jet fuel.
At the very least, we hope that Curbelo’s bill will serve as a catalyst to a national conversation on how to de-carbonize our economy, spur investment, create jobs, and help mitigate climate change. We could become a model for other nations to follow.
DSM North America is a purpose-led and performance-driven company. We look to leverage our competencies in areas such as nutrition, clean energy, and the circular economy to not just succeed financially, but to also do good for our customers, employees, and society at large. We will not lose sight of our obligation to advocate in support of the change that we need — including putting a price on carbon.
That’s why we at DSM North America were proud to join with over 30 other companies — including BP America, Campbell Soup Company, General Motors, Lyft, Inc., IKEA North America Services, LLC, and PG&E Corporation — in publicly thanking Rep. Curbelo for introducing the MARKET CHOICE Act.
Private industry cannot shoulder this burden alone. It's time for our lawmakers to seize the momentum created by Rep. Curbelo’s bill and Senator Whitehouse’s leadership and come together to have a real, bipartisan conversation about finally putting a price on carbon.
An economy-wide, market-based approach is the best way to give our business leaders and job creators the certainty that they need to help grow the U.S. economy more sustainably into the 21st century.
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2018/08/07/why_hasnt_the_us_put_a_price_on_carbon_yet_110323.html
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EPA Has No Records to Support Pruitt's Warming Claims
Aug 7, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Scott Waldman
EPA has not produced any scientific evidence to support the claims of former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt that humans are not primary contributors to climate change.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has fought EPA in court for more than a year to produce scientific evidence for Pruitt's claims, which he made on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
Earlier this month, EPA appeared to acknowledge that it did not have any records that would support Pruitt's claims and produced 12 pages of emails showing his staff's correspondence with the show's producers.
"In addition to the above search, EPA presented the twelve pages of material ... to the former administrator before his departure from the agency and asked him if he was aware of any other agency records that he relied upon to make the statement on the Squawk Box appearance," EPA attorney Jennifer Hammitt wrote. "The former administrator identified no additional responsive records."
A few weeks after he became EPA administrator, Pruitt appeared on CNBC's "Squawk Box," where he was asked about carbon dioxide and climate change. He said, "I would not agree that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see."
The next day, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking the studies Pruitt used to make his claims. Specifically, the group requested "EPA documents that support the conclusion that human activity is not the largest factor driving global climate change."
EPA fought that FOIA request, but in June, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered it to produce scientific evidence that supports Pruitt's claim. This week, PEER said the inability of EPA to respond showed Pruitt did not have any scientific backing for his claims.
"It appears Scott Pruitt's positions were utterly unencumbered by facts," stated PEER General Counsel Paula Dinerstein. "Amazingly, Pruitt had the gall to preach 'sound science' until his disgraceful exit."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/08/07/stories/1060092943
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The Summer of Plastic-Straw Bans: How We Got There
Aug 7, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Corinne Ramey and Bob Tita
When reality-TV star Kim Kardashian West told her 115 million Instagram followers that her household had stopped using plastic straws, the head of an environmental nonprofit responded in disbelief.
“I thought, ‘Did we culture-hack this?’ ” said Dune Ives, executive director of Lonely Whale, whose #StopSucking social-media campaign advocates banning single-use plastic straws. “Did we change the conversation around straws?”
This is the summer of the plastic-straw ban. Bans on straws have swept through U.S. cities, businesses, restaurants and even sports venues at a surprising speed. In recent months, officials in cities including New York, San Francisco, Miami Beach, Fla., Santa Barbara, Calif., and Portland, Ore., have either proposed or passed bans on single-use plastic straws. Last month, Seattle became the first major U.S. city to put a ban into effect.
Starbucks Corp. , Hyatt Hotels Corp. , Disney Co. and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, among others, said they would phase out single-use plastic straws last month.
The story of how plastic straws went from ubiquitous to utensil non grata is one of psychology, a well-timed turtle and the power of social media. There has also been minimal industry pushback.
Susan Clayton, a professor of psychology and environmental studies at the College of Wooster in Ohio, compared the movement to the Ice Bucket Challenge, a 2014 social-media sensation in which people posted videos of cold water being dumped on their heads and donated to charity.Those who have opposed the bans include owners of bubble tea shops, who say the drinks’ tapioca balls require wide straws. PHOTO: JEFF CHIU/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Activities like avoiding straws can lead to something psychologists call moral licensing, Dr. Clayton said, in which some people feel good about themselves for changing certain behaviors, so don’t feel the need to take further action.
“Do you do this little thing and say, ‘Now I’ve done my part, so I can drive to Starbucks instead of walking’?” she said. “Or do you think, ‘This saving the environment stuff isn’t so hard after all’?”
While calls for straw bans have accelerated in recent months, advocates consider the movement’s major boosters a social-media campaign and a 2015 YouTube video of a bloodied straw being pulled out of a sea turtle’s nostril. The video has 32 million views.
The video “opened up a broader question: What are we doing with single-use plastics?” said John Calvelli, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Give a Sip campaign, which seeks to educate New Yorkers about the impact of plastic pollution.
Some also credit the influence of an oft-cited statistic that Americans use 500 million straws each day. The figure, which has been cited by the National Park Service and others, including The Wall Street Journal, comes from the 2011 research of a then nine-year-old Vermont boy and his mother.RELATED
Starbucks to Eliminate Plastic Straws by 2020 (July 9)Essay: Could It Be the Last Straw for Plastic Straws? (April 13)The War on Straws Is Coming to a Bar Near You (March 19)
Straws aren’t the only single-use item to have been the subject of environmentalists’ ire. But campaigns to bring recyclable bags to the grocery store or tote around reusable mugs haven’t caught on with the same verve.
“The kind of sacrifice that someone has to make to not get a plastic bag is a bigger sacrifice than not having a straw,” said Melissa Checker, an environmental-psychology professor at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.
Adding to the movement’s success is its lack of organized opposition. Some advocates for disabled people who need drinking straws have spoken out against the bans, leading to exceptions to some cities’ proposed rules. Others who have opposed bans include owners of bubble tea shops, who say the drinks’ tapioca balls require wide straws.
Some consumers note the convenience of plastic straws; they allow for slurping an iced coffee while driving or walking, without major spills. But such mundane complaints haven’t coalesced into a coalition.
To the extent that a straw-ban backlash has cropped up, much of it has come from people who oppose the craze that has surrounded the bans. Some oppose government working its way into their soft-drink cups. Others question whether the bans aren’t just a self-congratulatory, ecological fad with little environmental impact.
“It’s so trivial,” said Larry Grossman, 53, from Short Hills, N.J., as he left a Starbucks in Manhattan.
“I’ve got a plastic lid,” he said, pointing to his coffee cup. “If they get rid of the lid next, I’d have to find another way not to spill my coffee.”SOME OF THE COMPANIES DROPPING PLASTIC STRAWSAlaska Airlines: Will use white-birch stir sticks and bamboo citrus picks. Nonplastic straws available upon request.American Airlines: Will use stir sticks made of bamboo. Lounges will use “a biodegradable, eco-friendly straw.”Barclays Center: Will use strawless lids. Compostable straws available upon request.Bon Appétit Management: Paper straws available “to guests with physical challenges or who strongly feel they need a straw.”Hyatt Hotels: Straws and picks available on request. Will use “eco-friendly alternatives…where available.”Marriott International: Will offer alternative straws upon request.Royal Caribbean Cruises: Will offer paper straws upon request. Will also use wood coffee stirrers and bamboo garnish picks.SeaWorld Entertainment: Will use paper or reusable plastic straws.Starbucks: Will use strawless lids. Also plans to use paper or compostable straws with some beverages or upon request.Walt Disney: Will eliminate plastic straws and stirrers. No details on replacements.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-summer-of-plastic-straw-bans-how-we-got-there-1533634200?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1
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How to Reduce Plastic, Foil and Other Kitchen Disposables
Aug 7, 2018 | AP (In The Washington Post)
By Katherine Roth
Disposables have become a mainstay of many American kitchens — plastic baggies, plastic wrap, paper towels, aluminum foil, plastic straws and more. Reducing or even eliminating them can save you money in addition to cutting down on trash that ends up in landfills.
“It’s easy to be overwhelmed by it all, but little differences really do add up,” says Lauryn Tyrell, food editor at Martha Stewart Living magazine.
“I spend about 75 percent of my time in the test kitchen and so I’m an excellent candidate for creating a ton of kitchen waste. But we’ve learned some tricks to reduce the amount of trash we produce,” she says.
(Remember that in addition to reducing and reusing, recycling is an easy option for many items, including glass, plastic containers, bottles, cans, clean aluminum foil and batteries.)
A few kitchen tips from the pros:
PAPER TOWELS
“Keeping paper towel use to a minimum is one of the things Martha Stewart is really serious about,” Tyrell says. Each workspace in the magazine’s test kitchen features cloth tea towels, bar towels (similar to rags) and a roll of select-a-size paper towels, she says. The latter is used sparingly.
Tea towels are great for drying hands or dishes, or folding up to use as a hot mitt. Bar towels can be used for most messes. Paper towels are reserved for messes like juice from meat or raw egg.
“It helps to have all your towel options in one place, so I’d recommend keeping rags or bar towels near where you keep the paper towels,” Tyrell says. If cloth towels aren’t handy, you probably won’t use them, she advises.
And if you can’t wean yourself off paper towels, there are now several types of reusable ones made of bamboo and other sustainable materials that can be used numerous times before tossing them out, says Brandi Broxson, articles editor at Real Simple magazine. Cleaner paper towels can be recycled.
PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS
Carry your own canvas or string tote bags for groceries and other purchases. The key, as with bar towels, is to keep them handy.
“There are so many types of reusable bags out there that there’s really no excuse for bringing home single-use plastic shopping bags anymore,” Tyrell says.
Americans throw away around 100 billion plastic bags a year, she says.
PLASTIC PRODUCE BAGS
Avoid plastic produce bags by keeping a few lightweight mesh bags — often sold as “multi-use straining bags” — in your purse when you head to the grocery store, Tyrell says.
“They’re also great for making nut milks or straining yogurt,” she adds.
If your grocery store doesn’t use compostable produce bags, you can always bring some of your own.
To avoid plastic wrapping on meat or fish, try asking the butcher at the grocery store to wrap it instead in paper, which is biodegradable. Or bring a reusable container to put it in.
PLASTIC BAGGIES
There are a variety of new products that can be used as an alternative to baggies. Broxson, at Real Simple, recommends one called Stashers . They’re like zip-top plastic bags but are made of Silicon, and can be washed in the dishwasher and reused. They are watertight, and can go from freezer to microwave.
PLASTIC WRAP
Both Broxson and Tyrell recommend Bee’s Wrap as an alternative to typical plastic cling wrap. It’s made of fabric coated in a mixture of wax, oil and tree resin, and sticks to the top of bowls and jars. Like plastic wrap, it conforms to all sorts of shapes. Unlike plastic wrap, it can be washed and reused, and remains sticky for months, Bronson says.
“It’s not great for wrapping something drippy like a tuna sandwich, where maybe parchment paper or aluminum foil might be preferable. But as a container covering, or to wrap drier types of foods or sandwiches, it’s great,” she says.
ALUMINUM FOIL
“Luckily, unbleached parchment paper works great for baking and roasting, and also for wrapping sandwiches and snacks,” and is biodegradable, Broxson says.
“If you must use aluminum foil, you can wad it up into a ball and reuse it as a scouring sponge for baking dishes to get one more use out of it before throwing it away,” she suggests. Clean aluminum foil can be recycled if it’s free from food residue. And many stores now sell recycled aluminum foil.
PLASTIC STRAWS AND UTENSILS
The test kitchens at Martha Stewart Living have switched from plastic to stainless steel straws, says Tyrell.
“I carry my own titanium fork and spoon, with a nylon connector so they can even be used as tongs. They’re super-lightweight, and kind of cool,” she says. “Way nicer than plastic.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/how-to-reduce-plastic-foil-and-other-kitchen-disposables/2018/08/07/c6d7ee82-9a52-11e8-a8d8-9b4c13286d6b_story.html?utm_term=.1c82871f273f
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