DEQ’s Regan Gets to Fix Trump's EPA Dumpster Fire
Everything you need to know for Friday, Dec. 18: Cooper pardons Ronnie Long + Durham’s light COVID touch + the Russians might have hacked our nukes
Friday, Dec. 18, 2020:
7 days until Christmas
8 days until Boxing Day and the start of Kwanzaa
14 days until this cursed year ends
34 days until this cursed presidency is over
Housekeeping: If I don’t get a chance to tell you, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Beginning Monday, I’m planning to take the next two weeks off to relax, reset, bake, hike, read, catch up on the shows I have bookmarked on Netflix and HBO, probably drink too much, nap, and hang (socially distanced, of course) with my quarantine pals. I might send out a few newsletters—one-offs on important breaking news, my weekly columns, that sort of thing—but not every day, not until January.
I’m planning to send you a brief survey over the holidays, and I hope you’ll fill it out. I’m not trying to mine your data, but rather to learn more about this community and how to better serve you. Along with that, I’ll be working on ways to redesign, streamline, and hopefully improve the newsletter—to make it smarter, faster, more digestible, and unique, to emphasize the things I do well while minimizing things that might be redundant. (The survey should help me figure out what those things are.)
Our goal for the next six months is to create a sustainable business model, one that builds on the growth and enthusiasm we’ve seen in our first three months, expands our (sadly nonexistent) social media presence, allows more original reporting, generates a living-ish wage, and, frankly, is more manageable to produce. Also, I want a unicorn.
To be honest, I’m figuring the business end out as I go along, and I appreciate you being here for the ride and spending your mornings with me—especially those who’ve become paying subscribers. If you have questions, ideas, suggestions, access to venture capital, etc., don’t hesitate to write. I’ll be back each morning starting Jan. 4, assuming we survive the rest of 2020.
Happy holidays,
Jeff
Today’s Number: 885,000
Americans who filed new unemployment claims last week, an increase of 23,000 over the prior week, according to the Department of Labor’s seasonally adjusted totals. According to unadjusted figures, 935,138 people filed new claims, a slight decrease over the previous week.
An additional 455,000 people filed Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims, which help 990 workers who don’t qualify for state benefits. Without congressional intervention, these benefits will expire at the end of the month.
More than 20.6 million Americans are receiving some form of unemployment benefits.
8,765 people filed for unemployment in North Carolina last week. More than 65,000 are receiving state benefits.
More than 10,000 North Carolinians filed initial PUA claims last week. Nearly 130,000 residents are receiving the soon-to-end PUA benefits.
+ ABOVE THE FOLD
—> DEQ’s Michael Regan to Take Over Trump’s EPA Dumpster Fire
DEQ Secretary Michael Regan wasn’t Joe Biden’s first choice to run the EPA—that was California’s Mary D. Nichols, who was felled by a progressive rebellion for being insufficiently attuned to environmental racism. But he checks a lot of the right boxes.
The Trump administration’s EPA, run by a coal lobbyist—seriously!—is a hot mess of piss-poor morale, science denial, and special interest capture. That’s not unlike the polluter-coddling DEQ that Regan inherited from the McCrory administration in 2017 and turned around. He also had to contend with an anti-science Republican legislature, which might also be familiar terrain.
He’s overseenCooper’s plans for carbon reductions and made climate change a priority, both things he’ll also have to do under the Biden administration. He also forced Duke Energy into a multibillion-dollar coal-ash settlement. That settlement was central to Biden’s decision, McClatchy reports.
Soon after becoming secretary, Regan created an environmental justice advisory board, a helpful contrast with Nichols. He developed asthma growing up in eastern North Carolina, which—as Naeema Muhammad of the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network put it—is a “dumping ground” for “anything white people don’t want in their backyard.”
—> PERFORMANCE REVIEWS: Some environmental advocates don’t think he did enough to clean up hog farms or fight the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
As Duke University Environmental Law and Policy Clinic co-director Ryke Longest told The Washington Post: “Secretary Regan’s heart tells him environmental justice is an important issue. And he has articulated a vision for environmental justice. The question I have is whether he will fight hard to implement that vision in light of other competing policy priorities.”
His first priority will be reversing the Trump administration’s regulatory attacks on the environment—which is some Dems wanted a more experienced regulator than the 44-year-old Regan.
Policy Watch: “Detractors said Regan was too passive in pursuing polluters, serving as a mediator rather than a regulator. They wanted a fighter; they got a referee. ‘He’s a great person, but I don’t think he’s done enough for us on PFAS”—perfluorinated compounds—said Emily Donovan, co-founder of Clean Cape Fear.”
“Veronica Carter of Leland, whom Regan appointed to the [environmental justice] board, said some of the criticism is unfair. ‘He’s walking a tightrope,’ Carter said. ‘I get why activists are upset. We want justice and we want it now. But it takes time. And he does care.’”
—> THOUGHT 1: There will be few more important and difficult jobs in the next administration. Nearly everything Biden does on climate change will happen through regulations—not just unwinding Trump’s criminally negligent policies but enacting new rules that move toward net-zero emissions—and every new regulation will be challenged in a federal court system remade by Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell. None of this will be easy. All of it is necessary.
—> THOUGHT 2: I feel bad for the Raleigh realtor named Michael Regan, whose Google search results just got murdered.
+ LOCAL & STATE
—> Cooper (Finally) Pardons Ronnie Long
Earlier this week, as his racial equity task force recommended ramping up pardons and clemency, I asked why Roy Cooper hadn’t pardoned Ronnie Long, a Black Cabarrus County man who spent nearly 44 years behind bars for a rape he almost certainly didn’t commit based on police and prosecutorial misconduct of the highest order. On Thursday, Cooper finally came through, granting innocence pardons to Long and four others.
Cooper: “We must continue to work to reform our justice system and acknowledge when people have been wrongly convicted. I have carefully reviewed the facts in each of these cases, and, while I cannot give these men back the time they served, I am granting them Pardons of Innocence in the hope that they might be better able to move forward in their lives.”
Pardons of Innocence allow them to seek compensation from a state fund for unjust convictions.
It’s worth noting that the other four men—Teddy Lamont Isbell Sr., Kenneth Manzi Kagonyera, Damien Miguel Mills, and Larry Jerome Williams Jr.—pleaded guilty to crimes in Buncombe County and later proved their innocence. Seems like there’s a story there.
When I was at the INDY, former staff writer Erica Hellerstein wrote the definitive piece on Ronnie Long and the ways he was railroaded by a racist system. You can read her story here.
—> Raleigh’s Nights of Lights Turned Into a Cluster
This doesn’t seem to have been well-planned: The first night of the WRAL Nights of Lights led to a massive traffic backup down Western Boulevard on Wednesday, with hundreds of families crammed in their cars waiting for up to three hours to slowly drive 1.3 miles past Christmas lights they’d paid $15 to see—good God, we are all so bored, aren’t we?—before some gave up. More than 100 cars were still in line when the police closed down Dorothea Dix Park and told folks to go home.
WRAL and the City of Raleigh, which cosponsored the event, apologized. WRAL promised refunds, too.
“For the rest of its run through Dec. 31, Nights of Lights will honor all tickets purchased for time slots from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Anyone who purchased tickets for 8, 8:30, or 9 p.m. from Dec. 17 through Dec. 31 will automatically be issued a full refund beginning Thursday afternoon.”
—> Durham Hasn’t Cited Anyone for COVID Violations
To date, Wake County has issued misdemeanor citations to about two dozen businesses for violating pandemic rules. Orange County has cited about one dozen. But Durham County? Just one. And the City of Durham? Precisely zero. That’s by design, the city tells WRAL.
“Nine months into the pandemic, Durham has yet to cite anyone for violating executive orders on wearing masks, the size of gatherings, the nightly curfew, or operating a business that's supposed to be closed.”
“A ‘stern’ letter or two from Assistant City Attorney Anna Davis is usually enough to bring businesses and individuals into compliance. … ‘People, for the most part, have been very responsive,’ Davis said. ‘It’s wonderful to feel like the concerns of the city were taken seriously.’”
—> In Other News: Triangle
Twenty-one people, including Duke students and UNC frat members, face federal narcotics charges following a lengthy investigation by the DEA and Orange County Sheriff’s Office. (Chapelboro)
The Raleigh City Council took its second, final vote in favor of Downtown South. (N&O)
Leonid Teyf, the Raleigh real estate investor charged with arranging a bizarre Russian kickback scheme, won’t be released from prison before his trial despite the COVID outbreak. (TBJ, sub.)
Weather: Partly cloudy, high of 47 (WRAL)
—> In Other News: North Carolina
The state says tens of thousands of people received too much in pandemic benefits, and it wants its money back. (N&O)
Three organizations focused on Black education want Alma Adams, the “godmother of HBCUs,” to be the next secretary of education. But Adams’s name doesn’t seem to be at the top of Joe Biden’s list, and congressional Dems are wary of losing another member, given their slim majorities. (N&O)
An army reject shot up a recruiting station in Greensboro. No one was there, so no one got hurt. (N&O)
Axios, the national media company/newsletter generator, purchased the Charlotte Agenda, a digital startup, as part of its ongoing creep into local news. (Anyone remember when the Charlotte Agenda owner tried to do the Raleigh Agenda, and it lasted about three weeks?) (E&P)
+ NATION & WORLD
—> Russians Hacked Our Nuclear Weapons Agency
This doesn’t seem good: The Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration have evidence that hackers accessed their networks, too, Politico reports.
“[Officials] found suspicious activity in networks belonging to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories in New Mexico and Washington, the Office of Secure Transportation, and the Richland Field Office of the DOE. The hackers have been able to do more damage at FERC than the other agencies, the officials said, but did not elaborate.”
Information gleaned from FERC may allow the hackers to disrupt the nation’s energy grid.
“The attack on DOE is the clearest sign yet that the hackers were able to access the networks belonging to a core part of the U.S. national security enterprise. The hackers are believed to have gained access to the federal agencies’ networks by compromising the software company SolarWinds, which sells IT management products to hundreds of government and private-sector clients.”
US officials have previously blamed Russian intelligence for the hack.
—> In Brief: 3 Stories to Read Today
“Pornhub isn't without significant issues. But if advocates are most concerned about illicit content involving minors—rather than with trying to police what happens between consenting adults—then there is strong evidence that Pornhub’s problems are much smaller in scope than the problems of popular social media sites such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. That these sites generally get a pass from Pornhub foes and the press suggests there's something more going on here than just a concern for protecting children. For politicians, activists, and media personalities looking to score an easy win, the campaign against Pornhub appears to be more about moral grandstanding and leveraging generalized shame around pornography than addressing the real problem of child abuse and exploitation.” (Reason)
“The dashcam video captured a horrific scene: a Kansas sheriff’s deputy in a patrol truck mowing down a Black man who was running, shirtless, across a field in the summer darkness after fleeing a traffic stop. Lionel Womack—a 35-year-old former police detective from Kansas City, Kansas—alleges in an excessive force lawsuit filed Thursday that he sustained serious injuries when Kiowa County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremy Rodriguez intentionally drove over him during the Aug. 15 encounter. Womack said in a statement that he hadn’t been speeding nor was he under the influence of anything when he was initially pulled over. His driver’s license, insurance, and registration were up to date. ‘When the first officer turned his lights on, I pulled over and complied ... exactly as you’re supposed to. But when three additional vehicles pulled up quickly and started to surround my car, I freaked out. That’s when I took off.’” (AP)
“Every day, a handful of tech companies decide how billions of advertising dollars will be spent on the web. We don’t see these decisions take place, but brand safety algorithms scan every page and every piece of content we look at to decide whether it’s ‘safe’ before serving an ad. These millions of little verdicts add up. They determine who on the web gets monetized—and who gets blocked. … We know that brand safety technology blocked ~$3 billion globally from the news industry last year. … It appears that brand safety technology cannot tell the difference between actual offensive content and journalists reporting on the issues to inform the public.” (Branded)
—> The Rundown
The emerging stimulus deal has a carveout for live theater and music venues, but not restaurants and bars. (NBC News)
Over employee objections, Facebook reversed a pre-election algorithm change that boosted legit news sites like The New York Times over crap ones like Breitbart, ensuring that your aunt’s feed will soon be flooded with stories about Joe Biden imposing gay socialist sharia law. (NYT)
French President Emmanuel Macron has COVID. (CNN)
Tyson Foods fired seven workers allegedly involved in a grotesque COVID betting pool in Iowa. (NYT)
The plan to vaccinate nursing home patients has run into a glitch: how to get consent from residents incapable of giving it. (NYT)
Rand Paul is very concerned that people voting changes the outcome of elections. (Twitter)
President Trump’s Palm Beach neighbors are seeking to enforce a decades-old agreement to prevent him from using Mar-a-Lago as his full-time residence when he leaves the White House. (NYT)
Dutch prosecutors say a hacker successfully logged in to Trump's Twitter account by guessing his password: “MAGA2020!” (BBC)
From the Dept. of Obvious: A new study confirms that 50 years of tax cuts for the rich never trickled down. (Bloomberg)
The Federal Trade Commission says it will crack down on “deceptive claims” about CBD products. (FTC)
President-elect Biden selected New Mexico’s Deb Haaland to be his interior secretary. She’ll be the first Native American to serve in that role. (WaPo)
+ OUR SO-CALLED LIVES
—> “The Cross Is Steady While the World Turns”
Only two monks (and one outsider) know the complete recipe for Chartreuse, a liqueur born in a 900-year-old French monastery.
From The New York Times:
The Chartreux, also known as Carthusians, embrace a deeply ascetic existence in the western French Alps, observing customs that have barely changed since their order, one of Christianity’s oldest, was founded. They pass the days alone, praying for humanity and listening for God in the silence that surrounds them. …
This internal lifestyle has survived centuries of external turmoil—avalanches, landslides, terrible fires, religious wars, pillaging, evictions and exile, military occupation, the French Revolution, and, yes, plagues. Through times of earthly chaos, the Chartreux thrive in accordance with their Middle Ages-era motto: Stat crux dum volvitur orbis (“The cross is steady while the world turns”). …
The Carthusians sustain this isolated lifestyle largely through the production and sale of Chartreuse, a liqueur the monks developed centuries ago. Like its mountainous namesake and the hue named after it, Chartreuse is sharp, bright, profoundly herbal.
—> Et Cetera
Someone cast Creed frontman Scott Stapp as Frank Sinatra in a Ronald Reagan biopic, and, oh God, really? (Stereogum)
The pandemic has brought a spike in puppy scams, because humans are terrible. (NYT)
Twitter’s @jack is giving $15 million to American mayors to fund universal basic income programs. (HuffPost)
Thanks to Beth Keena. See you guys soon.