Overnight Energy: Pruitt proposes rule targeting 'secret science' | Dems probe Pruitt's security chief | FAA bill provisions could strip endangered species protections

View in your browser     NEW EPA RULE ON 'SECRET SCIENCE': Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt signed a proposal for a new rule Tuesday aimed at increasing "transparency" in science. The proposal, signed at EPA headquarters, aims to expose the methodology behind scientific findings and cut back on what Pruitt has deemed "secret science." Speaking in front of a number of well-known climate change skeptics including the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Myron Ebell, Pruitt announced that the new rule would require science to "be transparent, reproducible and able to be analyzed by those in the marketplace." Reporters were not invited to attend the event, and details surrounding the announcement and rule proposal were kept secret until 30 minutes before the EPA's Twitter account announced it would be live-streamed. Pruitt said the new ruling shows "an agency taking responsibility for how we do our work, in respecting process ... so that we can enhance confidence in our decision making." He also dubbed the current process which had, until now, allowed science to be peer reviewed rather than open to public scrutiny, "simply wrong headed." The rule will replicate, through agency action, two bills previously introduced in the House and Senate meant to restrict the kind of science the EPA can use when writing regulations. A possible roadblock: Seven Democratic Lawmakers sent a letter to Pruitt on Tuesday and warning him the proposal could be illegal because it's "likely" in violation of laws that mandate EPA to consider best available science when putting together a rulemaking. "Your proposed new policy likely violates several laws with which EPA must comply as the agency writes rules to protect our air, water and land from harmful pollution," the letter read. "Courts have explained that 'best available science' means that agencies 'should seek out and consider all existing scientific evidence relevant to the decision' and 'cannot ignore existing data,'" the letter read. What the rule means: It's unclear exactly how the proposed policy change will affect EPA's regulatory process, especially since the agency under Trump has not been rushing to pass any new regulations regardless of the science. However, scientists and environmentalists worry that the rule will provide the administration with more leeway to pass less stringent regulations to the benefit of fossil fuel companies. Read more here.     DEMS PROBE PRUITT'S SECURITY CHIEF: Two Democratic senators say Pruitt's top security guard has an invalid authorization for outside work. In a letter Tuesday to top EPA ethics official Kevin Minoli, Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) question multiple facts about a 2013 document that gave Pasquale Perrotta permission to run an outside security firm. "If this document is EPA's basis for claiming that Mr. Perrotta has been cleared, under EPA regulations, to run a private security consulting firm while running the Administrator's personal security detail, it is insufficient on its face," the senators wrote. Carper is the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which oversees the EPA, and Whitehouse is a senior member of the panel. The pair's letter comes as Perrotta, the head of Pruitt's security detail, has attracted significant media attention in recent weeks. Perrotta also is an executive at Sequoia Security Group and allegedly helped direct the EPA to pay his partner, Edwin Steinmetz, to conduct the bug sweep. The senators asked the EPA for numerous documents and other information about Perrotta's outside work. Read more.   Another Pruitt aide in Dems' sights: Two House Democrats are asking the EPA's Office of Inspector General's internal watchdog to investigate an adviser to Administrator Scott Pruitt who was banned nationally last year from the banking sector. Albert "Kell" Kelly used to lead SpiritBank, based in Pruitt's hometown of Tulsa, Okla. The two have known each other for years and Kelly got Pruitt financing for a mortgage and to help buy a minor-league baseball team. Pruitt hired Kelly last year as an adviser for the Superfund program, shortly before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. settled unknown allegations against Kelly by banning him from banking for a year. "Mr. Kelly came to this position without the necessary qualifications, and with serious and still-unexplained red flags, and his conduct has raised ethical, regulatory and potential legal issues that we believe your office should examine," Reps. Don Beyer (D-Va.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) wrote to the EPA's Office of Inspector General, seeking an investigation into Kelly's hiring and management of Superfund. Read more.   Dems also probing Pruitt's water memo: Carper and Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) are also looking into Pruitt's March memo that gave him new authority to make certain determinations over water pollution standards. The policy took away the authority of regional EPA officials to make some calls as to whether a particular body of water can be federally controlled under the Clean Water Act, and gave that authority to Pruitt. They wrote in a letter Tuesday that the memo calls into question Pruitt's "commitment, as EPA Administrator, to follow the law ... as well as to ensure that Clean Water Act decisions are based on established science and precedent, and conducted in a transparent manner." They accused him of "sidelining" local expertise and said that Pruitt actions "appear nothing more than a power grab to consolidate absolute authority in your personal offices, with no assurance that you will follow the rule of law, science, or the precedents of the agency in exercising your statutory responsibility under the Clean Water Act to 'restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters.'" Read more here.   Another Dem letter... this time on Arctic Ocean drilling: A group of House and Senate Democrats sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Tuesday asking him to stop the planning for a drilling rights lease sale in the Arctic Ocean's Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska. Read the letter.   FAA BILL INCLUDES TWO POLICIES THAT COULD STRIP ENDANGERED SPECIES PROTECTIONS: Two provisions lodged inside an annual House bill on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) could strip away endangered species protections. The House is expected to vote on the FAA Reauthorization Act this week, and if taken up as is, the bill would include two policies that would limit how Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections extend to airports and a national Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program. One provision is being steered by Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio (Ore.). It stipulates that private parties rebuilding property with the help of FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) would no longer have to adhere to species and habitat protections as determined under the ESA. Specifically, the proposal declares that actions taken under the National Flood Insurance Act and others do not "create a federal nexus," which mandates ESA protections on properties. The provision, which has nothing to do with the FAA, is personal to DeFazio. It is the third time the Democrat has introduced the provision into House legislation. He first introduced it in the FEMA Reauthorization Act of 2017 and then in the Department of Homeland Security reauthorization bill that passed the House last summer. The provision has since stalled in the Senate. The addition is a response to an Oregon legal settlement resulting from a 2009 case where FEMA was sued for failing to ensure that the flood insurance program compiled with the ESA. The settlement mandated the agency comply with what the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) to better avoid jeopardizing species and habitat. FEMA came to a similar settlement in Florida in 2011. However, DeFazio and other Oregon lawmakers argue that the regulations are too stringent and impact economic growth. Since much of Oregon is built on floodplains where a number of communities rely on FEMA's insurance program to exist, they say the ESA protections, meant to protect salmon, steelhead and orca whale habitat, are a burden on Oregonians. Read more here.   Noticing a trend: The Trump administration has also been targeting ESA protections. In April, the Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed weakening a rule in place for decades that gives threatened species on private land the same protections as endangered species. That same week, Trump picked a new political appointee to oversee wildlife and parks at the Interior who has a history of opposing endangered species protections.   MURKOWSKI PLANS HEARING WITH PRUITT NEXT MONTH: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is planning a hearing in May with Pruitt. The chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee panel that oversees the EPA's budget said that the hearing would be primarily about the EPA's 2019 budget request, a standard practice in the months after the president releases his budget proposal. As for when the hearing will be, Murkowski said, "it's a surprise!" It would be the first Senate hearing since numerous scandals involving Pruitt became public in recent weeks. Senators are likely to take full advantage of the opportunity to question him about them.   FROM THE HILL'S OPINION SECTION: --Ambassador Richard Morningstar, the founding chairman of the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center, says that Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel must insist on a meaningful binding guarantee over the building of the Baltic Sea pipeline. --Thomas Pugh, a commodities analyst for Capital Economics, argues that Trump will have little impact on oil prices   ON TAP WEDNESDAY: NEPA 'weaponization': The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on the "weaponization" of the National Environmental Policy Act. NRC budget: The Senate Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on energy and water will hold a hearing on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's budget request for fiscal 2019.   OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY: Drought conditions are expected to return to much of the Southwest United States, the Associated Press reports. A Minnesota judge said the proposed replacement for Enbridge's Line 3 oil pipeline should be built, but not along the company's intended route, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports. Eugene Leff, the lead attorney in the Love Canal litigation who helped reach a landmark settlement, died at age 73, The New York Times reports.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Check out Tuesday's stories ... -Dems seek probe into Pruitt aide banned from banking -Pruitt turned down White House help on congressional testimony: reports -Pruitt signs proposed rule to erase 'secret science' from EPA -Provisions in FAA bill could strip endangered species protections -Zinke added birther conspiracy theorist to his super PAC's board: report -Dems say Pruitt security chief's authorization for side job is invalid -Dems question Pruitt over centralizing water pollution authority -More than 100 groups call on Congress to oppose weakening national park protections -Winning victories for coal under Trump     Please send tips and comments to Timothy Cama, tcama@thehill.com; and Devin Henry, dhenry@thehill.com. Follow us on Twitter: @Timothy_Cama, @dhenry, @thehill         Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Energy Newsletters     Forward Energy Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.

SearchCap: Google earnings, fake online reviews & paid search

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Reports: Fake reviews are a growing problem on Amazon, Google   Apr 24, 2018 by Greg Sterling Facebook is reportedly the source of some of the fake review solicitations.

From Search Engine Land

Google posts $31.1B in total revenue, beats top- and bottom-line expectations   Apr 24, 2018 by Greg Sterling The company reported nearly $27 billion in ad revenues.

So many paid search campaigns, so little time. Here's how to stay ahead of it all.   Apr 24, 2018 by Christi Olson Saving time and money are top priorities for most search marketers, Contributor Christi Olson has five tips plus a bonus to help save time and money when optimizing search campaigns.

Best practices for optimizing media-rich web page speed   Apr 24, 2018 by Digital Marketing Depot Consumer media consumption is rapidly shifting from text to visual images. Website content that includes compelling images averages nearly twice as many views as text, and four times more customers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. There has been explosive growth in the adoption of visual media to dramatically […]

From Marketing Land

7 ways protections for online content are being eroded   Apr 24, 2018 by Wesley Young Recent changes to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act raise questions about how safe from liability publishers will continue to be for user-generated or third-party content. Contributor Wesley Young discusses threats on the horizon to those protections.

Facebook now letting users appeal posts that were removed for violating content standards   Apr 24, 2018 by Amy Gesenhues For the first time ever, Facebook has published the guidelines its internal teams use to decide what content is allowed on the site.

YouTube removed more than 8M videos for violent & extremist content during Q4 2017   Apr 24, 2018 by Amy Gesenhues YouTube says it's making strides in protecting viewers from abusive content, but brand safety is still not 100%.

Sharpen your digital marketing skills with an SMX Advanced workshop   Apr 24, 2018 by Marketing Land Growing your marketing skills helps you design and deploy winning campaigns and keeps you at the top of your game. The best way to stay fresh is to train hard. An SMX Advanced workshop can help get you there.

Facebook opens Authorization tab in Page settings for advertisers running political ads   Apr 24, 2018 by Amy Gesenhues While the Authorizations tab will be visible to all advertisers, only those in the US that are running political ads will be able to complete the authorization process for now.

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Overnight Cybersecurity: Homeland Security official says Russia likely targeted more than 21 states | SEC fines Yahoo $35M over breach | Senate confirms NSA chief | Lawmakers unveil internet privacy bill

View in your browser       Welcome to OVERNIGHT CYBERSECURITY, your daily rundown of the biggest news in the world of hacking and data privacy. We're here to connect the dots as leaders in government, policy and industry try to counter the rise in cyber threats. What lies ahead for Congress, the administration and the latest company under siege? Whether you're a consumer, a techie or a D.C. lifer, we're here to give you ...   THE BIG STORIES: --DHS OFFICIAL SAYS RUSSIA LIKELY TARGETED MORE THAN 21 STATES: A top Department of Homeland Security official said Tuesday that Russian hackers likely targeted more than 21 states before the 2016 election as part of a broader effort to interfere in the vote. Jeanette Manfra, the official, acknowledged that the department only had enough "visibility" to confirm activity targeting 21 states because of sensors in place in the state systems and information provided by the intelligence community. "I think we can assume that the majority of the states were probably a target," Manfra said during a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing in response to questioning from ranking member Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). But Manfra pushed back on McCaskill's assertion that states where activity was not detected were likely more vulnerable to Russian hackers because they didn't have tools in place to detect breach attempts. Manfra noted that most of the activity Homeland Security analyzed involved hackers scanning for vulnerabilities, rather than trying to break into systems. Manfra stressed that only a small number of state systems were actually breached.   --HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIALS said last year that Russian hackers targeted election-related digital systems in 21 states before the 2016 presidential election. Federal officials maintain that hackers did not target systems involved in vote-tallying, and that there is no evidence any vote tallies were changed. The disclosure has prompted broad concerns about future interference efforts by Russia or other foreign actors. On Tuesday, Manfra said the department has seen no activity of Russia or other actors targeting election systems ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. She also stressed that the agency has adopted an "aggressive posture" to election security. Manfra faced a broad slate of questions from lawmakers about Homeland Security's efforts to guard federal networks and critical infrastructure from cyber threats. Topics covered at the hearing included the department's decision to bar federal agencies from using software produced by Kaspersky Lab, recent Russian attacks on routers and other internet infrastructure, and the definition of "cyber warfare." The hearing focused broadly on mitigating America's cybersecurity risk and also featured testimony from Greg Wilshusen, an official at the Government Accountability Office, and Eric Rosenbach, a former Pentagon official and cyber expert at Harvard's Belfer Center. At the conclusion of the hearing, Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said it was clear from testimony that the U.S. has "come a long way" in terms of cybersecurity, but that more needs to be done. "We're getting our act together, but it's difficult, it's complex," Johnson said. To read more of our coverage, click here.   --CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA WHISTLEBLOWER BRIEFS HOUSE DEMS: Christopher Wylie, the whistleblower behind revelations about Cambridge Analytica's handling of Facebook user data, on Tuesday briefed a group of House Democrats behind closed doors. Following the interview, Democrats from the House Judiciary and the Oversight and Government Reform committees warned about the prospect of election interference on social media and urged the panels' leaders to hold full hearings on the data scandal. "We must do more to learn how foreign actors collect and weaponize our data against us, and what impact social media has on our democratic processes," the members said in a joint statement. "Cambridge Analytica is not the first company to engage in these types of tactics, nor will they be last if we fail to conduct oversight and investigate this matter thoroughly." The Democrats said that Republicans had refused an invitation to participate in the interview. Members leaving the briefing said they were struck by how Cambridge Analytica, which is based in London, operated with the sophistication of a military unit and worried that the U.S. was vulnerable to such firms manipulating elections. "A very disturbing testimony in my view, because it really shows how there was a coordinated effort to mislead and to use propaganda to influence an American presidential election," Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) told reporters. Cambridge Analytica has denied using the improperly obtained data during its work for President Trump's 2016 campaign. To read more of our coverage, click here.     A LEGISLATIVE UPDATE:  IN THE SENATE: Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and John Kennedy (R-La.) on Tuesday introduced a bipartisan internet privacy bill that would give users more control over what websites can do with their data. The new bill, the Social Media Privacy Protection and Consumer Rights Act, comes just weeks after Congress threatened Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg with tougher regulations when he testified in back-to-back hearings earlier this month. "I don't want to hurt Facebook, and I don't want to regulate them half to death, either," Kennedy said in a statement. "But I have a job to do, and that's protecting the rights and privacy of our citizens." What it does: The bill would give users the right to opt out of having their data collected and require websites to make their terms of service easily understandable. Users would also have the ability to order websites to delete their data and request copies of what has been collected about them. Timeline: Zuckerberg promised Congress that Facebook would take a broader view of its responsibility to consumers after it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a political firm that contracted with President Trump's 2016 campaign, obtained data on more than 87 million users without their knowledge. Still, some lawmakers, such as Kennedy and Klobuchar, see the need for privacy legislation to rein in internet giants. Their bill would require websites to inform users of privacy violations within 72 hours of any breach. To read more of our piece, click here.   A CONFIRMATION IN FOCUS:  TRUMP'S NSA DIRECTOR: The Senate has approved President Trump's choice to lead the National Security Agency (NSA) and U.S. Cyber Command. The upper chamber approved the nomination of Lt. Gen. Paul Nakasone in a voice vote Tuesday morning. Nakasone will replace outgoing NSA Director Mike Rogers. Nakasone, who has most recently helmed the U.S. Army's cyber operations, is widely cheered by current and former officials as a qualified choice. He was commissioned as a military intelligence officer more than three decades ago, serving in key roles at the NSA and Cyber Command. Nakasone sailed through confirmation hearings before the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence committees last month, earning broad praise from lawmakers in both parties. At the helm of the NSA, Nakasone will oversee the U.S. government's foreign and counterintelligence collection, an operation that has increasingly drawn scrutiny since the 2013 disclosures by NSA contractor-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden. The bottom line: Nakasone will serve in the dual-hatted position of NSA director and commander of Cyber Command, the Pentagon's burgeoning cyber warfare unit, while the Trump administration continues to study whether to separate the two organizations. To read more of our coverage, click here.   A LIGHTER TWITTER CLICK:  You know that person who talks too loudly on their phone in a public space? That appears to be President Trump's attorney Ty Cobbs. (Tweet)   WHAT'S IN THE SPOTLIGHT:  YAHOO PAYS FOR EMAIL BREACH: Yahoo has agreed to pay a $35 million penalty after failing to properly notify customers and investors that hackers had compromised hundreds of millions of user accounts, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Tuesday. Yahoo, which was rebranded after being purchased by Verizon last year, first learned about the cyber intrusion in December of 2014, but did not alert the public until December 2016, according to the SEC's order. The company's information security team first discovered that Russian hackers had obtained a trove of personal user information in their hack four days after the breach took place, the SEC order says. The cyber criminals gained access to internal data like usernames, email addresses, passwords, phone numbers and birthdates, as well as security questions and answers for hundreds of millions of user accounts. Yahoo only disclosed the breach to the public when Verizon was in the process of acquiring Yahoo's operating business, which it ultimately did in June, the SEC said. "Although information relating to the breach was reported to members of Yahoo's senior management and legal department, Yahoo failed to properly investigate the circumstances of the breach and to adequately consider whether the breach needed to be disclosed to investors," the SEC said. After the hack, the company continued to file both quarterly and annual reports that failed to disclose how one of the world's largest data breaches could affect their potential business. In addition, the company did not seek an outside party to assess the impact of the hack, the SEC found. To read more of our piece, click here. Why this matters: This settlement marks the first time the SEC has pursued a company for failing to properly disclose a cyber breach. While Yahoo agreed to pay the charges without admitting or denying wrongdoing, they still agreed to pay a multi-million dollar settlement.   IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Links from our blog, The Hill, and around the Web. Facebook unveils standards on policing users. (The Hill) Twitter announces updated privacy policy ahead of new EU laws. (The Hill) Facebook to let users appeal censored content. (The Hill) Trump's CIA pick facing brutal confirmation fight. (The Hill) GOP chairmen say they have deal with Justice on documents. (The Hill) Comey book sales top 600,000 in first week. (The Hill) OP-ED: Congress is walking the online privacy tightrope with oversight. (The Hill) OP-ED: To solve the Facebook problem, think big (data). (The Hill) Coalition of tech companies add 'Importance of Strong Encryption' to policy principles. (Reform Government Surveillance) Pentagon program wants to combine cyber experts with computer defenders to confront cyberattacks. (Defense One) Amazon is now delivering to your trunk for free -- if you're a Prime member. (CNN Money) The G7 Communique has a lot of cyber talk. (G7 Foreign Ministers' Communique) If you'd like to receive our newsletter in your inbox, please sign up here.           Did a friend forward you this email? Sign up for Cybersecurity Newsletters     Forward Cybersecurity Newsletters       Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  |  Email to a friend  |  Sign Up for Other Newsletters   The Hill 1625 K Street, NW 9th Floor, Washington DC 20006 ©2016 Capitol Hill Publishing Corp., a subsidiary of News Communications, Inc.