Guest essay by Leo Goldstein

I would like to bring to the attention of American readers that they can submit comments on the EPA regulations in accordance with Executive Order 13777, “Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda,” signed by President Trump on February 24, 2017. The deadline for submission is May 15, so we have only three full days. H/t John Droz, Jr..

Comments can be as short as one line or as long as the regulations.gov site allows. You can also include audio or video attachments, although only the written comments will be considered an official statement. Off the top of my mind, I can recommend NIPCC Summaries, many articles by Prof. Richard Lindzen, as well as various materials from this outstanding resource, WattsUpWithThat. If a web page cannot be adequately saved as a PDF file, its content can be copied to Word then saved as PDF. You are also welcome to attach The Brief Summary of Science, written by me with input from Prof. Fred Singer, Prof. Will Happer, and Prof. Richard Lindzen (but not formally endorsed by them).

The comments will be received by the newly-assembled Regulatory Reform Task Force, which is to

“attempt to identify regulations that:

(i) Eliminate jobs, or inhibit job creation;

(ii) are outdated, unnecessary, or ineffective;

(iii) impose costs that exceed benefits;

(iv) create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with regulatory reform initiatives and policies;

(v) are inconsistent with the requirements of section 515 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriates Act, 2001 (44 U.S.C. 3516 note), or the guidance issued pursuant to that provision in particular those regulations that rely in whole or in part on data, information, or methods that are not publicly available or that are insufficiently transparent to meet the standard of reproducibility; or

(vi) derive from or implement Executive Orders or other Presidential directives that have been subsequently rescinded or substantially modified.”

Read the Tips for Effective Comments & Restrictions. The most important ones, in my opinion, are:

● “Be concise but support your claims. Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the use of profanity or personal threats. Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives and substitute language for your requested changes. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns and suggest alternatives.

● Base your comments on sound reasoning, scientific evidence, and/or how you will be impacted by the agency’s proposal. Describe any assumptions and provide the technical information and/or data that you used. If you estimate potential costs or burdens, explain how you arrived at your estimate in sufficient detail to allow for it to be reproduced.

● Address trade-offs and opposing views.

● The comment process is not a vote – one well-supported comment is often more informative to the agency than a thousand form letters.

● Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish to make.

● EPA will generally not consider comments or comment contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e. on the web, cloud, or other file sharing system).

● The inclusion of any copyrighted material without accompanying proof of one’s explicit right to redistribute that material will result in the comment being blocked from online viewing at Regulations.gov.”

So far, this opportunity has been hijacked by environmental activists and their followers. Meanwhile, the former mainstream media was saying that public input was not solicited.

The dream came true: we, The People, can petition the government to repeal any EPA regulation and the government will listen. But we only have three days to do so. Go to the Evaluation of EPA Regulations on regulations.gov, click the Comment Now button at the top right, speak your mind, and attach supporting documents.

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