Attack on public and democratic control of industry: On my observation that while chaos and attention surround the immigration question, there will be moves to unravel other institutional checks that are relevant to the question of fossil fuels, energy, and the environment. As we spoke this morning, Trump signed an executive order that said that for every new regulatory rule, two had to be repealed.
The order stipulates that
"Unless prohibited by law, whenever an executive department or agency (agency) publicly proposes for notice and comment or otherwise promulgates a new regulation, it shall identify at least two existing regulations to be repealed."
Trump said earlier today he wants to eliminate "a little more than 75%" of the regulations now on the books. "We don't need 97 different rules to take care of one element," he said. (Source: NPR)Beyond the seeming absence of logic or rationale for that order, lies its autocratic capriciousness, which undermines processes and institutions.
On the 'Stream Protection Rule' that Peabody coal hopes to repeal.
The Stream Protection Rule was in the works for nearly a decade. It's 1,200 pages long, and even still, it barely made it in under the wire. The rule went into effect on the very last day of Obama's presidency. (Source: NPR).Background on the Stream Protection Rule: https://www.osmre.gov/programs/rcm/streamprotectionrule.shtm.
The rule defines “material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area” for the first time and clarifying that the statutory prohibition on the approval of proposed operations that would result in material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area applies to both surface and underground mining operations. Under SMCRA, the regulatory authority may not approve a permit application unless the application demonstrates, and the regulatory authority finds, that the proposed operation would not result in material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area. The rule requires that the regulatory authority specify the point at which adverse mining-related impacts on groundwater and surface water would constitute material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area reach that level of damage. It further provides that the regulatory authority must specify threshold values for surface water and groundwater parameters that will trigger an evaluation of whether the permit must be revised to prevent the occurrence of material damage to the hydrologic balance outside the permit area.
Link to the rule (as of 1.30.17): https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=OSM-2010-0018-10631
The automobility system and the question of credit and debt
From a student, as per my comments on the connection between the credit and finance industry, auto loans, and the discourse of automobility: John Oliver rocks it!
Trial Balloon for a Coup?
From a student, as per my comments on Trump's orders being a kind of test-case or 'trial balloon' to see how far institutionality might be pushed (I do not vouch for or endorse the entirety of the article, lesson, triple-check your facts): https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/trial-balloon-for-a-coup-e024990891d5#.bx9dv87q1
On the Quebec shootings (CORRECTION):
It was reported that two white supremacists were the authors of the attack. That information is yet to be verified, I should have waited to post that. As of today, there is one alleged shooter under arrest. It is not clear what his link to organized racism is.
