Post-Democracy America Day 6: Trump Destroys The EPA:
President Trump is stocking the Environmental Protection Agency with officials who have served as lawyers and lobbyists for the oil and chemical industries, many of whom worked in his first administration to weaken climate and pollution protections.
Top appointees include David Fotouhi, Mr. Zeldin’s second-in-command, a lawyer who recently challenged a ban on asbestos; Alex Dominguez, a former oil lobbyist who will work on automobile emissions; and Aaron Szabo, a lobbyist for both the oil and chemical industries who is expected to be the top air pollution regulator.
President Donald Trump has withdrawn a Biden administration plan to set new limits on chemical discharge into drinking water.
State regulators around the U.S. had been waiting for the Environmental Protection Agency to take the lead on PFAS requirements so they could incorporate effective monitoring and treatment into their discharge permits.
Without new federal limits, those efforts are stalled, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group in Washington, D.C.
PFAS are forever chemicals that have been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, immune suppression and developmental harm. They are widely used in products like nonstick pans, waterproof clothing, soaps and shampoos.
‘Eat The Billionaires’: More great advice from Josh Marshall that will likely go unheeded. You know, because of our billionaires:
AP has a new poll out which asked whether people think it’s a good or bad thing that the President “relies on billionaires for advice about government policy.” When I first saw the results of this poll as “good” coming in at “+12” I thought they meant “net” 12% and I thought, “eeeesh, the honeymoon phase is more intense than I thought!” But no, 12%: as in, 12% of the public think it’s a good thing. 60% think it’s not. That’s U.S. adults. The only outliers are Republicans, 20% of whom think this is a good thing. But even that is pretty feeble. To put it simply, these are terrible numbers.
On its own I’m not sure surrounding yourself with billionaire friends is a major voting issue. But it’s unlikely to stay on its own since we’re about to see huge shifts in fiscal policy which favor billionaires at the expense of everyone else. The biggest point is that Democrats need to make it salient. But these numbers show there’s very fertile ground for doing so.
Testosterone Overload? Perhaps you can provide a better explanation as to Sen. Townsend’s animus towards Matt Meyer:
On Jan. 20, the day before Meyer became governor, then-Gov. Bethany Hall-Long nominated prominent labor leaders James Ascione, William Ashe and Curtis Linton, along with former Board of Pilot Commissioners Chair Robert Medd. She also re-nominated former Delaware Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock and the board’s former chairman.
While the nominations appeared to be a surprise to Meyer, a spokesperson for Hall-Long said the nominations were made in consultation with Senate leadership. Meyer sent senators a letter Tuesday asking for those nominations to be withdrawn after being asked about them by reporters. He said he would be submitting his own in the days ahead, which may or may not include some of the names Hall-Long suggested.
“Those who lose elections don’t get to make appointments,” said Nick Merlino, Meyer’s deputy chief of staff.
As to Sen. Townsend?:
Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend said Hall-Long duly made the nominations during her time as governor and he doesn’t think which governor’s name is on the nominations has a direct connection to the voters.
Townsend did not clearly answer whose nominations the Senate would take up, but left the door open for the Senate to disregard Meyer’s picks in favor of Hall-Long’s.
“Right now we have Gov. Hall Long’s nominees that are submitted to the Senate. Gov. Meyer sent a letter that we believe presented an inaccurate, to put it mildly, framing of the Delaware Constitution and what its powers are,” he said.
Oh. Forget about the ‘framing of the Delaware Constitution’. Focus on what is fair. Ya wanna have a, you know, ‘measuring contest’? Fine. Just don’t try to couch it as something it is not. Four years of this kind of pettiness will get neither Townsend or Meyer or the State, for that matter, anywhere. Find common ground.
What do you want to talk about?