Why has the Trump administration dragged its feet on invoking the Defense Production Act of 1950 to respond to the Covid-19 national emergency?
As reported by the New York Times on March 17, 2020 in an article entitled "U.S. Virus Plan Anticipates 18-Month Pandemic and Widespread Shortages," President Trump has been considering invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) of 1950, to address the pandemic crisis, such as coordinating U.S. industries to supply desperately needed medical equipment like ventilators, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospitals in critically short supply, like face masks, gloves, and gowns.
However, Trump has inexplicably dragged his feet in invoking the DPA, despite the unprecedented gravity of the deadly Covid-19 national emergency. In fact, it appears Trump himself may have stood down his own FEMA director, who attempted to use the DPA to secure coronavirus tests (See "The Big Question Looming Over Trump's Coronavirus Disaster," in the Washington Post. Also see "Amid Desperate Need for Ventilators, Calls Grow for Federal Intervention," in the New York Times. And see "How the Defense Production Act Could Yield More Masks, Ventilators, and Tests," also in the New York Times.)
This is most ironic, given that, less than two years ago, Trump and his Energy Secretary at that time, Rick Perry, eagerly considered invoking the DPA -- and other similar federal wartime, and even natural disaster, emergency authorities, such as the Federal Power Act's (FPA) Section 202(c) -- in order to bail out the economically failing nuclear power and coal industries. (Not unlike Trump's foot-dragging re: DPA activation, Trump also failed to activate the full range of natural disaster authorities to help Puerto Ricans after the devastating hurricane that hit the American territory.)
But they didn't get away with it, thanks to fierce environmental resistance. For example, see Beyond Nuclear posts from June 1st, June 6th, and June 12th, of 2018, for more information about those DPA- and FPA-related Trump administration attempts to bail out these dirty, dangerous, and expensive energy industries, at taxpayer expense, and the environmental pushback that stopped it!
Currently, Friends of the Earth has decried, as "Disaster Capitalism at its Worst," the nuclear power industry's efforts to exploit the coronavirus crisis for a backdoor bailout. Another such example is the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's lobbying arm, urging the Trump administration to provide yet more bailouts to the Southern Nuclear/Georgia Power Plant Vogtle 3 & 4 new atomic reactors construction project. But the deeply troubled project -- many years behind schedule, and many billions of dollars over budget -- has already benefited from many billions of dollars worth of ratepayer-funded financing -- "advance cost recovery"/Construction Work in Progress/"nuclear tax" surcharges on electricity bills in Georgia -- as well as a whopping $13 billion (yes, with a B!) in federal taxpayer-backed nuclear loan guarantees.
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As reported by the Washington Post on March 27, at long last, very late in the game, Trump grudgingly seems to have finally activated the Defense Production Act, ordering GM to produce ventilators. However, the effort still appears to be reluctant and halting, unlike Trump and Perry's enthusiasm about invoking the DPA in 2018 to bail out atom splitters and coal burners.
Huge rise in wave and tidal energy production
Global wave and tidal stream energy production has risen tenfold over the last decade, reflecting global efforts to identify commercialisation pathways for ocean energy technologies, according to a new report, says the Maritime Journal.
Ocean Energy Systems' (OES) annual report shows cumulative energy produced from wave and tidal stream sources surged from less than 5GWh in 2009 to 45GWh in 2019. Numerous other wave and tidal stream devices have been deployed in open-sea waters for testing, while further ‘push and pull’ mechanisms are stimulating the ocean energy sector in various regions of the world. Read the full article.
World's wind capacity is up, again
The world’s wind power capacity grew by almost a fifth in 2019 after a year of record growth for offshore windfarms and a boom in onshore projects in the US and China, reports The Guardian.
The Global Wind Energy Council found that wind power capacity grew by 60.4 gigawatts, or 19%, compared with 2018, in one of the strongest years on record for the global wind power industry.
The growth was powered by a record year for offshore wind, which grew by 6.1GW to make up a tenth of new windfarm installations for the first time.
The council’s annual report found that the US and China remain the world’s largest markets for onshore wind power development. Together the two countries make up almost two-thirds of global growth in wind power. Read the full article.
US EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws because of coronavirus
See the EPA's official announcement, here.
See news coverage by The Hill, here: "EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws amid coronavirus."
The environmental movement must respond forcefully to this major attack by the Trump administration on the rule of law. As Beyond Nuclear was quoted in Bloomberg:
“Regulations to ensure safety should be strengthened at a time like this -- not weakened,” said Kevin Kamps of the watchdog group Beyond Nuclear.
EPA's announcement is not only an undermining of regulations, it is an outright attack on hard won, decades-old environmental laws.