Lee Zeldin and EPA’s promises sound great, but the agency is a disaster

Are we gonna MAHA or are we gonna poison? Does EPA exist to prevent us creating a true environmental protection agency?

And as my readers know, Section 453 wasn’t the only betrayal.

After decades of inaction, in January the EPA finally released a draft report on PFAS in sewer sludge, 56% of which is deodorized and relabeled as fertilizer, then deliberately spread on farms and other places including gardens, increasing the PFAS and other noxious chemicals in our water and food. This was EPA’s brilliant idea, and it has spent millions of dollars on fake science and coverups to allow this craziness to persist. Despite deaths of animals and humans where it has been spread, including in Texas, where sludge has become a big issue.

Finally, the draft report told the truth about the dangers of PFAS, paving the way for regulation and an end to this awful practice. So what happened? Section 507 was added to the same Appropriations bill, banning the use of the report for any purpose. Did you hear a peep from EPA about its report being deep sixed? Nope, not even a whimper. This is a very important issue, which I covered today on CHD-TV.

What else is the EPA doing wrong?

President Trump promised to burn more coal—but CLEAN coal he said. Yet the EPA is getting rid of regulations that limit coal plant pollution, it seems, and apparently loosening restrictions on the dumping of toxic coal fly ash. Where is the CLEAN in that? I’m not sure, because while EPA has promised massive deregulations, many of which I think are overdue (like getting rid of the “climate change” imperatives) most of the actual regulations have not been rolled out yet. Here is what was promised:

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-launches-biggest-deregulatory-action-us-history

Why am I writing this hit piece on the EPA? Because the 2 riders discussed above and additional thoughtless acts by EPA could blow up the MAHA movement, which is the coalition that brought Trump into office, and could result therefore in losing the midterm elections and extinguishing the hope of making America healthier, instead of more poisoned. To me, there is a huge amount at stake.

Are chemical industry $millions or $billions worth losing the next election, dashing the hopes and dreams of so many Americans, and killing any (rash) hope that the Republican Party would act more intelligently than the Democrats?

Let’s look at some of the officials handpicked to deregulate the EPA. Sorry, but this is from the NYT. Ignore the spin and pay attention to the facts. Not encouraging, to say the least.

…Top appointees include David Fotouhi, Mr. Zeldin’s second-in-command, a lawyer who recently challenged a ban on asbestos; Alex Dominguez, a former oil lobbyist who will work on automobile emissions; and Aaron Szabo, a lobbyist for both the oil and chemical industries who is expected to be the top air pollution regulator.

The division of E.P.A. that evaluates the safety of new chemicals now includes Nancy Beck, a longtime chemical-industry lobbyist, and Lynn Ann Dekleva, who has been working for the American Chemistry Council, a trade group. Both are veterans of the first Trump term.

“It’s alarming to see former industry lobbyists and attorneys who, until recently, were paid by their clients to weaken pollution standards, nominated to high-ranking positions at E.P.A. where they will have the power to undermine regulations meant to protect the public from these same industries,” said Jen Duggan, executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project, a watchdog group.

…To be deputy administrator, Mr. Fotouhi must be confirmed by the Senate. Most of the other political appointees that have been named so far, including Ms. Beck, are entering E.P.A. as advisers or other positions that do not require confirmation.

…Mr. Zeldin’s deputy, the Harvard-educated lawyer David Fotouhi, left corporate practice in 2017 to join the E.P.A. during the first Trump administration. He rose to acting general counsel and became a central figure in Mr. Trump’s efforts to weaken or delete dozens of regulations that were designed to protect air and water from pollution.

Mr. Fotouhi has a long record of representing polluters against the E.P.A. and other regulatory agencies. Last year, he challenged the E.P.A.’s ban of asbestos, arguing on behalf of automakers that the E.P.A. had failed to demonstrate that asbestos presented an unreasonable risk of injury. Under Mr. Biden, the United States joined 55 other countries that have banned asbestos, which is known to cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, ovarian cancer and laryngeal cancer

Mr. Fotouhi has defended industrial plants accused by the E.P.A. of violating the Clean Air Act and toxic-chemicals rules, and helped corporations repel proposed regulations. He represented a major operator of coal-burning power plants challenging rules to prevent toxic coal ash from contaminating groundwater.

And in 2021, he represented a paper-mill company in a lawsuit brought by Maine landowners whose land was contaminated with “forever chemicals,” also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, linked to cancer and other diseases.

…Abigale Tardif is returning to the E.P.A. air pollution office after serving there in the first Trump administration. She has worked as a policy analyst for Americans for Prosperity, part of the conservative network of groups founded by the billionaire industrialist Koch brothers. She has also lobbied for Marathon Petroleum Corporation and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, a major industry lobbying group.

Last summer, that group launched what it described as a “seven figure” campaign of advertising, phone calls and text messages against the tailpipe rule, which it falsely called “Biden’s E.P.A. car ban.”

Dr. Beck, a former senior director with the American Chemistry Council, is now a senior E.P.A. adviser on chemical safety and pollution. She led a wide-ranging pushback against chemical regulations during the first Trump administration, as well as what a subsequent investigation described as political interference in agency science and policymaking.

Dr. Beck rewrote rules that made it harder to track the health consequences of a “forever chemical” linked to cancer, and therefore to regulate it. She also helped soften limits on asbestosand methylene chloride, a harmful chemical found in paint thinners.

Dr. Dekleva, also a former senior figure at the chemical industry trade group and another veteran of the first Trump term, is returning to the E.P.A. to regulate new chemicals. She worked for more than three decades at DuPont, the chemicals giant. Recent reports by the E.P.A.’s Office of Inspector General said that, under Dr. Dekleva, employees were pushed to approve new chemicals and were retaliated against if they raised concerns.

Dr. Beck and Dr. Dekleva did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Szabo was named as a senior adviser to the administrator but he is expected to become the agency’s top air pollution regulator, according to three people with knowledge of the decision who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. He has lobbied on behalf of the American Chemistry Council, the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers association and the American Petroleum Institute, records show…

So what can we do? I think we need to show the Republican leadership that this will not stand. We will not forget. They should be ashamed of themselves. And we need to remind them of it at every event. We can’t let them play us. And like the Epstein files, the Trump administration can try, but it won’t be able to gloss over poisoning us even more, nope, not after COVID. Remember, the House is in recess and the members are on their home turf. Give them an earful.