2018 White House Budget: Bad for the environment
More than 45 years ago, America made a commitment to a cleaner, greener future when Congress and then-President Richard Nixon brought the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) into existence.
The EPA has since become our nation’s most important champion for the clean air and water, wildlife, and wild places that make the US so special.
The Trump Administration’s 2018 budget plan — released earlier this week — could change all that. It proposes to cut the agency’s budget by nearly a third, slashing agency programs that are vital to the environment and public health. [1]
We know what the country looks like without the EPA. It’s not pretty.
By the 1960s, the need for the Environmental Protection Agency was obvious.
Ohio’s Cuyahoga River was so polluted that it caught fire in 1969. [2] Rampant use of DDT and other pesticides had already set the American bald eagle well on its way to extinction in the wild [3] And major cities across the country were choked with smog and other air pollution. [4]
Since then, the EPA has helped clear choking smog from the skies of major cities, kept dangerous pesticides from poisoning rare wildlife and pets, and largely eliminated the threat of acid rain to North American forests. [5]
Proposed EPA cuts in the 2018 White House budget would be devastating
The budget plan released this week would hobble efforts to protect nature and the environment. [6] It would slash federal funding for…
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- Federal enforcement of environmental laws by 40 percent;
- State enforcement of environmental laws by 45 percent;
- Federal clean water standards office by 50 percent; and
- Superfund cleanup of toxic chemical spill sites that have become a public health hazard by 25 percent.
Unfortunately, the devastating cuts don’t end there. The administration’s budget plan would end Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, and Puget Sound cleanup programs.
It would also end the popular Energy Star program, which informs consumers which home appliances are most energy-efficient, and close the government’s energy innovation program and end many loan guarantee programs for renewable energy companies.
These budget cuts are a disaster in the making, and we need your help to stop them.
How you can help
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- Take action now to save the EPA. {Link: } Urge your Member of Congress and Senators to reject proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency.
- Share our video. Let your friends and neighbors know what’s at stake — and how they can help protect nature by opposing cuts to the EPA.
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Notes
[1] “EPA remains top target with Trump administration proposing 31 percent budget cut,” The Washington Post, May 23, 2017.
[2] Michael Rotman, “Cuyahoga River Fire,” Cleveland Historical, accessed May 26, 2017,
[3] US Fish and Wildlife Service, retrieved online May 26, 2017.
[4] “5 Reasons to Like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency” National Geographic, December 9, 2016.
[5] Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved online March 22, 2017.
[6] “What Does Trump’s Budget Mean for the Environment?” The Atlantic, May 24, 2017.