CR: COVID-19 --Political Talk

[Goredho 17631]

8 minutes ago, RomaVicta said:

We're preaching the same sermon. Preach on, brother.

The disease is still an abstraction to most of the people and it's not their fault. The story has not been properly told by the sources we rely on. Rachel Maddow is an exception here. Here story on supplies last night was outstanding.

Tom Hanks should have taken one for the team and died with Rita live streaming to social media.

[bolverk 30249]

For the Surly Austinites, the City now has a dashboard giving details on cases (wish they or the County would publish a ZIP code map like Dallas).

https://austin.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/39e4f8d4acb0433baae6d15a931fa984 

Notes (county data):

• 137 cases reported so far.
• The bar chart on new cases is promising, so far.
• No overall real gender gap, so far. (Should note that young women out pace young men, but older men outpace older women.)
• 56 percent of infected under the age of 40.

Age Group (Years)	Female	Male	Total
0-9	0	0	0
10-19	1	0	1
20-29	21	15	36
30-39	20	17	39
40-49	5	17	22
50-59	9	11	20
60-69	7	5	12
70-79	1	3	4
≥80	2	1	3
Total	68	69	137

 

[Gap03 3377]

2 minutes ago, bolverk said:

For the Surly Austinites, the City now has a dashboard giving details on cases (wish they or the County would publish a ZIP code map like Dallas).

https://austin.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/39e4f8d4acb0433baae6d15a931fa984 

Notes (county data):

• 137 cases reported so far.
• The bar chart on new cases is promising, so far.
• No overall real gender gap, so far. (Should note that young women out pace young men, but older men outpace older women.)
• 56 percent of infected under the age of 40.

Age Group (Years)	Female	Male	Total
0-9	0	0	0
10-19	1	0	1
20-29	21	15	36
30-39	20	17	39
40-49	5	17	22
50-59	9	11	20
60-69	7	5	12
70-79	1	3	4
≥80	2	1	3
Total	68	69	137

 

Thanks for posting - agree on the zip code map.  On the M/F infection rate, my understanding is that there typically isn't much of a difference - it's the death numbers that seem to be 2:1 M/F. 

[RomaVicta 30512]

12 minutes ago, Goredho said:

Tom Hanks should have taken one for the team and died with Rita live streaming to social media.

He's the right age according to the GOPs: expendable.

[Biff Tannen 46069]

1 hour ago, Goredho said:

Tom Hanks should have taken one for the team and died with Rita live streaming to social media.

I'll fight you.

[RomaVicta 30512]

7 hours ago, Hookah Horns said:

This shit about the DPA continues to mind fuck me. Years from now people will be looking back on his conduct during this crisis in fucking wonderment. 

What is the downside to getting this shit going full bore? The downside to pussy footing around is massive. 

I don't see either of these guys putting much thought into it.

 

[jimmyjazz 46990]

3 hours ago, tantric superman said:

I billion for 80,000 ventilators?  That's $12,500 a pop.

I'd buy me and the wife our own ventilator for $12,500. 

They could offer a time share deal (you get priority and everyone else can use it when you aren't) and pay for those in the open market in a couple of days.

 

Bill Gates, Tito B, Warren Buffett, Mike Bloomberg, Michael Dell and a few other actual billionaires could get together and fund those ventilators as easy as tipping on a dinner tab.

Plus, Trump's head would explode, so free dessert.

[Bullneck 19454]

1 hour ago, RomaVicta said:

We're preaching the same sermon. Preach on, brother.

The disease is still an abstraction to most of the people and it's not their fault. The story has not been properly told by the sources we rely on. Rachel Maddow is an exception here. Here story on supplies last night was outstanding.

 

Quote

Three American GIs lie dead on Buna Beach.^{[389] [Note 36]} The image was captured by George Strock on 31 December 1942^[390] though it is sometimes described as having been taken in February 1943, a month after the battle ended.^[391] Life was finally able to publish it on 20 September 1943 after President Roosevelt authorised its release. It was the first photograph published in the United States during World War II to show American soldiers dead on the battlefield. Roosevelt was concerned that the American public were growing complacent about the cost of the war on human life.

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by Bullneck

[BrazilHorn 6795]

54 minutes ago, bolverk said:

For the Surly Austinites, the City now has a dashboard giving details on cases (wish they or the County would publish a ZIP code map like Dallas).

https://austin.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/39e4f8d4acb0433baae6d15a931fa984 

Notes (county data):

• 137 cases reported so far.
• The bar chart on new cases is promising, so far.
• No overall real gender gap, so far. (Should note that young women out pace young men, but older men outpace older women.)
• 56 percent of infected under the age of 40.

Age Group (Years)	Female	Male	Total
0-9	0	0	0
10-19	1	0	1
20-29	21	15	36
30-39	20	17	39
40-49	5	17	22
50-59	9	11	20
60-69	7	5	12
70-79	1	3	4
≥80	2	1	3
Total	68	69	137

 

Not surprised at younger folks being bigger % of infected. I know of a couple of cases where roommates both have CV-19. Austin rent prices being what they are 22-30 yo singles are often in shared spaces in apt/condos. 

[A-Tex Devil 2495]

These are two good companion pieces that weren't necessarily meant to be.

1. Published 3/20.  It ran some math to predict numbers, and has been prescient.  In fact, things have been slightly worse.  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hell-coming-mathematical-proof-185019616.html?soc_src=community&soc_trk=fb

2. From The Atlantic today.  https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/?fbclid=IwAR13fspWXu4LVFP90mFCLL71MgeP8i7nE3tqfKaNZlLdhzbJlecZ0Zdjqno

Fuck Trump.  The exacerbation described in these articles are on him and his administration.  Anyone that says otherwise is frankly an idiot.  Why we weren't spending the drop in the bucket to produce masks, ventilators and fucking tests in early February is an absolute failing.  You can argue no president would.  Fuck your hypotheticals.  This president didn't.  And he said there would be close to zero cases less than a month ago.  We should NEVER let society forget that.  That single statement fuels a moral imperative that folks vote him out of office.  If you vote for him in November, you are immoral and/or stupid.  

Edited March 27, 2020 by A-Tex Devil

[WhatTheBuck 28904]

27 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Bill Gates, Tito B, Warren Buffett, Mike Bloomberg, Michael Dell and a few other actual billionaires could get together and fund those ventilators as easy as tipping on a dinner tab.

Plus, Trump's head would explode, so free dessert.

George Soros should do it. 

[EMAWesome 101]

5 minutes ago, A-Tex Devil said:

These are two good companion pieces that weren't necessarily meant to be.

1. Published 3/20.  It ran some math to predict numbers, and has been prescient.  In fact, things have been slightly worse.  https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hell-coming-mathematical-proof-185019616.html?soc_src=community&soc_trk=fb

2. From The Atlantic today.  https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/03/how-will-coronavirus-end/608719/?fbclid=IwAR13fspWXu4LVFP90mFCLL71MgeP8i7nE3tqfKaNZlLdhzbJlecZ0Zdjqno

Fuck Trump.  The exacerbation described in these articles are on him and his administration.  Anyone that says otherwise is frankly an idiot.  Why we weren't spending the drop in the bucket to produce masks, ventilators and fucking tests in early February is an absolute failing.  You can argue no president would.  Fuck your hypotheticals.  This president didn't.  And said there would be close to zero cases less than a month ago.  We should NEVER let society forget that.  That single statement fuels a moral imperative that folks vote him out of office.  If you vote for him in November, you are immoral and/or stupid.  

I don't even have to read The Atlantic article to know it is bullshit.  Here is the heading from the article.

How the Pandemic Will End  (oh really great swami, you know exactly how this is going to end?  You the journalist, not a medical expert, not a doctor, not even a scientist, a journalist.  You know how this is going to end.  You don't know shit.  You are guessing and it isn't even going to be an educated guess.  You are pulling shit out of your ass and smelling your fingers.)

Next part of heading.

The U.S. may end up with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the industrialized world.  This is how it is going to play out.

Oh really, you know exactly how this is going to play out?  Then why are you working at The Atlantic and not at the CDC or WHO?  Because you don't know how it is going to play out.  Nobody knows how it is going to play out.  Not the CDC, the WHO, the Surgeon General, or Mentor the Mystic.  ANYONE that claims they know how this is going to play out is full of shit because nothing like this has ever happened in modern times.   The last time something of this scale was going on television hadn't been invented, computers hadn't been invented probably about 10,000 advances in medicine hadn't been discovered.   And if you actually did know how it was going to play out you wouldn't have used the word may in the very sentence preceding your declaration.  You would have used the word will.  This is fear mongering, plain and simple.  This guy doesn't have any more idea of how this is going to play out than any of us do.

 

 

 

How the Pandemic Will End

The U.S. may end up with the 

[Mo Horn 8933]

I hope Massie enjoyed being a congressman, because there's no way in hell he's getting re-elected. 

[4th&Five 41909]

TAKE THE FUCKING KEYS AWAY FROM GRANDPA!!!!

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by 4th&Five

[4th&Five 41909]

2 minutes ago, EMAWesome said:

I don't even have to read The Atlantic article to know it is bullshit.  Here is the heading from the article.

How the Pandemic Will End  (oh really great swami, you know exactly how this is going to end?  You the journalist, not a medical expert, not a doctor, not even a scientist, a journalist.  You know how this is going to end.  You don't know shit.  You are guessing and it isn't even going to be an educated guess.  You are pulling shit out of your ass and smelling your fingers.)

Next part of heading.

The U.S. may end up with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the industrialized world.  This is how it is going to play out.

Oh really, you know exactly how this is going to play out?  Then why are you working at The Atlantic and not at the CDC or WHO?  Because you don't know how it is going to play out.  Nobody knows how it is going to play out.  Not the CDC, the WHO, the Surgeon General, or Mentor the Mystic.  ANYONE that claims they know how this is going to play out is full of shit because nothing like this has ever happened in modern times.   The last time something of this scale was going on television hadn't been invented, computers hadn't been invented probably about 10,000 advances in medicine hadn't been discovered.   And if you actually did know how it was going to play out you wouldn't have used the word may in the very sentence preceding your declaration.  You would have used the word will.  This is fear mongering, plain and simple.  This guy doesn't have any more idea of how this is going to play out than any of us do.

 

 

 

How the Pandemic Will End

The U.S. may end up with the 

He gives multiple directions this could take based on how it's handled but you'd have to actually read it to understand that.

[bad_teammate 13483]

4 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

TAKE THE FUCKING KEYS AWAY FROM GRANDPA!!!!

Truly a Very Stable Genius.

Fuck me running

[A-Tex Devil 2495]

 

14 minutes ago, EMAWesome said:

I don't even have to read The Atlantic article to know it is bullshit.  Here is the heading from the article.

How the Pandemic Will End  (oh really great swami, you know exactly how this is going to end?  You the journalist, not a medical expert, not a doctor, not even a scientist, a journalist.  You know how this is going to end.  You don't know shit.  You are guessing and it isn't even going to be an educated guess.  You are pulling shit out of your ass and smelling your fingers.)

Next part of heading.

The U.S. may end up with the worst COVID-19 outbreak in the industrialized world.  This is how it is going to play out.

Oh really, you know exactly how this is going to play out?  Then why are you working at The Atlantic and not at the CDC or WHO?  Because you don't know how it is going to play out.  Nobody knows how it is going to play out.  Not the CDC, the WHO, the Surgeon General, or Mentor the Mystic.  ANYONE that claims they know how this is going to play out is full of shit because nothing like this has ever happened in modern times.   The last time something of this scale was going on television hadn't been invented, computers hadn't been invented probably about 10,000 advances in medicine hadn't been discovered.   And if you actually did know how it was going to play out you wouldn't have used the word may in the very sentence preceding your declaration.  You would have used the word will.  This is fear mongering, plain and simple.  This guy doesn't have any more idea of how this is going to play out than any of us do.

 

 

 

How the Pandemic Will End

The U.S. may end up with the 

This is such an unfathomably stupid post, but par for the course.  I guess in your world, there is no place for using data to try to predict the outcome.  Read the week old article instead then.  Or stop shit posting.  Either way, you are on ignore now.

Edited March 27, 2020 by A-Tex Devil

[DixonHur 11943]

6 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

TAKE THE FUCKING KEYS AWAY FROM GRANDPA!!!!

 

If only there was some sort of War Powers he could invoke...oh, well.

[TornACL 7792]

Yesterday the need for ventilators was overblown. Today it's an emergency. 

I wouldn't let this guy manage a Whataburger. 

[TornACL 7792]

3 minutes ago, A-Tex Devil said:

EM

This is such an unfathomably stupid post, but par for the course.  I guess in your world, there is no place for using data to try to predict the outcome.  Read the week old article instead then.  Or stop shit posting.  Either way, you are ignore now.

Why doesn't EMAW use that much time scrutinizing the articles from his favorite websites like Daily Caller. 

[InkaUtexas 26813]

7 minutes ago, TornACL said:

Yesterday the need for ventilators was overblown. Today it's an emergency. 

I wouldn't let this guy manage a Whataburger. 

Well maybe the one in College Station. 

[DixonHur 11943]

SIAP

EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws amid coronavirus

Spoiler

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a sweeping suspension of its enforcement of environmental laws Thursday, telling companies they would not need to meet environmental standards during the coronavirus outbreak.  

The temporary policy, for which the EPA has set no end date, would allow any number of industries to skirt environmental laws, with the agency saying it will not “seek penalties for noncompliance with routine monitoring and reporting obligations.”

Cynthia Giles, who headed the EPA’s Office of Enforcement during the Obama administration, called it a moratorium on enforcing the nation's environmental laws and an abdication of the agency's duty. 

“This EPA statement is essentially a nationwide waiver of environmental rules for the indefinite future. It tells companies across the country that they will not face enforcement even if they emit unlawful air and water pollution in violation of environmental laws, so long as they claim that those failures are in some way 'caused' by the virus pandemic. And it allows them an out on monitoring too, so we may never know how bad the violating pollution was,” she wrote in a statement to The Hill.

The EPA has been under pressure from a number of industries, including the oil industry, to suspend enforcement of a number of environmental regulations due to the pandemic.

“EPA is committed to protecting human health and the environment, but recognizes challenges resulting from efforts to protect workers and the public from COVID-19 may directly impact the ability of regulated facilities to meet all federal regulatory requirements,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement. 

In a 10-page letter to the EPA earlier this week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) asked for a suspension of rules that require repairing leaky equipment as well as monitoring to make sure pollution doesn’t seep into nearby water.

Other industries had also asked to ignite the “force majeure” clauses of any legal settlements they had signed with the EPA, allowing for an extension on deadlines to meet various environmental goals in the face of unforeseen circumstances.

But Giles and others say the memo signed Thursday goes beyond that request, giving industries board authority to pollute with little oversight from the agency. 

“Incredibly, the EPA statement does not even reserve EPA's right to act in the event of an imminent threat to public health,” Giles said. 

“Instead, EPA says it will defer to states, and ‘work with the facility’ to minimize or prevent the threat. EPA should never relinquish its right and its obligation to act immediately and decisively when there is threat to public health, no matter what the reason is. I am not aware of any instance when EPA ever relinquished this fundamental authority as it does in this memo.”

The memo says companies should try to minimize “the effects and duration of any noncompliance” with environmental laws and should also keep records of their own noncompliance, along with identifying how the coronavirus was a factor.

The EPA on Friday pushed back against characterization of the memo as a waiver of environmental rules.

"During this extraordinary time, EPA believes that it is more important for facilities to ensure that their pollution control equipment remains up and running and the facilities are operating safely, than to carry out routine sampling and reporting," agency spokeswoman Andrea Woods told The Hill by email.

"If a facility has exceedances of limits on pollution the policy does not offer any no action assurance. We retain all our authorities and will exercise them appropriately. It is a temporary policy and will be terminated when this crisis is past.”

Critics say it's not unreasonable to refrain from environmental enforcement on a case-by-case basis when companies are unable to comply with the letter of the law, but many were alarmed by the breadth of Thursdays memo.

“It is not clear why refineries, chemical plants, and other facilities that continue to operate and keep their employees on the production line will no longer have the staff or time they need to comply with environmental laws,” Eric Schaeffer, a former director of civil enforcement at the EPA who is now with the Environmental Integrity Project, wrote in a letter signed by a number of environmental groups in anticipation of the memo.

The letter writers also criticized the requests from the API, arguing nearby communities would face prolonged exposure to a number of air and water pollutants that might be expelled through oil production — something they say would have “a very specific impact on public health and safety.”

The diminished compliance requirements for industry comes at a time when the EPA has refused to budge on deadlines for comments as they proceed with a number of deregulatory actions.

Environmental and public health groups had argued that those with science and health backgrounds who would normally weigh in on such regulations have been pulled into the coronavirus fight, leaving them unable to divert their attention.

“The Environmental Protection Agency has not shown the same concern for the impact the coronavirus has had on the ability of community and public interest groups to respond to various proposals to weaken environmental standards,” Schaeffer wrote in the letter.

But the EPA has argued exceptions were not needed.

“We’re open and continuing our regulatory work business as usual,” an EPA spokesperson told The Hill in a statement. “As regulations.gov is fully functioning, there is no barrier to the public providing comment during the established periods.”

I mean really, fuck these people straight to Hell. 

[A-Tex Devil 2495]

4 minutes ago, TornACL said:

Why doesn't EMAW use that much time scrutinizing the articles from his favorite websites like Daily Caller. 

I can tell you.....

[tantric superman 4668]

Those tweets of him ragging on General Motors.  Just about the most disgusting things I've read over the last few weeks.

What a grotesque waste of organic matter.

That none of these assholes, or people they love, will die for lack of a ventilator is a wonderful example of the the cosmic veracity that life is unjust.

[A-Tex Devil 2495]

This Massie stuff is fascinating.  You have Chip Roy, and others, telling Trump to back off, and John Kerry aligning with Trump.  

[Jive Turkey 12931]

23 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

TAKE THE FUCKING KEYS AWAY FROM GRANDPA!!!!

 

 

 

[WhatTheBuck 28904]

7 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

SIAP

EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws amid coronavirus

  Reveal hidden contents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a sweeping suspension of its enforcement of environmental laws Thursday, telling companies they would not need to meet environmental standards during the coronavirus outbreak.  

The temporary policy, for which the EPA has set no end date, would allow any number of industries to skirt environmental laws, with the agency saying it will not “seek penalties for noncompliance with routine monitoring and reporting obligations.”

Cynthia Giles, who headed the EPA’s Office of Enforcement during the Obama administration, called it a moratorium on enforcing the nation's environmental laws and an abdication of the agency's duty. 

“This EPA statement is essentially a nationwide waiver of environmental rules for the indefinite future. It tells companies across the country that they will not face enforcement even if they emit unlawful air and water pollution in violation of environmental laws, so long as they claim that those failures are in some way 'caused' by the virus pandemic. And it allows them an out on monitoring too, so we may never know how bad the violating pollution was,” she wrote in a statement to The Hill.

The EPA has been under pressure from a number of industries, including the oil industry, to suspend enforcement of a number of environmental regulations due to the pandemic.

“EPA is committed to protecting human health and the environment, but recognizes challenges resulting from efforts to protect workers and the public from COVID-19 may directly impact the ability of regulated facilities to meet all federal regulatory requirements,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement. 

In a 10-page letter to the EPA earlier this week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) asked for a suspension of rules that require repairing leaky equipment as well as monitoring to make sure pollution doesn’t seep into nearby water.

Other industries had also asked to ignite the “force majeure” clauses of any legal settlements they had signed with the EPA, allowing for an extension on deadlines to meet various environmental goals in the face of unforeseen circumstances.

But Giles and others say the memo signed Thursday goes beyond that request, giving industries board authority to pollute with little oversight from the agency. 

“Incredibly, the EPA statement does not even reserve EPA's right to act in the event of an imminent threat to public health,” Giles said. 

“Instead, EPA says it will defer to states, and ‘work with the facility’ to minimize or prevent the threat. EPA should never relinquish its right and its obligation to act immediately and decisively when there is threat to public health, no matter what the reason is. I am not aware of any instance when EPA ever relinquished this fundamental authority as it does in this memo.”

The memo says companies should try to minimize “the effects and duration of any noncompliance” with environmental laws and should also keep records of their own noncompliance, along with identifying how the coronavirus was a factor.

The EPA on Friday pushed back against characterization of the memo as a waiver of environmental rules.

"During this extraordinary time, EPA believes that it is more important for facilities to ensure that their pollution control equipment remains up and running and the facilities are operating safely, than to carry out routine sampling and reporting," agency spokeswoman Andrea Woods told The Hill by email.

"If a facility has exceedances of limits on pollution the policy does not offer any no action assurance. We retain all our authorities and will exercise them appropriately. It is a temporary policy and will be terminated when this crisis is past.”

Critics say it's not unreasonable to refrain from environmental enforcement on a case-by-case basis when companies are unable to comply with the letter of the law, but many were alarmed by the breadth of Thursdays memo.

“It is not clear why refineries, chemical plants, and other facilities that continue to operate and keep their employees on the production line will no longer have the staff or time they need to comply with environmental laws,” Eric Schaeffer, a former director of civil enforcement at the EPA who is now with the Environmental Integrity Project, wrote in a letter signed by a number of environmental groups in anticipation of the memo.

The letter writers also criticized the requests from the API, arguing nearby communities would face prolonged exposure to a number of air and water pollutants that might be expelled through oil production — something they say would have “a very specific impact on public health and safety.”

The diminished compliance requirements for industry comes at a time when the EPA has refused to budge on deadlines for comments as they proceed with a number of deregulatory actions.

Environmental and public health groups had argued that those with science and health backgrounds who would normally weigh in on such regulations have been pulled into the coronavirus fight, leaving them unable to divert their attention.

“The Environmental Protection Agency has not shown the same concern for the impact the coronavirus has had on the ability of community and public interest groups to respond to various proposals to weaken environmental standards,” Schaeffer wrote in the letter.

But the EPA has argued exceptions were not needed.

“We’re open and continuing our regulatory work business as usual,” an EPA spokesperson told The Hill in a statement. “As regulations.gov is fully functioning, there is no barrier to the public providing comment during the established periods.”

I mean really, fuck these people straight to Hell. 

We're too busy fighting a national health crisis to care if you pollute our air and poison our water. 

This isn't a surprise at all. We knew they'd take advantage of the National Emergency to commit all sorts of skullduggery. 

[A-Tex Devil 2495]

Just now, WhatTheBuck said:

We're too busy fighting a national health crisis to care if you pollute our air and poison our water. 

This isn't a surprise at all. We knew they'd take advantage of the National Emergency to commit all sorts of skullduggery. 

There were arguments that the environment was benefiting form the social distancing.  Can't let the environment have a good time while we all have to suffer stuck in our houses with our families.  

[4th&Five 41909]

The motherfucker lived there for 70 fucking years! He truly is a sociopath. 

[WhatTheBuck 28904]

5 minutes ago, A-Tex Devil said:

There were arguments that the environment was benefiting form the social distancing.  Can't let the environment have a good time while we all have to suffer stuck in our houses with our families.  

Pollution = Prosperity

[Longhorn_Fan68 34085]

 

[tx 3 putt 78487]

3 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

The motherfucker lived there for 70 fucking years! He truly is a sociopath. 

Bend the knee and kiss the ring !!!

 

[WhatTheBuck 28904]

2 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

The motherfucker lived there for 70 fucking years! 

That's why 90% of New Yorkers voted for Hillary. They know him. 

[conVINCEd 21477]

3 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

The motherfucker lived there for 70 fucking years! He truly is a sociopath. 

He’s probably asking for immunity from state charges for the whole family in exchange for aid.

[Brisketexan 106676]

15 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

SIAP

EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws amid coronavirus

  Hide contents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a sweeping suspension of its enforcement of environmental laws Thursday, telling companies they would not need to meet environmental standards during the coronavirus outbreak.  

The temporary policy, for which the EPA has set no end date, would allow any number of industries to skirt environmental laws, with the agency saying it will not “seek penalties for noncompliance with routine monitoring and reporting obligations.”

Cynthia Giles, who headed the EPA’s Office of Enforcement during the Obama administration, called it a moratorium on enforcing the nation's environmental laws and an abdication of the agency's duty. 

“This EPA statement is essentially a nationwide waiver of environmental rules for the indefinite future. It tells companies across the country that they will not face enforcement even if they emit unlawful air and water pollution in violation of environmental laws, so long as they claim that those failures are in some way 'caused' by the virus pandemic. And it allows them an out on monitoring too, so we may never know how bad the violating pollution was,” she wrote in a statement to The Hill.

The EPA has been under pressure from a number of industries, including the oil industry, to suspend enforcement of a number of environmental regulations due to the pandemic.

“EPA is committed to protecting human health and the environment, but recognizes challenges resulting from efforts to protect workers and the public from COVID-19 may directly impact the ability of regulated facilities to meet all federal regulatory requirements,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement. 

In a 10-page letter to the EPA earlier this week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) asked for a suspension of rules that require repairing leaky equipment as well as monitoring to make sure pollution doesn’t seep into nearby water.

Other industries had also asked to ignite the “force majeure” clauses of any legal settlements they had signed with the EPA, allowing for an extension on deadlines to meet various environmental goals in the face of unforeseen circumstances.

But Giles and others say the memo signed Thursday goes beyond that request, giving industries board authority to pollute with little oversight from the agency. 

“Incredibly, the EPA statement does not even reserve EPA's right to act in the event of an imminent threat to public health,” Giles said. 

“Instead, EPA says it will defer to states, and ‘work with the facility’ to minimize or prevent the threat. EPA should never relinquish its right and its obligation to act immediately and decisively when there is threat to public health, no matter what the reason is. I am not aware of any instance when EPA ever relinquished this fundamental authority as it does in this memo.”

The memo says companies should try to minimize “the effects and duration of any noncompliance” with environmental laws and should also keep records of their own noncompliance, along with identifying how the coronavirus was a factor.

The EPA on Friday pushed back against characterization of the memo as a waiver of environmental rules.

"During this extraordinary time, EPA believes that it is more important for facilities to ensure that their pollution control equipment remains up and running and the facilities are operating safely, than to carry out routine sampling and reporting," agency spokeswoman Andrea Woods told The Hill by email.

"If a facility has exceedances of limits on pollution the policy does not offer any no action assurance. We retain all our authorities and will exercise them appropriately. It is a temporary policy and will be terminated when this crisis is past.”

Critics say it's not unreasonable to refrain from environmental enforcement on a case-by-case basis when companies are unable to comply with the letter of the law, but many were alarmed by the breadth of Thursdays memo.

“It is not clear why refineries, chemical plants, and other facilities that continue to operate and keep their employees on the production line will no longer have the staff or time they need to comply with environmental laws,” Eric Schaeffer, a former director of civil enforcement at the EPA who is now with the Environmental Integrity Project, wrote in a letter signed by a number of environmental groups in anticipation of the memo.

The letter writers also criticized the requests from the API, arguing nearby communities would face prolonged exposure to a number of air and water pollutants that might be expelled through oil production — something they say would have “a very specific impact on public health and safety.”

The diminished compliance requirements for industry comes at a time when the EPA has refused to budge on deadlines for comments as they proceed with a number of deregulatory actions.

Environmental and public health groups had argued that those with science and health backgrounds who would normally weigh in on such regulations have been pulled into the coronavirus fight, leaving them unable to divert their attention.

“The Environmental Protection Agency has not shown the same concern for the impact the coronavirus has had on the ability of community and public interest groups to respond to various proposals to weaken environmental standards,” Schaeffer wrote in the letter.

But the EPA has argued exceptions were not needed.

“We’re open and continuing our regulatory work business as usual,” an EPA spokesperson told The Hill in a statement. “As regulations.gov is fully functioning, there is no barrier to the public providing comment during the established periods.”

I mean really, fuck these people straight to Hell. 

Actually.....as someone connected to this  field, that's really not what's happening -- there is no "pollute away, we don't care!" order.  Rather, it is a limited relaxation of ongoing reporting and sampling obligations, and even then, it has to be for a documented COVID-19-related reason.  What this means is that the folks working at your local water and sewer plants can and should focus on keeping the infrastructure running instead of filling out lengthy reports to the EPA.  Priority is functionality, not reporting.  And again, if your plant has all the personnel in place and isn't impacted by COVID-19, then the obligaion remains.  It all depends on whether or not you are impacted by reduced staffing.

And FYI, in places where distancing etc. orders are in place, plants ARE experiencing reduced staffing.  The EPA is far from perfect, but this is something that's being done uniformly, nationwide now (many states have their own regulatory authorities, and the ones I know of are doing the same).

If you decide to use this opportunity to dump barrels of toxic waste into the river, you're still gonna get popped.

[Native Horn 3571]

Invoke P!  whattheactualfuck

[DixonHur 11943]

4 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

 

Du hast mich

[Continental Op 3934]

1 minute ago, Native Horn said:

Invoke P!  whattheactualfuck

I wonder if he yelled that at Stormy Daniels.

[A-Tex Devil 2495]

5 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

 

Du hast COVID-19

[BrickHorn 18426]

7 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

 

Du.

Du hast.

Du hast COVID-19.

[CooterBrown 18273]

Once we have a vaccination, is this what forces the government to require vaccinations for 100% of the population or does the GOP continue to allow anti-vaxxer idiots to influence their votes?

 

[InkaUtexas 26813]

3 minutes ago, CooterBrown said:

Once we have a vaccination, is this what forces the government to require vaccinations for 100% of the population or does the GOP continue to allow anti-vaxxer idiots to influence their votes?

 

For every Anti-vaxxer on the right there is a crystal hoarder on the left who believes the same. My ex, who is about to become and Austin Nurse, still thinks her crystals are stronger than isolation or modern medicine. She lectures the kids about how this is overblown and if we manifest together mentally we can beat it. Crazy times indeed. 

[Brisketexan 106676]

3 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

For every Anti-vaxxer on the right there is a crystal hoarder on the left who believes the same. My ex, who is about to become and Austin Nurse, still thinks her crystals are stronger than isolation or modern medicine. She lectures the kids about how this is overblown and if we manifest together mentally we can beat it. Crazy times indeed. 

She must have HUGE tracts of land.

[WhatTheBuck 28904]

7 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Actually.....as someone connected to this  field, that's really not what's happening -- there is no "pollute away, we don't care!" order.  Rather, it is a limited relaxation of ongoing reporting and sampling obligations, and even then, it has to be for a documented COVID-19-related reason.  What this means is that the folks working at your local water and sewer plants can and should focus on keeping the infrastructure running instead of filling out lengthy reports to the EPA.  Priority is functionality, not reporting.  And again, if your plant has all the personnel in place and isn't impacted by COVID-19, then the obligaion remains.  It all depends on whether or not you are impacted by reduced staffing.

And FYI, in places where distancing etc. orders are in place, plants ARE experiencing reduced staffing.  The EPA is far from perfect, but this is something that's being done uniformly, nationwide now (many states have their own regulatory authorities, and the ones I know of are doing the same).

If you decide to use this opportunity to dump barrels of toxic waste into the river, you're still gonna get popped.

Yeah, I'm sure no company will try to break the rules and, if they do, Andrew Wheeler's EPA will hold them to account. 

[WhatTheBuck 28904]

13 minutes ago, Continental Op said:

I wonder if he yelled that at Stormy Daniels.

He once yelled it in Moscow. 

[Longhorn_Fan68 34085]

3 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

For every Anti-vaxxer on the right there is a crystal hoarder on the left who believes the same. My ex, who is about to become and Austin Nurse, still thinks her crystals are stronger than isolation or modern medicine. She lectures the kids about how this is overblown and if we manifest together mentally we can beat it. Crazy times indeed. 

i love random both-sideism, especially when it isn't warranted

anywho, those people have existed for a long time. they're not new. 

[RomaVicta 30512]

37 minutes ago, DixonHur said:

SIAP

EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws amid coronavirus

  Reveal hidden contents

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a sweeping suspension of its enforcement of environmental laws Thursday, telling companies they would not need to meet environmental standards during the coronavirus outbreak.  

The temporary policy, for which the EPA has set no end date, would allow any number of industries to skirt environmental laws, with the agency saying it will not “seek penalties for noncompliance with routine monitoring and reporting obligations.”

Cynthia Giles, who headed the EPA’s Office of Enforcement during the Obama administration, called it a moratorium on enforcing the nation's environmental laws and an abdication of the agency's duty. 

“This EPA statement is essentially a nationwide waiver of environmental rules for the indefinite future. It tells companies across the country that they will not face enforcement even if they emit unlawful air and water pollution in violation of environmental laws, so long as they claim that those failures are in some way 'caused' by the virus pandemic. And it allows them an out on monitoring too, so we may never know how bad the violating pollution was,” she wrote in a statement to The Hill.

The EPA has been under pressure from a number of industries, including the oil industry, to suspend enforcement of a number of environmental regulations due to the pandemic.

“EPA is committed to protecting human health and the environment, but recognizes challenges resulting from efforts to protect workers and the public from COVID-19 may directly impact the ability of regulated facilities to meet all federal regulatory requirements,” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement. 

In a 10-page letter to the EPA earlier this week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) asked for a suspension of rules that require repairing leaky equipment as well as monitoring to make sure pollution doesn’t seep into nearby water.

Other industries had also asked to ignite the “force majeure” clauses of any legal settlements they had signed with the EPA, allowing for an extension on deadlines to meet various environmental goals in the face of unforeseen circumstances.

But Giles and others say the memo signed Thursday goes beyond that request, giving industries board authority to pollute with little oversight from the agency. 

“Incredibly, the EPA statement does not even reserve EPA's right to act in the event of an imminent threat to public health,” Giles said. 

“Instead, EPA says it will defer to states, and ‘work with the facility’ to minimize or prevent the threat. EPA should never relinquish its right and its obligation to act immediately and decisively when there is threat to public health, no matter what the reason is. I am not aware of any instance when EPA ever relinquished this fundamental authority as it does in this memo.”

The memo says companies should try to minimize “the effects and duration of any noncompliance” with environmental laws and should also keep records of their own noncompliance, along with identifying how the coronavirus was a factor.

The EPA on Friday pushed back against characterization of the memo as a waiver of environmental rules.

"During this extraordinary time, EPA believes that it is more important for facilities to ensure that their pollution control equipment remains up and running and the facilities are operating safely, than to carry out routine sampling and reporting," agency spokeswoman Andrea Woods told The Hill by email.

"If a facility has exceedances of limits on pollution the policy does not offer any no action assurance. We retain all our authorities and will exercise them appropriately. It is a temporary policy and will be terminated when this crisis is past.”

Critics say it's not unreasonable to refrain from environmental enforcement on a case-by-case basis when companies are unable to comply with the letter of the law, but many were alarmed by the breadth of Thursdays memo.

“It is not clear why refineries, chemical plants, and other facilities that continue to operate and keep their employees on the production line will no longer have the staff or time they need to comply with environmental laws,” Eric Schaeffer, a former director of civil enforcement at the EPA who is now with the Environmental Integrity Project, wrote in a letter signed by a number of environmental groups in anticipation of the memo.

The letter writers also criticized the requests from the API, arguing nearby communities would face prolonged exposure to a number of air and water pollutants that might be expelled through oil production — something they say would have “a very specific impact on public health and safety.”

The diminished compliance requirements for industry comes at a time when the EPA has refused to budge on deadlines for comments as they proceed with a number of deregulatory actions.

Environmental and public health groups had argued that those with science and health backgrounds who would normally weigh in on such regulations have been pulled into the coronavirus fight, leaving them unable to divert their attention.

“The Environmental Protection Agency has not shown the same concern for the impact the coronavirus has had on the ability of community and public interest groups to respond to various proposals to weaken environmental standards,” Schaeffer wrote in the letter.

But the EPA has argued exceptions were not needed.

“We’re open and continuing our regulatory work business as usual,” an EPA spokesperson told The Hill in a statement. “As regulations.gov is fully functioning, there is no barrier to the public providing comment during the established periods.”

I mean really, fuck these people straight to Hell. 

 

27 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

We're too busy fighting a national health crisis to care if you pollute our air and poison our water. 

This isn't a surprise at all. We knew they'd take advantage of the National Emergency to commit all sorts of skullduggery. 

 

25 minutes ago, A-Tex Devil said:

There were arguments that the environment was benefiting form the social distancing.  Can't let the environment have a good time while we all have to suffer stuck in our houses with our families.  

 

19 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Pollution = Prosperity

I hope Brisket is right in his post above because this really sounds like a typical ratfuck move by this wicked administration and their fuck-average-Americans agenda.

[Jive Turkey 12931]

Republican congressman Thomas Massie from Kentucky is gonna hold up the stimulus bill.

 

Edited March 27, 2020 by Jive Turkey

[A-Tex Devil 2495]

1 minute ago, CooterBrown said:

Once we have a vaccination, is this what forces the government to require vaccinations for 100% of the population or does the GOP continue to allow anti-vaxxer idiots to influence their votes?

 

In fairness, RFK Jr. out front would tell you this is bipartisan stupidity, but also another thread....

[InkaUtexas 26813]

2 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

i love random both-sideism, especially when it isn't warranted

anywho, those people have existed for a long time. they're not new. 

Just saying, we are surrounded by idiots.