Must-read recap: The New Lede's top stories
170 scientists urge Biden to reject CP2 gas export project; EPA scores enforcement wins, losses in 2023; new EPA plan for hormone-harming pesticides sparks both hope and skepticism.
170 scientists urge Biden to reject huge proposed gas export project
In the wake of the COP28 climate summit, 170 scientists from the US and around the world sent a letter Tuesday calling for the Biden administration to reject a massive natural gas export facility proposed for Louisiana, as well as similar pending projects.
The facility, Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2), would be the largest liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminal in the Gulf, spanning about 546 acres and shipping up to 24 million tons of LNG to other countries each year.
CP2 would be the second LNG export terminal built in the Gulf region by the company Venture Global and would result in annual emissions equivalent to 42 million gas-powered cars – 20 times more than the recently approved Willow oil project in Alaska.
“You have often said that your policies will be guided by listening to the science,” the letter says, addressing President Biden. “As scientists we are telling you in clear and unambiguous terms that approving CP2 and other LNG projects will undermine your stated goals of meaningfully addressing the climate crisis and put us on a continued path toward escalating climate chaos.” (Read the rest of the story.)
EPA scores enforcement wins, losses in 2023; announces funding for vulnerable communities
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) scored both wins and losses in its enforcement of environmental laws for 2023, stepping up fines for polluters and on-site inspections but cleaning up fewer pollutants than it has in a decade, according to the agency’s annual enforcement and compliance report.
The agency said Monday that it had required polluters to pay more than $704 million in fines, penalties, and restitutions this year, a tally significantly higher than in 2022. However, the agency’s enforcement actions only led facilities to reduce, treat or eliminate about 74 million pounds of pollutants – about 450 million pounds less than in 2015, and the smallest amount since at least 2014.
The EPA said a focus of its work was in communities facing environmental justice concerns; the agency conducted 60% of its on-site inspections in 2023 in such communities, surpassing a goal it had set to achieve by 2026. (Read the rest of the story.)
New EPA plan for hormone-harming pesticides sparks hope, but also skepticism
A new US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plan aimed at protecting the public from exposure to pesticides that harm reproductive health is sparking hope for advocates who have called for action for more than two decades, but skepticism remains high.
The EPA is accepting public comments on the plan, which could impact regulation of several widely used pesticides, until December 26. But key players in the agrochemical industry – as well as some environmental advocates – are asking the EPA to extend the deadline, citing the complexity and magnitude of the EPA’s proposal.
The long overdue strategy comes after litigation and multiple Inspector General probes exposed decades of EPA inaction to deal with evidence that many widely used pesticides are disrupting human hormones in ways that interfere with healthy pregnancies and cause an array of other harms.
“Generally, we’re very happy EPA is finally taking some action on this program,” said Jenny Loda, a staff attorney at the Center for Food Safety (CFS). Last year, CFS sued the EPA on behalf of farmworkers for failing to abide by the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) implemented by Congress as part of the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. (Read the rest of the story.)
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