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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17747
Location: Berkeley, California
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 Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 1:38 pm Post subject: |
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Good news on the environment. Science is no longer forbidden, and Trump's efforts to ban it have failed in court.
| Quote: | JANUARY 28, 2021
SCIENCE
THE FIRST 100 DAYS
Eric Katz
ERIC KATZ
Senior Correspondent
The Biden administration can now quickly do away with a controversial rule that limited the research some federal employees can use when conducting their work, after a federal judge ruled Trump officials improperly rushed it through.
The controversial Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science rule, colloquially referred to as the “secret science” rule by its supporters, was finalized by the Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency just two weeks before it left office. A federal judge in Montana issued a summary judgment on Wednesday evening finding the administration did not sufficiently justify why the rule merited a rushed implementation timeline. First proposed in 2018, the rule was met with significant pushback from critics who said it would improperly prevent EPA employees from using legitimate scientific research.
The rule limits agency employees’ ability to use data that is not fully available to the public. Opponents of the plan have argued that is often the case data is not public due to privacy concerns of individuals in testing and surveys. Lawmakers and thousands of commenters on the rule called it an attack on science that could have a chilling effect on career federal employees working on regulatory and enforcement issues. Former EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler defended the rule as a pro-transparency effort that would give the public more confidence in the agency’s regulatory actions.
The rule now faces an uncertain fate, as President Biden has paused all regulatory actions pending on Jan. 20 for review by his administration. Biden had already identified the “secret science” rule for review, one of dozens of such administrative actions now under the microscope at EPA. Wheeler and the Trump administration had sought to avoid that fate for the rule, saying it was an internal issue that amounted to “federal housekeeping” and therefore could go into effect immediately when EPA attempted to finalize it on Jan. 6. Any finalized rule requires a much more time-consuming and labor-intensive process for repeal.
The judge dismissed that argument from Trump’s EPA, saying the policy amounted to a “substantive rule” and thus required 30 days before implementation as spelled out in the Administrative Procedures Act. The judge, Brian Morris, said a "housekeeping" rule would amount to "nuts-and-bolts procedural guidelines," but the secret science regulation makes a determination "of how the agency should weigh particular scientific information" and deals with "outcomes rather than process." Absent intervention from the Biden administration, the rule would now go into effect on Feb. 6.
Ben Levitan, a senior attorney at the Environmental Defense Fund, which brought the lawsuit against the rule, said the judge’s finding undercuts the rule’s legal basis and vowed to keep fighting until it is formally rescinded. |
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wsurfer
Joined: 17 Aug 2000
Posts: 1635
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| Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2021 5:44 pm Post subject: |
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Biden's first big foreign policy speech.
“We’re going to rebuild our alliances,” Mr. Biden said. “We’re going to re-engage the world.” |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935
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| Posted: Tue Mar 09, 2021 10:34 pm Post subject: |
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Since 2015, China has increased the size of its navy by about 50%, with many of its warships clearly superior to our best warships.
Biden 2021's official response, at the dais just yesterday: We've designed female body armor, relaxed hair style guidelines, and designed maternity flight suits.
SERIOUSLY!
NOT so seriously (I hope):
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coachg
Joined: 10 Sep 2000
Posts: 3550
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:18 am Post subject: |
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It doesn't matter how many ships China produces; we have the big advantage in space.
Coachg |
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wsurfer
Joined: 17 Aug 2000
Posts: 1635
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 12:28 am Post subject: |
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| isobars wrote: | Since 2015, China has increased the size of its navy by about 50%, with many of its warships clearly superior to our best warships.
Biden 2021's official response, at the dais just yesterday: We've designed female body armor, relaxed hair style guidelines, and designed maternity flight suits.
SERIOUSLY!
NOT so seriously (I hope):
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50% since 2015? What a sad number. What's holding them back? |
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17747
Location: Berkeley, California
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| Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2021 1:38 pm Post subject: |
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Excellent news. The departure of the liar-in-chief has breathed life into honesty.
| Quote: |
Eric KatzBy Eric Katz,
Senior Correspondent
MARCH 5, 2021
Biden administration announces its latest move to reverse Trump-era science policies.
INTERIOR
THE FIRST 100 DAYS
The Interior Department is reversing a policy implemented under President Trump that sought to restrict the scientific research its employees could conduct, saying the move will shield career workers from political interference.
The order will revoke a 2018 policy that required Interior employees to only use scientific information publicly available in rules and other decision making documents, which detractors have called an overly restrictive policy that would block career employees from using the best available data. The rescission follows an order Biden signed in January to protect career scientists and limit the role political appointees play in science-based decision making.
The Trump-era policy was issued “without permitting the due consideration and review by the department’s career officials or the broader scientific community,” acting Interior Secretary Scott de la Vega said in his order. It prevented the department from using “cutting-edge research” that used proprietary data and sensitive information to help navigate “complex policy decisions,” he added. The rule allowed for a waiver process, but de la Vega said it made Interior’s “scientific endeavors vulnerable to political influence.”
The acting secretary further ordered Interior to update its scientific integrity policies to ensure they are setting high standards and to bring them in line with Biden’s directive. Specifically, he called for the policies to ban political interference, prevent the suppression or distortion of data and support scientists and researchers of all backgrounds. Each Interior bureau and office must report to the secretary within 90 days on its actions to comply with the new directives. |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2021 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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Just keep sending them there "stimulus" (wealth redistribution and vote-buying) checks, old man. They're my best shot at getting back my share of some of your latest $1.9 TRILLION "covid relief" bill, only 9% of which has ANY connection with coronavirus or covid. Fortunately, I have no descendants to be burdened with the bill. Unfortunately, much of it will go to bailing out states that spent money as though they could just print more.
THAT'LL teach them, won't it?
One of the reasons Warren Buffet gives for paying not one cent more in taxes than he HAS to is that the government wastes most of it. $1.7 TRILLION in pork, in this case. |
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boggsman1
Joined: 24 Jun 2002
Posts: 9120
Location: at a computer
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| Posted: Fri Mar 12, 2021 9:18 pm Post subject: |
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ISO.. enjoy your $1400.
You’re welcome . |
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swchandler
Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588
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| Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2021 2:31 am Post subject: |
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| With isobars' wife getting a slice of the pie too, it grows to $2800. Should one believe that he's totally pissed off about getting the money? |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935
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| Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2021 1:05 pm Post subject: |
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| Unfortunately, the government is WAY behind the curve in reimbursing taxpayers' money that went to undeniably irrelevant pork in just this bill alone. The fact that they're giving money to people above the 90th percentile income bracket is proof in itself that their goal is buying votes, not ramping up the economy. |
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