Only in America

A proposed ordinance in Grand Rapids, Mich., would make it illegal to report people of color for “participating in their lives.” White citizens have called police to report black people for such noncrimes as holding a graduation party and entering their own apartments. A police official said citizens should stop dialing 911 because “your neighbors are having a barbecue and you’re calling because of some implicit bias.”

Some schools named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee are renaming themselves after worthy citizens with the surname “Lee” to save money on rebranding. Robert E. Lee Elementary in Austin is now Russell Lee Elementary, honoring a Depression-era photographer. “We only changed things that had ‘Robert E.,’” said a school official, “and that cut down on costs.”

EPA rolls back Obama carbon limits

The Environmental Protection Agency eliminated a signature Obama-era climate-change policy this week, giving states the ability to decide how to restrict carbon emissions—if at all. The Obama plan had set national standards for power-sector emissions, aiming for a cut of almost one-third by 2030. Its replacement, the Affordable Clean Energy rule, significantly curtails the EPA’s ability to set carbon and pollution standards, limiting it to patrolling infractions at plants. Critics said the Trump plan could result in 5,200 premature deaths annually by 2030. California, Oregon, Washington, Iowa, Colorado, and New York have said they will sue to block the rule, set to take effect by mid-July, potentially setting off a Supreme Court showdown on a president’s authority to set climate policy.

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June 28, 2019 THE WEEK