Now, here is a thought: the Federal Government can allow all those polluting diesel stinkers ("gliders) they want, but does New York City has to allow them to be driven here? And, especially on air quality alert days, of which we have many over the year. Even if the legal situation is subject to debate, I believe this would be worth the court fight, if it comes to that. The mere fact that one "glider" truck pollutes the air as much as 50 clean, current-standard diesel trucks should be enough reason for the city to take a stand on behalf of it's citizens, especially those with respiratory and cardiovascular illness whose health and even life is put at unnecessary risk by those "gliders". The message I would like to see the city council and the mayor send to to all those who buy and operate these pollution control cheaters: you may be able to legally buy and operate your abominations in your place, wherever you are based, but you may not drive them into our city spewing pollutants into our air that we have to breathe. You want to drive your truck into the City of New York, use vehicles that employ state-of-the-art emission control technologies, or find yourself stranded at the city limits. We welcome clean cars and clean trucks, the rest stay out.
11
Thank goodness Mr Pruitt is gone from the EPA. Hopefully Mr Wheeler will have better judgement than his predecessor. This reversal is a good sign of that. The EPA should make sure that the environment is safe while at the same time considering the effects of environmental rules vs economic needs to arrive at a reasonable balance for both. That is their mission.
4
"Mr. Pruitt resigned July 5, but before he left office he notified manufacturers that the agency would not enforce the caps."
Hey. What's wrong with that? He was just investing in his retirement plan.
7
The problem puzzles me. Older engines? Surely there must be a very limited supply of older engines. Don't they wear out? Might not a glider truck be a likely candidate for an electric motor/battery install?
Or, to put it another way. Consider motors in existing trucks "grandfathered" under existing law from new standards applicable to new construction. This so called "loophole" merely permits the grandfather motor to be transferred to a new shell. The old shell is removed from service, no? So there is no net change in pollution.
So, what's the big problem?
Perhaps, there real problem is that there should not be such a big difference in standards between those that apply to existing and those that apply to new. It seems to have the effect of inducing truckers to use old engines when the environment might be better serves by new engines even if they aren't as clean (i.e. inefficient) as the new standards now require.
The article is big of re-enforcing the concept "Pruitt" equal "bad"; reverse Pruitt is good.
How about some real details about the actual consequences of these decisions.
1
@Mac... I know it sounds strange, but usable powertrains salvaged from wrecked trucks will make glider vehicles that cost about 25 percent less than new trucks. With the average cost of a new semi-truck well over $120,000, you can see why they are viable.
5
@Mac engines can easily be rebuilt, diesels are designed to be rebuildable. The balance is simply labor costs vs cost of a new engine. If emissions are ignored.
In California the state had a program to, using subsidies, replace boat engines in commercial boats, the old engines had to be destroyed, just for that reason.
Now an old leaf blower can put out more pollution than fifty new cars. We are past the low hanging fruit, it’s work to get the dirty vehicles off the road. We also have a program that buys old cars at over market value.
7
Yes, so why do we permit the older engines in existing trucks? If the labor cost of swapping out engines is so low, why not require the new engines in all trucks (or at least to replace those engines that are the worst polluters.
There still is something odd about this. While it may be possible to rebuild engines, the labor costs must be far higher than to assemble a new engine on an assembly line.
Let's go after all polluting trucks and all those nasty leaf blowers. Actually, did you know that it is the dirt (small particulate matter) blow into the air which makes all gas powered leaf blowers very bad polluters? The pollution from then gasoline engine itself is just a small part of the problem.
1
Please reverse everything else he did. Also, please remove the "cone of silence" and keep an honest calendar.
3
Wheeler better be careful. In this administration, doing the right thing for the people and the environment does not seem to lead to job security.
9
This is awesome. People need to do everything they can to slow down climate change.
7
"Older engines are then installed, and the resulting vehicles produce as much as 55 times the amount of air pollution as trucks with modern emissions controls." How is this action aligned with the objectives of the EPA to protect the health and safety of the people? People are not blind. Look at what is happening across the US and the whole planet. Extreme temperatures, unlivable conditions, fires burning, destruction of plant and animal habitats, drought, unsafe environments, polluted air and water, floods, mudslides. And what will this new EPA chief do about these major effects of climate change?
3
Mr. Wheeler still has a very long way to go in order to undo the damage caused by his predecessor.
But, at least, it seems he is trying.
6
Thank goodness.
6
Climate change is unavoidable and irreversible because corporations will worship profits over science. Of course the earth will survive, at least for another 5 billion years before the sun turns into a red giant. That will not affect the next quarter profits of corporations. It would be nice if we could let the conservatives stay on planet Earth and boil in their own juices as the environment heats up while the rest of us climate change disciples move to a better location. Ain't gonna happen. Denial of reality doesn't change the final outcome as much as conservatives think they can politically will the forces of nature to bend to conservative ideology. It is a question of thermodynamic principles but conservatives and people like Pruitt and Wheeler believe the earth is only 8,000 years old. Have you ever tried to engage in a conversation with a full blown schizophrenic? If not talk to a climate denying conservative, and have a good laugh.HaHa
9
This doesn't sound as much like good news, as it does a temporary stay on bad news.
8
Uggh. Somehow it feels worse to get a little too excited about a decent-seeming act of the Trump administration and then get a rude slap - Wheeler is just making sure that the pollution he's unleashing won't get overturned by the courts.
VOTE.
8
Please continue reporting on what EPA does now that Wheeler's in. He's less reckless then Pruitt, but we also need to remember that he's one of the swamp types Trump swore wouldn't be in Trump's Washington. Ha ha.
"Despite his assurances, Wheeler met with former clients"
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060091287
"Since Andrew Wheeler was sworn as EPA's second in command on April 20, the lobbying veteran has had at least three meetings with former clients that may have violated the Trump administration's ethics pledge and other promises he made to steer clear of potential conflicts of interest.
Wheeler — who became acting administrator after Scott Pruitt's July 6 resignation — has also attended other events that prominently included the head of a company he is currently prohibited from getting involved with, according to an E&E News review of public documents.
The string of ethically questionable encounters stand in stark contrast to the acting EPA chief's claims that he is taking pains to avoid helping his former clients advance their interests."
4
God Bless the man who cares for the health of the world and all living creatures there upon.
Our children's children will now your name, Mr. Wheeler, and thank you for your care for our planet.
1
He was a lobbyist, not a thieving politician. He knows the table could turn and his backside could be expose. This doesn't cost him anything. If he becomes the real EPA director after midterm, then it might be a different story
2
I do not believe it. Wheeler knows it will get tossed in a law suit. They need to protect the science. If it pollutes, prohibit it or It into extincti It is high time the public recognized that the social cost of carbon fuels is not reflected in the price or the profit of the short term thinking corporations
4
Where is President Teddy Roosevelt types when you need them?!! Blatant environmental crimes. Why are they in jail where they belong?! Who has got the guts to stop them?!
7
One small step for mankind
11
Thank you for correcting Pruitt's idiocy and hopefully, he'll consider the gamut ill-enacted policy. The EPA needs leadership not politically motivated lunacy.
9
Wheeler reversing Pruitt's disgraceful policy on dirty trucks? Wow, I expect Wheeler to be given his pink slip ASAP.
4
In a race to the bottom, especially an environmental race to the bottom, Ive no interest in being in first place.
In other news, Melania Trump announce today that every child who comes to the White House this Christmas will receive a lump of coal in their stocking.
5
Who manufactures these lemons? Can't we boycott the company?
2
Jill Stein voters, rejoice!
7
@A. Ayres
Seriously?
@A. Ayres Jill Stein voters and abstainers are every bit as responsible for Trump as his base.
5
Fighting my urge for snarkiness, I will simply say "Thank you". Whew, that was hard.
11
Will the 1% who don’t want to have to walk around in a scuba suit with their own oxygen supply please make some donations to these grifters already? Do they want to raise their kids in an oxygen tent to shield them from the pollution? I hate that’s there’s money in politics at all, but since that’s how our system works, will some rich people please pay them off and try to save the planet? You can’t take it with you.
5
Thats great. Eliminate pollution from vehicles and industries that pollute our air and humanity will see health benefits. I would also like to see our microenvironment improved with designated ventilated smoking areas.
2
@Girish Kotwal
We have well ventilated areas in NY state, no smoking in buildings, only private homes. Outside is very well ventilated.
No one should have the right to pollute other people's air. 50K americans die from air pollution every year.
The city I live near has the highest pollution hot spot in the country from traffic. And it is in one of the poorest area of the city.
Most of the pollution, no matter what kind it is, is in the poorest areas, rural and urban.
2
It's bad enough that the Trump administration puts industry and profits before our health, but to think that corporate America doesn't even need the help in the first place - profits are at all-time highs and at the end of last year corporate America had over $2 trillion stashed in offshore tax havens - makes Trump's justifications all the more anti-American and immoral.
15
Glider Trucks are the equivalent of putting a 1969 model 424 Super Cobra Jet that runs on leaded gasoline into a Tesla. Stable Genius.
9
Thanks Mr. Wheeler.
It’s a step in the right direction
A sliver of good environmental news
A breath of frash air
4
Thank you Mr. Wheeler. Now please undo the rest.
12
Huh? If the EPA allows this as an exception why can't I put a 60's 8 liter V8 engine in my Toyota? Why an exception for these specific vehicles? I think that the IG should be looking into payments. Either it's OK to put an old engine in a new body regardless of how much pollution is spews or it isn't. There is just no justification for such a limited exemption unless money changed hands.
Rgrds-Ross
22
Good for Mr. Wheeler. I suspect this will be the only good news to come from Wheeler's office in quite some time - maybe ever - but it's still nonetheless very good news. Congrats to Mr. Wheeler for making the right choice.
12
I hope Mr. Wheeler is being truthful because I don’t want our future generation to have to wear masks because of what this administration and Pruitt has done to our environment in favor of companies’ profits over peoples’ health. Beijing, anyone?
9
Pardon the pun, Karen, but don't hold your breath. After the endless lies and sabotaging on Pruitt's behalf, it's anyone's guess whether there's a shred of truth in this wretched Administration.
4
A rare piece of good environmental news
16
How many other acts did Scott Pruitt implement which harm the environment? Will Andrew Wheeler review those as well or does he think that this particular reversal was enough?
7
Pruitt is an easy act to follow. Anything short of wanton environmental mayhem will look good. This was a low-hanging fruit, perhaps even one that was a deliberate gift from Pruitt to his successor to grease the transition. Let's see what lies further down the road with Wheeler at the wheel before emitting loud sighs of relief.
13
Consulting with the staff..... that's a good sign.
7
@Bobb until someone decides he must be stopped, alas.
2
wow. When a former coal industry lobby member seems saner than Pruitt, it puts things in perspective
20
You can also make a glider truck from your truck when the engine goes.Its less than half of a new truck and some owner ops can't afford new.The freight business is also cut throat.There are also owners who simply have all the computerized pollution devices removed at aprox. Twelve thousand dollars.that may keep you out of running California but they even have never enforced the truck laws . There are more old trucks running daily in California than I've seen in any state,and there's a lot of older trucks running.A new glider engine is far less polluting than an older truck engine.
2
What a setback for the planet-destroyers! But cheer up, I'm sure the EDA, sorry, I mean the EPA, will get back to its job of despoiling the Earth asap.
[That's Environmental Destruction Agency]
6
@David LETS HOPE NOT. I do not want to breathe dirty air, NOR drink Polluted water, nor swim in dirty oceans\pools that he contaminated about with his former boss [tRumptser]. Too many cities\States\ had decided to relax conditions on Pruitt-wrong-rules. He can go back to OK and dirty the air\water\acquaifiers-remaining in the State[I feel sorry for those citizens]. I can circumvent [drive around the State] or wear masks to limit my exposure. I hope Mr Wheeler can move forward rather than keep up the work as a former Nasty-Coal-Mine boss.
1
Some sanity in the Trump administration. Hallelujah!
4
@Counter Measures -- Don't be too quick to accuse this administration of "sanity!"
1
OK. Mr. Wheeler is in at least one case better than Mr. Pruitt.
Let's hope this continues. Some honesty in protecting the environment would be wonderful! I'm hopeful that this former coal lobbyist will be rational and face the overwhelming evidence all around us.
At least the more toxic forms of waste should no longer be first priority for approval.
5
Let's be careful not to call the reinstatement of a rule that was temporarily blocked by a corrupt official a "win". We can't let the frame of reference become so skewed that simply returning to the baseline is viewed as praiseworthy.
11
I don't understand why the EPA wants to do something (ultimately repeal the restrictions on glider kits) that benefits a small number of companies/jobs, is opposed by large companies and health organizations, and will increase pollution.
The only explanation is that it is about dismantling everything Obama did and not for any rational basis. To say that would be pathetic is understating it.
16
@Sandy Kay -- I'm sure it is about dismantling everything Obama did, but it's also about something bigger and much more noxious. It's also about trying to de-legitimize, categorically, the very notion of environmental regulation and the founding mission of the EPA.
1
"Sierra Club, said in a statement that Mr. Wheeler’s decision to officially reverse course on the decision amounted to having “conceded defeat.”
Gee, why not thank the man? Does everything have to be a team sport now?
1
Ok. How does "We thank this new corporate planet-roaster for making a temporary promise not to implement one hideous rule that the prior corporate planet-roaster put in place until the former makes it a permanent monument to crazy" sound?
We should be so grateful.
14
@Jim
The Sierra Club is critical because Mr. Wheeler is still working to repeal the rule and subject us all to hazardous air. From the article:
"Instead the agency 'shall continue to move as expeditiously as possible on a regulatory revision regarding the requirements that apply to the introduction of glider vehicles.'”
Mr. Wheeler's just no longer intends to flout the law, unlike his predecessor. Should we be praising our public officials for following the law? That is too low a bar.
Even this morning as I was looking up towards Manhattan, a smoggy haze hung over the city. The sooner it disappears forever, the better off we will all be.
13
@John
... and the sooner the Trump mafia disappears from the face of the Earth (hope is eternal), the better off everyone in the world will be!
"Even this morning as I was looking up towards Manhattan, a smoggy haze hung over the city. The sooner it disappears forever, the better off we will all be."
Stopping "polluting" trucks? What kind of American freedom is that? Regulations against pollution are just insults to the flag and the burning eternal memory of the greatest American social thinker (not just a mere novelist) Ayn Rand. Our national fabric is coming apart! The right to pollute needs to be restored so much much much more money and freedom can ring. This wouldn't have happened with a public guardian like Pruitt in there.
12
@max buda
I heard that Trump wants to rename the agency the Environmental Polluting Agency. At least that would be truth in advertising.
3
@max buda - I burn Ayn Rand books daily to do my job as an "Uber Mensch" adding to all that freedom billowing Pollution.
Andrew R Wheeler, the acting administrator of the EPA, appears not to have read the memo announcing that the P in his agency's acronym should be read as payoff, not protection. Or is Mr Wheeler smelling something other than noxious exhaust fumes in the wind? Something cool, refreshing and riding a blue wave.
11
I hope tomorrow the EPA doesn’t issue a press release: The acting administrator meant to say he “hasn’t” reversed Mr. Pruitt’s decision...It was a typo.
22
@Regards, LC
Perhaps he misspoke... there's a lot of taht these days.
Truck companies may wish the freedom to sell what they wish, but the rest of us should also have the right to keep them from poisoning us.
It seems obvious that it is culpable and offensive for a company to dump raw sewage or chemical poisons into a running stream that is used for recreation downstream. (Or maybe not obvious to Scott Pruitt.) But why don't similar rules apply to the air we breath? Someone else pollutes the air and the rest of us have to breathe it. Ignoring the pollution doesn't make it ok. Nor does the fact that a company wants to make bigger profits make it ok.
Run the exhaust into the cab of the truck or into the living room of the homes of the truck owners.
24
Send Wheeler packing, too.
9
There are silver linings everywhere. I bet not many people are aware that when you’re asthmatic, your waiting time in the emergency room is practically VIP status.
When your freedom is so unregulated that it leaves your mouth ashtray-fresh, it must mean the government has done something right.
11
For anyone here who sees this as a sign of progress at EPA I would remind you that despite Mr. Wheeler's moderate approach to his new & temporary position he is still at heart a coal guy. The problem with Pruitt for Republicans was his obvious corruption and tone deaf political skills. Wheeler isn't going to be better than Pruitt for EPA he's just going to be smarter while dismantling its environmental protection legacy. Pruitt's ambition overreached his talent, don't expect his successor to make that mistake.
19
No one should be thanking Andrew R. Wheeler. Wheeler is merely seeking to destroy environmental regulations in a way that will survive legal challenges. Wheeler is everything Pruitt was not; namely very smart and disciplined. (It also appears that his corruption is far more classical in the sense that he's beholden to big industrial polluters and has shown himself to be highly effective in destroying the planet on their behalf). Wheeler has a long history as lobbyist and as a legal counsel for big coal. He spearheaded major efforts to destroy environmental protections during the Obama administration. Typical are Wheeler's assertions disputing global warming. Wheeler at times appears to concede that people may have an impact on the environment, when this is only cynical positioning as he then asserts that no one can possibly know what that impact is. It's a ridiculous lie, but it's a lie which allows Wheeler to pretend that massive industrial pollutants are not the cause of global warming. It's very similar to Christian fundamentalists who instead of unequivocally denying all science like evolution, deny it by adopting their own preposterous pseudo-scientific theories, like "Intelligent Design." Pruitt was a buffoon, but Wheeler is far more dangerous. Wheeler manufactures "Alternative Scientific Facts" to destroy environmental protections. If Wheeler is not stopped he could easily bring about the contamination of everything, including our air and water.
34
When I read the original story some months ago that relaxed the rules on gliders by Grifting Scotty, the first thing in my mind he was pandering and prostituting the agency for a very small market, or, he had a firm belief that if you could wash coal to make it clean to burn, then gliders with their lack of pollution controls can be made clean, or not.
With the assault on regulation, particularly environmental, by the grifter from Queens, we need to be vigilant and hold our government accountable.
I drive a diesel powered pickup truck. It is new technology with all available pollution controls. I no longer leave a plume of smoke when I am pulling a trailer, or, just driving around. I would hope the assemblers of the gliders and those buying them would follow suit.
But, I suppose for every regulation, for every law there are those who will attempt to find any loophole regardless of the harm that action may cause.
Maybe Pruitt's replacement is wiser. We can only hope. But, if the grifter from Queens gets a call from the glider assemblers and owners, game over.
8
Looking forward to lead paint and asbestos being available to consumers across the land, especially now that the Trump administration has dismantled the ACA and is pushing for variety of known carcinogens to help Americans appreciate the value of lower gas prices and "freedom."
21
@Chris Davis - Yep. Instead of obsessing over things like same sex marriage right wingers will be able to spend their time trying to afford an inhaler for their kids asthma.
12
@DR
Or we can become like China's smoky cities where everyone wears a mask. They look really appealing !
2
It’s a small victory, but I will take it.
15
The 3 Stooges at their best:
Lying Larry Trump: What's going in?
Switch-a-roo Moe Pruitt: This is what we'll do to the E.P.A.-change everything Obama!
The Questioning Joe Wheeler: Oh no you won't!
2
I trust that the beneficiaries of these regulatory relaxations (such as those at the E.P.A.) under this administration recognize that those regulations could snap right back in the next administration and any modifications they make in their practices to take advantage of this new environment might not be grandfathered.
5
Here is hoping that Mr. Wheeler actually follows through with reversing this and all of the underhanded, wrong headed decisions by Scott Pruitt. And just maybe some of those employees who were forced to leave the EPA under Pruitt will return to help cancel other rules and regulations that Pruitt put in place behind closed doors.
I will hold of on my opinion of Wheeler. I am always suspect of Trump's appointments.
16
Wheeler & Pruitt - the old Abbott and Costello Routine:
Pruitt: Who's on first (I'm for pollution)
Wheeler: Who? (I'm against pollution)
Trump: (Curly Joe from the 3 stooges) What's going on ?
3
Allowing Gliders policy:
Profit is OK if you don't see citizens being harmed on the short term.
Now lets apply that policy thinking to Nuclear weapons.,
1
Thank you, Acting Director Wheeler. May you also prevail on fuel efficiency standards.
9
@Richard Schumacher hold your horses, wheeler is a nasty-coal-king
2
This sounds all well and good but then you get to the end of the article and you realize that this is more of the same "fox guarding the henhouse" routine. At the end of the article, the EPA says that they hope to have the caps permanently repealed by December 2019, so please don't be fooled by what seems like a move to help prevent pollution. I am disappointed that the NYT is portraying this via the headline and 3/4ths of the article as a win for public health and we can all let our guard down. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is just a strategic retreat for polluters.
"An agency spokeswoman also indicated the E.P.A. might formally delay the caps until December 2019, by which point it hoped to have them permanently repealed."
'Instead the agency “shall continue to move as expeditiously as possible on a regulatory revision regarding the requirements that apply to the introduction of glider vehicles.”'
43
He's savvy enough to know that to pick he battles, but knows he will win the war long term...every applauding this bogus play apparently did not read enough of the article..." a longer-term E.P.A. plan that aims to eventually exempt glider trucks from greenhouse gas regulations. So, by the end of this year this announcement will be meaningless P.R. fluff, suckers.
4
Spewing of poisons is not only coming from trucks - the worst poisons are coming from TRUMP - with his lies and deceitful words spread across the world.
15
It is a misleading headline. Clarity is the issue here, and the article lacks it. As stated towards the end of the article, the US Court of Appeals for the 4th circuit suspended Pruitt’s loophole for the glider kits on July 18, but it was only because the Environmental Defense Fund, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Sierra Club had filed a motion requesting that the court do so. Those organizations are the noble actors here, not Wheeler. His gobbledygook in his memo - “I have concluded that the application of current regulations to the glider industry does not represent the kind of extremely unusual circumstances that support the E.P.A.’s exercise of enforcement discretion,” - only obfuscates his real plan: that “regulatory process to repeal the Obama-era rule will still move forward.”
16
I fear he will not last long.
6
This is a positive move for the EPA, but the article states they are still trying to repeal the laws around Gliders all together. I strong show of concern would be to outlaw Gliders completely. Until then, this is just a process to avoid embarrassment in the courts.
7
Great! Someone in the EPA has grit! About time!
"...limit their annual production to 300 vehicles..."
How about zero? Why would we allow any of these?
13
@George A use case for a glider could be as a replacement for a truck that got severely damaged in a collision but has a serviceable engine. Pull the engine and install it in a glider to save a lot of money. 300 a year seems like a reasonable cap; much more than that, and it's clear that loophole exploitation is the goal.
On a lighter note, what does this mean?
“I have concluded that the application of current regulations to the glider industry does not represent the kind of extremely unusual circumstances that support the E.P.A.’s exercise of enforcement discretion,” Mr. Wheeler wrote.
2
Scott Pruitt will be recorded by historians as one of the most corrupt cabinet officials of any administration.
The concept of selling glider trucks without engines to avoid emission controls is disgusting.
Based on his history, it would be interesting to know whether Pruitt received anything from the trucking industry for his decision.
10
Want to understand why he did it? Follow the money trail!
3
Mr. Wheeler is the acting administrator of the EPA. The about-face on "gliders" could be short-lived.
1
Hmmm. Could Wheeler really be a closet environmentalist? Will Trump tolerate this form of misbehavior for anywhere near as long as he ignored Pruitt's petty (as compared to Trump's) trashing of his responsibilities.
2
MAGA; Make America Gasp Again
31
Cool! A tiny whiff of fresh air at the EPA. Hopefully it won't be just a mirage.
3
Anybody who has driven behind a smoking diesel will appreciate this.
9
Thank goodness!
Scott Pruitt was the epitome of the Trump administration - corrupt to the core.
He was more focused on spending taxpayer dollars on a lavish lifestyle than protecting than environment.
In fact, he set about destroying the EPA while taking bribes from the lobbyists with the same objectives - using America as a dumping ground for waste, burning fossil fuels, and dangerous chemical contaminants.
That is Trump in a nutshell - complain about any and all taxpayer dollars not being spent directly on his lavish lifestyle, like a king from the Middle Ages.
Climate change is causing natural disasters, droughts, fires, floods, famine and wars.
The EPA saves far more money in ecological damage than it causes companies to spend to take ownership of the externalities of their business production.
The Koch Brothers grew wealthy polluting America's water, soil and air.
Coasian economics (the basis for a carbon tax) would charge companies for the cost to society of their pollution.
Coasian economics, such as a carbon tax, fully captures pollutants in the cost structure of production, leading to optimal production and cost effective technology for limiting pollution.
Now that corporations have had their corporate rates slashed, to address critical issues like climate change, a carbon tax would raise about $450 billion a year.
That would cut the annual deficit in half and go a long way toward address carbon change - a win-win.
3
Pruitt saw a campaign contribution coming so decided the health and welfare of truck drivers and people breathing where there are a lot of trucks was less important. I'm glad Wheeler reversed the decision on ignoring the cap, and I wish him zero success in repealing the regulation.
The Republican Party has to stop pretending that prosperity has to include needless spewing of poisons. Getting the diesel fleet to emit less pollutants is a whin for everyone, and it's not like we don't still see trucks everywhere.
6
Fine, but Wheeler's reversal of Pruitt's order is not even a drop in the bucket, it's one or two molecules. However, it may reflect a slightly different attitude adjustment for the E.P.A. unless of course Trump intervenes.
6
While I applaud his move, and support him 100% in this, I can't help but foresee the result...buh-bye, Andy...
8
So this is just an announcement that EPA will still create a loophole for glider kits, but until the new rule is in place will enforce the existing one. Just delaying introduction of an outrageous rule.
In society, there are many situations where 95% of the problem is caused by 5% of the actors. Sensible policy tries to confront that 5% and leave the other 95% alone. Here they're actually bolstering that 5%. Crazy.
9
Nice to see the new EPA administrator wants to do at least something more than Pruitt to protect the environment.
3
Look forward to Pruitt removing cap on air pollution in whichever prison he eventually lands. Would it were so!
2
I have to hand it to their lawyers. Who would have thought you should regulate in terms of age of the engine technology? Well, I thought we would have had people than me working for the EPA who were cleverer than I am when it comes to writing environmental regulations.
2
Who is paying off these guys? How is it that these regulations are so cavalierly pushed to the side? What in the world is going on with our "regulatory" agencies? It seems to poor me that there is very little regulation going on and- Katie bar the door! - every regulation is being scrapped to benefit the rich at the expense of every single other person. Regan's meme is coming true - now the people in power think that government is the problem. What a mess we have made.
9
I am astounded to read this:
"Glider kits are new trucks that come without an engine or transmission — the name comes from the idea that they are engineless, like gliders. Older engines are then installed, and the resulting vehicles produce as much as 55 times the amount of air pollution as trucks with modern emissions controls."
And EPA wants to protect these polluters?
124
@Jean Yes. Because...money.
2
@Jean
Very obviously, it does.
1
This is important. So why is the slapdash Trump Administration unable to state a policy and stick by it?
4
@Occupy Government
The only condition to Trumplandia sticking by a policy is that the policy be a really detrimental one for the majority.
1
Funny that even the United Parcel service and Volvo understand that we need to protect our environment. This economy is booming partly because they are getting rid of so many restrictions that are set up to keep our environment healthy so that Americans will also stay healthy. Americans are sure going to need all that extra money they are making to take care of their future medical bills! Isen't it true that the President's highest priority to to protect the American people? So tell me why does the government only think that means militarily?
33
@C. Bernard
"to protect the American people."
You really mean "to protect the American rich people."
3
@C. Bernard I suspect both Volvo and UPS made their decisions on business considerations ($$ profits), not environmental grounds. Neither one wanted to face the competition for their products and services. Cheap gliders available to the public probably would diminish the income and profits of those industry giants.
Congress needs to pass a veto-proof vote to protect Mueller and Wheeler.
9
@james haynes
Are you holding your breath?
“With Mr. Pruitt out, I’m glad to see EPA will reverse one of the most egregious — and likely illegal — environmental proposals of his tenure,” Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said in a statement.
Somebody needs to tell TN Rep Diane Black (R) that the gliders company she supports and funds in TN, through a bogus study she bought from TN Technological University, likely is the recipient of favors obtained illegally by Diane Black and Scott Pruitt. Just imagine, she’s running for TN governor now!
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@Dan Holton--Please repeat this post far and wide.
And yet another disgrace thrown on the people by the most "vicious, ignorant, corporate-indentured, militaristic, anti-union, anti-consumer, anti-environment, anti-Posterity (Republican Party) in history." Can't wait for this entire administration to be thrown to the detrious dust-bin history books .
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Why would someone put an old, dirty engine in a new truck? The article doesn't explain this.
Fitzgerald Glider Kits claims on their website that "this process (of installing an old engine in a glider truck kit) creates a reliable, more fuel efficient truck that requires less maintenance, yields less downtime and has the safety features and amenities owners have come to expect in trucks on the road today."
That is highly questionable for an old engine. What is the evidence behind this claim?
I can see though that for an owner of a single truck or a few trucks it can be cost prohibitive to buy a new truck when an old one is wrecked. With a less expensive glider kit, the old engine stays on the road in a new frame. The environmental impact is unclear because the number of engines on the road doesn't change and there is an environmental impact to constructing a new engine.
Perhaps rather than prohibiting glider kits, the US could offer a small business loan program that would support the purchase of new or newer trucks. In that case, old and dirty trucks would be taken off the road faster than they otherwise would.
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@Alec Older diesel engines are more desirable due to more limited emissions equipment. Newer engines that meet the most modern standards are more expensive to purchase, more expensive to maintain, less fuel efficient, and less reliable. DEF, DPFs, and regen cycles all add to engine system complexity. When you're operating a business where profit is measured in pennies/mile, an older and more economical engine is often preferred.
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@Alec Part, if not all, of the evidence for the claim consists in a study produced by TN Technological University with the unflagging support of TN Rep Diane Black (R). I've not reviewed the study report, but reliable sources summarize that the conclusions are based on bogus evidence. The TN general public have yet to see the report in the light of day; a not unusual event in the life of a one-party state.
1
A much appreciated step in the proper direction, protecting our environment, by Mr Wheeler.
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@Jim Sorry, but if you read more closely you'll see that wheeler continues to pursue the glider exemption, albeit in a more politically savvy fashion. The headline is very misleading.
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@Kevin O'Donnell
Kevin, you are correct. One step forward, but then the march backward goes on.
@Kevin O'Donnell Your comment misleads; in this case "politically savvy" = legally more rigorous, which is probably advantageous to both the administration's politics and to the eventual survival of the rule, whether by court order or by electoral backlash. While the article also digs deeper into the background of the overall policy, the headline accurately describes the event which prompted the article, namely the undoing of Pruitt's exemption. I can only conceive of this as misleading for someone in the habit of not reading past the headline, which I'm guessing is not the typical Times reader.
Let none of us believe for a single solitary second that this move and other others that appear to do a similar action are the norm. This is an aberration by a group governed by a visceral hatred of the American people and in favour of business over people by a wide margin. They will do a few things right, some that will appear to be good for the American people;or at least do not go down the childish trump road of destruction.
Do not be fooled. A broken analogue clock is correct twice a day. That is double or more correct than the attitude these folks have towards children, families, our health, women, our voting rights, and honesty, to name but a few.
Do NOT normalize them because of this. Their avowed goal is to make sure we suffer and their 1% friends rake in the cash.
The 1% are in a for a rude awakening: as Bob Dylan said” you can’t spend it it the doom”,
See all you grifters in federal prison . Marion not club fed.
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"only the best polluters"
TRUMP-GOP 2018
Greed Over Planet: "Drop dead, America !"
November 6 2018
Register and Vote...in record numbers, America.
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In light of this paragraph:
Mr. Wheeler in the memo indicated that regulatory process to repeal the Obama-era rule will still move forward. But, he said, the E.P.A. will not offer any other “no action” assurance to companies. Instead the agency “shall continue to move as expeditiously as possible on a regulatory revision regarding the requirements that apply to the introduction of glider vehicles”
I am very puzzled why the tone of the article suggests
that this is anything more than a very brief victory for
the health of Americans' lungs. The expeditious move to
revise the regulations is going to end up with the same
result as pruitt's original revision. So what's the point
of the celebratory tone?
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@bl Yup. The key sentence in the article that a lot of people missed: "An agency spokeswoman also indicated the E.P.A. might formally delay the caps until December 2019, by which point it hoped to have them permanently repealed."
@bl-Good points. Because Mr. Wheeler has a bought-and-paid for coal industry ethos, a lobbyist background, and a better grasp of PR spin and regulation--his words and decisions need to be analyzed. His impact could be more far-reaching and devastating than that of Mr. Pruitt.
Bet he won't last long, unfortunately.
6
Misleading headline -- flat out false, in fact. An accurate headline would be something like this: "Wheeler pushes forth on plan to exempt mega-polluting trucks from regulation."
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@Kevin O'Donnell Not really; read the entire article. And repetition doesn't make an argument more convincing; that technique pertains more to propaganda than to logical argument.
This was simply another "poke-in-the-eye-with-a-sharp-stick from the GOP and their hateful backers.
You can be sure that money is already being collected to pay the bribes (via Giuliani now that Cohen is done?) and this sensible solution will be trashed (via Tweet?) and the despoilers will soon be "rolling coal" again.
Mammon never said a word about being a good steward, especially when there is profit to be made.
13
If this is all it takes to impress Democrats, God help the environment.
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@John Doe
I guess we're grateful with the smallest crumb we receive. Sounds like an abusive relationship, doesn't it? It's hard to maintain high standards.
@John Doe
With a republican party in complete control and willing to destroy the environment, anything is better than complete destruction.
We understand that too many americans don't give a hoot about whether they have clean air, water, or land and the destruction of the environment means little to them. You take what victories you can, because there is no way with money controlling politics that things that are seen as money makers (polluters) are going to be stopped.
Unfortunately the last laugh will be from nature as we have poisoned ourselves to death.
Considering that rats and cockroaches are two of the most adaptable species, life will continue after we have caused our own extinction.
1
ALL trucks which spew visible clouds of black smoke into the air should be regulated. Why does the EPA treat these polluters with kid gloves and allow them to exist under a double standard for enforcement? I know, 'follow the money', but this is a serious problem in most of the US.
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Under what rock does Trump find these people? When will they realize that when we can't breathe anymore, what good will deregulation do then? How will business function in a world of filthy air and water?
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@Michael Rosenthal
The very well-off like Trump and his cronies are hoping that the technocrats will soon invent devices for their cars and homes that will eliminate all pollution from inside where ever they sit, live and work.
Maybe even a light weight helmet and mask with hose attached to an air purifier that the rich can wear when they actually have to step outside.
2
"covfefe" doesn't look under rocks. He looks under manhole covers.
1
Yeah, who cares about clean air to breathe when there is profit to be made. Although the republicans should be careful beacuse if you pollute too much there won’t be any people alive to buy what you are selling.
25
Someone in the the current government finally has some common sense and cares about the climate??? please let it be so.
3
Sorry he’s saving money for a real battle
3
At first I thought, whoa, maybe this guy isn't so bad. But on closer reading, it's clear he's planning to go ahead with this exemption, he just realizes the legal issues that may stop the immediate rollback.
So it's just what environmentalists feared: he understands policy and regulations and will get things done properly — including helping industry to pollute our air and water.
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@Elizabeth A I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
@Elizabeth A
These people have decided that short term profits for a small few outweigh any other consideration, including public health and climate change. They are committing crimes against humanity.
11
I will never do that
This is the tip of the dirty iceberg of critical environmental regulations that Pruitt has reversed, weakened or suspended during his brief and corrupt head of EPA.
Next for Wheeler to drop is the fraudulent Transparency in Regulatory Decision making, which is a bogus move by the EPA to undermine the painstaking science developed by scientists to support climate and environmental regulations that protect the health of Americans.
75
Nice to see that even though Wheeler was a coal industry lobbyist, there are some things he can't stomach. Hopefully the greatest lunacies of the disgraced Scott Pruitt will slowly be walked back, viva the Deep State, committed to protecting the environment when the GOP leadership has been AWOL.
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@WP
There's nothing wrong with Wheeler's stomach, which could probably digest a brick if it were paid enough. He just prefers another route to the same destination.
3
@WP Perhaps you missed the sentence stating that the EPA hopes to permanently repeal the limits: "An agency spokeswoman also indicated the E.P.A. might formally delay the caps until December 2019, by which point it hoped to have them permanently repealed."
Mr. Wheeler's decision suggests a consideration of the likely harm that glider trucks would do to his progeny's health and to the quality of the earth that they will inherit from greedy Republicans who are intent on raping the earth for profit.
That further suggests there may be a few Republicans who are not entirely out to profit by intentionally harming people and our earth. We must watch Mr. Wheeler to see if he is a welcome change to Pruitt and Republican profiteering, or this is simply a one-off.
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@jabarry
Perhaps it is the expert execution of professional misdirection by Republican con men.
4