Jean Chemnick

One obstacle for Trump’s AI power pledge: The neighbors Getting data centers to generate their own electricity may ease one obstacle to public acceptance of data centers. But it creates new hurdles.

Trump wants more data centers to generate their own power.

But living next to tech industry gas turbines has made this VA neighborhood "unbearable" due to noise. One resident is taking sleeping pills, another can't walk his dog.

My latest for @eenews.bsky.social

www.eenews.net/articles/one...

Why the Clean Air Act was never a ‘good fit’ for climate The lawyers who successfully won the law’s climate authority once thought of it as a placeholder for stronger legislation.

The Clean Air Act is a somewhat clunky instrument for tackling climate change -- at least for some sectors.

So, if the Clean Air Act is going to be broadly unavailable for greenhouse gas regulation post-endangerment repeal, what comes after that?

www.eenews.net/articles/Why...

Trump cuts threaten US role in global climate modeling Agency cuts, layoffs and policy shifts are throwing America’s role into question.

Trump administration cuts, layoffs and restructurings have cast a shadow over U.S. participation in a major international climate modeling initiative -- a collaboration that federal scientists have been at the forefront of for decades. My story today: www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

Dispatch from my other life: Our upcoming concerts (Mar 13 & 14!) celebrate composer & long-time Cantori collaborator Adolphus Hailstork. I wrote a lil note on the program, which explores themes of freedom, resistance to tyranny & rebuilding after devastating conflict. 👇
www.van.org/articles/Can...

The awkward exception in EPA’s climate repeal: Methane The agency’s effort to maintain methane rules could create legal woes as it argues greenhouse gas curbs lack clear congressional backing.

The fact that Congress has signed off on Clean Air Act methane rules (three times, actually. CRA,IRA,OBBBA) could be a problem as EPA prepares to defend the endangerment repeal. www.eenews.net/articles/the...

4 takeaways from the DC Circuit’s big climate hearing Nonprofits appeared likely to prevail on their argument that the Trump administration wrongly terminated their Biden-era grants.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sounded highly skeptical of EPA's case for cancelling the "green bank" grants yesterday, though that probably doesn't mean the nonprofits will be able to access their award funds anytime soon. Takeaways with @lesleyclark.bsky.social: www.eenews.net/articles/4-t...

I went on C-Span's Washington Journal this morning to talk about EPA's endangerment finding rollback. People on the other site had a lot of opinions about that, let me tell you.

www.c-span.org/program/wash...

Well, I was up really, really early. I was on C-span. It was fun, but the callers asked questions about chem trails and salmon and the Hanford Nuclear site that I was hopelessly ill-equipped to answer.

EPA invites Supreme Court to upend major climate precedent With its repeal of a scientific finding that requires greenhouse gas regulation, the agency has reopened a long-settled legal question over its own

Instead, it's betting that recent Supreme Court decisions and a more conservative bench will allow it to walk away from regulating climate pollution (with Lesley Clark): www.eenews.net/articles/epa...

Trump sidelines climate contrarians in science rollback The president has mocked global warming as a “hoax,” but his administration avoided testing that claim in court as it targeted the endangerment finding.

And it sidelined the five contrarians DOE picked to write that "review" of science last summer, that has run into so many problems: (by @scottpwaldman.bsky.social) www.eenews.net/articles/tru...

EPA yanks attacks on climate science from endangerment repeal The agency relied on legal arguments to erase the basis for climate rules, ditching provisions that tried to poke holes in the scientific consensus on

EPA dropped its assault on climate science: www.eenews.net/articles/epa...

Thank you for that!

Final Rule: Rescission of the Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding and Motor Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards Under the Clean Air Act | US EPA The final rule on the reconsideration of the greenhouse gas endangerment finding and motor vehicle rule.

Here's the final rule on endangerment (finally): www.epa.gov/regulations-...

People briefed on the endangerment finding repeal tell me that it's based on legal arguments only. It doesn't take aim at the actual science of warming.

The repeal could decimate federal climate policy -- if it survives legal challenge.

So, has anyone out there actually seen the text of the endangerment finding rollback? Because they haven't put it out. And I'm told Zeldin might not even have signed it yet?

on Signal at jchemnick.01

President Trump and Administrator Zeldin Deliver Single Largest Deregulatory Action in U.S. History | US EPA Alongside the President, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the single largest deregulatory action in U.S. history.

Here's what EPA just put up on the endangerment finding repeal: www.epa.gov/newsreleases...

Here’s what could happen when the endangerment finding dies States, courts and Congress could be forced to fill the climate policy vacuum.

I'm told that the endangerment finding repeal package lands next week. I look at what that could mean for other climate rules, state action, and the future of U.S. climate policy.

And on Signal at jchemnick.01, for any tips on when, where, etc.!

www.eenews.net/articles/Her....

But public comments from major cities and organizations -- which would not be part of any form letter campaign -- aren't there. Where are they? Isn't EPA supposed to be making them available at this stage?

A tiny fraction of the 572k public comments EPA received on the endangerment draft have been posted. When I asked EPA about that recently, it said that was because only one sample comment for mass mailer campaigns was posted, “As any reporter familiar with EPA rulemakings would know."

JUST IN: In a new lawsuit, Minnesota officials say DHS mishandled evidence from today's crime scene and made "astonishing" law enforcement decisions. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

E&E News: 3 things to watch in EPA’s endangerment repeal The agency is close to finalizing its rollback of the endangerment finding. Legal experts say its success could hinge on these details.

EPA will soon release its final repeal of Obama's greenhouse gas endangerment finding and all climate regulations for cars and trucks. Then comes all the litigation. Here's my cheat sheet about what folks will be looking for in the final version: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

And thank you, @jamesgoodwin.bsky.social, for your help with the story.

White House wrote half of EPA’s cost-benefit analysis for climate rule rollback The move — revealed in emails and internal drafts — sidelined EPA's deep bench of career economists.

Anybody know if a University of Chicago economist who wasn't even in the government at the time wrote almost half of the regulatory impact analysis for EPA's endangerment/car rules draft repeal? Because it sure looks like he did. Signal jchemnick.01.

www.eenews.net/articles/whi...

Are you an OAR employee who worked on climate issues and has been reassigned somewhere else? I'd love to know where they're sending you. On Signal at jchemnick.01

EPA flush with cash for ‘priority’ staff The agency is taking an unprecedented approach to furloughs during this latest government shutdown.

EPA still has a "walking around money" left over in fy 2026. But it's choosing to furlough some people while others remain on the job and drawing a paycheck. It appears to be keeping those working on deregulation and other priorities. @ellieborst.bsky.social and I: www.eenews.net/articles/epa...

EPA flush with cash for ‘priority’ staff The agency is taking an unprecedented approach to furloughs during this latest government shutdown.

We break down EPA's $45 billion in carryover funds and why only a fraction of the agency's workforce has been furloughed so far.

My latest with @chemnick.bsky.social for @eenews.bsky.social

E&E News: How EPA could use AI in the endangerment repeal The agency indicated that it could use the technology to sort and summarize thousands of public comments.

I'm generally interested in how EPA is making progress on regs during the shutdown -- if it is. Always welcome thoughts (Signal jchemnick.01). AI could help speed up the process some: subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...

EPA’s climate rollback squeezes states States will have few options for fighting local air pollution if EPA repeals federal rules to limit vehicle emissions.

EPA's removal of the endangerment finding for greenhouse gas emissions (starting with vehicles) could increase state regulation of other sources. @adamaton.bsky.social and my piece : www.eenews.net/articles/epa...

Climate critics try to discredit IPCC author for linking disasters to global warming Roger Pielke Jr. and oil industry supporters are attacking climate scientist Friederike Otto, whose work has been used in lawsuits against polluters.

When a collaborator is targeted because her scientific findings that attribute extreme weather to human-caused climate change is being used (effectively) in climate lawsuits against oil companies, you know times are dark indeed.

ICYMI @davidho.bsky.social

www.eenews.net/articles/cli...

Have any EPA staff NOT been notified they're exempted or excluded from furlough? I'd love to hear from you! on Signal at jchemnick.01.