cross-posted from: https://startrek.website/post/37077490

Whatever the actual weather may be where you are, this Blender creation by visual artist @toolbrowny (on YouTube) aka shanedioneda.com, may give you a spring experience.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

October 14, 2025

Ms. Lummis introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To prohibit the enforcement of laws relating to the installation, certification, and maintenance of emissions control devices under the Clean Air Act, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the “Diesel Truck Liberation Act of 2025”.

SEC. 2. Prohibition on enforcement of emissions control device laws.

(a) In general.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including title II of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7521 et seq.), no Federal law (including regulations and Executive orders) may require a manufacturer, importer, or distributor of motor vehicles or motor vehicle engines to install, certify, or maintain any emissions control device or onboard diagnostic system on any motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine.

(b) No authority.—The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency may not promulgate or enforce any requirement under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) (including a regulation promulgated under that Act) or any other Federal law (including regulations) that requires the installation or maintenance of emissions control devices or onboard diagnostic systems on motor vehicles or motor vehicle engines.

(c) No liability.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person or entity shall be subject to civil or criminal liability under any Federal law (including regulations) for the manufacture, sale, importation, purchase, use, or modification of a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine that does not contain an emissions control device or onboard diagnostic system.

(d) Repeal of regulations.—Any regulation promulgated under the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7401 et seq.) or any other Federal law related to the installation, modification, or removal of emissions control devices or onboard diagnostic systems on motor vehicles or motor vehicle engines shall have no force or effect.

(e) Vacatur; expungement.—With respect to any of the conduct described in this section for which criminal or civil liability has attached—

(1) any criminal penalty of imprisonment shall be vacated; and

(2) any record of a finding with respect to that criminal or civil liability shall be expunged.

Earlier this month, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposal to revise the Clean Water Act, specifically a section of the law that regulates water quality and limits states’ and tribes’ authority over federal projects, as well as how tribes can gain the authority to conduct those reviews. Experts say the move would dissolve one of the few tools tribes have to enforce treaty rights and hamper their ability to protect tribal citizens.

...

The proposed rule also changes how tribes can gain regulatory authority to assess water quality under the Treatment in a Similar Manner as a State program, or TAS. Under that program, tribes are able to act as regulators, one of the few tools available to them, and directly set conditions to limit factors that would pollute waters near tribal lands.

...

During the Biden administration, tribes advocated for a baseline rule allowing all tribes some input in federal projects while seeking TAS status, but industry pushback during the comment period and a Trump win during the general election in 2024 led to its withdrawal from the EPA in December.

Happy 2026! The Eco-Libre project published our 2025 Annual Report for last year.

Eco-Libre is a volunteer-run project that designs libre technology for sustainable communities.

Eco-Libre's mission is to research, develop, document, teach, build, and distribute open-source technology that sustainably enfranchises communities' human rights.

We aim to provide clear documentation to build low-cost machines, tools, and infrastructure for people all over the world who wish to live in sustainable communities with others.

Executive Summary

• Continuing search for land in Ecuador
• New Eco-Libre Logo
• First Release of Life-Line Project
• Two Prototypes of Life-Line Project

Read the full report here.

Contribute to Eco-Libre

If you'd like to help Eco-Libre reach our mission to enfranchise sustainable communities' human rights with libre tech, please contact us to get involved :)

Join Us
eco-libre.org/join

Cheers,
The Eco-Libre Team
https://www.eco-libre.org/

We’re happy to announce the release of the Eco-Libre Life-Line version 2025.10.

• https://www.eco-libre.org/life-line-2025-10-released/

Who is Eco-Libre?

Eco-Libre is a volunteer-run project that designs libre technology for sustainable communities.

Eco-Libre's mission is to research, develop, document, teach, build, and distribute open-source technology that sustainably enfranchises communities' human rights.

We aim to provide clear documentation to build low-cost machines, tools, and infrastructure for people all over the world who wish to live in sustainable communities with others.

Contribute to Eco-Libre

If you'd like to help Eco-Libre reach our mission to enfranchise sustainable communities' human rights with libre tech, please contact us to get involved :)

Join Us
eco-libre.org/join

Cheers,
The Eco-Libre Team
https://www.eco-libre.org/

crosspostato da: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/43049861

Archived

[...]

[Anuk Pitukthanin, Director of the Mekong Studies Centre] said the rare earth mining issue must be managed beyond local communities and treated as a regional concern.

Kanwee Suebsaeng, list MP for the Fair Party and deputy chair of the House committee [in Tahiland] said the House considered the Clean Air Bill yesterday, 25 September. One section deals with transboundary pollution. He asked the drafters how Thailand could bring civil action against foreign operators whose activities in neighbouring countries harm Thailand.

[...]

Zung Ting from the Kachin environmental network reported that conditions in Myanmar’s Kachin State have worsened over the past decade, and even more since the 2021 coup.

Kachin holds vast resources amid high global demand for rare earths to feed clean energy supply chains and stockpiles in the United States, the European Union and Japan. Mining sites are located in Kachin, with China playing a major role in extracting ore and adding value.

He said China focuses on processing to add value at home, while avoiding mining on its own soil due to severe environmental harm. Chinese policy shifted to limit domestic rare earth mining by Chinese firms, pushing operations into several areas of Myanmar. Activity rose sharply after 2015, then increased again after the 2021 coup.

[...]

The absence of control is alarming. Rare earth mining sites in Kachin have increased by more than 60 percent, with over 5,000 chemical ponds across about 400 mines. Similar mines and ponds have spread to Shan State. The impact falls heavily on local communities and indigenous peoples, with severe flooding every year. More countries are now moving into Myanmar to seek rare earth ores.

[...]

Pollution from these rare earth mines is now affecting Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and reaches the Mekong. He urged all parties to learn from the disaster in Kachin and prevent further cross-border pollution.

[...]

Assoc Prof Dr Narumon Thabchumpon of the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, said political debates often get stuck on territorial limits. She proposed the no-harm principle. States must not cause serious harm to other states, and sovereignty comes with responsibility.

She urged ASEAN to table cross-border pollution from rare earth mining at the summit in November under the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. She also called for talks on environmental and health security under RBC frameworks. Local authorities should be strengthened, with early warning systems and buffer zones put in place.