We unpack the complicated and contentious world of fuel economy standards, and explain why some experts aren’t buying some of the Trump administration’s arguments for why stricter Obama-era standards should be loosened.
The EPA proposed a rule to only use scientific studies with “publicly available” data when it develops regulations. This has sparked a debate in Congress on whether the proposal would prevent the EPA from considering studies that analyze private health information.
In recent interviews, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt made two false claims about his agency’s record on removing toxic sites from the Superfund National Priorities List.
Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt suggests that global warming isn’t necessarily “a bad thing” because “humans have most flourished during times of … warming.” But recent years have been the warmest humans have seen over at least the last millennium.
Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt criticized former President Barack Obama for leaving “us with more Superfund sites than when he came in.” This is misleading for multiple reasons.
EPA head Scott Pruitt criticized former President Barack Obama for leaving 40 percent of Americans with air quality that doesn’t meet EPA standards. But a report Pruitt’s office cited as evidence said there had been a “major improvement” in air quality under Obama.
President Donald Trump and his top environmental official said the Paris Agreement would reduce the global average temperature by only 0.2 degrees Celsius. Former Vice President Al Gore said that’s “not true.” Who’s right?
Former Vice President Al Gore and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt made competing claims about whether the U.S. could have changed its emissions targets under the Paris Agreement, instead of pulling out of the deal. Legal experts side with Gore, who claimed the targets could have been changed.
The Environmental Protection Agency head said that the “coal sector” added 7,000 jobs in May and “almost 50,000 jobs” since the fourth quarter of last year. But the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports an increase of just 400 coal mining jobs in May and 1,300 since December.
Both the EPA and its critics say science is on their side in the debate over whether the agricultural insecticide should be banned.