Environment

Brief #108—Environment
By Todd J Broadman
Soon after President Biden’s election victory, General Motors Corporation (GM) publicly stated their vision: to manufacture vehicles that feature zero carbon emissions. That vision is the leading feature of their “triple zero,” which also includes zero congestion and zero crashes (through advanced safety technologies and self-driving vehicles). Over the next 15 years, GM will completely phase out the production of petroleum powered vehicles and will solely manufacture electric vehicles (EV). There are to be 30 such EV models available by 2025.

Brief #107—Environment
By Jacob Morton
On Wednesday, January 27, President Joe Biden signed a flurry of executive actions to address the climate crisis by reviving environmental protections dismantled by the previous administration and promoting the creation of new ‘green’ jobs. The orders revive many Obama-era protections and regulations, including a rejection of the Keystone XL Pipeline and the protection of sacred indigenous sites in Utah. Biden’s executive actions go even further still, mandating that climate change be considered in all major decisions of the Federal government, and re-establishing a culture of scientific integrity and evidence-based decision making across all Federal agencies. The President’s executive orders  also call for the Federal government to play a larger role in ensuring economic success for communities and individuals affected by an energy industry shift from fossil fuels to renewables.

Brief #106—Environment
By Shannon Q Elliot
President Trump has rolled back the Department of Energy’s (DOE) standards for consumer appliances.

Brief #105—Environment
By Jacob Morton
On January 5, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a new rule requiring that any scientific evidence that is to be considered by the agency when crafting new environmental regulation, such as limiting the use of certain chemicals or determining levels of allowable pollution, must make all relevant data publicly available (including study participants’ personal medical records) to be considered credible.

Brief #104—Environment
By Jacob Morton
As the Trump administration’s single term nears its end, top agency officials are attempting a last-minute push to approve a flush of large-scale energy and mining projects for companies hoping to secure contracts to extract various natural resources.

Brief #100—Environment
By Jacob Morton
Since the beginning of his presidency, Donald Trump has had his eye on Alaska, hoping to expand extraction of its rich mineral and fossil fuel deposits.

Brief #103—Environment
By Shannon Q. Elliott
On Monday November 9th, 2020 Amy Comey Barrett heard her first case as a justice to the Supreme Court of the United States. (SCOTUS) The conservative justice, a former Notre Dame Law School graduate, filled the seat which belonged to the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Brief #102—Environment
By Jacob Morton
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has announced it will no longer provide federal protections to the gray wolf and will remove the species from the Endangered Species List.

Brief #100—Environment
By Todd Broadman
The Tongass forest, referred to as “America’s Amazon,” was designated a National Forest by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1902.

Brief #100—Environment
By Jacob Morton
The wolverine is a rather elusive character. Only about 300 of these iconic mammals exist in the United States’ lower 48 states.

Brief #99—Environment
By Shannon Q. Elliott
According to the Trump Administration they have been successful in “cutting the red tape” of Obama era environmental policies and protections.

Brief #98—Environment
By Todd J. Broadman
The Federal Reserve has made an unprecedented policy change: the Fed is now directly intervening to support corporate credit markets.