Stephan: This is another one of those things that isn't getting a lot of attention, but which is telling us something important about our place in the world. It is a message to the United States that we are being reappraised and are being found wanting. Thus, changes are being made. It is amazing to watch how fast our decline is occurring, and how quickly the rest of the world is repositioning itself.
Lawmakers in the European Union are considering a measure that would require Americans visiting member countries in the summer of 2017 to apply for holiday visas in lieu of waivers.
According to Reuters, the proposal came in response to the exclusion of four nations (including Cyprus) from the United States’ visa waiver program:
The European Parliament called on the EU executive to force Americans to apply for visas before visiting Europe this summer, stepping up pressure to resolve a long-running transatlantic dispute on the issue.
The European Commission stressed it was pursuing a diplomatic resolution to the row, leaving it unlikely that it would act on the vote by lawmakers setting a May deadline to impose visas – a move that could hurt Europe’s tourism sector.
Washington refuses to grant visa-free access to people from four east European states and Cyprus, while those from the other 23 member states can enter using the U.S. visa waiver program. EU rules call for equal treatment for all Union citizens.
Quartz offered a more direct summary of the years-long dispute over reciprocity:
The reason […]
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Saturday, March 4th, 2017
Stephan A. Schwartz, Editor - Schwartzreport
Stephan: In the fog of war it is often hard to find the bodies on the battlefield; this was the metaphorical image that came to me as I prepared today's SR. There are so many lies, deceptions, sleights-of-hand, finagles, and just garden variety corruption surrounding the Trump administration it is hard to keep one's eyes on the things that have long term consequences. I am speaking here particularly about the environment and climate change. So today I have dug out stories that focus on those issues. I finished today's edition even more disheartened about our future than I was when I started.
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Saturday, March 4th, 2017
Stephan: Lost in the fog of the Trump administration's mating ritual with Russia are the changes being made in regulations designed to protect America's waterways; their dismantlement and the increase in environmental toxins that are sure to follow. Here is one aspect of what is happening.
Now, though, it appears that Trump’s first 2018 budget proposal is going to suggest slashing funds to clean up pollution from the Great Lakes by
97 percent.
The target of Trump’s budget is the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which is receiving $300 million in funding. That number would be reduced to a paltry $10 million as part of a larger effort to reduce the EPA’s overall budget by 25 percent. In a letter sent by the Great Lakes Task Force, it was explained to the Trump administration that GLRI is […]
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Saturday, March 4th, 2017
Oliver Milman, - The Guardian (U.K.)
Stephan: The change in long standing American policy concerning climate remediation is going largely unremarked; it is just lost in all the lies, deceptions, and Trumpian snark. But there are going to be very severe long term consequences.
Just how this is playing out can be seen in this report in the leading British newspaper, The Guardian. So in addition to the climate impact, there is also the unintended consequence of the diminishment of the U.S. on the world stage.
Patricia Espinosa has been unable to obtain a meeting with the US state department.
Credit: Pablo Porciuncula/AFP
NEW YORK, NEW YORK — The UN’s climate chief has been unable to secure a meeting with the US state department as Donald Trump’s administration mulls whether to withdraw the US from the international climate effort. (emphasis added)
Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is currently in the US and has sought a meeting with Rex Tillerson, the secretary of state, and other officials over the commitment of the new administration to global climate goals.
However, Espinosa said she had not had a response to her request and a state department official said there were no scheduled meetings to announce.
The official added: “As with many policies, this administration is conducting a broad review of international climate issues.”
Former US secretaries of state haven’t always met directly with the head of the UNFCCC, with meetings often conducted by the US climate envoy, a position currently vacant. However, the lack of […]
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Saturday, March 4th, 2017
Ellen M. Gilmer, - Scientific American/Climate wire
Stephan: Following up on the relaxation or elimination of regulations on the coal industry (see SR archives) EPA head, Scott Pruitt, on behalf of President Trump, has now gutted regulations on the oil and gas industry. If you have an interest in climate change and the safety of the environment you should know what is going on and become involved in some kind of citizen action effort to push back. Your grandchildren are watching.
Scott Pruitt, head of the EPA
U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has swiftly complied with a request from GOP leaders in oil-and-gas-producing states to scrap an Obama-era request for industry information about reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The agency yesterday withdrew a formal survey of oil and gas companies that required them to provide information about onshore equipment and controls that could reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, including methane. Industry and state officials complained that the information collection request (ICR) was time-consuming and expensive.
“By taking this step, EPA is signaling that we take these concerns seriously and are committed to strengthening our partnership with the states,” Pruitt said in a statement. “Today’s action will reduce burdens on businesses while we take a closer look at the need for additional information from this industry.”
Eleven Republican state leaders, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, sent a letter Wednesday urging Pruitt to toss the information request (Energywire, March 2).
Industry groups were “overjoyed” at the news, calling the ICR an eleventh-hour attempt by the Obama administration to gather excessive data.
“We’re […]
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