The Trump people undermining the science people in the government:

When the city of Toledo temporarily lost access to clean drinking water several years ago after a bloom of toxic algae, the Environmental Protection Agency sent scientists from its Office of Research and Development to study health effects and formulate solutions.

The same office was on the front lines of the Flint water crisis and was a critical presence in handling medical waste from the U.S. Ebola cases in 2014.

Thomas Burke, who directed ORD during the last two years of the Obama administration and was the agency’s science adviser, calls the office the nation’s “scientific backstop in emergencies.”

That seems like something we need, right?

Not to Donnie from … Read the rest

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And the last one: EPA halts Obama-era rule on methane pollution.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has halted an Obama administration rule to cut down on pollution of methane, a greenhouse gas produced at oil and natural gas drilling wells.

The EPA on Wednesday said it had issued a 90-day stay of agency rules designed to limit methane leaks at drilling sites, as well as rules setting standards for equipment and employee certification.

President Trump ordered the EPA to reconsider the methane standards in March when he signed an executive order to repeal several Obama administration climate regulations.

Let’s just go ahead and trash the climate. What difference does climate make anyway? If you don’t like the one you … Read the rest

The second top story under “trump administration epa” – Rule to limit mercury and arsenic in waterways is delayed by the EPA.

Naturally. Let’s not be hasty about keeping mercury and arsenic out of waterways…in fact let’s not do it at all. People can always drink bottled water.

The Environmental Protection Agency would like to delay an Obama-era rule that limits the amount of toxins power plant operators can dump into waterways, the agency announced late last week.

In a new rule, expected to be published this week in the Federal Register, the agency has proposed delaying the compliance dates of the 2015 Steam Electric Power Generating Effluent Guidelines until the EPA reviews them.

Environmental groups characterized the EPA’s

Al Franken was on Fresh Air yesterday, and he said one thing that ratcheted up my dismay level one more notch.

GROSS: Things are so divided now in America and in government, in the Senate, in the House, do you feel like it’s possible now for you to have friendly relations with people in the government who are, you know, like, 180 degrees away from you on politics, on science, on climate change?

FRANKEN: Oh, man. There is stuff going on in the EPA right now on science where they’re just getting rid of the scientific boards that oversee the science, and it’s really awful. It’s really – this administration does not believe in science, it seems. And they’re

Then there’s this one.

Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of herself. My children, especially my 11 year old son, Barron, are having a hard time with this. Sick!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2017

In case you don’t yet know what Kathy Griffin should be ashamed of, it’s a video in which she holds up a facsimile severed head of Trump, streaming blood (as severed heads don’t, so that part is weird).

It’s a crap thing to do, I agree with him on that much. I don’t want Trump doing it to the people he hates, so we can’t do it to the people we hate.

But. Trump’s pious invocation of his children is disgusting. What about all … Read the rest

Last night just after midnight his time Trump had a brainfart on Twitter.

“Despite the constant negative press covfefe,” the tweet began, at 12:06 a.m., from @realDonaldTrump, the irrepressible internal monologue of his presidency.

And that was that.

Time passed. The tweet stayed, and the world wondered.

Perhaps, some worried aloud, Mr. Trump had experienced a medical episode a quarter of the way through his 140 characters.

No one at the White House could immediately be reached for comment.

By 1 a.m., the debate had effectively consumed Twitter — or at least a certain segment of insomniac Beltway types, often journalists and political operatives — ascending the list of trending topics.

Oh come on – there are 24 … Read the rest

The ACLU tells us

The Trump administration is reportedly planning to issue regulations that would allow any employer to deny any employee insurance coverage for contraception based on the employer’s religious beliefs.

Your boss’s religious beliefs shouldn’t be allowed to [affect] your compensation package. Yet here we are.

This is nothing more than an attempt to sanction discrimination against women in the name of religion. If the Trump administration follows through on these plans, we’ll see them in court.

Does Trump actually give a flying fuck about “religious liberty”? Of course not. He does hate women, though, so it makes him happy to be able to take away their rights.… Read the rest

It appears that Trump’s Twitter account puffed up with bots over the past few days.

As conspiracy fever grips the nation — and American citizens struggle to answer questions like, “What was the orb?” “Is the pee tape real?” And, “What was that red light blinking at the White House over the weekend?” — a new mystery has emerged: Over the weekend, Donald Trump, the worst Twitter user of all time, and also the president, gained more than 5 million followers.

Even for Trump, that is a lot. What does it all mean? What is he planning? The #resistance — the cohort of Twitter users all racing to be the first smug reply to any of Trump’s tweets

This:

German leaders – who say that the United States remains their most important international ally and an important partner whose friendship they want to maintain – feel Trump has prioritized relations with authoritarian nations like Saudi Arabia instead of democratic allies. Many were shocked when Trump declared in Riyadh that “we are not here to lecture” the mostly unelected assembled leaders – then blasted European allies in Brussels for not spending enough on defense.

It makes me sick.

 … Read the rest

Norm Eisen told Greg Sargent at the Washington Post that the Republicans in Congress can demand to see Trump’s tax returns.

“The tax committees of Congress have the legal right to demand from the IRS, to examine, and to share tax returns if a proper public purpose is met,” Eisen said.

Democrats have also zeroed in on this point. Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has repeatedly pressed the committee’s GOP chairman, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, to use his authority to secure an opportunity for committee members to privately view Trump’s tax returns. Hatch refused, citing limitations on his own authority to do this that Democrats say is bogus. Republicans

Now Trump’s lawyer has been asked to help the Congressional investigations of Russian efforts to put Trump in the White House. He said no thanks so they’re going to subpoena him.

While much of the media focus in recent days has fallen on Russian contacts made by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, there are few people closer to the president than his longtime lawyer. Insiders consider Cohen to be Trump’s pit bull or consigliere for his role in threatening legal action against Trump critics, gaining notoriety for threatening and browbeating reporters investigating Trump’s background.

He was quoted in 2015 telling Daily Beast reporters, “I will take you for every penny you still don’t have. And I will come after your Daily

Slate points out (as do others) how long it took Donnie the Racist to say anything about the horror in Portland. When he finally did, he of course didn’t mention anything about racism. Also he did it (or more likely a staffer did it) from his official prez account, not the personal one where he constantly erupts at the news media and most of the population.

The violent attacks in Portland on Friday are unacceptable. The victims were standing up to hate and intolerance. Our prayers are w/ them.

— President Trump (@POTUS) May 29, 2017

For a candidate that became a darling of the white nationalist fringe, thrusting them closer to the mainstream of American life, the absence of