The EPA is headed beyond the pale

As far as where they got those numbers, I suspect that they just made them up.

On Tuesday, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced a proposal to rescind the agency’s 2009 “endangerment finding,” a critical Obama-era scientific decision about the human health costs of greenhouse gases that allows the EPA to regulate emissions…

In its press release on Tuesday, the EPA said that rolling back the endangerment finding would “undo the underpinning of $1 trillion in costly regulations” and “save more than $54 billion annually” by repealing rules like the Biden administration’s tailpipe emission limits. “With this proposal,” Zeldin said in a statement, “the Trump EPA is proposing to end sixteen years of uncertainty for automakers and American consumers.”

It’s not clear where the agency got these numbers. In 2023, as CNN reported, researchers estimated that climate-driven extreme weather events—which are only expected to get worse—cost the US $150 billion per year. - Mother Jones

Coal ash rules are being dangerously flouted

I don't know what it's going to have to take, for real enforcement to happen.

More than nine out of 10 coal ash impoundments nationwide are contaminating groundwater in violation of federal rules, according to environmental groups’ comprehensive analysis of the latest industry-reported data.

Even as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has stepped up enforcement of federal coal ash rules this year, the groups say more urgent action is necessary, including mandates that companies test all drinking water wells within a half-mile of coal ash impoundments, and that companies cease storing coal ash in contact with groundwater.

Coal ash contains arsenic, mercury and other toxins that have been linked to a range of health impacts. And drinking water wells near coal plants, unlike municipal water systems, do not typically undergo regular testing. - Energy News Network

The EPA can still do plenty about emissions

It just needs the gumption, and/or a good kick in the butt.

Even as the EPA resists taking action in Utah, it has a wide range of regulations already on the books or currently planned that are aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It has proposed rules limiting methane emissions from oil and gas facilities and is targeting vehicle tailpipe emissions. The Supreme Court ruling expressly leaves the EPA with the authority to regulate pollution from the electricity sector — as long as it doesn’t order plants to switch from coal to renewable energy the way it would have under Obama’s plan.

(EPA chief Michael) Regan said that his agency also plans to tighten regulations that would force power plants to clean up pollution — in many cases, an expensive undertaking. He made it clear that he hopes that the owners of coal-fired power plants will decide to close dirty facilities rather than spend the money to clean them up. “They’ll see it’s not worth investing in the past,” Regan said. - Mother Jones

PolyMet/Glencore permitting scandal erupts

From last week.

After months of stonewalling, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has released staff comments that the agency had prepared for the state-issued water quality permit for PolyMet Mining. The release came on the same day that the agency was required to respond to a lawsuit over access to the comments, filed by Water Legacy and other environmental organizations.

The comments are potentially devastating to efforts by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to defend the water quality permit they issued to PolyMet late last year. That permit has been the subject of ongoing litigation by tribal governments and environmental groups. - MinnPost

Clearly, after you've clicked and read the article, something very iffy has gone down. At this point, “corrupt” certainly seems apt. As for words like “criminal” and “felonies,” I don’t know, yet.