End environmental regulation, promote fossil fuels, end green energy development, just for starters
That shouldn’t come as a surprise. According to Open Secrets, Trump received $951,902 in
campaign contributions from oil and gas companies in the 2024
election.
Add deregulation and promoting or funding anything
environmentally friendly to the agenda. “Cancel the electric vehicle mandate
and cut costly and burdensome regulations,” as the RNC Platform says.
Project 2025 and the EPA
Beyond the RNC Platform, we have the Heritage
Foundation’s Project 2025 document to inform us.
The introduction to the section on the Environmental Protection Agency sounds a
bit Orwellian with its claims to create “a better environmental tomorrow with
clean air, safe water, healthy soil, and thriving communities.”
Project 2025 recommends that former President Trump issue an executive order on day one to reconsider the EPA’s structure that would:
- Stop
all grants to advocacy groups.
- Downsize
the EPA by firing all the newest hires in “low-value programs” and find
opportunities to relocate Senior Executive Service positions.
- Find
ways to cut costs by reducing the number of full-time equivalent positions
and not conducting any activity that does not have “clear and current
congressional authorization.”
More Power For Local and State Governments
Deregulation is the backbone of Project 2025, which states
that the EPA’s structure should “reflect the principles of cooperative
federalism and limited government.” Doing so will mean “significant
restructuring and streamlining of the federal agency, which gives local and
state governments “the primary role in making choices about the environment.”
However, California would have less ability to regulate the
environment. Under the Clean Air Act, the Golden State is allowed to obtain a
waiver of the preemption that prohibits states from enacting emissions
standards for new vehicles. The EPA would apply the waiver to
“California-specific issues like ground-level ozone, not global climate
issues.” In other words, California would not be allowed to use the waiver
for vehicle greenhouse gas standards.
More Air Pollution
There would be less regulation of air pollution and no regulation of
greenhouse gases. The Trump administration would review the regulations enacted
under the Good Neighbor Program/Interstate Pollutant Transport program by
President Biden to ensure they “do not overcontrol upwind states.” The program’s
expansion beyond power plants would be reversed. Climate change would become a
dirty word, and regulating greenhouse gases would be a thing of the past. The
administration would remove the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) for
any source category that is not already regulated.
Less Regulation of Superfund Site Clean-Up
The EPA would revise groundwater regulations and policies
for Superfund sites “to reflect the challenges of omnipresent contaminants like
PFAS.” That would include revisiting the designation of PFAS chemicals as
hazardous substances. PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. They
resist grease, oil, water, and heat. They are widely used chemicals. Exposure
to certain types of PFAS is associated with serious health effects,
according to the Food and Drug Administration.
Reduce Research and Development
Research and development are crucial to developing new
technologies that can help reduce GHG emissions. Under the Trump
administration, any ongoing or planned R&D would be put on hold if there is
“not clear and current congressional authorization.” The writers of Project
2025 know that it is hard to get Congress to pass any legislation. They know
that by implementing this recommendation, many EPA projects will stop.
Public Scrutiny of Science
Perhaps one of the strangest recommendations is to embrace
citizen science and “ deputize the public to subject the agency’s science to
greater scrutiny.” That would mean that the general public, instead of experts
in their scientific fields, would look at data analysis, identify scientific
flaws, and catch research misconduct. This is just another way to gut
environmental protections and let industry run amok, polluting our air, water,
and land.
The Department of Energy and Project 2025
Project 2025 would also deregulate the Department of Energy
while prioritizing fossil fuels. The introduction to the section recommends
ending government interference in energy decisions and ending the war on oil
and natural gas. That means scrubbing any mention of climate change and
approving all oil and gas projects. The Federal Energy Management Program
(FEMP) would favor fossil fuel energy.
Project 2025 recommends eliminating energy efficiency
standards for appliances and all applied energy programs. National efficiency
standards for appliances saved American consumers $63 billion in 2015 alone.
According to the DOE, cumulative operating cost savings from all appliance
standards since 1987 will total almost $2 trillion by 2030.
Paint It Blue
There is a solution if Project 2025 horrifies you. Vote blue in November. Vote for the politicians who believe in climate change, fund renewable energy, and protect the environment. There has never been a time in American history when the nation’s two main political parties have had more different environmental agendas. Put those in office who will ensure the Heritage Foundation’s plan ends up in the dustbin of history.
Gina-Marie Cheeseman http://www.justmeans.com/users/gina-marie-cheeseman is a freelance writer/journalist/copyeditor about.me/gmcheeseman Twitter: @gmcheeseman