EPA’s New Meaning Under Trump

By FRANK LINGO

Under Trump, EPA means Eviscerate, Pollute and Assault. He eviscerates the regulations, pollutes the planet and assaults our health.

Since 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency’s obligation has been to protect our land, air and water from ruin at the hands of polluters. Armed with new laws like The Clean Air Act, The Clean Water Act and The Endangered Species Act, the EPA had a promising start.

The EPA is under control of each president’s appointees. Without enforcement, environmental laws are worthless. Democratic Presidents Carter and Obama did better at carrying out the EPA’s mission than Republicans. President Clinton was not exactly fervent in enforcement.

Starting with President Reagan, the EPA went limp, ignoring its responsibilities. Later, under President George W. Bush, the agency actively undermined its own purpose, gutting key sections of the Clean Air and Clean Water acts, and allowing polluters to do their damage with impunity.

Now Trump is waging war on the Earth. A May 10 New York Times article listed 98 environmental rules the Oaf of Office is revoking or rolling back. Rolling back is a nice way of saying eviscerating.

Trump’s first move was ominous, appointing Scott Pruitt to head the agency. Pruitt is an adversary of the EPA, having sued it several times when he was Oklahoma Attorney General on behalf of fossil fuel polluters.

The ethically handicapped Pruitt resigned a little over a year after taking the post, amid pressure even from Republican lawmakers. He allegedly enriched himself with agency funds, and held secret meetings with polluting executives. So much for transparency.

According to NPR, in his short tenure, Pruitt removed the scientific information about climate change from the agency’s website, and weakened fuel economy standards that were set to double the fuel efficiency of cars and SUVs to 50 miles per gallon by 2025. The technology to do it has been available for at least 20 years.

Pruitt’s replacement was Andrew Wheeler, a coal industry lobbyist. “The only thing Wheeler is going to protect at the EPA is the profits of polluters,” said Brett Hartl of the Center for Biological Diversity in a Reuters article.

Here are some lowlights from the Times article on Trump’s EPA actions:

• Canceled an Obama-era rule that limited mercury emissions for coal plants. “The inhalation of mercury vapor can produce harmful effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, lungs and kidneys, and may be fatal.” (World Health Organization)

• Canceled a requirement for oil and gas companies to report emissions of methane, a cause of global warming.

• Loosened a rule that limited toxic emissions from major industrial polluters.

• Trashed a ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This further imperils animals like seals and polar bears that are already endangered.

• Rescinded water pollution regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands. Underground fracturing is implicated in poisoning water and causing earthquakes.

• Ended a policy aimed at protecting migratory birds, violating treaties with Canada and Mexico.

• Revoked a rule that prevented coal companies from dumping mining debris into local streams.

• Removed a program to reduce risks of workers developing the lung disease silicosis. Breathing silica dust can be fatal and there is no cure, according to OSHA.

• Stopped payments to the Green Climate Fund, a U.N. program that helps poorer countries reduce carbon emissions.

• Revoked an order to preserve ocean, coastal and Great Lakes waters in favor of energy production.

The horrifying list goes on and on. The most toxic growth on the Earth today is the tumor of Trump.

Frank Lingo of Lawrence, Kansas, is former columnist for the Kansas City Star and author of “Earth Vote.” Email: lingofrank@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, July 1-15, 2020

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