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Colorado's black market marijuana problem is often assumed to be connected to recreational legalization, but that's not quite right. Then, we hear from a crisis intervention expert on how to spot and help a loved one, friend or colleague contemplating taking their own life. And, members of the Trump administration headlined the Western Conservative Summit including Attorney General Jeff Sessions and E.P.A. Administrator Scott Pruitt.
Can scientists who get grant money from the Environmental protection agency be objective enough to serve on its advisory boards? According to Administrator Scott Pruitt, the answer is “no.” Today’s episode examines one aspect of the sweeping changes taking place at EPA: Scott Pruitt’s bar on scientists who’ve taken money from the agency also serving on its scientific advisory boards. These are the scientists who help EPA evaluate the science behind its regulations. Some people who weren’t included in this new policy: people who’ve taken money from industries the EPA regulates. But scientists who receive grant money from the agency had to choose between keeping their funding or serving as advisors. We talk Robyn Wilson, a researcher from Ohio State University, who says it’s a false choice and is refusing to step down.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) joins the pod to discuss #MeToo, the viral hashtag that serves as a rallying cry against sexual misconduct and assault; her meeting with Ivanka Trump; and Administrator Scott Pruitt’s dangerous decisions at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Michele and Igor also talk about Senator Jeff Flake’s (R-AZ) announcement this week that he will not seek re-election in 2018, making him the latest congressional Republican who no longer wants to put up with President Trump.
Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy weighs in on the fate of the Clean Power Plan, and the EPA itself, under current Administrator Scott Pruitt. --- These are challenging times at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In February of this year former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who had sued the EPA more than a dozen times to block environmental and health protections, became the agency’s Administrator. In the months since, he has called for cuts to EPA programs, sought to repeal the Clean Power Plan, and debunk science on climate change. How far will EPA leadership may go in rolling back climate protections? And, more fundamentally, can the EPA operate as an objective steward of the environment and public health in an era when politics, rather than science, increasingly appear to set its agenda? In this episode of Energy Policy Now the Honorable Gina McCarthy, Administrator of the EPA during President Barack Obama’s second term, weighs in on the EPA’s current policy direction, the Trump administration’s attack on climate science, and the practical impact of a Clean Power Plan rollback on carbon reduction. Gina McCarthy served as EPA Administrator from 2013 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. She recorded this podcast during her visit to the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, to receive the Center’s annual Carnot Prize in celebration of her contributions to environmental policy and to securing a sustainable energy future during her tenure with the EPA. She is currently Menschel Senior Fellow at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Related Content from the Kleinman Center Perry’s Regulatory Curve Ball to Bailout Baseload: http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2017/09/29/perry’s-regulatory-curve-ball-bailout-baseload Reconciling Subsidized Resources in PJM’s Competitive Electricity Markets: http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/reconciling-subsidized-resources Energy Storage in PJM: http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/paper/energy-storage-pjm Hot Topics on Climate Change: http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/hot-topics-climate-change Zero Emissions Credits: An Overview: http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2017/08/31/zero-emissions-credits-overview Shot and Chaser: http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/blog/2017/08/21/shot-and-chaser The Carbon Tax: http://kleinmanenergy.upenn.edu/policy-digests/carbon-tax
In a world full of alternative facts, it should come as no surprise that the EPA no-longer stands for Protecting the Environment. On January 20th, 2017, only a day before millions of Americans took to the streets to march in support of climate action, the EPA made major changes to their website. According to their public statement, the EPA website would be “undergoing changes that reflect the agency's new direction under President Donald Trump and Administrator Scott Pruitt." The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment. It's worth repeating the EPA's purpose, from their website: all Americans are protected from significant risks to human health and the environment where they live, learn and work; national efforts to reduce environmental risk are based on the best available scientific information; federal laws protecting human health and the environment are enforced fairly and effectively; environmental protection is an integral consideration in U.S. policies concerning natural resources, human health, economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and international trade, and these factors are similarly considered in establishing environmental policy; all parts of society -- communities, individuals, businesses, and state, local and tribal governments -- have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate in managing human health and environmental risks; environmental protection contributes to making our communities and ecosystems diverse, sustainable and economically productive; and the United States plays a leadership role in working with other nations to protect the global environment. The most apparent change to the EPA website is that the entire section dedicated to Climate Change was eliminated. No more scientific information, no more Climate Change problem … despite nearly irrefutable scientific evidence that climate change is due to human activity. Their new policies are designed to favor incumbent energy industries without regard to the environment, and are clearly in conflict with the defined mission of the EPA. Temporarily there is still an archive of the old EPA website at https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/climatechange_.html. This temporary archive site maintains much of the EPA's valuable scientific information, as well as the clear ways in which the Climate Change problem and solutions are explained. For more about the EPA's climate change denial, please Listen Up to this week's Energy Show on Renewable Energy World. http://www.spicesolar.com/energy-politics/remember-the-epa/ Copyright © 2017 Spice Solar, All rights reserved.