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Outlook 2020


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ELECTION 2020

Amid 2020 Campaign, Hill Democrats Prepare Climate, Environment Pitch

House Democrats enter 2020 poised to elaborate on a climate change policy agenda that stands little chance of immediate enactment but that will help frame the party’s environmental case for the November election and lay a predicate for action in the next Congress should President Donald Trump lose his re-election bid.

Amid Major Deregulation, Trump Pursues Limited Environment Pitches

President Donald Trump and his allies enter the 2020 election season poised to tout their aggressive deregulatory record, even as they selectively try to promote a handful of water and toxics measures in an apparent bid to blunt possible defections from voters concerned about climate change and other environment issues.

Democratic Presidential Candidates’ GHG Plans Rely On Novel Policies

Several Democratic presidential candidates’ plans for tackling climate change include a host of novel and aggressive policy proposals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with environmentalists seeing the election as prime opportunity to push strict progressive strategies including the Green New Deal (GND).

EPA AGENDA

Trump Eyes More Wholesale Deregulatory Moves In Second Term Agenda

EPA is looking to expand its deregulatory agenda by continuing to make wholesale changes to the way it develops future regulations in addition to moving piecemeal rollbacks of Obama-era measures, efforts it will continue into 2020 and beyond if President Donald Trump wins a second term.

CEI’s Ebell Urges EPA To Complete Rollbacks By May To Avoid CRA Repeal

Myron Ebell, a leading deregulatory advocate, is watching closely as EPA scrambles to complete key deregulatory actions in the first few months of 2020 in an effort to finalize the rules before mid-May after which they may be vulnerable to repeal efforts under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) should Democrats sweep upcoming elections.

EPA Faces Competing Calls On Agenda For Upcoming 50th Anniversary

As EPA launches a year-long public campaign to mark its upcoming 50th anniversary it is facing competing calls on whether to issue any major policies as part of the effort, with deregulatory proponents urging the agency to solidify a new rulemaking method that could encourage weaker standards while environmentalists seek strict new rules.

STATES

Trump Deregulatory Agenda Faces Test Over ‘Cooperative Federalism’

Trump administration efforts to roll back environmental rules faces a key test in 2020 as many states are claiming that EPA officials are promoting “cooperative federalism” to give states more power to implement environmental laws when they are really using the phrase as cover for their broad deregulatory agenda.

California Faces Tough Climate Program Test Amid Fights With Trump

California leaders will face a difficult test this year to advance their pioneering climate change programs, amid the Trump administration’s aggressive regulatory and legal challenges to its efforts to significantly curb vehicle greenhouse gases and advance cap-and-trade markets with international partners.

INTERNATIONAL

Trump’s Paris Exit Timing Complicates Future Of Global Carbon Efforts

President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw the United States from the landmark Paris Agreement this November complicates the near future of global efforts to tackle climate change, as other countries face calls to ramp up carbon cuts even as Trump’s move appears to be slowing momentum for such strategies.

Environmentalists Eye Global Pacts To Pressure U.S. Sustainability Actions

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and other major environmental groups plan this year to push for aggressive global agreements among countries and industries on sustainability efforts including tackling climate change and biodiversity, in a bid to pressure the U.S. government and companies to adopt similarly stringent programs domestically.