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US repeals EPA endangerment finding for greenhouse gases

164 points| heresie-dabord | 16 days ago |cnn.com

103 comments

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_heimdall|16 days ago

The argument that Congress should pass law to allow specific actions by the executive branch is quite reasonable.

If only it wasn't being cherry picked to neuter the EPA while Border Patrol and ICE take it upon themselves to act as police forces on domestic soil.

actionfromafar|16 days ago

Yep. Toilet schedules for every department should go through Congress, apparently. It's a deliberate design to flood an already very narrow zone, lawmaking.

_DeadFred_|16 days ago

You can't have one party whose goal it to make sure government doesn't function in order to push their policy of 'shrink government' be in charge of making government function. No system will work when half the system is hostile to the system.

If the Republicans will happy spend money until we are all broke if it means we can limit the government's spending (huh? what? make that make sense) they will break it all (and are trying) in whatever way they can.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast

someguydave|16 days ago

Congress has authorized ICE and Border Patrol to act as police forces on domestic soil

ozzymuppet|16 days ago

I wish I could unsubscribe from all US related news. It's just so depressing these days.

st_goliath|16 days ago

Don't worry, this will probably be flagged to death and gone from the front page real soon.

EDIT: and it's gone. From #1 on the front page to page 14 or so in about 35 minutes. To be honest, that took a lot longer than I expected.

rcMgD2BwE72F|16 days ago

That US administration wishes you would unsubscribe too.

throwway262515|16 days ago

Would you take a moment to consider that the ostrich maneuver ended with the animal on the dinner table?

mrtksn|16 days ago

Wouldn't this increase US exposure to foreign intervention in the future? Although China is the worst offender, since a while now they are getting their stuff together. They suffered and later fixed some gross air pollutions in their cities.

The rest of the world is also pretty much on board with this clean air and climate change stuff as it turns out people generally like clean air, so if this sticks at some point the only logical next step would be to compel US to stop polluting the world.

If I understand correctly, this also removes EPA ability to regulate car emissions, arguing that it will allow for cheaper cars. Why would US public really wants newly made clunkers on their cities? Polluting cars are horrible city life quality downgrade that even the rich can't escape.

Also, will this allow to put the banned due to the dieselgate VW vehicles back on the roads?

trueismywork|16 days ago

China was an offender at the time yes. But even so, since 1980, when effects of climate change were first known, US has emitted 250Gt and China only 263 Gt, which in per capita terms places US at 690t/p and China at 185 t/p. This is despite China having one child policy since 1979 (which by the way has been heavily criticized by the US).

In all, the case for US being the real villain here keeps getting stronger and stronger.

afavour|16 days ago

I don’t know by what means foreign countries would intervene in the US. They’d just ignore whatever is requested of them.

But it will increase US dependency on foreign countries in the long term. EVs are the future and if US manufacturers aren’t working on them then they’ll continue to lose market share to foreign companies.

kasey_junk|16 days ago

Or to move your polluting industry there

GorbachevyChase|16 days ago

The rest of the world is not on board. Western Europe, United States, and Australia take “breathing considered harmful“ seriously. No other country does, and nobody else is deliberately suppressing their growth. There are plenty of countries taking western money to pretend that they do.

Ray20|16 days ago

> The rest of the world is also pretty much on board with this clean air and climate change stuff as it turns out people generally like clean air

Are you sure about that? Or you mistaking the world's opinion for that of the out-of-touch elites living in their lofty ivory towers? Because in the world, outside the media controlled by these elites, I see the exact opposite: it turns out THE WORLD generally like electricity at 2 cents per kwh (not 50 cents how elites like it), no matter how much carbon dioxide it emits.

intexpress|16 days ago

One step closer to Spaceballs

y0ssar1an|16 days ago

every day the US strays further from the light :(

thrance|16 days ago

One step forward, two steps backwards. Anything good the Democrats may do (yes, it happens sometimes, rarely) will immediately get repelled by the death cult that are the Republicans. If for no other reasons that to "own the libs", they would destroy the whole world.

If this country is to have any future, it must get rid of the Republican party, try all its officials for treason to the American people and ideals of the US Republic and constitution, then disenfranchise their alienated voter base until they get back to living in material reality.

cbg0|16 days ago

Sounds like healthcare costs are going up in the USA.

padjo|16 days ago

I think we should lock them all in a room filled with CO2 and methane and then ask them if they still think they're not harmful.

Madmallard|16 days ago

How exactly is this not just like a global policy thing rather than EPA? Surely our emissions affect other countries' qualities of life so the decision is not just up to us.

apothegm|16 days ago

The US has refused to sign onto international climate agreements. Who’s going to enforce that policy against the US?

blondie9x|16 days ago

Beyond its role in climate change, elevated concentrations of CO₂ pose a direct physiological threat to human health, ranging from inflammation to respiratory stress. The Trump presidency is trying to protect coal and oil for some reason. Money, lobbying, bribery anyone?

We need to look past the political noise and focus on the immediate data: CO₂ is a pollutant that harms human physiology. Regardless of where you stand on climate policy, we should all agree that breathing toxic air is unacceptable. We need to prioritize respiratory health and cognitive safety above partisan loyalty

https://open.substack.com/pub/minimallysustained/p/beyond-th...

Intermernet|16 days ago

This is a bad take. CO2 will not harm your personal health in the short term, in the amounts measured in current atmospheric readings. You personally have a higher percentage of CO2 in your body every time you breathe. You currently breathe about 430 ppm of CO2. Toxic levels are above 5000 ppm (40000 is regarded as immediately dangerous).

You're arguing the right side but you're using the wrong arguments. This is actually counter productive.

TrackerFF|16 days ago

Trump has a couple of more years left on this planet. He'll never see the effects of his policies, but he'll do everything to please his donors. That's about it.

malfist|16 days ago

Donors? Most of these people are paying bribes, not donating.

1attice|16 days ago

Why is this flagged? Is the climate no longer a science story?

typedef_struct|16 days ago

You mean CO2 is not the same as CFCs?

baq|16 days ago

CFCs are bad because they make the government get cancer. CO2 is fine because it'll make your grandchildren die in a heatwave or drown in a flood, that won't happen in the next few election cycles.

pluc|16 days ago

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sheikhnbake|16 days ago

The protests have been consistent since the regime took office. There's been two attempts on his life. Blue states are implementing measures to basically soft secede from the federal government. Republican candidates are losing in landslides and the regimes secret police are being confronted as soon as they're identified. Idk where you get 'complacent' from.

soulofmischief|16 days ago

It's clear from this comment that you do not understand the complexities of US politics. If you don't have something useful to contribute, I'd recommend spending your time understanding the political system here, the generational propaganda machine, and why it isn't simply a matter of every politically conscious individual going outside and protesting. People are already protesting all over the country and he's not out of office. There have even been assassination attempts.

Maybe you weren't paying attention for the last month. The president's secret police have killed several civilians in broad daylight, in some cases specifically because these people were trying to help others who were being attacked. You have no idea what the fuck is going on here, honestly, and your comment is as ignorant as it is unwarranted.

Ray20|16 days ago

> What happened to the protests? The indignation? Get rid of this guy already you complacent fucks

I'm just reminding that this is exactly what Americans voted him to do. And in their opinion, the main problem is that he does what he does not effectively enough.

sajithdilshan|16 days ago

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afavour|16 days ago

You’re comparing an extreme minority on one side to the mainstream view on the other.

Democrats are not banning everything related to fossil fuels, nor do they disrupt public life. They have simply applied subsidies to encourage environmental friendly choices. Which is exactly the middle ground you are asking for.

tcfhgj|16 days ago

> and impose its ideology on others (e.g., Klima Klebers in Germany)

what does "impose its ideology" mean?

they were protesting for the government to uphold their own promises and use low hanging fruits which are even beneficial beyond reducing green house gases.

AlecSchueler|16 days ago

Are you sure it's not just media magnifying the extremes? In my own bubble and honestly most of what I see online most people seem to believe in a middle ground.

Intermernet|16 days ago

The problem is that there isn't really a middle ground. The damage is done and no actions taken now will have a quick, politically measurable effect. The people arguing against action are relying on the delay between action and effect. If you can't see it now (despite actual measurable data being available for at least the last 2 decades) then it must be a lie.

I'm still not sure what the climate change denialists see as the goal of "big climate". All of the money and profit is on the side of continuing to fuck the climate. All of the projects to alleviate the problem are expensive and have very little profit to be gained, but apparently it's a conspiracy of academics on minimum wage in various university research centers who are determined to take the money from our wonderful oil and mining benefactors (who have nothing but our best interests at heart). What's worse is they want to push technology that gives us energy for free! Must be a bunch of communists or something!