The EPA Is Bracing for Massive Staff Cuts

Current conditions: Firefighters contained a blaze in South Africa’s Table Mountain National Park that was creeping towards Cape Town • Moroccans are being asked not to slaughter sheep during Eid al-Adha this year because ongoing drought has caused a drop in herd numbers • Most of the U.S. will see “well above-average” temperatures through the end of this week.

THE TOP FIVE

1. House votes to repeal methane fee

The House voted yesterday to repeal a Biden-era fee on methane emissions generated by oil and gas operations. The Senate is likely to follow suit with a vote as soon as today. The rule, which was only finalized in November, charges producers per metric ton of excess methane released, and provides grants for infrastructure improvements to prevent leaks. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas responsible for roughly one third of the global temperature rise since the pre-industrial era. The EPA estimated the policy would prevent 1.2 million metric tons of methane from entering the atmosphere, which is roughly equivalent to taking nearly 8 million gas-powered cars off the road for a year. Congress will also vote this week on a measure repealing another recently implemented rule regarding efficiency standards for tankless gas water heaters.

2. Zeldin eyes 65% EPA staff reduction

President Trump said yesterday that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is aiming to cut 65% of the agency’s workforce. The EPA currently has about 15,000 employees, and E&E News reported that such a cut “would put the agency close to the numbers it had when it was created by President Richard Nixon.” According to Reuters, the news came as a surprise to EPA union leaders. “Mr. Zeldin stated during his confirmation testimony that he pledged to enthusiastically uphold the EPA’s mission,” said Joyce Howell, executive vice president of AFGE Council 238 representing EPA employees. “So which is it? Upholding the EPA mission or imposing a reduction in force that makes upholding the EPA mission an impossibility?”

3. BP pivots back to fossil fuels

BP confirmed it will cut its investments in renewables and shift its strategy back to ramping up fossil fuel production. The radical shift represents “a major break from five years in which BP was the oil industry’s most ardent pursuer of net zero emissions and the transition to clean energy,” reported Bloomberg. BP had planned to have 50 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity by 2030 and cut oil and gas production by 40%, but CEO Murray Auchincloss said the company’s “optimism for a fast transition was misplaced.” Here is some early reaction and analysis:

• “There is simply less money in renewables than in oil and gas and some BP shareholders have become angry and impatient as they watch Shell produce double the returns they have seen while Exxon investors have received four times as much.” –BBC business editor Simon Jack.
• “This move by oil giant BP clearly demonstrates why super-rich corporations and individuals, chasing short-term profit for themselves and shareholders, cannot be trusted with fixing the climate crisis or leading the transition to renewable energy we so badly need.” –Matilda Borgström, a campaigner at the climate action group 350.org.
• “In lurching from one strategy to another, isn’t there a risk BP has over-corrected? Yes, President Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’ mantra is back in vogue — but global warming hasn’t gone away. BP wasn’t wrong to spot a societal need for a long-term shift to renewable energy.” –Alistair Osborne, business commentator at The Times in the UK.

4. AMOC may not collapse before 2100, but...

New research suggests the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is not likely to fully collapse any time soon, but it could weaken significantly. As Heatmap’s Jeva Lange explained recently, AMOC is a current system sometimes described as the oceanic conveyor belt responsible for influencing the climate of the Northern Hemisphere. Its full collapse, triggered by rising temperatures and Arctic meltwater – would cause dramatic cooling across Europe, and scientists have been debating the likelihood of such an event for years. A recent paper predicted it could happen even within the next three decades. This new analysis from the UK’s Met Office used 34 climate models to test future warming scenarios and concluded that AMOC would still keep moving through 2100. But it also showed the current could slow down significantly, which would still have serious side effects like changing rain patterns, disrupting ocean ecosystems, and rising sea levels.

5. Extreme heat is making us age faster

A study out this week finds that exposure to extreme heat makes older people age faster. Researchers from USC examined blood samples from 3,600 individuals aged 56 or older, looking specifically at markers indicating biological age, which is “a measure of how well the body functions at the molecular, cellular, and system levels.” The team compared this information to six years of climate data and found evidence that people exposed to repeated heat waves age more quickly. “Participants living in areas where heat days, as defined as Extreme Caution or higher levels (≥90°F), occur half the year, such as Phoenix, Arizona, experienced up to 14 months of additional biological aging compared to those living in areas with fewer than 10 heat days per year,” said USC’s Eunyoung Choi, a co-author on the study. “Even after controlling for several factors, we found this association. Just because you live in an area with more heat days, you’re aging faster biologically.”

THE KICKER

The company behind the UK’s first new nuclear plant to be built in 20 years is considering installing 288 underwater speakers in a nearby river to deter fish from entering the plant’s water intake system. This “fish disco” would generate sounds that are louder than a jumbo jet 24 hours a day for 60 years.