The Trump administration has made some very stupid moves when it comes to the environment. It includes the appointment of clearly unfit individuals like Scott Pruitt and Rick Perry to positions that can affect the environment greatly. A lot of noise has been made about these actions but there has nothing been solid done about them – until now.
The Trump administration now faces legal push back on two fronts. First, there is the lawsuit being filed by a group of scientists against the EPA. The suit is because of the EPA’s directive to remove scientists from its advisory boards and committees that were receiving federal grants.
The reason for this was supposedly to stop any advisers who supposedly had undue biases. However, Protect Democracy and the Union of Concerned Scientists are pushing back by filing a lawsuit against the EPA administrator Scott Pruitt. They allege that this directive is both unnecessary and illegal. The Federal Advisory Committee Act requires advisory committees to be balanced and be free from any inappropriate influence when it comes to appointments.
The second lawsuit being filed against the Trump administration is the one being filed by California for the repeal of the Obama-era fracking law. Under this law, any fracking done on federal-owned land needs to give data on the chemicals used in the fracking and steps need to be taken to prevent leakage from oil and gas wells. The Trump administration repealed this law in 2017 and California is fighting back.
The state of California argues that the Bureau of Land Management, under which this law exists, does not have sufficient reason to repeal this law. Another argument by the state is that it violates the National Environmental Policy Act. Xavier Becerra, California’s attorney general, filed this case continuing his and his state’s history of standing against Trump.
Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-california-fracking/california-to-sue-trump-administration-for-repeal-of-fracking-rules-idUSKBN1FD2QS
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scientists-sue-epa-scott-pruitt_us_5a68a218e4b0dc592a0e87f0