TH E TRUMP AD M INI STR ATI ON AND ENVI RONME NTAL ROL L BACKS Every day we wake up to breaking news. We are bombarded by never ending notifications updating us in real time about the next big story. We barely have time to process before we receive a new notification, and just like that, we’ve already forgotten the last piece of news. It’s easy to see how many of us aren’t aware that in the middle of the chaos and barrage of unending news clips, the Trump administration has been rolling back environmental acts. To be specific, they’ve reversed or are in the process of reversing almost 95 different rules and regulations. These regulations were targeted just days after Donald Trump was elected president. His administration introduced “America First Energy Plan,” which promised to lift environmental rules that restricted America’s energy output. The Trump Administration claimed that by loosening or revoking them, energy will be more affordable and more jobs will be created. However, these rollbacks come at a steep price. The NY Times has put together a list of 95 regulations that have been targeted and categorized them into groups; air pollution and emissions, drilling and extraction, infrastructure and planning, animals, toxic substances and safety, water pollution and other. In total, 58 have been completed and 37 are in the process of being reversed. Here are a few that have been completed: • Withdrew a requirement for owners and operators in the oil and gas industry to report methane emissions
• Revoked California’s authority to set its own climate-protective vehicle emissions standards • Reversed regulations on water pollution for fracking on federal and Native American lands • Lifted the ban on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge • Rescinded an order to factor climate change and long-term public interest while managing natural resources in national parks • Altered the Endangered Species Act so that it is now more difficult to protect animals from threats caused by climate change • Revoked the ban on hunting predators in wildlife refuges in Alaska • Ended a program that was created to reduce risks of workers developing a lung disease called silicosis • Rolled back a proposed rule that would minimize pollutants at sewage treatment plants • Reversed limits on the sale of plastic water bottles in national parks • The rest can be found on the NY Times. It is important to note that some of the rollbacks have been blocked in court. These rollbacks are cited as not following proper procedure. For example, on March 21, 2018 a judge ruled that the E.P.A. was acting illegally when it tried to delay a rule that would regulate the certification and training of pesticide applicators. Including that ruling, there have been 10 rules that were reinstated after they were challenged.
