Person Of The Year Vs. Child Of The Year

Ken AshfordEnvironment & Global Warming & Energy, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

.@GretaThunberg is TIME's 2019 Person of the Year #TIMEPOY https://t.co/YZ7U6Up76v pic.twitter.com/SWALBfeGl6 — TIME (@TIME) December 11, 2019 So ridiculous. Greta must work on her Anger Management problem, then go to a good old fashioned movie with a friend! Chill Greta, Chill! https://t.co/M8ZtS8okzE — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2019 Trump is a bully. And he has shown time and … Read More

LA Fires Continue

Ken AshfordDisasters, Environment & Global Warming & EnergyLeave a Comment

You’ve got the Getty Fire in LA County… …and the Kincaid Fire in Northern California… … and windy dry conditions. A nightmare. Last night was not as bad as predicted in Northern California, where firefighters have been battling the Kincade fire, the biggest active wildfire in the state. That blaze, which has so far burned more than 76,000 acres and … Read More

Fridays For Future

Ken AshfordEnvironment & Global Warming & EnergyLeave a Comment

Millions of people are expected to join demonstrations demanding action on climate change in scores of cities around the world on Friday, including in hotbeds of the environmental movement such as London, New York, San Francisco and Seattle. Many groups are involved in organizing the strikes including schoolchildren, trade unions, environmental groups and employees at large tech companies such as … Read More

Document Dump: The Green New Deal

Ken AshfordCongress, Environment & Global Warming & EnergyLeave a Comment

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., are introducing a framework defining what they call a “Green New Deal” — what they foresee as a massive policy package that would remake the U.S. economy and, they hope, eliminate all U.S. carbon emissions. That’s a really big — potentially impossibly big — undertaking. It sets goals for some drastic measures … Read More

What The New Dem-Controlled House Should Do Out Of The Gate

Ken AshfordCongress, Democrats, Election 2018, Immigration and Xenophobia, Infrastructure, Political Scandals, Trump & Administration, Voter Suppression & Voter SecurityLeave a Comment

Dear Dem-Controlled House and Nancy Pelosi: Don’t let Trump bait you into go whole hog on investigations of him. That’ll come in time. No talk of impeachment. And let Mueller do his thing.  In the meantime, act for the American people. The new Democratic House majority should devote its first 100 days to passing five pieces of legislation, then dare … Read More

Trump On 60 Minutes

Ken AshfordEnvironment & Global Warming & Energy, L'Affaire Russe, North Korea, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

In his first non-Fox interview in months, Trump talked to Leslie Stahl for “60 Minutes”.  Here’s a highlight of the insanity Climate change “I think something’s happening. Something’s changing and it’ll change back again. I don’t think it’s a hoax, I think there’s probably a difference. But I don’t know that it’s manmade. I will say this. I don’t want to … Read More

Breaking: FINALLY, EPA Scott Pruitt Is Out

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Election 2020, Environment & Global Warming & Energy, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

NY Times: WASHINGTON — President Trump accepted the resignation of Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, he said in a tweet on Thursday. Mr. Pruitt had been hailed as a hero among conservatives for his zealous deregulation, but he could not overcome the stain of numerous ethics questions about his alleged spending abuses, first-class travel and cozy relationships with lobbyists. Mr. Pruitt … Read More

Breaking: Pedestrian Bridge Collapse

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Disasters, InfrastructureLeave a Comment

Tweet from four days ago: First-of-its-kind pedestrian bridge “swings” into place. “FIU is about building bridges and student safety. This project accomplishes our mission beautifully,” -President Mark B. Rosenberg. https://t.co/x8gPM9A4DG #worldsahead pic.twitter.com/mPEMeh2zmw — FIU (@FIU) March 10, 2018 And in case it gets taken down, here’s a screen cap: Well…. it collapsed. Reports of several dead. BREAKING: New pedestrian bridge … Read More

Trump Announces Plans To Undo Natural Monuments

Ken AshfordConstitution, Courts/Law, Environment & Global Warming & Energy, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

As I type this, Trump is in Salt Lake City announcing his plans to be the anti-Teddy Roosevelt. Trump’s actions are a dramatic departure from conventional interpretations of the 1906 Antiquities Act, on which the monument designations are based. The act, advocated by President Theodore Roosevelt, was designed to provide safeguards to exceptional historic, cultural, and natural landscapes across the … Read More

The Trump Administration Guts Clean Air

Ken AshfordEnergy and Conservation, Environment & Global Warming & Energy, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

On Monday, as had been expected, Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, said at an event in Kentucky that he would formally move to repeal what the E.P.A.’s Web site referred to as “the so-called ‘Clean Power Plan.’ ” That plan had been central to the United States’ commitment, under Paris, to reduce power-plant emissions by an estimated thirty … Read More

Trump To Drop US From Paris Accords

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Environment & Global Warming & Energy, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

It looked for a moment like he was reconsidering this campaign promise to leave the Paris Accord on climate change, but no.  In a few minutes, Trump will announce from the Rose Garden that the US is out. Celebratory mood in the White House Rose Garden for Paris announcement. A jazz band is playing. pic.twitter.com/Ohm5EYJNnT — Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) June … Read More

And Then The Laughter Stopped

Ken AshfordEnvironment & Global Warming & Energy, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Yeah, we all had fun last night…. But then came the sobering news this morning…. President Trump will pull the United States out of the Paris climate change agreement, according to several reports Wednesday. Axios first reported that Trump is working with a group led by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Scott Pruitt on the exact mechanism of pulling out before … Read More

Two Bills Signed Into Law By Trump So Far

Ken AshfordCorporate Greed, Energy and Conservation, Environment & Global Warming & Energy, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

(1) Repeal of the “Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers” Rule. The rule was that oil, gas and mineral companies had to disclose (to the Securities and Exchange Commission) any payments (taxes, royalties, fees, bonuses, etc) given to foreign governments relating to commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals. Designed to prevent companies from engaging in corruption with … Read More