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    Trump's EPA is about to give a big gift to the coal industry

    Sarah Okeson, DCReport @ RawStory
    January 29, 2020

    Thanks for your support!

    This article was paid for by reader donations to Raw Story Investigates.

    US President Donald Trump told supporters at a campaign-style rally in West Virginia that alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election is a "fake story" that is "demeaning to all of us" (AFP Photo/SAUL LOEB)

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

    Sarah Okeson, DCReport @ RawStory

    Trump's EPA administrator wants to redraw our nation’s mercury standard to benefit coal-fired power plants that belch out nearly half the nation’s mercury emissions. But the agency’s Science Advisory Board is balking.


    The board, headed by Trump administration appointee Michael Honeycutt who previously opposed tougher mercury standards, told the EPA it needed to look again at how much mercury people get from fish and the harm from mercury.

    “EPA should instigate a new risk assessment,” the board wrote.

    Under former President Barack Obama, the EPA only looked at IQ losses in children born to mothers who ate freshwater fish caught by amateur anglers from lakes where the EPA had information on fish tissue. This excluded most of the fish eaten in our country, much of it imported or fish from the ocean.

    “It’s absolutely incorrect,” said Elsie Sunderland, a professor of environmental science and engineering at Harvard.

    Ellen Kurlansky, a former EPA air policy analyst, said the board recommendation isn’t clear about whether ocean fish should be included in a new assessment.

    “What does that actually mean?” she asked.

    The Trump EPA packed the Science Advisory Board with industry-friendly appointees like air pollution researcher Robert Phalen who said air can be “a little too clean” for children’s health and consultant Brant Ulsh who claims radiation at low doses may not be dangerous.

    The mercury report mentioned a discredited study by consultant and board member Tony Cox that claimed soot in the air can be beneficial.

    But even this tainted board couldn’t stomach what the Trump EPA wants to do to our planet. The board also questioned a proposed rule that would limit which wetlands and waterways are protected by the Clean Water Act and the rollback of clean car standards.

    Mercury exposure at its worst can mimic cerebral palsy. When airborne mercury settles on water or land that’s often damp, microbes convert it to methylmercury which is highly toxic and becomes more concentrated as it moves up food chains to people and predators.

    Mercury raises the risk of diabetes and causes cardiovascular problems for adults, including higher chances of a fatal heart attack. Even how birds sing is affected.

    EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler twisted the math for a proposed federal rule to knock out the legal justifications for limiting mercury emissions, claiming that “the only health benefit” to reducing mercury emissions “that the EPA could quantify and monetize” was children’s IQ loss.

    In March 2017, coal magnate Robert Murray, who donated $300,000 to Trump’s inauguration, gave the Energy Department a wish list that included rescinding or revising the mercury standard, which Murray Energy had sued to block. Wheeler is a former lobbyist and Murray Energy was his best-paying client.

    Murray Energy, once the largest privately held coal company in the country, filed for bankruptcy in October. At least seven coal companies filed for bankruptcy in 2019.

    EPA is required by law to base decisions on the “best available science.”

    The Obama restrictions on mercury have worked. Mercury emissions from U.S. power plants plunged by 65% from 2015 to 2017. The standards prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths a year, 4,700 heart attacks and 130,000 asthma attacks, according to EPA estimates.

    The Trump EPA also wants to quash rules on sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants which cause acid rain.

    This article was paid for by Raw Story subscribers. Not a subscriber? Try us and go ad-free for $1. Prefer to give a one-time tip? Click here.

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    … then let us make a small request. The COVID crisis has slashed advertising rates, and we need your help. Like you, we believe in the power of progressive journalism — and we’re investing in investigative reporting as other publications give it the ax. Raw Story readers power David Cay Johnston’s DCReport, which we've expanded to keep watch in Washington. We’ve exposed billionaire tax evasion and uncovered White House efforts to poison our water. We’ve revealed financial scams that prey on veterans, and efforts to harm workers exploited by abusive bosses. We need your support to do what we do.

    Raw Story is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Invest with us in the future. Make a one-time contribution to Raw Story Investigates, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.

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    Do you approve of Biden's presidency so far?

    WATCH: MyPillow CEO asks CPAC attendees to remove face masks before cozying-up to take selfies

    David Edwards
    February 28, 2021

    MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell was seen on Sunday asking attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to take their face masks off before taking photos with him.

    Bloomberg's William Turton captured video of Lindell taking selfies with several CPAC attendees who approached him as he walked through the building without a mask.

    "Take the mask off," Lindell told one man.

    The video shows Lindell taking photos with at least 4 people who were not wearing masks in the span of 30 seconds.

    Watch the video below.

    MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell posing for pictures at CPAC pic.twitter.com/lFfPgzajRa
    — William Turton (@WilliamTurton) February 28, 2021

    Trump aides have a list of topics they hope the 'all over the place' ex-president will keep to himself in CPAC speech

    Tom Boggioni
    February 28, 2021

    According to Politico Playbook's Tara Palmeri, aides to former Donald Trump have been working with him on his CPAC speech all week -- to be delivered Sunday afternoon -- and left one meeting wondering what will come out of his mouth once he gets going before an adoring crowd.

    With an eye on keeping his hints of another presidential run in 2024 from being bogged down by more controversy and grievance-mongering over his belief that the 2020 election was stolen from him due to voter fraud, aides hope that he will stick to a script that preaches Republican Party unity.

    According to the Politico report, Trump has been discussing the speech that will be his return to the public square since he lost re-election and, since he no longer has access to Twitter, aides fear that the pent-up Twitter commentary that used to keep him in the headlines will come pouring out.

    As Palmeri writes, there is a list of topics advisers are hoping will not rise to the surface if the president goes off-script -- which is highly likely.

    Outside of complaining that he feels he was robbed of a second term due to voter fraud, the report states that his aides hope he won't "Gripe about how he thinks he was unfairly blamed for Jan. 6," with the NYT's Maggie Haberman reporting, Trump has been "cautioned by advisers not to say anything that might make him a larger target for the various prosecutors considering or pursuing investigations related to him."

    Additionally, his advisers are okay with him taking shots at Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), but want him to draw the line at publically criticizing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), with Palmeri reporting, "A Trump adviser said they got Trump to take a McConnell dig out of the script, but who knows what he'll say."

    She added, "Sources tell me that there was a lot of nodding and agreement at a strategy meeting on Thursday between Trump and his closest aides on how to wield his power via endorsements and messaging. But some left the room feeling like their hair was on fire because, according to one of the aides, Trump was 'all over the place.'"


    You can read more here.


    WATCH: Goya CEO declares Trump the 'legitimate' president before cheering CPAC crowd

    Tom Boggioni
    February 28, 2021

    In a clip shared by MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart on Sunday morning, Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue -- who was previously censured by his board of directors for his voter fraud claims -- told a cheering CPAC crowd that Donald Trump is not only his president still, but also the "legitimate" president of the United States.

    Throwing red meat to the crowd that will see the ex-president make his first public appearance since losing to now-President Joe Biden, Unane proceeded to advance what has been dubbed "the Big Lie" that the election was stolen from Trump.

    In the brief snippet, the businessman stated, "My biggest honor today is going to be that, I think, we're going to be on the same stage as, in my opinion, the real, the legitimate, and the still actual president of the United States, Donald J. Trump."

    He then hinted at voter fraud, adding, "I received, I think as many people I know and maybe many of you, unsolicited ballots. So, I mean, as a citizen of the United States, I think I'm allowed to vote once. once -- not twice. " as the crowd continued to cheer him.

    Watch below:


    MSNBC 02 28 2021 11 43 54 www.youtube.com


     
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