Historic Vote to Move Forward With Impeachment Inquiry

Photo: The Nation Magazine

When an injustice has occurred, law enforcement steps into 'arrest' the offender and move to correct the injustice.  What happens when the offender is the President of the United States of America?  Further, what happens when the injustice is so obvious but along partisan (party) lines, the division is large.  The Republicans are selling out to serve a sinking ship (i.e., the Trump administration).  The Democrats are jumping on an injustice.  How do I know that to be true?



President Trump has called the Mueller investigation over the last few years a 'hoax.'  What we have learned as Americans is that through all of the Agency (i.e., FBI, Intelligence community heads, etc.) testimony -- the overriding theme is Never Accept Foreign Help or Assistance Into A Presidential Election.  How is the current ask on behalf of the President of the United States not a blatant disregard of everything that we have heard over the last few years?



Below is a video from MSNBC's Morning Joe discussing the landmark hearing to continue moving forward with impeachment inquiry:

What is amazing about the 'closed door' proceedings that Republicans are up in arms about is the fact that they are simply to blame for these rules.  What?  Yes, the Republican Senator Trent Gowdy -- 3 years ago moved to have these proceedings behind closed door.  Yes, you did read that correctly.



What is going on in Washington D.C. is a circus.  The circus needs to be over and we (as American's) need to take back the Nation from the deceitful (and disrespectful) Trump administration.  An administration who lacks the ability to lead a nation.  The U.S. is suffering until a changeover of administrations.  Let's hope that happens sooner rather than later.

EPA CASAC Data Needs To Be Cast Into Perspective

Photo by Carolina Pimenta on Unsplash

The Trump administration is very good at capturing small victories and casting them in the light of significant 'rollbacks of the Obama administration.'  As a viewer and a voter, each of us should be aware of what a victory means. How does an administration cast a small win as a large victory? A significant win would be to totally rollback the Clean Water Act instituted by the Obama administration.  The problem, as I have explained in previous blog posts (see bottom of the blog post), is that to 'rollback' an existing regulation, a better law needs to be proposed.



What am I talking about concerning environmental victories touted by the Trump administration?



The small victories won in the courts (which are few) have been a re-evaluation of the methods used to calculate pollution.  Pollution defined broadly as GHG, water pollution, air pollution, particulate matter, etc.  What scientific methods (i.e., experimental models) are used to calculate the distribution of pollution in the environment?  The models can vary depending on the parameters entered into the models.  Can one scientific model differ widely from another and be accepted?  Most likely not.



Why?



Each model needs to be explained in court if challenged.  At the very least, before that occurs, models are tested in Congressional hearings when approved by either governing body with testimony from the current Environmental Protection Agency Administrator in power at the time.



According to Politico Energy, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler has successfully undermined science with the following ruling on the particulate matter:

EPA SCIENCE ADVISERS GRAPPLE WITH KEY AIR RULE: This week could prove to be a tipping point in Wheeler's effort to reshape how his agency uses science in rulemakings — or what his critics call a "war on science." The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, whose seven members are all Wheeler or Scott Pruitt appointees, will meet in North Carolina today and Friday to discuss the science underlying EPA's review of the particulate matter standard.

Why it's important: Most of the meeting will consist of dry debate over wonky issues, but the panel may ultimately give Wheeler justification to avoid imposing new regulations on polluting sources like power plants and cars. "They're laying the groundwork that provides Administrator Wheeler the political cover to retain the standard," said Gretchen Goldman of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

At issue is a lengthy report written by EPA scientists that concluded recent science supports lowering the annual exposure limit for fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, by as much as one-third. Several outside groups have supported that finding, including the dismissed group of experts who continued their work anyway (Goldman and UCS helped organize that effort). But as Pro's Alex Guillén reported , two CASAC members with a history of pushing back on regulations tightening air quality limits have already indicated they disagree with the EPA report and don't see public health benefits from lowering the standard.

Federal courts give major credence to CASAC's recommendations , so if the two skeptical members can win over others, a recommendation to simply retain the current standard could give Wheeler a shield against future legal attacks. "The question is whether they're going to win over the other CASAC members at the meeting this week," Goldman said.

What does the above rhetoric mean?  Simply that the changes are small compared to actual regulation.  Despite the reporting, the changes cannot harm the environment to the extent that outweighs the benefit of society.  Be careful what you read and conclude on the first pass over the pages of the news.



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Biodiesel Advocacy Groups and Others Urge Secretary of Commerce to Slow Decisions Down in Argentina

Photo: Civil Eats

Have you ever written an elected official for a cause?  In a past post, I discussed the fact that politicians do read and respond to their constituents.  When I read about politicians receiving letters from advocacy groups (or even fellow politicians), I cannot help but wonder what does that letter say -- exactly?  Further, how does the letter writer express their thoughts on a given cause to motivate action on part of the receiver?  Below is an example of the collaborative effort of both the biodiesel industry and the soybean industry.  Enjoy!



According to a letter from the biodiesel fuel and soybean industry is shown below:

The Honorable Wilbur Ross

Secretary of Commerce

U.S. Department of Commerce

1401 Constitution Ave NW

Washington, DC 20230

Dear Secretary Ross, 

On behalf of the members of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) and American Soybean Association (ASA), we would like to request a meeting with you as soon as possible, before the U.S. Department of Commerce finalizes its Changed Circumstances Review of the Countervailing Duty Orders on Biodiesel from Argentina.

When NBB’s Fair Trade Coalition met with you on June 20, you generously offered to meet with the domestic biodiesel industry “at any time.” However, since Commerce issued the preliminary results in the review on July 9, our multiple requests to schedule a meeting with you have gone unanswered. And while we greatly appreciate meeting recently with Assistant Secretary of Commerce Jeffrey Kessler, we still hope that you can provide us the same courtesy that you provided to representatives of the government of Argentina and meet with us.

It remains unclear why Commerce is rushing to issue final results when recent developments in Argentina suggest a likely change in leadership and tax policy. As you know, the countervailing duty rates established early in 2018 were needed to redress years of massive subsidies benefiting Argentina’s biodiesel industry. The review of the duty rates must protect the U.S. biodiesel industry and soybean

farmers from any potential resumption of those subsidies and unfair trade practices. It seems clear that Argentina’s tax policies are likely to continue to change, as they have on numerous occasions in recent years. It is far more important for Commerce to make the right decision in this review, rather than a quick decision.

U.S. soybean growers continue to find international markets unbalanced as a result of uncertainty over trade agreements and retaliatory trade practices. Farm income has been cut by half in just the last five years, with the greatest slide occurring over the last two. While U.S. soybean farmers continue to experience reduced demand and lower prices as a result of trade disruptions to address unfair practices by China unrelated to soybean markets, it would be inconsistent and further damaging to relax measures addressing unfair practices by Argentina that harm U.S. soybean oil demand. The farm economy does not need Commerce to rush a decision to benefit Argentina’s farmers and biodiesel industry.

We look forward to meeting with you as soon as possible, before you sign off on a final decision in the review of countervailing duties on Argentine biodiesel.

Sincerely,

Donnell M. Rehagen, CEO

National Biodiesel Board

Davie Stephens, President

American Soybean Association

The world is an interconnected place where industries that may seem not connected at all are in fact tied together in an unusual manner.  The letter above is regarding the agricultural industry.  Although, in other letters, we (the public) learn that industries that are thought to be quite different are in fact dependent on one another. 



This goes to show that the world is more interconnected and complex than is portrayed on television.  When each of us reads and learns more about the interconnectedness, relations between countries (and nations) can more easily be understood.  Furthermore, support by our nation can more easily be accepted and promoted to regions that are seemingly interconnected to us -- financially and politically.

Ralph Nader: Where Are The Influentials Who Find Trump Despicable?

Photo by Anastase Maragos on Unsplash

We are experiencing unprecedented times in our history as a nation.  The United States is being run by a (so-called) businessman who claims to be able to negotiate with anyone.  At least that is what the American people were sold on in the 2016 presidential election campaign cycle.  Now, nearly 3 years later, the United States citizens are more aware than ever that we (as a nation) are in trouble.  Trouble due to electing a person into the highest office in the land with absolutely no political experience.  A president who claimed to drain the swamp over the next four years.



The last 3 years have seen unprecedented additions to the 'swamp.'   I am without words -- in shock.  I wake up each morning trying to understand why other people are not speaking out against our dangerous president.  Especially, from famous people who have large influences in society. Ralph Nader calls on influencers from all walks of life to step out and speak up against the unprecedented behavior of President Trump:

Where Are The Influentials Who Find Trump Despicable?

The British political philosopher, John Stuart Mill, was a man of many pithy phrases. Possibly his most widely quoted assertion is that “Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.”

This quote fits the Trump age perfectly. Where are you, Barack Obama? Obama is still polling higher than any other politician, active or retired. Instead of speaking out, he is making movies, maybe writing another book, and otherwise really enjoying himself.

Where are you Condoleezza Rice? She encouraged Rex Tillerson to be Trump’s Secretary of State, but Tillerson was cast aside in 2018 by a sneering Trump, who pronounced him “dumb as a rock.” Condoleezza is collecting honors and large speech fees and teaching at Stanford University (keep in mind that Rice was on the inside during the criminal Bush/Cheney war in Iraq, which she supported and defended).

Where are you General Colin Powell? Powell is another former disgusted high official still high in the polls. He thinks he is hated by the White House. He needs to speak up, as his formidable former Chief of Staff, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, has repeatedly done.

The list could go on and on. The former high officials or elected politicians, now retired, who do want to speak up, complain that they can’t get any media attention. If that is true, they should organize into a collective force, with some staff, to help push for media attention. I’m sure they will be able to attract some enlightened large donors.

Not all former officials are AWOL. Some former officials write prominent op-eds in newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post. Some former Obama-era public servants started a podcast called Pod Save America. These efforts are, sadly, not enough to compete with Trump’s onslaught.

It is imperative that these political figures speak out, stand tall, and push back against Trump’s worsening outrages. Trump’s brazen lies obscure his administration’s secrecy and cover-ups; for his abysmal betrayals of workers, patients, consumers, communities; and for Trump’s false pledges that he would help create a safe, healthy environment. Remember his nonsensical rhetoric about clean air, clean water, and beautiful, clean coal.

He still thinks evidence about climate disruption is a “Chinese hoax.”

In his mass rallies – that screen out critical citizens – Trump knowingly lies with reckless abandon. For example, at his recent Dallas rally, Trump said that he has brought the “largest decline in drug prices in over 51 years.” Actually, drug prices are soaring as deprived patients, insurance company executives, and Medicare officials know so well. So what does Trump add? He tells his believers that the reason they don’t know about lower drug prices is that the media, which he calls “crooked,” “corrupt,” and “fake,” isn’t telling Americans the truth.

That Trump has lied over ten thousand times to the American people is itself, given their many ramifications, a “violation of the public trust,” which Alexander Hamilton described as an impeachable offense.  Trump lies more in a month than other presidents do during their entire four year term.

Many of the influential people who are silent about Trump’s abuses have no economic worries. They are sufficiently or extravagantly well-off. They have no concerns over the need for future jobs, being in their sixties or seventies. Retired lawyers who see Trump trampling on our constitutional and legal frameworks should be particularly incensed.

If some billionaire would fund the creation of a Secretariat to promote the views of Trump’s critics, a small experienced staff and these influential people together could create a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts.

Former lawmakers and executive officials, when acting together and assisted by a support staff, can multiply their efforts. Former Senators Lowell Wiecker and Gary Hart; former EPA chiefs, such as William Ruckelshaus; and former governors of New Jersey, Thomas Keane and Christine Todd Whitman are all critical of Trump’s misbehavior. Trump ravages people and lies about a variety of serious matters without rebuttal. As we know from history, an unchallenged lie, repeated over and over again begins to sink in. It is imperative that accomplished people who challenge Trump’s lies gain public credibility. Just consider the “nicknames” Trump assigns to his adversaries, without any nicknames being successfully applied to him. “Crooked Donald,” “Decadent Donald,” “Draft-dodging Donald,” “Disgraceful Donald,” “Lying Donald,” and so forth. He has used such monikers, and worse, to slander opponents and these insults have been repeated by the mass media. Trump’s victims are not afforded a chance to respond to his invectives.

A few media critics, notably Margaret Sullivan from The Washington Post, have chided their editors for allowing such defamatory Trumpian soliloquies. To avoid being his bullhorn, Sullivan argues, the media should not report such abuses. At a minimum, those who are attacked by Trump should be offered the chance to respond. Rebutting bullies is the first step in balancing the public stage. This would be particularly effective for a nasty, thin-skinned bully like Donald Trump.

It is time for those politicians and celebrities who are hiding in plain light to emerge and speak out against President Trump.  Whether that be to denounce his actions on foreign territory.  Or that include the injustices (and divisiveness) that he is trying to institutionalize.  Congress should reign President Trump in by denouncing his actions unprecedented and unacceptable.  Get up and say something.



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Major Trade Associations Changing Their View On Climate Change

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Climate change has been the subject of debate over the last year.  Especially after the midterm elections and the changing of the house leadership in Washington, D.C.  As I wrote recently, crop premiums have been threatened by the increasing threat of climate change.  The risk is so significant and looming that private philanthropists have taken action on their own through funding academic institutions.  Here in Los Angeles, Mayor Garcetti has been pledging to divest from fossil fuels to address climate change.  Even a few business leaders have started to look toward solutions rather than avoiding a potentially disastrous problem down the road.



All these changes are encouraging and welcoming.  But to really promote change, a more significant number of actors (influencers) are going to need to jump aboard.  With the current momentum, the chance of success is higher than ever.  Reporting from Politico Energy has shed light on changing views by various trade associations:

BUSINESS AS UNUSUAL: Several major trade associations like the American Petroleum Institute, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable have long stood at the forefront of blocking climate change legislation. But Pro's Zack Colman reports this morning that those same organizations are now considering major policy shifts that go far beyond previously vague calls for action to tackle climate change — marking a departure from years of a business as usual response on climate.

The Chamber has sought advice from one of the Senate's leading climate hawks, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. The Business Roundtable is workshopping ideas for a carbon tax. And API may endorse the Paris climate deal that Trump has disavowed, Zack reports, though it's too soon to know whether the groups would end up endorsing any specific policies.

Each group is pursuing its own separate process, Zack reports. But the developments, which picked up in earnest following the Democratic takeover of the House, indicate they believe climate change pressure will only grow, especially under a Democratic presidency. "If I were a betting man, my guess is we need to have our act together by November 2020," said Chuck Chaitovitz, vice president for environmental affairs and sustainability with the Chamber.

Environmental groups and climate advocates are cautiously optimistic about the change in tune and what it could portend for political breakthroughs. Whitehouse — who was invited by the Chamber to address firms in a closed meeting Sept. 24 — came away encouraged by the invitation but is not yet ready to count the Chamber as an ally.

"We're not at the point where we can prove this is more than greenwashing," Whitehouse told POLITICO. "If 'engagement' is just a way to kill time, then it won't have been meaningful. But if they are going to do something useful this would be a step along that path. We just don't know that this is that yet."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is one example of further building momentum among climate action.  We have heard time and again that climate change can threaten National Security too.  The parameters at play toward finding a solution to climate change have been laid out in various news reports.  Last April, big bank CEO's even joined the call to divest investments to deal with climate change.  Wonderful news, right?



The solution to combat climate change will be apparent when all parties who can influence change sign on to work toward a solution.  Any solution should be open-sourced, not competitive, or hidden behind proprietary solutions.  We need everyone to be working toward a solution.  Each of us can do our own part to combat the growing threat.  Find out what you can do at a personal level to deal with the increasing crisis.  Make small changes in your life that will collectively amount to significant changes on a societal level.  Be part of the solution rather than the problem.



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Climate Change Indirectly Hits Farmers: Increasing Crop Insurance Premiums

Photo by Farhan Azam on Unsplash

Growing up the son of a physician, I would often hear about the increasing (and outrageous) costs of malpractice insurance for physicians.  My father would complain that he nearly spent enough money on malpractice insurance to buy an average-sized Mercedez Benz automobile.  What?  Although one could argue with the growing number of horror stories involving mishaps in the field of medicine, the insurance is much needed.  Does the same apply to farmers impacted by climate change?



As for the unknown (in magnitude and cost) monetary impacts of climate change, farmers are sure of one aspect: crop insurance will eventually increase with the increasing threat to their crops.  Journalists from Politico Agriculture reported (briefly) that crop insurance will increase in regions across the United States, as shown below:

CLIMATE CHANGE AND RISING CROP INSURANCE PREMIUMS: Earlier this summer, USDA's Economic Research Service estimated that increasing crop losses due to climate change will drive up the costs of the federal crop insurance program by as much as 37 percent in the coming decades. That's because premiums, about 60 percent of which are paid by taxpayers and the other 40 percent by farmers, will go up. A new graphic by POLITICO's DataPoint team shows how corn and soybean farmers in certain regions could be affected.

For example, if the world conducts "business as usual" and greenhouse gases continue to rise, corn growers in Kansas and eastern Colorado could see crop insurance premiums increase by 100 percent.

Photo: Politico Agriculture

A California resident might be tempted to look at the graph above and say: "I do not see any significant change in California, why should I be worried?"  My response: agricultural products are usually distributed across the entire United States.  Therefore, any U.S. resident should not be surprised to see the increase in crop insurance premium be passed along to the customer in some shape or form.  Either directly or indirectly.

Regardless, storm frequency and intensity are increasing, which means more significant negative impact looking into the future.  On all fronts.  Which should not be depressing.  Instead, the outlook should be a wake-up call for each of us to ask our respective elected politicians to vote in favor of sustainable changes.  Changes that take into account the changing agricultural landscape due to the adverse impacts of climate change.  Some states are more knowledgeable than others.  Where and who can we learn from?  The learning (and implementation) process is going on now.

Each of us should be learning how we can help.  Whether that help is in the form of passing along information from relatives who live in the directly impacted areas or getting personally involved at the local level.  Participation is just as meaningful as the educational component in working toward a solution.

A quick example might be, in my case, passing on information from my relatives who are ranchers in Nebraska.  What challenges are they facing as a result of climate change?  How can those challenges be translated to California?  Are they translatable?  What are our problems that result from climate change?  The conversation needs to be started now.  Especially if there is to be any hope of a political solution.  Heading into the 2020 election year, these conversations are meaningful as ever -- despite political differences.  The time to start thinking/educating ourselves is now.

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Ralph Nader: “I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as President.” Really!

Photo by History in HD on Unsplash

Does the President of the United States have unquestionable power? Can he/she do whatever he/she wants?  President Trump seems to believe that his power is u questionable.  Activist Ralph Nader has weighed in on the questions above.

Ralph Nader offers his views on the current impeachment of President Trump in a recent letter:

“I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as President.” Really!

It is time for the House of Representatives to announce comprehensive articles of impeachment against the chronic outlaw and violator of the public trust—President Donald J. Trump who won the Electoral College, but lost the popular vote.

Six House Committees have been investigating and assembling for months the necessary evidence. Mr. Trump himself has taunted the House to impeach him. He has openly and brazenly defied Congressional subpoenas for documents and block subpoenaed witnesses from testifying. This obstruction of Congress is an ongoing impeachable offense—a grave one in the opinions of James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and the other framers of our Constitution, who knew the importance of critical separation of powers.

These Committees are documenting his massive obstruction of justice, otherwise known as blocking law enforcement and the rule of law through intimidation, firings, and other forms of political coercion. They are filling in the details of the ten categories of obstruction described in the Mueller Report. They are cataloguing all the ways Trump is using his office to enrich his businesses—openly promoting his hotels before foreign governments and their agents.

Committee investigators are peeling off layer after layer of Trump’s demanding from Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine to investigate a possible opponent to his re-election—Joe Biden and his son, having suspended nearly $400 million in U.S. aid to Ukraine to pressure Mr. Zelensky.

The “abuse of the public trust,” in Alexander Hamilton’s phrase is overflowing. Over ten thousand Trump lies mean cover-ups, secrecy in government, deceiving innocent citizens about the air, food, water, and workplace danger, megalomania, about drug prices and health insurance for all. Lies matter; they tell us something about the President’s mental instability, his detachment from reality, and the willingness of a large minority of the people to believe the fibs—even when they are about their own crucial livelihoods, health, and safety.

Being a serial sexual predator and earlier bragging about how he accosted women are a brutish model for youngsters.  Legislators like Senator Al Franken lost his position for doing one percent of Donald’s criminal and tortious acts. What would Hamilton also think of the Commander in Chief saying that if he is impeached, there might be a civil war? Incitation to mass violence for his political survival is not a minor matter.

Then there are the lawless uses of armed force abroad anywhere Trump wants, regardless of the absence of Congressional appropriations or declarations of war. Dragnet enforcement without judicial warrants are a federal crime. The same for threatening registered federal whistleblowers.

The House of Representatives already has enough evidence of Trump spending money for purposes not authorized by Congress, such as shifting $3.5 billion from Pentagon schools and other services to building his porous wall. If he reads the Constitution, the “power of the purse” was exclusively given to Congress.

That previous presidents have done some of the latter offenses does not exonerate Trump’s violations. The Congress has to draw the line and stop the ever-faster drift under both parties toward executive tyranny in the White House.

The polls are moving over 50% in favor of impeachment. Other people wish Congress would focus on kitchen-table issues. They need to know that Trump’s impeachable offenses include wholesale taking the federal cops off the corporate crime beat. He is making your air, water, food, and workplaces more hazardous by removing or weakening health and safety standards that save lives and diminish sicknesses. He’s allowing more greenhouse gases to be emitted, worsening the climate disruptions which he says is a “Chinese hoax.”

Law enforcement to protect your family budget has reached a record low. The loan sharks, credit, insurance, and banking industries know that. Fines imposed on wrongdoers by Trump’s agencies have dropped precipitously (see Public Citizen’s report, “Corporate Impunity”). With Trump, you’re paying higher taxes as the wealthy classes get off and savor their large Trumpian tax escapes.

The foregoing is to urge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to deliver a full hand of serious impeachable offenses to the Congress and the American people. The Ukraine shakedown is important, but not sufficient to let people realize all the other things Trump is doing to them, their families, their Constitution, and their democracy.

The full, despicable portrait of Donald J. Trump must be revealed to provide the maximum possible public understanding. For over two and a half years, too many of his absurd tweets and assertions have gone without official rebuttals. His tactic is to dominate the news cycle every day as if his presidency is a reality show and he is the star.

The mass media is starting to wise up about being used and abused by Trump’s fulminations and incitements. It is time for the mass media, and its broadening coverage of the forthcoming, nationally televised House impeachment proceedings, to prove it too can expose Trump’s assault on both our Constitution’s law of the land and the citizenry.

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What Is The National Price Tag For Everyone To Have 'Lead Free' Pipes For Clean Water?

Photo by Leo Rivas on Unsplash

Each of us has the right to have access to 'lead-free' water.  Why would the government install pipes which leach high levels of lead into the water system?  I am not saying that the government has intentionally installed pipes that would leach high levels of lead.  With that being said, there are many miles of piping which span across the United States, carrying water to Americans each day.  These pipes are delivering staggering levels of lead to Americans -- in some cases.  A change is due.  How much does that replacement cost to the average American?


Politico Agriculture recently sent out a brief discussing the price tag along with important issues surrounding policy:

EPA LOOKS TO CRACK DOWN ON LEAD IN WATER: 

Administrator Andrew Wheeler unveiled a sweeping new drinking water rule in Wisconsin on Thursday. The proposal would tighten monitoring requirements for lead contamination in drinking water but extend the time that utilities have to replace corrosive lead service lines, Pro's Annie Snider reports . The EPA also rejected calls for wholesale replacement of the lead pipes across the country.

The rule is arguably the centerpiece of the Trump EPA's efforts to improve environmental protection — rather than roll back Obama-era regulations. The president campaigned on promises of "crystal clear water" and infrastructure investment, and Wheeler regularly mentions that the Obama administration never got an update to the lead rule across the finish line, despite having been at the wheel during the Flint, Mich., contamination crisis.

The details: The proposed rule wouldn't change the current "action level" of 15 parts per billion — the level at which drinking water utilities must replace lead service lines — even though the CDC has concluded there's no safe level of lead exposure. The proposal would add a new "trigger level" of 10 ppb that would require utilities to start planning how they would respond if lead levels rise to the action level.

The update is the first in nearly three decades, and it represents one of the most significant actions taken by the Trump EPA to proactively address environmental concerns. But while environmental and public health groups acknowledge the changes are an improvement, they say the benefits are outweighed by the slower rate at which the rule would require utilities to replace dangerously corrosive lines.

"Unless the lead lines come out of the ground, there's always a possibility for a similar crisis," said Dimple Chaudhary, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, in reference to Flint.

Wheeler argued on Thursday that complete replacement wasn't financially realistic, adding that his proposal would ensure "that those communities that have the worst lead in their pipes get those pipes replaced first."

How it works today: Currently, utilities are only required to replace water lines if they continually test above EPA's action level, and they have roughly 14 years to complete the replacement. Environmental advocates have pushed EPA to mandate that all lines be replaced, which would come with an estimated $1 trillion price tag.

If the government would like to create jobs in America, this project would qualify to employ many thousands of Americans for quite a long time.  The project would make up some Americans careers.  The time from for replacing the thousands of miles of piping is staggering.  Although, the Trump Administration appears to be more robust than the Obama Administration of overall lead levels in pipes across cities in America.



What is the problem?



The time frame and cost.  The time frame is unknown.  The cost is 1 trillion dollars.  Yes, $1,000,000,000,000.00 to replace all pipes across America.  America spends an annual total of 3.5 trillion dollars on healthcare.  What added costs for not acting to replace lead pipes will be added to the already growing cost of healthcare?



To kill multiple birds with one stone exists -- that is, grow jobs, shrink unemployment, reduce health problems, and ensure environmental regulations are increased rather than discarded -- the following change can be a fantastic opportunity for growth.





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The 1% Give Donation To Solve Climate Change?

Photo: Forbes

CEO Stewart Resnick and Lynda Resnick (his wife) have given an incredibly generous gift to Caltech to solve climate change.  Do they actually expect a solution?  Probably not.  Although a lot of research can be funded with $750 million big ones -- yes, you saw the numbers correctly -- a donation of $750 million. Wow!



Here is an excerpt from a Los Angeles Times article:

The gift comes amid growing alarm over climate change and the Trump administration’s rejection of established science. Students marched around the world less than a week ago, coinciding with the U.N. climate conference, to protest what they view as a lack of action to rein in greenhouse gas emissions. States such as California are weighing proposals to phase out single-use plastics containers used by many food and drink manufacturers.

The Resnicks have forged one of the nation’s great farm empires even as drought and extreme weather linked to global warming thwarted many of their competitors. Their vast fields of fruit and nut trees in the Central Valley feed a variety of consumer brands, including Halos mandarin oranges and the pomegranate juice Pom Wonderful. They also produce Fiji Water, wine from Justin Vineyards and operate the florist delivery service Teleflora.

Caltech agreed with Resnick’s assessment that the gift would be “transformational.” The university said the donation would be used to study solar science, climate science, energy, biofuels, decomposable plastics, water and environmental resources, and ecology and biosphere engineering. The school plans to build a $100-million “sustainability research institute” named for the family. It is the largest donation the institution has received and the largest given to any university for environmental research.

The author in the article cited above, also states that Stewart Resnick was hassled by his grandchildren for not 'doing anything to solve the problem.'   Given the fact that the Resnick family has thrown money toward solving all sorts of other problems, the gift is not entirely surprising.  Stewart and Lynda Resnick have made their fortune from the agricultural business across California.



The changes felt from climate change have directly impacted the Resnick's business empire.  Which is another impetus for the donation?  Donations like the one above are not isolated, but certainly welcome.  Traditionally, the view is to hold onto a fortune.  In the case of the Resnick family, wealth is being put to good use.  Especially if the solutions help businesses like the Resnick family business, which is directly impacted by the ever-changing effects of climate change.



We should be thankful to families such as the Resnick's who invest in solutions that help all of us out in the end.  The news above is a breath of fresh air.  Science needs additional funding, aside from the government.  Thank you much to the Resnick family for your generous donation.



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How is the Implementation Of the FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act Going?

Photo: Bison Transport

With the recent outbreaks of Salmonella at Poultry and Beef plants over the last few years, the news of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) overhauling the Food Modernization Act is a breath of fresh air.  The new law should be more inclusive and integrative in terms of food safety monitoring, food safety regulation, and compliance.  Again, which is a breath of fresh air due to the old 'reactive' system.  A new 'proactive' system is much better and suitable for the world that we live in today.



According to the Food and Drug Administration's webpage on the changing law over the next seven years:

After a series of large-scale food safety problems almost a decade ago, Congress passed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Food Safety Modernization Act, or FSMA, to shift our food safety system from one that focused primarily on responding to problems to a system that prevents them from happening in the first place. It was the most significant change to the food safety framework in decades and was an important step that gave the FDA new authorities to help fulfill our obligation to protect consumers. And now, as we embark on a New Era of Smarter Food Safety, we know further enhancing compliance with the foundational FSMA requirements will be critical to our success.

As the seven foundational rules of FSMA reach their compliance dates over the next several years, it’s important to begin to track their impact on the food safety system. To help us measure progress and continue to refine our implementation, the FDA has established a dashboard where we will publish metrics relating to implementation of the law.

The new Food Safety Dashboard launched today is part of FDA-TRACK, which is one tool the FDA uses to monitor certain FDA programs through key performance measures and projects, and regularly updates to ensure transparency to the public.

While we expect that it will take several years to establish trends in the data, the initial data show that since 2016, the majority of companies inspected are in compliance with the new requirements of the preventive control rules. Additional FDA data also show that overall, industry has improved the time it takes to move from identifying a recall event to initiating a voluntary recall, from an average of four days in 2016 to approximately two days in 2019. In fact, comparing the FSMA data with our recall data shows the bigger picture, demonstrating the effectiveness of preventive measures as food recalls once again have reached a five-year low.

At this point we cannot definitively say these are meaningful trends representative of the entire food industry. However, this is an encouraging start as industry, the FDA and our regulatory partners work together to improve food safety and protect consumers.

The new dashboard introduces metrics for food safety outcomes, associated measures and initial data for certain aspects of FSMA. Over time, the Food Safety Dashboard will be populated with additional data to show more FSMA outcomes and, we hope, an overall reduction in foodborne illnesses attributable to FDA-regulated food products. The initial metrics are tracking outcomes in the areas of inspections and recalls for three FSMA rules. They include:

Current Good Manufacturing Practice, Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls rules for both human food and food for animals (preventive controls rules). The first compliance dates for these rules occurred in September 2016

Imported food safety, including data relevant to the Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) rule. The first compliance date for importers subject to FSVP occurred in May 2017.

The data released today only provide a snapshot of both domestic and foreign industry compliance with these regulations.

Many factors will influence these data over time, especially in the early phases of implementation. For instance, some of the rules feature staggered compliance dates based on size of business to allow smaller businesses more time to comply. The data will ultimately help the agency identify trends in food safety, continue to improve our risk-based food safety framework, and modernize the agency’s food safety approaches in a way that will help prepare us for a New Era of Smarter Food Safety.

Publishing these metrics today is part of our commitment to greater transparency and accountability for all stakeholders responsible for improving the safety of the food supply. We plan to update the data for these three FSMA rules quarterly, with our goal being to ultimately publish metrics for all seven rules.

We know that we can’t stop every outbreak of foodborne illness; however, reducing the incidence of illness and death attributed to contaminated food is a shared goal of growers, manufacturers, packers, suppliers, importers and regulators alike. This goal can be realized through the successful implementation of FSMA and modernizing our approaches to food safety from farm to fork.

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

I am sure that not any reasonable person would argue that the above statement sounds terrific and reasonable.  How difficult is the above change to implement on a national level?  A significant degree of change is associated with the rise of technology coupled with the growing sense of globalism in which we live today.  The possibility exists to live in a safer environment at a cheaper cost.  And to prevent not react to foodborne illnesses.



The FDA Food Dashboard sounds exciting.  To promote transparency is to move away from old practices to new practices.  Which requires openness at all levels.  This is a welcomed change from the past system of reacting and secretive enforcement on the part of the FDA Food Inspectors.  The above actions meet the world in which we live today.



Still, the conversation has been started, and all thoughts are welcomed on this matter. The change will take the full seven years.  Although, the amount of new information will also be inspiring within that time from as old laws phase out and new ones phase-in.  Stay tuned!




To read more about the Food Safety Modernization Act, please visit the sites listed below:


1) Food Safety Modernization Act 

2) New Era of Smarter Food Safety

3) Food Safety Dashboard

4) FDA-TRACK






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Ralph Nader: Post Election -- Next Step -- Open Up The Existing Secretive Congress


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Ralph Nader: Shame Of A Nation

Photo: Washington Post

We live in a democratic society.  As such, each of us possesses the power of the vote.  Considering that each of us has the ability to exercise our vote during an election, why do we let the 1% of the nation lead us?  Why don't we take the decisions which affect us most into our own hands at the ballot box?  Ralph Nader has shown us the extent to which we have let this decline happen.  Read on and consider each bullet point below.

Ralph Nader states the apparent decline in America -- Majority leading the minority:

Shame of a Nation: The 1% Rules, the 99% Lets Them!

  

1) There has never been more access to food – domestic and imported – yet hunger is an ongoing problem everywhere. In the U.S. alone, 16.5 million children go to bed hungry and 20% of community college students are experiencing “food insecurity.”

2) Never have there been more communications technologies, yet it is harder to get through to people personally than fifty years ago.

3) Never have people been able to use their right to free speech so unencumbered, yet a torrent of lies are now spread so freely and are often unchallenged.

4) Never have there been higher corporate profits, yet staggering amounts of poverty and near poverty remain along with stagnant wages.

5) Never have there been more medicines to alleviate pain, yet far too many of these pain killers have caused massive fatalities and addictions.

6) Never has there been more liquid corporate capital piled up, yet corporate investment is proportionately lower than before. Instead, CEO’s have burned over 7 trillion dollars in unproductive stock buybacks in the past decade.

7) Never have there been more exercise outlets, exercise machines and apps, yet obesity is still rampant.

8) Never have there been more tax breaks for big businesses, yet big businesses use so little of the windfalls for productive investments, good jobs and shoring up pensions.

9) Never has there been more free access to information, yet so little retained knowledge.

10) Never have there been more impressive muckraking film documentaries and books that expose corporate and government crimes, yet this media attention produces less impact and reform.

11) Never have there been more ongoing impeachable offenses and statutory violations by a president, yet the opposing Party in Congress have been reluctant to move on the many articles of impeachment. Remember how fast the unified House of Republicans moved to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998 for perjury and obstruction of justice?

12) Never have there been more trainers, sports physicians, protective equipment and guards for professional athletes, yet there are far more injuries and days lost by players than was the case sixty years ago. Now there are helmets, gloves, pads, cushioned walls, better shoes etc. Why?

13) Never has there been more to read, yet there are so few readers reading. Historically, we have gone from illiteracy to literacy to aliteracy!

14) Never before has technology made it so easy for heads of government to meet, yet fewer international treaties are made. (Eg. Cyber, water, environment, consumer, labor etc.)

15) Never has there been such an outrageous corporate crime wave, yet law enforcement budgets have decreased! The more big CEO’s are paid, the worse is their management. (Eg. The big banks twelve years ago, General Electric for years.)

16) Never before have there been so many wrongful injuries, yet the court budgets are becoming tighter and the law of torts is being restricted. Without the defense of and use of our civil justice system, wrongful injury cases cannot go to court with a trial by jury.

17) Never before has there been more corporate fraud, yet agencies tasked with bringing this fraud to justice have smaller budgets and more limitations. The budget of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a third of one day’s worth of health care billing fraud, which is estimated this year to be $350 billion, according to Harvard’s national expert on the subject, Professor Malcolm Sparrow. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been straitjacketed by the evil corporate crime abettor Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House Chief of Staff for corrupt Donald.

18) Never has the drug industry accumulated more profits and government subsidies, yet so many patients cannot begin to afford lifesaving medicines.

19) Never have the under-taxed super-rich been so rich, yet on average give a smaller proportion of their money to “good works.” Actually, middle and lower income people give more proportionally than do the ultra-wealthy.

I could go on and on. Pick up the pace, readers. Senator Elizabeth Warren has correctly called for “big structural changes.”

The combined wealth of the 1% is astounding.  Truth be told, the average American does not have a great chance to become part of the 1%.  There are exceptions in any generation.  I am in no way trying to be pessimistic or overly negative.  That is just the reality.  What do Americans have that the 1% of Americans cannot take away?



The concentration of power may be on the 1%, but the 99% have voting power.  Yes, voting power is more powerful than wealth.  Although, early in the birth of our nation, the ability to communicate across vast distances was limited to the speed of horses -- by the postal system -- i.e., the pony express.



The rise of technology has changed with the inception of the internet and devices which can access the internet.  Messages can be sent at crazy speeds across the world.  Still, we have a minority (1%) ruling the (99%).  Why? 



In 2020:



I would love to see the majority of Americans take the ballot box back and exercise their vote.  No matter what side of the vote that you are on, it is essential that you participate in our democratic society.  And that includes guiding (by vote) the direction of our nation.



Yes, you did read correctly.  You do have the power to change the direction of our nation by voting.  Politicians do listen to their constituents.  That might be difficult to believe, but it is true.  The average person does not think that their voice is heard.  But it is.  Write your elected politician and see.


The next time that a town hall is assembled with a politician go talk to them.  Tell them your concerns.  Even if your concerns are not immediately addressed, they will be considered and recorded in history.  And that is part of your civic duty -- at least I believe at the very least.



Think deeply about the bullet points above.  Have a great remainder of the weekend.





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