Today, environmentalists sued the interior department over bumblebees. This all goes back to an Obama ruling, perfectly timed to fail, on purpose.
Please consider Feds Sued Over Delay in Protecting Endangered Bumblebees.
A decision by the Trump administration to delay protections of a bee is creating a legal buzz.
The rusty patched bumblebee was once common across the Midwest and Northeast but is now at risk of going extinct. The Obama administration granted the bee endangered-species status in early January. That status was set to take effect Feb. 10, but the Trump administration on that day announced it would delay listing the bee to March 21.
On Tuesday, the Natural Resources Defense Council sued the Interior Department, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the acting heads of both agencies in federal court in Manhattan, asking a judge to undo the delay. The group argues that the Trump administration’s decision was made in violation of a law governing the issuance of federal rules and without a valid explanation.
Some environmentalists fear the delay is a prelude to blocking protections for the rusty-patched bumblebee altogether. “We don’t think this is just a freeze,” said Rebecca Riley, a senior attorney for the NRDC. “It’s an opportunity for the administration to reconsider and perhaps revoke the decision. That’s the whole point of the freeze.”
Perfect Timing
I am not going to discuss the plight of bumblebees other than admit that the plight of bees, in general, is a concern. Pollination is a big problem for farmers.
Instead, I will ask a simple question: If Obama gave a damn about the rusty-patched bumblebee, why did he wait until the last moment to put the burden on Trump?
The answer is obvious: Politics are more important to Obama than the bees he allegedly wanted to protect.
Mike “Mish” Shedlock
“Politics are more important to Obama than the bees he allegedly wanted to protect”. The use of the word “allegedly” is moot. You know how serious the decline in global bee population is Mr. Shedlock. Your use of the word “Bumblebee” is deliberate in order to give your biased statement an air of the kindergarten about it for your readers. Shame on you yet again Mr. Shedlock, over a serious environmental issue and shame over your continuing to deny the existence of the changing climate. As an intelligent well-informed Civil Engineer you know better than that. On both counts.
Yes, pollination IS a serious business. But what Msh was ACTUALLY saying is that the Politician That Left, set it up so that Trump would look bad. Period.
And Mish is exactly correct. If the previous incompetent son-of-a-bitch had a set of balls, he would have implemented it a LONG time ago. He doesn’t. And he didn’t. Cheap political shot by the ex. Just what we’ve all come to see out of that P.O.S.
Nice summary.
Ridiculous. All Trump had to do was let the rule go into effect as written. But somehow it’s Obama’s fault that he delayed it instead. You guys will say anything, do anything to defend Trump. Your credibility is in the toilet.
Phil, if you do not think that politics was in play here….you’re just not thinking. You should try it.
Phil, it is your credibility that is in the toilet. Any reasonable reading of this blog makes it evident that Mish is policy driven, not politician driven. Take off your ideological blinders and participate in a productive discussion for a change.
“All Trump had to do was let the rule go into effect as written.”
He issued a blanket EO to delay all new regs until they are individually evaluated. Considering how the swamp is apparently filled to the brim with leakers, I’m sure the left (I will not longer refer to them as a political party) knew that he would do something like that or, at least, prepared for it just in case he was a politician who actually fulfilled his campaign promises.
Obvious? You don’t really know that that is why these events unfolded the way they did. Believe what you want, but I don’t think you should be so certain about it in your reporting.
Buzz off you!
You buzz off too!! Knatt.
Your bias is showing. Who is the civil engineer? How is that germane to ecological considerations? If it were that important, why was the order delayed until January, and not to take effect until Trump was in office? Exactly what is this order actually going to accomplish? Is there an understanding as to what is needed to rectify this situation, and can that actually be effected via executive order? Can you explain what this order would actually accomplish, or are you here simply to cast derogatory aspersions?
As for climate; climate is always changing. What is it that you actually know? Are you aware we are in an inter-glacial? Are you aware the current geologic ice age started 2.2 million years ago, and will probably continue for at least another 40 million years?
People such as yourself love to shame those you disagree with, as though anyone should be ashamed at having a differing point of view. There is no shame involved here, just arrogant self-righteousness on your part.
Shame on you glaich, for accusing Mish of something he has not done. I do not know anyone who denies that the climate has ALWAYS been changing. The real issue is: how much do the activities of humans have to do with climate change, and can mankind really do anything about it. As for the bees, Mish plainly stated they are important and a concern, and Mish’s complaint was politicians playing games with the issue. What the heck is your problem, glaich? Seems you read into things stuff that isn’t there.
Playing politics with “worker Bees” is shameful.
Just what some groups have been doing with “worker humans”, “deplorables” etc.
Not!
It might be an innocent decision based on real concern about Trump’s environmental attitude.
If so, if truly believed, I can understand it but not the delay in signing it. Surely sooner would have made more sense unless Obama also didn’t prioritise it making him little better.
bumblebee lives matter!
And they probably know which fricking bathroom to use as well!
” Shame on you yet again Mr. Shedlock, over a serious environmental issue and shame over your continuing to deny the existence of the changing climate.”
When did Mish deny climate was changing? Climate is always changing. It was warmer in the 1930’s, then cooler. The global land temperature just dropped 1degree C at a record pace, after the El Nino peak. Climate is cyclical, just as anything else is.
Michelle Obama is a Baboon…fact check=TRUE
The delay is to the beginning of Spring. How many bees are active in winter? Probably zero. The time delay would give the new EPA Director a chance to review the scientific reports that were used to designate the status. But like the visa ban- Obama OK , Trump not OK
To bee or not to bee is the question.
Wrong, and wrong.
Feb 10th is NOT the beginning of Spring – except in Mexico, or points south.
And Feb 10th would give the new EPA Director exactly 21 days to figure it out….ASSUMING THE EPA DIRECTOR STARTED WORK on Inauguration Day !! Not even likely…..
Try again, if you must………
“Plight of the Bumblebee”…Rimsky-Korsakov would be proud of you.
I’m glad someone else got it.
I love bumble bees and pollinators, but a stretch to call this endangered (see below). Definitely a political setup, a lose-lose fabrication to make Trump look bad either way. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t. Brilliant use of taxpayer money to score propaganda points by the Neo-Bolshevik Left. FWS has exposed itself as a corrupt agency that should be gutted, and its functions removed outside government. USDA is already paying farmers to grow hedgerows and field edges for pollinators, and FWS is redundant with nothing better to do than play politics. Obviously coordinated in advance with NRDC et al. for fund-raising purposes by Obama operatives. All about $$$, fund-raising.
https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/insects/rpbb/factsheetrpbb.html
Historically, the rusty patched bumble bee was broadly distributed across the eastern United States and Upper Midwest, from Maine in the U.S. and southern Quebec and Ontario in Canada, south to the northeast corner of Georgia, reaching west to the eastern edges of North and South Dakota. Its range included 28 states, the District of Columbia and 2 provinces in Canada. Since 2000, this bumble bee has been reported from only 13 states and 1 Canadian province: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin – and Ontario, Canada.
For those who think in dollars ( personally not, but it is a valid argument) , that’s a 3bn dollar pollinator you’re looking at there
http://www.nachicago.com/CHI/February-2017/Bumble-Bee-Added-to-the-Endangered-Species-List/
Which was submitted in Jan 2013 as endangered and has taken 4yrs to decide on
http://xerces.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Cascade/index.html?appid=3545656993df4d19a83ffc7987c37c88
(hope that link works on pcs)
Trumps ( 6 week) delay is apparently part of his total legislative freeze, nothing specific to the status of this bee.
Nice links Crysangle, thanks. Pathogens are a problem that we thankfully don’t have so much in Australia but agricultural sprays are. Crops are developed to resist regular spraying (to keep weeds down and to fatten the crop before harvest). Who is going to win the battle, Monsanto or the Bees (all bees). Maybe that is a problem Obama was frightened of – cancellation of lecture fees and free stuff?
…”cancellation of lecture fees…”
I cannot even imagine that ANY company on the planet would want this incompetent know-nothing to come speak to them. It MUST be idol-worship…..’cause he has NOTHING intelligent to say. Never has. Never will.
Idol-worship. Has to be……..
Popular culture does not seem to attribute the same personal political power to Obama as it does to Clinton.
French and Raven categorized power in five categories
– Legitimate
– Reward
– Expert
– Referent
– Coercive
Clinton: Legitimate, Reward, Expert, Referent, Coercive
Bush: Legitimate, Referent
Obama: Legitimate, Referent
It will be interesting to see who demands higher speaking fees three years from now, Barack Obama or Chelsea Clinton.
Chelsea..? That might depend on whether she is under ‘oath’ or not.
Saruna. Yes, and there is a big debate long underway that relates to mono-culture and gm crops, as well as priorities in food type and resource use to achieve whatever ends. It is something of a political dead end given that at a certain point the question arises over enforced population management vs. stretching the use of natural resources to their maximum just to sustain human life, which has an as yet undefined/undefinable, but real, limit. I know where I stand on that but once you have billions dependent on modern agriculture you obviously become a minority without a better plan for society as a whole. Until we make our own food from rock and learn to populate other planets I suppose we will remain ultimately at the mercy of some form of natural selection and a population dynamic governed in some way by the existing limits ( whether pure total productivity, political or social mood, failure to recognize the natural consequences that might speak against overpopulation etc.) .
Policies have devolved into nothing but political weapons. Anything good that comes from them for the people or planet is purely accidental.
Yep. It’s all political me, me, me, now, now, now.
Wisdom lacking.
Foresight lacking.
Who give a sh!t about the mass of voters, their kids, their futures.
Me, me, me, now, now, now,
WTF: “not going to discuss…a concern” affecting farmers…
(and food supplies…)
you’d rather just blame Obama?
Show me the facts! Like you usually do.
Obama did not “burden” Trump…
the transition of the Presidency is complete…
Trump is in charge NOW.
Trump merely had to “let it be”…
but his master plan is:
UNDO what has been done by Obama.
Maybe 30 days IS the proper lead time to implement smoothly:
“We published a final rule in the Federal Register on January 11, 2017, that adds the rusty patched bumble bee to the list of endangered species. The final rule has an effective date of February 10, 2017.”
https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/insects/rpbb/FAQsFinalListing.html
Trump said he originally wanted 30 days to implement his Muslim Ban…
but was persuaded to proceed immediately.
How did THAT turn out? Depends…
Reality version: clusterfuck.
Trump version: “it’s working out very nicely.”
“…on January 20th, Donald Trump became president and signed a sweeping executive order that froze all pending regulations for 60 days to review “questions of fact, law and policy they raise.” The decision to delay the bee’s listing as endangered is a direct consequence of that order.”
http://gizmodo.com/white-house-blocks-listing-of-bumble-bee-as-endangered-1792271532
The REAL Question is “Why 60 days?”
Alternate Facts are readily available from this administration.
Mish, there are no “simple questions”.
CRAP! It should read “ALTERNATIVE facts”…
Sooo frustrating to see something wrong that you cannot correct…
particularly when it is still “awaiting moderation”!
I have a question: why can’t my comments be pre-approved; associated with two computers?
I have had that request in for a long time
Wordpress issue
Another gripe of mine: I can make comments here without signing up with WordPress, but I cannot use the Like button. I suppose that is also standard WordPress?
Please put the catch phrase alternative fact in the dust bin where it belongs. It’s a lie or it isn’t.
“If Obama gave a damn about the rusty-patched bumblebee, why did he wait until the last moment to put the burden on Trump”?
Or was Obama pressured by Monsanto and other companies?
“Using a modified spray tower to simulate field spray conditions, the researchers found that 26 pesticides, including many (but not all) neonicotinoids, organophosphates, and pyrethroids killed nearly all of the bees that came into contact with the test pesticide sprays”.
https://entomologytoday.org/2015/10/13/glyphosate-acetamiprid-low-toxicity-honey-bees-2/
Good Lord
I cannot say a damn thing, no matter how politically obvious, in any direction, without it getting twisted to smithereens.
I now have “bee bias” in favor of Trump. Where the heck was this support when I was blasting Trump?
Mercy!
Thanks CJ
With you 100% Mish. Insane that people are so blinded by their bias, either for a political party or a persona, that all they can see is you ‘attacking’ their chosen party/person.
When really, all you are doing is calling a spade a spade. As we all should.
Thanks and keep it up. I really appreciate your neutrality or willingness to highlight the issues with the likes of the Obamas and the Trumps. Good and bad.
You are a biased bee. 🙂
Mish, you are completely correct on this one. Obama was a political president who was agenda driven. He did not care about bees but just wanted to drop another land mine for trump.
I think we’re jumping to conclusions about Obama’s motivations here. Maybe the environmentalists dropped a ton of money in some democrat’s campaign fund and Obama felt obligated to repay some political debt in the eleventh hour. This is just more speculation.
I think the media’s relentless attack on Donald Trump unlike any other President before him is a much more serious situation. Not only is the media looking for blood in the water, they’re going after Trump’s jugular with their mouths wide open. I have never witnessed a media with so much vengeance – which is a great disservice to the health of the country as a whole. It’s obvious that the press is going to great lengths to sabotage a man who was able to knock off 16 seasoned GOP politicians and Queen Hillary – the darling of the establishment. I even see tremendous bias against Trump in these blogs. And I’m not the only one. Many others have mentioned the same thing in their comments.
But let’s not jump to conclusions about the Bumblebees. Comparatively speaking, it’s small stuff. If you want to see some true overreach to sabotage the Trump presidency – go visit the CNN website.
I don’t doubt for a second that some segments of the media are going after Trump just as Fox News went after Obama. I personally think it is healthy to have multiple views being serviced and a high degree of scepticism for any public official. Especially one who is authorized to murder people in foreign countries.
Some segments? 99% of newspapers endorsed Clinton.
“99%” – true dat. I was only getting one newspaper and when it endorsed Crooked Hillary I cancelled that one, and made sure they knew why. Why pay for a subscription to biased news offered by idiots? There is more news than I have time to read on the internet, and it’s free and wastes no paper.
But I sure miss those advertising filler sections! (sarc)
I don’t read newspapers or watch the news so I’m not in a good position to know. But 99% might be true.
Fox news had not been supportive of Trump until recently. The organization seems fully prepared to throw him under the bus, should it become expedient.
“Maybe the environmentalists dropped a ton of money in some democrat’s campaign fund and Obama felt obligated to repay some political debt in the eleventh hour.”
If so, not much better of a character indication or true concern fro bees than Mish’s claim. Maybe someone made a pay-to-play donation to the former Clinton Foundation, now closing due to donations drying up since they have no more influence to peddle which, by the way, shows what it was all about all along.
They need to look at paints too.
External wall paint from global supplier used on a home project.
Thereafter noticed Bees dead in proximity. Never before seen such in the area.
They probably used to just fly past unnoticed.
It stopped after a few weeks.
We use many chemicals/additives that we have no idea of the impact of.
Looking at the legality side of this, if it was within the discretion of Obama to declare the Bumblebee to be an endangered species, why is it not within the Discretion of Trump to declare that it is not endangered?
The controversy over delaying the implementation of Obama’s declaration seems to be pure political semantics and grandstanding.
Here is another perspective on the ruling: https://cei.org/blog/endangered-species-bee-listing-could-harm-bees-butterflies-other-pollinators
The ruling might do more harm than good through unintended consequences. That has been the case for other endangered species.
It’s terrible that any discussion of an issue immediately devolved into partisan bickering. This blog post skips over the issue and jumps straight into the bickering. I agree Obama is a political animal, but, when the Republicans in Congress declare that their goal is to undermine everything that he attempts, that’s the only course left. Mostly I think it’s hopeless, and that our tribalism will lead to the fall of the empire, but if there’s any hope it’s that we concentrate on the issues and try to ignore the circus.
You are either confused or behind in the news, Doug. The repubs are coming around to The Donald. The dems have made it very clear they will do everything they can to block anything & everything Trump tries to do.
this page was much better before mike became so political hardcore and this page became nothing but a bitching and moaning session about politics and how much he hates Trump. Mike. You lost. get over it. preparation H resolves your issues
Mish hate Trump? Mish hates Crooked Hillary. It’s amazing how some folks can get things so backwards. I’m referring to you, Matt.
“The answer is obvious: Politics are more important to Obama than the bees he allegedly wanted to protect.”
Obama never cared about carbon pollution, either. He was a huge carbon emitter, flying Air Force One all over the place, as he pleased.
Fundraising trips to California were more important than the environment, to Obama.
This argument is not worth serious consideration. Just assume for the sake of argument carbon is a major problem (it is but I know you don’t buy that, just try to pretend it’s right).
That will not change the fact the President has to go places, politics proceeds. That will cost carbon. If the President tried alternatives like flying regular planes it would cause chaos and probably end up generating even more carbon (just going to the airport, through the regular gate and boarding a regular plane would probably shut down traffic at the airport for hours. Cancel and delay hundreds of flights and make thousands of people more annoyed all for some fake demonstration of humility.)
It’s also an unfair argument. Those who claim carbon is not an issue can use as much of it as they like as they like to press their claim. But those who claim it is a problem aren’t allowed to travel, aren’t allowed to live in a big home, have to present themselves as a shoeless monk in an old frayed robe. That would be maybe valid if any serious person was arguing for that as a solution, they aren’t. A carbon tax or cap-n-trade would still allow you to fly your private jet or drive the least fuel efficient car on the market.
“This argument is not worth serious consideration.”
Of coarse it is worth serious consideration that Obama did not mean what he said. If Obama was really concerned about carbon emissions, he would have cut his own as much as possible. Jimmy Carter dropped the thermostat at the White House to 65 and wore sweaters during the 1979 oil embargo. Obama’s actions say that carbon emissions aren’t really a problem. It is just a political ploy.
Carter wasn’t really concerned about warming back then but inflation, resource depletion and an imbalance of power with OPEC. Symbolic measures like dropping the thermostat to 65 can do some modest good in the very short term if everyone does them. Like boycotts, this can sometimes get a lot of people to act at once and make a huge impact on individual companies and entities. But in the long run things like boycotts are difficult to maintain and they run out of energy quickly. Making the economy as a whole less carbon centered would be a multi-generation process that would be less about setting your thermostat to 65 and more about making your house consume less oil at 70 degrees tomorrow than it does today.
Perhaps Obomba didn’t have the stones to order Monsanto to stop production of glyphosphates – “Agent Orange” – and order their looting masters to clean up every trace of it from the soil and all living organisms in the northern hemisphere? That might end CCD and the bees might come back?
I think you’ve nailed it which is another reason he’d leave that for Trump.
Study Shows Honeybees Are Starving Because Of Roundup
http://www.glyphosate.news/2016-06-27-study-shows-honeybees-are-starving-because-of-roundup.html
BTW, it was later claimed there is no problem, but you need to be as cautious about believing studies related this as you are about studies by big pharma because typically the people doing the studies are in some way funded by the manufacturers of what they are studying. Big money just buys everyone in the limited field of study. I’ve seen a documentary about Roundup that gave examples of flawed studies and the book “Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America” gives examples of unbelievably rigged big pharma studies. It’s amazing. The Lancet, a famous Brit medical journal, wanted to hire experts to evaluate US big pharma studies before publishing them, but they could find NO ONE who wasn’t in some way financially associated with that industry!
For a President who was supposedly a genius at making deals, speaking to people, ‘draining the swamp’, saying point blank whether or not you’d protect the bumblebee doesn’t seem like it should be so hard. If this is a ‘trap’ by Obama exactly what caliber of man did you elect to succeed him?
So when The Donald does things too quickly he is accused of not giving the matter proper consideration. If he delays something to consider it, then “saying point blank…..should not be so hard”. Obviously there is no way Donald can do anything right for some people.
Imagine if virtually everyone where you worked tried to sabotage everything you did and leak anything even remotely negative about you to then be blown out of proportion by everyone else and then covered on national TV. That’s what Trump is dealing with. Walk a few feet in his shoes.
Whose leaking everything ‘remotely negative’ about Trump? The people Trump choose as his team. (And leak? I thought his declaration was that it’s ‘fake news’?) As for walking a few feet in his shoes, his claim was that ‘only he’ could solve all of our problems. That he will base his presidency by his ability to make ‘great deals’ one on one talking and using his charm with everyone and anyone. Walking in his shoes doesn’t quite work when your shoes are hard to walk in because you’re a blowhard making claims that aren’t true and promises you can’t keep.
Does anyone here believe Trump is working hard at ‘giving consideration’ to the bumblebee decision? That he is trolling Wikipedia for info on bees, reading the public comments to the proposal, studying the # of jobs in the industries that might be impacted?
Look no one buys Mish’s view of this. There probably isn’t a huge group watching the bumblebee issue. In politics it isn’t unusual to toss some tough decisions into your opponents hands. Here the ‘tough decision’ would be if Trump likes the idea but would rather have had Obama implement it so if his anti-regulation allies got upset he could say “yes of course I oppose it but it was already on the books when I got here and I’m going after bigger issues first so I’m not going to rethink this policy”. I could see why a pro-bee Trump might have rather been dealt that card than having to make the call himself. So what? This man ran on not an ideology but on his supposed personal brilliance dealing with people. If he wants to help the bees she should be strong enough to just do it despite what anti-reg types might say. If he wants to screw the bees he should be able to just do that too. If this type of decision results in whiny bitch behavior then I’m not seeing how this fool is ever going to sit in front of a table and negotiate with an angry China or Russia.
Actually more than one person on here buys Mish’s view, myself included. This isn’t tossing hard decisions into your opponents hands, it is sabotage, and yes, it is part of the political game. Still deliberate game playing that does not benefit the country. Also,I don’t believe he’s whining about anything re bumblebees, it’s everyone else that’s making a song and dance of it. I’m not a Trump fan. But Obama has a track record and it’s awful.
These types of “midnight regulations” have been around for decades. Carter, both Bushes, and Clinton were all notorious for the amount of stuff they signed in their last 30 days or so. Here’s a headline from the Guardian in 2008 — “Bush sneaks through host of laws to undermine Obama.” Obama is no more political than any of the others. Lather…rinse…repeat.
“Bush sneaks through host of laws to undermine Obama”
Here’s the major difference – where’s the Guardian and other major news outlet coverage of the same for Trump, defending him from Obama?
“Trump lets vital Bumblebees die in environmental catastrophe!”
Get the picture?
Yes, I get that picture. However, I thought the point Mish was making involved Obama being unusually political in his last days, not media outlets being unfair to Trump.
The facts:
-Obama granted the species “endangered species” status.
-Trump is delaying implementing of this decision.
-Due to Trump’s stated intention to roll back environmental regulations, people are afraid that he will reverse Obama’s ruling.
There are some very serious mental gymnastics that need to be done here in order to paint Obama as the villain. He is the one who granted the status to the bumblebee. If Trump overrules this decision, then Trump is the villain. No amount of spin can change what lies at the heart of the matter.
Not a villain. Merely a jerk.
Perhaps some would like to read this item. This is not a recent find on this bee, but it was not propelled into a protective status until the final weeks of a presidency? Yes, political indeed or it would have been delt with well prior to the date, IMHO.
Of course this write up uses some of the operative words like “MAY” as justification of some unknown future outcome from some poor performing model driven scientific opinion.
If your read the proposed threats to this bee, the first is other domesticated bee’s. I guess we have to get rid of them to save them.
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/44937399/0
We need better vetting in the science world of claims. No more throwing money at those squeeking for it through unfounded rational. Just sayin,,,,,,,
ossqss
Read this article on the ruling, and you will see why it is a bad regulation: https://cei.org/blog/endangered-species-bee-listing-could-harm-bees-butterflies-other-pollinators
I am hoping that Trump has asked for more time so that he or others can sort out the unintended consequences of enacting the ruling.
You are right. There needs to be better science behind this one. Declaring it to be endangered won’t solve the problem and might make it worse.
Very late, but here’s some nice coverage of this issue:
https://youtu.be/6y-D2jYT_Tg?t=40s