Jean Chemnick
@chemnick.bsky.social
EPA reporter with POLITICO. I cover climate and air policy at the federal level. E&ENews alum. Reach me on Signal at jchemnick.01
Reposted by Jean Chemnick
‘No good options’: GOP’s midterm hopes suffer under energy inflation
‘No good options’: GOP’s midterm hopes suffer under energy inflation
Relentlessly rising fuel costs are feeding inflation and threatening Republican reelection chances.
dlvr.it
September 9, 2026 at 12:05 PM
‘No good options’: GOP’s midterm hopes suffer under energy inflation
Reposted by Jean Chemnick
I wanted to know how much EPA spent on admin leave after 1000s were paid not to work, often for months
So I filed a #FOIA —> EPA denied me —> I appealed —> I won
And EPA spent almost $200M on leave
Many never returned to work
#FOIA4eva
More here:
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...
So I filed a #FOIA —> EPA denied me —> I appealed —> I won
And EPA spent almost $200M on leave
Many never returned to work
#FOIA4eva
More here:
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...
September 9, 2026 at 4:03 PM
I wanted to know how much EPA spent on admin leave after 1000s were paid not to work, often for months
So I filed a #FOIA —> EPA denied me —> I appealed —> I won
And EPA spent almost $200M on leave
Many never returned to work
#FOIA4eva
More here:
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...
So I filed a #FOIA —> EPA denied me —> I appealed —> I won
And EPA spent almost $200M on leave
Many never returned to work
#FOIA4eva
More here:
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...
EPA wants states to stop letting the public weigh in on most air permits -- including for data centers and the gas-fired generation that powers them.
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...
POLITICO Pro: John Q. Who? EPA effort to cut public comment draws green backlash.
EPA proposed cutting public engagement requirements for some air permits. Environmentalists say that will lead to dirtier air.
subscriber.politicopro.com
September 9, 2026 at 2:52 PM
EPA wants states to stop letting the public weigh in on most air permits -- including for data centers and the gas-fired generation that powers them.
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026...
A proposal to end EPA regulation of power plant carbon is under White House review as of Monday. It's likely to come out with a final repeal of Biden-era standards.
Will that be before or after Oct. 5, when SCOTUS hears oral arguments in Suncor?
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
Will that be before or after Oct. 5, when SCOTUS hears oral arguments in Suncor?
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
E&E News: Power plant endangerment repeal enters White House review
The supplemental proposal was submitted on Monday and will be released with a final repeal of Biden-era rules.
subscriber.politicopro.com
August 26, 2026 at 3:31 PM
A proposal to end EPA regulation of power plant carbon is under White House review as of Monday. It's likely to come out with a final repeal of Biden-era standards.
Will that be before or after Oct. 5, when SCOTUS hears oral arguments in Suncor?
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
Will that be before or after Oct. 5, when SCOTUS hears oral arguments in Suncor?
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
EPA says the Clean Air Act gives it no power to regulate greenhouse gases. The Trump DOJ is telling SCOTUS that the Clean Air Act gives EPA alone power to regulate greenhouse gases. 🐱and ☠️🐱.
www.eenews.net/articles/a-s...
www.eenews.net/articles/a-s...
A Supreme Court case may be slowing Trump’s next climate rollback
“EPA is trying to have their cake and eat it, too,” said one environmental lawyer.
www.eenews.net
August 20, 2026 at 5:33 PM
EPA says the Clean Air Act gives it no power to regulate greenhouse gases. The Trump DOJ is telling SCOTUS that the Clean Air Act gives EPA alone power to regulate greenhouse gases. 🐱and ☠️🐱.
www.eenews.net/articles/a-s...
www.eenews.net/articles/a-s...
Investors may underestimate the risk climate change poses to their portfolios. Experts I talked to say federal regulatory agencies are making those threats less transparent, increasing the likelihood of a brutal repricing down the line.
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
E&E News: The stock market may have a climate change problem
The president’s favorite indicator of economic health will have to reckon with the woes of a warming planet.
subscriber.politicopro.com
August 18, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Investors may underestimate the risk climate change poses to their portfolios. Experts I talked to say federal regulatory agencies are making those threats less transparent, increasing the likelihood of a brutal repricing down the line.
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
Power providers are counting on the demise of the 2024 power plant carbon rules, with their CCS standards. But their resource plans show they're less confident that they won't be regulated for climate change sometime in the future.
www.eenews.net/articles/pow...
www.eenews.net/articles/pow...
Power companies are still planning for climate regulation. Sort of.
Utilities are leaning into a regulatory future free of carbon restrictions. But they are mindful of a potential future about-face.
www.eenews.net
June 23, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Power providers are counting on the demise of the 2024 power plant carbon rules, with their CCS standards. But their resource plans show they're less confident that they won't be regulated for climate change sometime in the future.
www.eenews.net/articles/pow...
www.eenews.net/articles/pow...
Reposted by Jean Chemnick
The retirement of RCP8.5 — former worst-case climate scenario has been in the news recently, and I’ve seen a lot of good explainers about this very misunderstood modeling tool. But an angle I think has been missing: the former best-case scenario is also out. My story: www.eenews.net/articles/the...
The worst-case climate scenario is gone. The catch? The best case is, too.
Inside the demise of a 15-year-old modeling scenario built off the worst possibilities scientists could imagine.
www.eenews.net
June 10, 2026 at 6:43 PM
The retirement of RCP8.5 — former worst-case climate scenario has been in the news recently, and I’ve seen a lot of good explainers about this very misunderstood modeling tool. But an angle I think has been missing: the former best-case scenario is also out. My story: www.eenews.net/articles/the...
Reposted by Jean Chemnick
NEW: Todd Blanche has mastered the audience of one — in part by keeping him out of prison. The audience of 100 is a tougher sell.
w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social @eorden
www.politico.com/news/2026/06...
w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social @eorden
www.politico.com/news/2026/06...
June 4, 2026 at 10:55 PM
NEW: Todd Blanche has mastered the audience of one — in part by keeping him out of prison. The audience of 100 is a tougher sell.
w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social @eorden
www.politico.com/news/2026/06...
w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social @eorden
www.politico.com/news/2026/06...
U.S. manufacturers say that EPA's recent rule giving supermarkets more time to start buying the more climate-friendly refrigeration systems they developed will hurt them and help their Chinese competitors. My piece: www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
EPA’s HFC delay tests Trump’s made in America agenda
The agency's regulatory rollback for grocery refrigerators has sparked a backlash from U.S. manufacturers.
www.eenews.net
June 4, 2026 at 1:52 PM
U.S. manufacturers say that EPA's recent rule giving supermarkets more time to start buying the more climate-friendly refrigeration systems they developed will hurt them and help their Chinese competitors. My piece: www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
Reposted by Jean Chemnick
I worked hard on this story, it's important, & I want to share it. I'm also finding it difficult to put it out there without this context: Just as I wrapped up final edits last week, I got word that a friend vacationing in Arizona had died after overheating on a hike.
www.eenews.net/articles/dea...
www.eenews.net/articles/dea...
Deadly heat is coming. But funding to save lives is not.
Emergency officials are searching for loopholes to save lives as President Donald Trump slashes programs.
www.eenews.net
June 2, 2026 at 5:17 PM
I worked hard on this story, it's important, & I want to share it. I'm also finding it difficult to put it out there without this context: Just as I wrapped up final edits last week, I got word that a friend vacationing in Arizona had died after overheating on a hike.
www.eenews.net/articles/dea...
www.eenews.net/articles/dea...
Reposted by Jean Chemnick
The dock that launched America’s offshore wind industry now sits mostly empty. Only remnants of the project remain.
As Trump has made combatting offshore wind a hallmark of his second term, a blue-collar town is at the center of it all.
As Trump has made combatting offshore wind a hallmark of his second term, a blue-collar town is at the center of it all.
It Was Supposed to Be a Lifeline for a Blue-Collar Town. Then Trump Returned.
New Bedford, Massachusetts is ground zero for America’s wind industry.
www.politico.com
June 1, 2026 at 3:50 PM
The dock that launched America’s offshore wind industry now sits mostly empty. Only remnants of the project remain.
As Trump has made combatting offshore wind a hallmark of his second term, a blue-collar town is at the center of it all.
As Trump has made combatting offshore wind a hallmark of his second term, a blue-collar town is at the center of it all.
EPA's rule letting grocery stores buy HFC-based refrigeration systems through 2032 gives a dollar value only to upfront costs of buying an HFC product vs. a HFC-free product. No monetized values for employment, other industries, health, climate.
June 1, 2026 at 5:58 PM
EPA's rule letting grocery stores buy HFC-based refrigeration systems through 2032 gives a dollar value only to upfront costs of buying an HFC product vs. a HFC-free product. No monetized values for employment, other industries, health, climate.
EPA is calling regulatory impact analyses for rules (like the recent HFC technology transition change) regulatory impact "memos." What are they doing there?
May 28, 2026 at 7:08 PM
EPA is calling regulatory impact analyses for rules (like the recent HFC technology transition change) regulatory impact "memos." What are they doing there?
EPA's power plant carbon rule repeal has landed at OMB. Anybody know what might have changed since the proposal? What did they do about causation/endangerment/whatnot? I'm at jchemnick.01 on Signal. Thank you, and happy Friday!
May 15, 2026 at 5:34 PM
EPA's power plant carbon rule repeal has landed at OMB. Anybody know what might have changed since the proposal? What did they do about causation/endangerment/whatnot? I'm at jchemnick.01 on Signal. Thank you, and happy Friday!
This is really a cool resource, and I didn't know it existed. A group called Climate Literacy has preserved all the climate databases and analytical tools that were removed from agency websites (EPA, Ag) in one place: www.climateliteracy.earth/us-federal-r...
US Federal Climate Info Finder — climateliteracy.earth
www.climateliteracy.earth
May 1, 2026 at 1:46 PM
This is really a cool resource, and I didn't know it existed. A group called Climate Literacy has preserved all the climate databases and analytical tools that were removed from agency websites (EPA, Ag) in one place: www.climateliteracy.earth/us-federal-r...
EPA Chief Lee Zeldin is good at tailoring his message to MAGA media. But that sometimes puts him at odds with EPA's official justifications for actions -- whether it be a rule or the cancellation of a grant. And that could be a liability if he moves over to DOJ: www.eenews.net/articles/fro...
From EPA to DOJ? Zeldin’s words may haunt him.
The EPA chief’s partisan attacks energize the base but risk weakening cases he’d oversee if he's named attorney general.
www.eenews.net
April 21, 2026 at 5:48 PM
EPA Chief Lee Zeldin is good at tailoring his message to MAGA media. But that sometimes puts him at odds with EPA's official justifications for actions -- whether it be a rule or the cancellation of a grant. And that could be a liability if he moves over to DOJ: www.eenews.net/articles/fro...
EPA finalized its endangerment finding repeal on legal grounds. But today, Zeldin told the Heartland gathering that their view that greenhouse gases would be net beneficial to humanity would be proved right in the coming decades as harmful warming fails to materialize.
Addressing a climate science deniers conference, EPA chief Lee Zeldin acknowledged his presence meant the "walls have collapsed" between federal government and a fringe group of contrarians that other administrations kept at arm's length.
w/ @chemnick.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2026/04...
w/ @chemnick.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2026/04...
Zeldin stars at climate denial conference
The EPA administrator became the first agency chief to speak at the Heartland Institute's annual gathering of people who say climate change benefits humanity.
www.politico.com
April 8, 2026 at 6:27 PM
EPA finalized its endangerment finding repeal on legal grounds. But today, Zeldin told the Heartland gathering that their view that greenhouse gases would be net beneficial to humanity would be proved right in the coming decades as harmful warming fails to materialize.
EPA is due to finalize its repeal of Biden power plant climate rules in "early spring." Tick tock. It hasn't gone to OMB. But there is growing speculation that it will pull the rule back based on a critique of CCS, with a supplemental "endangerment" draft.
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
E&E News: Why EPA may need a new strategy to repeal power plant pollution limits
The agency is expected to soon finalize the repeal, which was proposed before the Trump administration's elimination of the 2009 endangerment finding.
subscriber.politicopro.com
March 30, 2026 at 4:06 PM
EPA is due to finalize its repeal of Biden power plant climate rules in "early spring." Tick tock. It hasn't gone to OMB. But there is growing speculation that it will pull the rule back based on a critique of CCS, with a supplemental "endangerment" draft.
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eene...
Reposted by Jean Chemnick
The unprecedented heat wave currently enveloping the western U.S. could portend intensifying drought, water shortages, strong summer heat and intense wildfires later this year, scientists warn. My story: 🔏https://www.eenews.net/articles/alarm-bells-early-western-heat-wave-foreshadows-future-danger/
‘Alarm bells’: Early Western heat wave foreshadows future danger
Vanishing snowpack, dwindling water supplies, high summer heat and severe wildfires could all be in store later this season.
www.eenews.net
March 18, 2026 at 5:19 PM
The unprecedented heat wave currently enveloping the western U.S. could portend intensifying drought, water shortages, strong summer heat and intense wildfires later this year, scientists warn. My story: 🔏https://www.eenews.net/articles/alarm-bells-early-western-heat-wave-foreshadows-future-danger/
EPA's endangerment finding and car rules repeal suggested that oil prices fall because of Trump policies. Lower future prices at the pump would mean consumers pay less for policies that keep demand high.
But then came Trump's war...
www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
But then came Trump's war...
www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
EPA tied its climate rollback to low oil prices. Then came the Iran war.
The Trump administration relied on rosy price estimates to argue that repealing emissions limits for cars would save consumers money.
www.eenews.net
March 18, 2026 at 5:49 PM
EPA's endangerment finding and car rules repeal suggested that oil prices fall because of Trump policies. Lower future prices at the pump would mean consumers pay less for policies that keep demand high.
But then came Trump's war...
www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
But then came Trump's war...
www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
Reposted by Jean Chemnick
Trump wants more data centers to generate their own power.
But living next to tech industry gas turbines has made this VA neighborhood "unbearable" due to noise. One resident is taking sleeping pills, another can't walk his dog.
My latest for @eenews.bsky.social
www.eenews.net/articles/one...
But living next to tech industry gas turbines has made this VA neighborhood "unbearable" due to noise. One resident is taking sleeping pills, another can't walk his dog.
My latest for @eenews.bsky.social
www.eenews.net/articles/one...
One obstacle for Trump’s AI power pledge: The neighbors
Getting data centers to generate their own electricity may ease one obstacle to public acceptance of data centers. But it creates new hurdles.
www.eenews.net
March 11, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Trump wants more data centers to generate their own power.
But living next to tech industry gas turbines has made this VA neighborhood "unbearable" due to noise. One resident is taking sleeping pills, another can't walk his dog.
My latest for @eenews.bsky.social
www.eenews.net/articles/one...
But living next to tech industry gas turbines has made this VA neighborhood "unbearable" due to noise. One resident is taking sleeping pills, another can't walk his dog.
My latest for @eenews.bsky.social
www.eenews.net/articles/one...
The Clean Air Act is a somewhat clunky instrument for tackling climate change -- at least for some sectors.
So, if the Clean Air Act is going to be broadly unavailable for greenhouse gas regulation post-endangerment repeal, what comes after that?
www.eenews.net/articles/Why...
So, if the Clean Air Act is going to be broadly unavailable for greenhouse gas regulation post-endangerment repeal, what comes after that?
www.eenews.net/articles/Why...
Why the Clean Air Act was never a ‘good fit’ for climate
The lawyers who successfully won the law’s climate authority once thought of it as a placeholder for stronger legislation.
www.eenews.net
March 10, 2026 at 2:30 PM
The Clean Air Act is a somewhat clunky instrument for tackling climate change -- at least for some sectors.
So, if the Clean Air Act is going to be broadly unavailable for greenhouse gas regulation post-endangerment repeal, what comes after that?
www.eenews.net/articles/Why...
So, if the Clean Air Act is going to be broadly unavailable for greenhouse gas regulation post-endangerment repeal, what comes after that?
www.eenews.net/articles/Why...
Reposted by Jean Chemnick
Trump administration cuts, layoffs and restructurings have cast a shadow over U.S. participation in a major international climate modeling initiative -- a collaboration that federal scientists have been at the forefront of for decades. My story today: www.eenews.net/articles/tru...
Trump cuts threaten US role in global climate modeling
Agency cuts, layoffs and policy shifts are throwing America’s role into question.
www.eenews.net
March 9, 2026 at 8:40 PM
Trump administration cuts, layoffs and restructurings have cast a shadow over U.S. participation in a major international climate modeling initiative -- a collaboration that federal scientists have been at the forefront of for decades. My story today: www.eenews.net/articles/tru...