WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will no longer sponsor an awards program honoring voluntary corporate actions to combat global warming, it announced on Friday, the agency’s latest move to undo Obama-era climate change programs. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will no longer sponsor an awards program honoring voluntary corporate actions to combat global warming, it announced on Friday, the agency’s latest move to undo Obama-era climate change programs.

FILE PHOTO: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks during an interview for Reuters at his office in Washington, U.S., July 10, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

Since 2012, the EPA has been the lead sponsor of the Climate Leadership Awards program and conference, which recognizes companies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their internal operations and supply chains.

In an email sent on Friday, the EPA announced it will no longer be involved in the awards or the conference.

Under Administrator Scott Pruitt, who has repeatedly expressed doubts about climate change, the EPA has moved to undo dozens of Obama-era climate regulations in what it says is an effort to ease the regulatory burden on energy and agriculture companies.

In the Trump administration’s budget proposal for 2018, the EPA was the target of the largest cut - 31 percent - a figure that Republican and Democratic lawmakers opposed.

In Friday’s email, the EPA did not explain why it is eliminating the awards program, but apologized for the inconvenience of its announcement in the middle of the award application process. The awards were to be given out in Denver between Feb. 28 and March 2, 2018.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that we don’t plan to fund an awards ceremony on climate change,” said Jahan Wilcox, EPA spokesman.

The agency spent $24,950 per year on sponsorship, plus travel and staff time for those managing the awards.

NGO co-sponsors of the awards program and conference - C2ES and the Climate Registry - said on Friday they will continue to fund the awards and conference and are eager to work with new partners to host the program.

The program has honored more than 115 companies and individuals since 2012, including Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Boeing Co (BA.N) and Mack Trucks (VOLVb.ST), as well as institutions like the University of California at Irvine. </s> The Environmental Protection Agency has dropped its sponsorship of a climate change awards program co-sponsored by two environmental organizations.

“The Agency has decided to discontinue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) involvement with the 2018 Climate Leadership Awards program,” the EPA said on its website.

“This includes canceling the 2018 Climate Leadership Awards as well as EPA’s sponsorship of the Climate Leadership Conference.”

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The awards program recognizes organizations and individuals that take steps to address climate change. It also awards organizations that publicly report their greenhouse gas production levels and reduction efforts.

Winners in 2017, which were announced at the Climate Leadership Conference in March, include Goldman Sachs, IBM and Lockheed Martin Corp., as well as a California assemblyman, the climate policy director for Atlanta and a sustainability officer for JetBlue Airways.

Organizers of the leadership awards and the climate conference said there were “disappointed” by the agency’s decision, but that the awards program and conference will move forward without the EPA.

“We believe it’s more important than ever to encourage and recognize climate action by businesses, organizations, local governments and individuals to reduce the man-made emissions that are causing our climate to change,” said Ann McCabe, executive director of the Climate Registry, and Bob Perciasepe, president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, in a statement.

“We’re eager for opportunities to build new partnerships to ensure the 2018 Climate Leadership Conference and Awards are better than ever.” </s> Under Administrator Scott Pruitt, who has repeatedly expressed doubts about climate change, the EPA has moved to undo dozens of Obama-era climate regulations in what it says is an effort to ease the regulatory burden on energy and agriculture companies.

[WASHINGTON] The US Environmental Protection Agency will no longer sponsor an awards program honouring voluntary corporate actions to combat global warming, it announced on Friday, the agency's latest move to undo Obama-era climate change programs.

Since 2012, the EPA has been the lead sponsor of the Climate Leadership Awards program and conference, which recognises companies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their internal operations and supply chains.

In an email sent on Friday, the EPA announced it will no longer be involved in the awards or the conference.

Under Administrator Scott Pruitt, who has repeatedly expressed doubts about climate change, the EPA has moved to undo dozens of Obama-era climate regulations in what it says is an effort to ease the regulatory burden on energy and agriculture companies.

In the Trump administration's budget proposal for 2018, the EPA was the target of the largest cut - 31 per cent - a figure that Republican and Democratic lawmakers opposed.

In Friday's email, the EPA did not explain why it is eliminating the awards program, but apologised for the inconvenience of its announcement in the middle of the award application process. The awards were to be given out in Denver between Feb 28 and March 2, 2018.

"It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that we don't plan to fund an awards ceremony on climate change," said Jahan Wilcox, EPA spokesman.

The agency spent US$24,950 per year on sponsorship, plus travel and staff time for those managing the awards.

NGO co-sponsors of the awards program and conference - C2ES and the Climate Registry - said on Friday they will continue to fund the awards and conference and are eager to work with new partners to host the program.

The program has honoured more than 115 companies and individuals since 2012, including Microsoft Corp, Boeing Co and Mack Trucks, as well as institutions like the University of California at Irvine. </s> EPA spokesperson Jahan Wilcox apologized but didn't explain why the EPA withdrew its support. As he told Reuters in an email "It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that [the EPA doesn't] plan to fund an awards ceremony on climate change." To start with, the administration's proposed budget for 2018 will see its funding cut by 31 percent, which will specifically affect its climate change and pollution initiatives. Even without the budget cut, though, it's hard to imagine the EPA supporting a climate change award in its current state.

Earlier this year, the agency pulled down its climate science pages to reflect the views of the White House. The president also signed an executive order rolling back climate policies approved by the previous administration. And let's not forget that the United States withdrew from the Paris Accord, an agreement between 142 countries to make an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

While the awards program for 2018 was canceled, the EPA's former co-sponsors, non-government organizations C2ES and the Climate Registry, intend to continue the tradition. They're now looking for a new co-sponsor willing to fund and host the program in the future. </s> A California court ruled in favor of the nation’s top oil companies on Monday, dismissing a lawsuit that held them responsible for the effects of global climate change.

Last year, the cities of San Francisco and Oakland sued Chevron Corporation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, and BP Plc for an abatement fund that would help to aid cities affected by flooding allegedly caused by climate change. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted Chevron’s motion to dismiss the suit, however, stating that “the scope of plaintiffs’ theory is breathtaking. It would reach the sale of fossil fuels anywhere in the world, including all past and otherwise lawful sales,” according to a statement released by Chevron.

Chevron noted that similar claims of the production and sale of oil and gas being a public nuisance that produces harmful greenhouse gas emissions had been rejected in courts across the country.

The company also stated that it had filed motions to dismiss such cases in other U.S. cities and counties, including in New York City and King County, Washington, although it does support “meaningful efforts to address climate change and accepts internationally recognized climate science.”

“Reliable, affordable energy is not a public nuisance but a public necessity,” said R. Hewitt Pate, Chevron’s vice president and general counsel. “Tackling the difficult international policy issues of climate change requires honest and constructive discussion. Using lawsuits to vilify the men and women who provide the energy we all need is neither honest nor constructive.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announces, effective in 2019, it will no longer sponsor the Climate Leadership Awards program that honors voluntary corporate actions to combat global warming.