** Trump administration ignoring costs of climate change to boost deregulation
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Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Navajo Generating Station in Arizona | Nathan Rupert ([link removed])
The Trump administration is undervaluing the costs of climate change ([link removed]) to boost its deregulatory efforts, according to a report ([link removed]) by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. When conducting cost-benefit analyses of major energy policies and projects, agencies are now using an estimate for the "social cost of carbon" that is seven times lower than that used during the Obama administration, essentially turning a blind eye to the damages caused by burning fossil fuels.
The move allows agencies to justify policy rollbacks by saying drilling, mining, and utility companies will benefit economically more from polluting than the costs increased pollution will impose. "It’s just a straight chain. You plug in the rigged social cost of carbon that allows EPA to say the costs to polluters is greater than the cost of climate change, and then that's the only way they can make it look like their agenda of rolling back climate change regulations makes sense," said ([link removed]) Amit Narang of Public Citizen.
Quick hits
** As America's parks and public lands show their age, Congress proposes historic investment
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Washington Post ([link removed]) | Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
** Trump to weaken landmark environmental law signed by Nixon
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New York Times ([link removed]) | Washington Post ([link removed]) | Bloomberg ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed])
** Bureau of Land Management continues to lease public lands for oil and gas despite COVID pandemic
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Carlsbad Current-Argus ([link removed])
** U.S. shale production to hit two-year low
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Reuters ([link removed])
** Trump administration speeds deregulation by undervaluing climate change
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New York Times ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed])
** New bike route connects iconic Western national parks to Minneapolis
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Travel + Leisure ([link removed])
** Opinion: Act now to save birds from the Interior Department's rollbacks
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The Hill ([link removed])
** Editorial: Air Force doesn't need any more of Nevada's public lands
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Las Vegas Review-Journal ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Congress coming together to pass this act would address two fundamental crises the world faces at once — catastrophic climate change and the loss of biodiversity. It’s really about delivering natural climate solutions. … We have to look at how we’re managing land. What the LWCF piece of the act does is address the problem of losing too much of nature to pavement and pollution.”
—Sharon Buccino ([link removed]) , senior director of lands, Natural Resources Defense Council
Picture this
** @Interior ([link removed])
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Sunlight & shadows turn the landscape into art at Great Sand Dunes National Park #Colorado ([link removed])
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