Congress
Biden admin cedes pivotal air pollution rules to Trump
As the Biden administration enters its final weeks, EPA continues to press forward on some fronts, while relinquishing on others to incoming President-elect Donald Trump.
In a decision issued Monday that marks the latest twist in a see-saw regulatory battle, the agency rejected an industry coalition’s petition to scrap toughened safeguards against accidental releases of dangerous air pollutants from refineries, chemical plants and thousands of other operations that must file plans to manage those risks.
In the petition, the coalition, whose members include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Chemistry Council and the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, wrote that the more stringent regulations impose “multiple unlawful and highly prescriptive mandates that undermine the performance-based flexibility that is the linchpin of process safety.” Besides rescinding the rules, the coalition asked EPA to freeze implementation.
In a thumbs-down that marked one of his last official acts, however, ex-EPA Administrator Michael Regan found that the petition “fails to identify any information or circumstances that warrant mandatory reconsideration.”
The rejection clears the way for proceedings to resume in a lawsuit brought last year by coalition members before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. But with Trump set to take office Jan. 20, they could also ask his administration to revisit the regulations.
It was a tactic used successfully during Trump’s first term, when EPA largely rolled back an earlier bid to tighten a similar batch of requirements issued in the final days of President Barack Obama’s second term.
American Chemistry Council spokesperson Scott Jensen said Thursday the coalition is already working on a letter to Trump’s transition team that will request a start to a new rulemaking process. While Jensen did not have a specific timetable, “obviously we want it to go over to them as soon as possible,” he said in a phone interview.
Elsewhere, the Biden administration is already yielding`sway to its successor.
Late last month, EPA signaled that it is ending plans for now both to widen the geographic reach of its latest good neighbor smog control framework and tighten emission standards on large trash incinerators that may be located near people of color and low-income communities.
The final versions of both rules had been under review by the White House regulations office since September, with a goal of completing work before the year’s end. Instead, both have now been withdrawn, according to notices posted on a government tracking website.
Asked earlier this week about the reasons for the withdrawals, EPA spokesperson Nick Conger in an email noted that only recently amended consent decrees in litigation with environmental groups pushed back the respective deadlines to finalize both rules.
“EPA will continue working on these Clean Air Act actions,” Conger said in an email.
For the update to the incinerator standards, the new due date falls near the end of this year.
Under an earlier EPA proposal, the rule would have toughened New Source Performance Standards and emissions guidelines for dozens of large municipal incinerators that are sources of smog-forming nitrogen oxides, lead, mercury and other pollutants.
The new December 2025 deadline means that almost another year will pass before EPA updates standards that have remained largely unchanged since 1995.
Filings in the litigation before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia do not explain why the challengers, led by the California-based East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, agreed to the delay. An Earthjustice attorney representing them could not be reached for comment.
Under the Clean Air Act’s good neighbor provision, states are barred from allowing smog-forming pollution from power plants and other industries that contributes to downwind compliance problems outside of their borders.
The original good neighbor framework, issued in March 2023, initially applied to 23 states. It aims to ensure nationwide compliance with EPA’s 70 parts per billion limit for ground-level ozone, a lung-damaging compound that is the main ingredient in smog.
Under the proposed expansion issued a year ago, EPA sought to add Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico and Tennessee to a cap-and-trade program to cut power sector emissions of nitrogen oxides.
Since then, the agency has stayed implementation of the original 23-state good neighbor plan in response to a Supreme Court ruling.
“We decided from our part” that “it didn’t make sense for EPA to finalize” the proposed expansion that would then immediately be stayed, Sierra Club senior attorney Zachary Fabish said in an interview. Previously due in November, the final version must now be completed by February 2026.
Asked whether he has any concerns about the Trump administration’s follow-through, Fabish said “the law requires something to be done.” Otherwise, he added, the environmental advocacy group will be at the forefront “of making sure that EPA and the states are following through on their obligations.”
The Senate Commerce Committee could take up artificial intelligence regulation after the chamber returns to Washington next week, Sen. Ted Cruz said.
“We need substantially more regulation when it comes to AI,” the Texas Republican, who chairs the committee overseeing the fast-evolving technology, said in a Tuesday night interview for Blue Light News’s “The Conversation” with Dasha Burns.
Cruz’s remarks come as catastrophic risks from AI are in the spotlight this week following a viral social media post from a former Anthropic researcher. The post — which Cruz said he read and called “scary as hell” — cautioned that the leading AI companies have been “gambling with our lives,” prompting fresh calls to action from lawmakers in Washington.
Cruz, citing a conversation he had with Elon Musk in which the trillionaire entrepreneur predicted the chance that AI could “destroy humanity” was in 10-20% in the next 10 years, said he’s taking the risk of AI seriously. “It’s deeply concerning.”
The senator said the measures his committee would consider include a fresh bill from him, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to address AI uses that create biological and nuclear threats.
The bill could be introduced as soon as next week, according to reporting from Semafor.
Still, he warned that any government regulation of AI should not thwart America’s lead in the AI race against China.
“The Chinese are putting no guardrails. They’re going full speed ahead,” said Cruz. “We could have government step in and just shut down the AI industry in America, and you know what would happen? China would catch up in six months and soar ahead, and we wouldn’t have the tools to defend ourselves.”
The full interview with Cruz — where he also talked about the midterms, a potential 2028 bid and more — will be published on an upcoming episode of “The Conversation.”
President Donald Trump dropped a hot mess of a half-baked midterm promise in lawmakers’ laps Wednesday night.
Trump at the GOP’s convention pledged to send $5,000 to every adult in the U.S. if Republicans retain control of Congress in the midterms. And while the crowd of thousands of his supporters gathered at Dallas’ American Airlines Center cheered the announcement, GOP fiscal hawks were balking at the effort before Trump even left the stage.
“I would like to know how they would plan to pay for … back of envelope … well over $1 trillion,” Rep. Chip Roy, who won’t be returning to Congress next year, said in response to Trump’s offer.
The payout, which would need to be approved by Congress, would dwarf the amount distributed during the Covid pandemic and likely explode the deficit. Trump did not detail how the checks would be financed — only that the money would be limited to citizens and required to be spent in the U.S.
A GOP operative, granted anonymity to discuss the idea, expressed skepticism, calling it “a desperate attempt to change the political mood.”
If the president followed through on such a plan, it would likely worsen inflation by further boosting consumer spending and supporting higher prices, which are already elevated due to the war in Iran. The dividend could also exacerbate a rise in longer-term borrowing costs for the U.S. government, which have been going up in part on fears the federal debt is growing unsustainable.
The move comes after months of Republicans pleading with Trump to focus his messaging — and fundraising war chest — on helping the party retain control of Capitol Hill come November.
Some House Republicans following the speech told Blue Light News the effort showed how desperate the president was in the last weeks of midterm campaigning.
“It’s a little late,” one House Republican, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said.
Others may have been relieved that the president was touting a message aimed at affordability concerns at the top of voters’ minds.
“We got to talk about the issues that people are dealing with. Families can’t afford their house, they can’t afford the food, they can’t afford health care, they can’t afford child care,” Sen. Rick Scott said in an interview in the convention hall before Trump’s announcement.
Sen. Ted Cruz in an exclusive interview with Blue Light News after Trump’s speech, said he’d prefer to tie work requirements to the dividends, but added specifics would need to be worked through.
“$1.3 trillion dollars is a massive amount,” Cruz said, referring to his estimate for the plan. But, he said it’s less than if Democrats won back power and spent like “drunken sailors.”
Read also: ‘A communist caucus’: Trump gives Republicans their midterms enemy
What else we’re watching:
— CONGRESS IN DISARRAY OVER AI SAFETY: Congress is confronting a grim reality: Members may be ill-equipped and far from ready to rein in advanced new AI that one expert warned could “kill us all.” More than a dozen lawmakers and aides from both parties on Wednesday told Blue Light News they were hopeful Congress would start taking the issue seriously after a viral social media post this week from an ex-Anthropic researcher outlined dire risks. But it’s far from certain the desire to make progress will translate into meaningful legislative activity before the end of the year.
— SENATE DEMS HOLD THEIR FIRE ON FETTERMAN: Sen. John Fetterman has faced a tide of public criticism from fellow Democrats as he stakes out lonely ground as a critic of the far-left wing of his party. So far, however, his Senate colleagues haven’t joined the pile-on. Another wave of intraparty criticism rolled in Wednesday after he made a surprise video appearance at the Republican midterm convention. But Democratic senators are staying above the fray as they work to flip the majority in November amid constant speculation that the 57-year-old Pennsylvanian could trigger a nightmare scenario by leaving the party and caucusing with the GOP.
Ashley Ahn, Dasha Burns, Meredith Lee Hill, Kelsey Brugger, Riley Rogerson and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.
Democrat Bob Harvie’s first general-election ad in his campaign against Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick is calling for a data center moratorium, the latest sign artificial intelligence is emerging as a key midterm campaign issue.
“I’m Bob Harvie, I approve this message because I don’t want more data centers, I want a moratorium,” the Bucks County commissioner says in the 30-second ad. “Big Tech owns enough, they shouldn’t own our congressman, too.”
While Democrats have routinely attacked Republicans in recent months for encouraging the buildout of AI infrastructure, few frontline candidates have gone as far as Harvie in calling for an outright halt.
A spokesperson for Harvie said he supports a moratorium for one year or until Congress can pass federal regulations protecting affected communities. Pennsylvania is a hot spot for proposed data center construction, and Harvie is proposing to go beyond Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s recent executive order tightening restrictions on data center projects.
Fitzpatrick, a five-term moderate incumbent, is one of three House Republicans who won a seat that Vice President Kamala Harris carried in the 2024 presidential election, making him a top target for Democrats this cycle.
Fitzpatrick has tried to strike a middle path on AI, saying in a post on X last month that he would work to ensure America “can innovate without compromising our communities.” He supports the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bipartisan bill that seeks to address rising electricity costs associated with data centers.
Harvie hits Fitzpatrick in the ad for taking money from tech industry players and voting for “billions in data center tax breaks” — a reference to tax provision in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Fitzpatrick did not vote for its final passage but did vote to advance the measure at key junctures.
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