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EPA Tag

Over the weekend, as Republican Glenn Youngkin was sworn in as Virginia's new governor and began to take immediate actions, reports emerged that other new Republican elected officials were also cleaning house. Newly elected Attorney General Jason Miyares relieved around 30 staffers in the AG's office of their duties, over the howling protests of Democrats in Virginia. Miyares has also taken immediate steps to reverse democratic policies on prosecutions for certain crimes, investigate high profile public corruption, and reverse radical climate policy. Reactions were mixed, based on the political perspective of the commenters.

Last week, I reported that California Gov. Gavin Nesom had signed an executive order banning the sale of new cars and diesel vehicles in the state after 2035. This week, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler mocked Newsom’s plan to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035, saying the proposal raises “significant questions of legality.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh is already demonstrating why he is my favorite Supreme Court justice. Kavanaugh survived a confirmation "trial" that rivaled nearly anything seen on the TV series Game of Thrones. Then, on his first day on the job, the court refused to hear an appeal of a D.C. Circuit ruling that limited what the Environmental Protection Agency can do. As an extra bonus, Kavanaugh wrote the original ruling that was to be considered.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up a lawsuit challenging a lower court ruling written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh when he was a judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Andrew Wheeler, the acting head of the EPA, signed a proposal that will undo President Barack Obama's Clean Power Plan and establish new rules for coal plants. From The Washington Examiner:
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday morning released its plan, renamed the “Affordable Clean Energy Rule,” that the agency said would provide $400 million in annual benefits, while reducing carbon emission levels by up to 1.5 percent by 2030. President Trump is expected to tout the new rule at a rally in coal-friendly West Virginia Tuesday night.

In April, we reported that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had taken steps to challenge California’s decades-old right to set its own air pollution rules, setting up a showdown between the federal government and the West Coast headquarters of the #Resistance. Since then, the administration has prepared its plan to revoke California’s authority to regulate automobile greenhouse gas emissions, included its mandate for electric-car sales, and is gearing up for its release.
The proposal, expected to be released this week, amounts to a frontal assault on one of former President Barack Obama’s signature regulatory programs to curb emissions that contribute to climate change. It also sets up a high-stakes battle over California’s unique ability to combat air pollution and, if finalized, is sure to set off a protracted courtroom battle.

The last time we visited the Environmental Protection Agency, its regulation-slaying head Scott Pruitt had resigned over “the unrelenting attacks” on him and his family, which “are unprecedented and have taken a sizable toll on all of” them. As I suspected, the left's victory over Pruitt was hollow. Acting EPA Chief Andrew Wheeler has directed the agency to ease Obama-era standards on the disposal of coal ash, a move expected to be the agency’s first revision of the standards.

One of the reasons I suspect President Donald Trump trolls the mainstream media and progressives so much is that it provides cover for his elite team of regulatory snipers. Among the most effective of these regulation killers is the Environmental Protection Agency's Chief Administrator Scott Pruitt, whose rollbacks of Obama-era insanity make him a YUGE target for green justice activist and the #Resistance. This week, the anti-capitalist agitators of Occupy Wall Street doxxed Pruitt by twetting his private Tulsa, Oklahoma address.