August 25, 2017 / 3:17 PM / a day ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will no longer sponsor an awards program honoring voluntary corporate actions to combat global warming, it announced on Friday, the agency’s latest move to undo Obama-era climate change programs.
Since 2012, the EPA has been the lead sponsor of the Climate Leadership Awards program and conference, which recognizes companies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their internal operations and supply chains.
In an email sent on Friday, the EPA announced it will no longer be involved in the awards or the conference.
Under Administrator Scott Pruitt, who has repeatedly expressed doubts about climate change, the EPA has moved to undo dozens of Obama-era climate regulations in what it says is an effort to ease the regulatory burden on energy and agriculture companies.
In the Trump administration’s budget proposal for 2018, the EPA was the target of the largest cut – 31 percent – a figure that Republican and Democratic lawmakers opposed.
In Friday’s email, the EPA did not explain why it is eliminating the awards program, but apologized for the inconvenience of its announcement in the middle of the award application process. The awards were to be given out in Denver between Feb. 28 and March 2, 2018.
“It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that we don’t plan to fund an awards ceremony on climate change,” said Jahan Wilcox, EPA spokesman.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
We must not perpetuate the fiction that EPA ever had any scientific expertise.
I have contracted for, permitted through, and squared off against EPA over 35 years, and, while I have met some kind and earnest staffers, I have never met one who was scientifically literate (I.e., credentialed). To approach them correctly, the job is always to (1) make nice, (2) be honest, and (3) scientifically educate them on the matter at hand. On the more politically-charged issues, one sometimes has to resort to a scientific body-slam by loading up with PhDs from MIT who can pin the EPA staff for a three count. Even then, they can sometimes maneuver free to achieve their ill-informed political intent (e.g., through pocket vetoes; through rationalizing proposed rules and ignoring public comments/criticisms; through kowtowing to NGOs; through sue and settle).
Like any corporate takeover or acquisition, Mr. Pruitt is simply right-sizing the bloated bureaucracy, casting off dead wood and refocusing on core mission.
If only EPA did have more scientifically credentialed and circumspect staff, but that could in fact be worse given the cesspool of post-modern environmental education. I always urge young persons who have an interest in the environment to attain degrees in a basic or applied science (e.g., chemistry; physics; geoscience; soil science) or engineering, not a generalist degree with the word “environmental” in it. They can always pick up the legal and integrative elements later, through personal study, job experience and/or post-graduate education. Plus, they may soon learn that “green” jobs are not real jobs and that true environmental jobs/careers are quite rare.