When he was last president, Trump gutted more than 100 environmental rules and vowed to only leave a “little bit of the EPA” left “because you can’t destroy business”, prompting hundreds of agency staff to leave amid a firestorm of political interference and retaliation against civil servants. An even greater exodus is expected this time, with staff fearing they are frontline targets in what could be the biggest upheaval in the agency’s 50-year history.
“People are anxious and apprehensive, [and] we are preparing for the worst,” said Nicole Cantello, an EPA water specialist and president of AFGE Local 704, representing agency staff in the midwest.
“We’ve had a taste of what will happen and how we were targeted last time,” she said. “By the emails and texts I’m getting, a lot of people will leave. So many things could be thrown at us that it could destroy the EPA as we know it.”
Won’t that be nice?
#It’s even possible to think that the environment should be protected – as I do – and still insist that gutting the EPA is a great idea – as I do. Because protecting the environment this way is to be idiotic.
It was the EPA that got the cleanest greenest literally plantfood gas labelled as pollution then started regulating it. Totally captured.
Good riddance!
Nukes would produce much cleaner and greener electricity.
Alas even under Trump I doubt if they’ll be given a fraction of the support given to windmills.
Ljh,
That was a Supreme Court ruling, can Trump overturn it without going back to them?
I’m sure he could order the EPA to soft pedal but that’s not the same and it would be a good idea to get the ruling overturned to make it harder to reimpose when Trump leaves office.
After years of rule by administrative overreach the Supreme Court finally returned power to the actual elected representatives to make policy so actually a win for Trump. They’ve dedicated so much time and resources to hamstringing any development that the organisational culture is Green Marxist. Best to shut it down and bar everyone from future government employment.
The difficulty with environmental protection is that it so easily tips over into eco-vandalism with taxpayer funding. For example, a landowning neighbour (>1500 acres) can’t farm for toffee but he can grow ragwort and loves “rewilding” with all kinds of diggers, front loaders and other heavy equipment.
“ a lot of people will leave”
Excellent, saves time & money.
“a lot of people will leave”
Lefties voluntarily leaving their well remunerated government agency positions are about as likely as celebs fleeing the country – even if it’s only to Canada.
Ljh,
Ah, yes, how could I forget the Supreme Court ending the Chrevron Deference given all the gnashing and wailing, it was only in June.
” . . . it could destroy the EPA as we know it.”
Oh, don’t tease me like that.
Union official complaining that her union is going to lose members? No, don’t be silly, it’s all about ‘protecting the environment’. Really.
llater,
llamas
“destroyed”. Because they were completely shut down last time.
Current number of employees is over 17,000, after the destruction (and possibly some hiring). How many should there be?
Fired? They should be arrested for everything from fraud to manslaughter.
I’ve read stuff saying they’re going to be hard to sack; worst case scenario. Trump should set up the ‘New Environmental Protection Agency’, with about 100 staff whose sole task is to fuck around with the employees of the old – send 1000 of them up to Alaska to count mosquitos, that sort of thing.