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Environment Tag

As President Obama spends the remainder of his presidency pardoning trangenders who disclosed vital security information, appointing fabulists to key positions, and releasing dangerous Gitmo detainees, people are beginning to mull over what we will remember most about this era. I assert that the damage caused by the rogue bureaucracy within the Environmental Protection Agency will float to the top of legacy cesspool. So, while Democratic politicos grill Scott Pruitt, the candidate likely to head the EPA in the Trump administration, the agency has finished its misrule under Obama appropriately enough.

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the EPA, will face the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at 10AM EST. This has potential to become one of the more feisty confirmation hearings because of his ties to everything Democrats hate: fossil fuels, skeptical of man-made climate change, and lawsuits against the EPA. Please watch live with us below and follow along as I live blog the hearing!

Plastic bag bans are all the rage in progressive locals like Austin and Portland, and the entire state of California, but Michigan is having none of it. Lt. Gov. Brian Calley recently signed a bill that banned plastic bag bans, along with any local ordinance that would restrict the use of certain types of disposable containers and packaging.

The Clean Air Moms Action, part of the Environmental Defense Action Fund, has started a $100,000 campaign against President-elect Donald Trump's EPA nominee Scott Pruitt. The campaign will use children's health concerns in ads in Washington, D.C. and six states that have "senators who could swing the confirmation vote." What an original technique! Using children to attack your opponent because you don't hate children, do you? Yeah, well, evidence has shown that Pruitt embraces science. Also, the EPA has done a stellar job with environment disasters, haven't they?

On Tuesday, President Barack Obama invoked a provision of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands act, a law from 1953, that allowed him to place "a permanent drilling ban on portions of the ocean floor from Virginia to Maine and along much of Alaska's coast." Overall, it adds up to almost 120 million acres! No other president has used this provision to protect such a large part of federal waters before and he promised not even President-elect Donald Trump could undo this declaration. But Alaska lawmakers Sen. Dan Sullivan, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and Rep. Dan Young said they want to find a way to draft legislation to overturn Obama's actions:
"The sweeping withdrawal disrespects the Alaskan people, is not based on sound science, and contradicts the administration's own conclusions about Arctic development," Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Don Young said late Tuesday. "It will have lasting consequences for Alaska's economy, state finances, and the security and competitiveness of the nation. In making the decision, President Obama yet again sided with extreme environmentalists, while betraying his utter lack of commitment to improving the lives of the people who actually live in the Arctic."

There are significant updates to the lawsuits against the EPA related to the Gold King Mine spill that released millions of gallons of wastewater into the Animas River. The first development is that the Navajo Nation has filed a claim seeking more than $160 million from the federal government for damages.
Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch said in the release that the spill transformed the river from a "life-giver and protector" to a "threat" to the Navajo people, crops and animals.

When Donald Trump makes his final cabinet nomination, it will be hard to pick out which of the bold selections is most golden. Retired Marine General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense was in the running for my top choice. However, it appears that Myron Ebell, the climate change "criminal" who is spear-heading Trump's EPA transition team, was busy identifying a nominee for EPA Chief who just bumped "Mad Dog" Mattis down a notch on my list.

There are several disturbing updates to the report on the wildfires roaring through Tennessee I prepared earlier this week. It seems that arson is suspected in more than half of the blazes that are still burning in the region.
Fire investigators said more than half of the 67 fires burning right now have been deliberately set. And so far, seven suspects have been arrested for arson state-wide, but more arrests could be made in the near future.

The Dakota Access Pipeline may be tuning out to be the Last Stand for aging, white hippies. Today, reports began to surface that the Native American protesters are now voicing concerns about their Caucasian co-demonstrators!
"People demonstrating at North Dakota's Access Pipeline protest have expressed frustration at white demonstrators who are reportedly turning up to "colonise" the camp. Concerns have been raised by protestors on social media, who claim that people are arriving at the Standing Rock demonstration for the "cultural experience" and treating it like Burning Man festival.
The following notice went up on Twitter:

The Dakota Access Pipeline is a nearly 1,200-mile-long underground oil pipeline project that begins in the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota and ends at the oil tank farm near Patoka, Illinois. The pipeline is being built to allow crude oil to reach refining markets in a more direct, cost-effective, safer and environmentally responsible manner by reducing the current use of rail and truck transportation. The pipeline was due for delivery on January 1, 2017. However, a series of violent demonstrations have taken place, spearheaded by climate alarmists and social justice warriors, that have delayed its completion.

It has been fascinating to watch the the elite media and Washington insiders reactions to the speed and efficiency of Trump's transition team organization and appointee selection. With so much happening so quickly, I wanted to keep an eye on one of the most troubling agencies under the Obama Administration: The Environmental Protection Agency. The response of the big government bureaucrats in the EPA is likely to offer a clue about how they are going to behave in other federal organizations. Legal Insurrection readers may recall that 27% of federal employees claimed they would quit their jobs if Donald Trump was elected. However, instead of quitting, it's more likely they'll exit a little less gracefully.

Once upon a time, soccer and piano lessons were the preferred extra-curricular options for teens. Now social justice warfare may be the thrilling, new, after-school activity. A group of American kids are suing the federal government demanding "climate action."
“We are standing here to fight and protect everything that we love—from our land to our waters to the mountains to the rivers and forests,” Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, a 16-year-old plaintiff in the case told supporters after a hearing in Eugene, Ore. this fall. “This is the moment where we decide what kind of legacy we are going to leave behind for future generations.”

About a year ago, a backhoe operator working for the EPA accidentally breached the plug holding 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater from the Gold King Mine, causing it to spill into Colorado’s Animas River and creating a true man-caused disaster. Since that time, an analysis of incident by the Interior Department and Bureau of Reclamation (supported by an official with the Army Corps of Engineers), held the EPA responsible for the multi-state environmental contamination. The scathing report clearly refuted the EPA's assertion that the spill was inevitable. Now, a criminal investigation into the incident has been confirmed.

Before the Rio Olympics began, I noted that scientists found dangerous drug-resistant “super bacteria” off beaches in Rio de Janeiro and in a lagoon where rowing and canoe athletes will compete. This is in addition to bodies, sewage, and other detritus floating off the coast of Brazil. But Olymic officials said, "Let the Games begin". Now, Rio's contaminated waters have claimed their first victim.
A Belgian sailor who won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics has become the first person to fall sick after racing on Rio's polluted Guanabara Bay.