All posts by Roger Straw

Editor, owner, publisher of The Benicia Independent

8 Major Trump Executive Actions on the Environment

Repost from the San Francisco Chronicle  (This article is a feature of an important SF Chron investigative piece: “Trump Gains, Science Loses.”)

8 MAJOR TRUMP EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Traffic on Highway 880 in Oakland. President Trump’s order calls for a review of fuel economy standards for vehicles for model years 2022-25. Michael Macor / The Chronicle

Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines: Jan. 24 Signs orders to approve the two oil pipelines over the objections of environmentalists who say the projects will damage the area and encourage use of fossil fuels.

Expedite approvals for infrastructure: Jan. 24 Signs order directing the White House Council on Environmental Quality to speed approvals of infrastructure projects around the country “using all necessary and appropriate means.” Critics fear the order will lead to construction without proper environmental review.

Border wall: Jan. 25 Calls for expansion of a wall along the southern border with Mexico. Environmentalists say the wall would fragment ecosystems and create barriers to the movement of species. It would also intersect Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Big Bend National Park. Funding faces bipartisan resistance in Congress.

Two-for-one regulatory repeal: Jan. 30 Orders federal agencies to repeal two rules for every new one and orders all new regulatory costs this year to equal zero. Public Citizen, Natural Resources Defense Council and Communications Workers of America sued, saying the order could require the government to lift bans on lead or asbestos to protect against new chemicals.

Enforcing the regulatory reform agenda: Feb. 24 Orders federal agencies to root out rules that inhibit job creation, “are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective,” or “impose costs that exceed benefits.”

Waters of the United States: Feb. 24 Orders review of an Obama-era rule that expanded protection of smaller bodies of water, tributaries and wetlands. The action could make it easier to develop on wetlands and near streams.

Fuel economy: March 15 Orders review of fuel-economy standards that limit greenhouse gas pollution from cars and light trucks for model years 2022 to 2025. Vehicles are the biggest source of U.S. carbon pollution.

Promoting energy independence: March 28 Orders review of Clean Power Plan limiting carbon emissions from coal plants, a linchpin of federal climate policy along with vehicle standards. Ends consideration of climate change in agency reviews, ends calculation of social cost of carbon, making it harder to write new rules to limit emissions. Halts federal actions to prepare for climate change. Lifts moratorium on new coal leases on federal land.

Online resources: Read more at http://bit.ly/2pHNJW4  (Climate Deregulation Tracker, Columbia Law School, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Earth Institute, Columbia University)

BENICIA VIGIL: Still Standing Strong after Trump’s First 100 Days

WeThePeople Benicia Standing StrongBENICIA RESISTANCE: OBSERVANCE OF TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS
Friday, April 28, 5 PM
City Park, First & Military Streets

WE WILL GATHER ON TRUMP’S 99TH DAY (…not on the 20th this month)

Shepard-GreaterThanFearWe found ourselves moved and encouraged on Inauguration Day, January 20th when we sang and held hands in the pouring rain just as Donald Trump took the oath of office.  We determined that day to organize, to keep watch, to remain vigilant, and to come together on the 20th of each month to support one another in our efforts to resist authoritarian governance of our constitutional democracy.

And so we did gather again – in the pouring rain each time – on February 20 and March 20.  In April, we will put off our gathering for a week or so, and meet on the day before the Trump Administration’s 100th day.  We will gather on Friday, April 28th.

Please share this invitation with friends and family, bring signs and banners, and prepare to have your discouragement and anxieties transformed into purpose and strength in the warmth and insight of our hopeful community of Benicia progressives. 

Tar Sands/Oil Sands Carbon Footprint Underestimated by Nearly 25%

Repost from The Energy Mix

Tar Sands/Oil Sands Carbon Footprint Underestimated by Nearly 25%

Inside Climate News, by Lisa Song, April 4, 2017
BeforeItStarts/flickr

In a finding that should resonate strongly for Canadian decision-makers charged with meeting the country’s climate targets, new research reveals that the carbon footprint of a litre of synthetic crude extracted from tar sands/oil sands bitumen is more than 23% greater than previously estimated.

The elevated figure, reported by InsideClimate News, is based on an assessment conducted by the U.S. State Department in the course of its consideration of a still-pending application by Calgary’s Enbridge Inc. to expand its Alberta Clipper pipeline to deliver synthetic tar sands/oil sands crude to Wisconsin. It updates an earlier finding produced by the same agency in 2014, during its consideration of TransCanada Corporation’s Keystone XL pipeline.

That assessment, ICN recalls, determined that “compared to other sources of oil that American refineries might use, the tar sands would be about 17% more polluting on average.” The calculation contributed to then-President Barack Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL proposal, a decision recently reversed by his pro-fossil successor.

A more recent review of Enbridge’s proposed line, however, produced “a gloomier picture of emissions.”

Employing “the most up-to-date studies and tools, including a model known as GREET, developed by the federal Argonne National Laboratory, which calls it the ‘gold standard’ for this kind of calculation,” the latest assay found that on a comprehensive “well-to-wheels” basis, “tar sands crude would have a carbon footprint of 632 kilograms per barrel, compared to an average U.S. refinery mix of 521 kilograms per barrel of carbon dioxide emissions. The difference is 111 kilograms per barrel—21 percent dirtier, not 17 percent.”

The four percentage-point difference in the new calculation means the full carbon footprint of tar sands/oil sands production, distribution, and use is 23.5% heavier than previously thought.

BENICIA STANDING STRONG: VIGIL ON THE SPRING EQUINOX

Next Monday!

– BENICIA STANDING STRONG –
VIGIL ON THE SPRING EQUINOX

WeThePeople Benicia Standing StrongMonday, March 20, 6 p.m. First & Military

We continue on the 20th of each month to stand strong, watching over the Trump administration’s disastrous agenda. AND…it’s important to remain focused on local & regional issues. TOGETHER, we are strong.

March 20th falls this year on the spring equinox, a season of increasing light, and a time when life springs forth from death.  We gather again to support one another in our efforts to resist the stifling of democracy and hope.

Bring information about groups you are working with.
Connect with others who are taking action.
Bring signs and banners.

TRUMP WATCH
HERE AT HOME
Among MANY other things…President Trump released his preliminary discretionary budget Thursday morning with its massive cuts to the arts, science, and the poor.  The proposal cuts the EPA and the State Department the most — by nearly a third.

Trump would eliminate funding for 19 agencies, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Chemical Safety Board.

  • Great news! The Phillips 66 proposal to bring oil trains through Northern California to San Luis Obispo was DEFEATED last week, thanks to vigorous local and regional organizing!
  • The Bay Area Air District is hosting a community workshop on Tues, March 28 at 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at the Benicia Library. A strong public presence is important to send the Air District the message that we cannot wait any longer and we need emissions caps now.
  • On April 4, there will be a nationwide screening of the 80’s movie 1984. In Vallejo, see the movie at the Empress Theater in Vallejo (more info on Facebook event page).
A few good local organizing links:


JOIN us at the vigil on March 20 and SHARE on Facebook
tinyurl.com/BeniciaVigil

We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well, [at] the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us.
– Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967