Bigger Than a Texas-sized Mess: Can the EPA Recover From Trump?

Washington (GGM) Analysis | February 18, 2021 by Attorney Michael Wells, Podcast– Legal Fact and Fiction

Every American realizes, or should realize, Trump made every effort to destroy the environment during his infamous term as president. From Scott Pruitt, the first Administrator of the EPA under Trump, who called withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, “courageous,” to Andrew Wheeler, second Administrator of the EPA and former coal lobbyist, both wrought so much damage to the environment that the majority of new Administrator Michael Regan’s job will be cleaning up the damage done by the previous administration. In short, the Biden Administration’s priorities will be addressing massive pollution issues, working on climate change, and handling environmental justice issues.

Heart of the Matter. We need look no further than Texas to see the damage caused by climate change where millions are without power in frigid temperatures that have killed people. But this is just the most recent and obvious example. Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Accord, cut regulations for polluters, allowed a myriad of environmental injustices to be perpetrated, and, as a result, created so many problems that the majority of the Biden Administration’s time will be assessing what happened and how to fix it.

How does this impact you personally? If you breathe air, drink water, eat food, like heat and air conditioning, and do not want to die of being poisoned through pollution, you should care a great deal about the EPA’s agenda.

In reality, the EPA and what it does (or did not do under Trump) affects you, especially if you want to prevent another Flynt, Michigan, North Carolina coal ash, or Texas blizzard and blackout.

Biden’s climate change agenda is considered the most ambitious in U.S. history because he aims to make the country’s electricity carbon free by 2035. In other words, America will not be reliant on fossil fuels that damage the environment and contribute to climate change thereby driving absurd climate events such as Texas. Certainly, not renewing the Keystone Pipeline lease and dismantling the pipeline itself will help this.

Biden also created a White House climate advisory team that includes former Secretary of State, John Kerry, and former EPA administrator, Gina McCarthy.

The remedial work required under the new EPA is extensive. Under Trump, the EPA rolled back regulations such as the Obama-era Clean Water Act and Clean Water Rule as well as started dismantling portions of the Clean Power Plan, which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by power plants.

The EPA launched 30 percent fewer cases and levied 60 percent less in fines that under the Obama EPA, and it stayed quiet about polluters that failed to meet the agency’s standards. Pollution became worse; infrastructure crumbled; and climate change got a shot in the arm.

What can you do about this? People often wonder what one person can do when the problems feel so large, much bigger than one person. But these problems did not happen by themselves. Human behavior caused them. For example, Scott Pruitt, who was later asked to leave his position for rampant corruption, claimed the EPA was a “bastion of liberals.” This type of corrosive mindset infects many people, and it drives bad behavior and microaggressions such as littering that cumulatively have a massive impact on the environment.

People can modify their small, simple every day behavior, and it will make a difference, especially when the majority do it.

Embracing science makes a huge difference, too, because the science surrounding climate change is irrefutable and necessary.

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