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posted by martyb on Sunday April 30 2017, @03:07PM   Printer-friendly
from the we-can-find-no-longer-find-data-against-our-plans dept.

You were warned. Now it begins: The Chicago Tribune reports that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is working on changes to its Web properties:

The EPA's extensive climate change website now redirects to a page that says "this page is being updated" and that "we are currently updating our website to reflect EPA's priorities under the leadership of President Trump and Administrator Pruitt." It also links to a full archive of how the page used to look on Jan. 19, before Trump's inauguration.


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  • (Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Sunday April 30 2017, @07:10PM (6 children)

    by linkdude64 (5482) on Sunday April 30 2017, @07:10PM (#501954)

    "Science is not a democracy."

    Well it's a good thing that SCIENCE itself is not under attack, then, and that the EPA is NOT "SCIENCE Inc." but an organization that is headed by an appointee made via a democratic process.

    You jokers and your "I fucking love science" facebook-tier arguments. Trump is not attacking this very un-funny "SCIENCE" meme that you've been dragging along since Portal 10 fucking years ago, he is attacking Federal Enforcement of environmental policies. The states are still completely free to impose environmental sanctions as their constituents so desire.

    "Well the states are weak! Big government has all the power!"

    Guess whose political party is responsible for that.

    "Well the Federal government has all the tax money! They're the ones who need to fund SCIENCE!"

    Guess whose political party is responsible for that.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @07:27PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @07:27PM (#501957)

    So much bolding, so much anger.

    he is attacking Federal Enforcement of environmental policies.

    And he's doing that by trying to erase the science that is the evidence for those policies.
    If you don't look for evidence you'll never find any evidence.
    Much like how the DEA refused access to legal marijuana for anyone doing research on its beneficial properties.

    The EPA is a lot more than enforcement. The EPA is a research organization [scientificamerican.com] and the websites that are being disappeared are not enforcement websites, they are science websites.

    But you are also right. Trump wants to cut one third of the EPA's superfund budget. [reuters.com] Cleaning up after bankrupt polluters is enforcement over-reach! Leaving the land and water contaminated is the responsible thing to do.

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @07:29PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @07:29PM (#501959)

      Cleaning up after bankrupt polluters is enforcement over-reach!

      MAGA!
      Make America Gross Again!

      Are you tired of winning yet?

  • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Sunday April 30 2017, @08:35PM (1 child)

    by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Sunday April 30 2017, @08:35PM (#501986) Journal

    Well it's a good thing that SCIENCE itself is not under attack, then, and that the EPA is NOT "SCIENCE Inc." but an organization that is headed by an appointee made via a democratic process.

    The OP I was responding to was talking about how Trump didn't "believe in climate change" and therefore is going to change the EPA. That is a rejection of science.

    Trump is not attacking this very un-funny "SCIENCE" meme that you've been dragging along since Portal 10 fucking years ago, he is attacking Federal Enforcement of environmental policies.

    Well, as I already stated, the last administration already had a pretty terrible record on actual policy relating to climate science. We shall see what Mr. Trump replaces this with. If he is merely changing policy, then you might have a point. If his revised website is going to question the science (or at least remove it) and become a source of anti-climate change propaganda (as the post I was actually replying to suggested), then he will actually be addressing the SCIENCE, not just policy.

    The states are still completely free to impose environmental sanctions as their constituents so desire.

    LOL. Seriously, I'd be rolling on the floor if I didn't think you were actually serious. The very idea that individual states should have their own policy on global warming?? It's bad enough that the globe is still fractured into countries who can't agree on what to do, but sure, let's add in 50 more dysfunctional governments into the picture.

    Even the Founders of the U.S. understood very well that there are SOME things that the people need to band together on. That's why they founded the U.S. in the first place, rather than remaining individual colonies. The original enumerated powers in the Constitution were an explicit list of all the things the Founders understood were better handled by a larger government, rather than just addressed by local ones.

    If an issue like global climate change doesn't qualify as something that we should try to have a consistent national policy on... I just don't know how to respond to that.

    P.S. I completely understand the small government constitutional argument that the federal government has been acting beyond the enumerated powers for many decades. In an ideal world, we should be amending the Constitution to deal with threats to the nation (or globe) as a whole. But even IF we followed constitutional procedure, climate change is pretty much exactly the sort of things the Founders would have said we need to band together on.

    Guess whose political party is responsible for that.

    I hate both major parties with a passion. My previous post condemned the Obama administration as well as the current one. I'm not sure what your point is, though keep bolding and repeating it like a weird chant and maybe something will happen....

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by NotSanguine on Monday May 01 2017, @12:12AM

      Guess whose political party is responsible for that.

      The Clean Air Act [wikipedia.org] was an incredible power grab. It was passed with broad bi-partisan support in 1963. The major amendments (including creation of the EPA, also garnered wide bi-partisan support. This historic government overreach, however, fall squarely on the pinko commie sleaze, led by Richard Nixon, who signed the Clean Air Act, then created the EPA by (unconstitutional) executive order [ontheissues.org] said:

      Our national government today is not structured to make a coordinated attack on the pollutants which debase the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land that grows our food. Indeed, the present governmental structure for dealing with environmental pollution often defies effective and concerted action. Despite its complexity, for pollution control purposes the environment must be perceived as a single, interrelated system. Present assignments of departmental responsibiliti reflect this interrelatedness.

              A far more effective approach to pollution control would:
              Identify pollutants.
              Trace them through the entire ecological chain, observing and recording changes in form as they occur.
              Determine the tot of man and his environment.
              Examine interactions among forms of pollution.
              Identify where in the ecological chain interdiction would be most appropriate.

      In 1990, once again those filthy liberals, like George H.W. Bush and majorities in both houses (Senate: 89-11, and House: 401-21) created more job-killing regulation, just to grab more power for themselves. [epa.gov]

      We need to just bomb the next Democratic National Convention (in 2020) and get rid of of those commie pigs forever. Fucking liberals are destroying everything! Oh, wait.

      --
      No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @09:01PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @09:01PM (#501998)

    The states are still completely free to impose environmental sanctions as their constituents so desire.

    Nope.

    It seemed likely, she said, that the Trump administration and its allies in the car industry would attack California’s ability to regulate greenhouse-gas pollution from car tailpipes.

    This may sound niche. But if Trump revoked the special federal waiver that gives California this power, it could hinder the ability of the United States to address climate change for decades to come, she said.

    On Saturday, The New York Times reported that Scott Pruitt, the new administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was exploring how to withdraw this waiver from California.

    The Coming Clean-Air War Between Trump and California [theatlantic.com]

    You got any more alt-facts to regale us with?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @11:34PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 30 2017, @11:34PM (#502046)

      California is hurting all non-California car manufacturers. It's like a trade war, which is supposed to be prevented by our constitution.

      California is also crying wolf about cancer. Vague and useless cancer warnings are posted on every business in California and on nearly every product that might be sold in California. I'm not kidding: go to a hotel, and somewhere you'll find posted a notice that the hotel contains chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer. It's chemphobia, and it gets people used to ignoring cancer warnings.