Swamp Stomp
Volume 17, Issue 14
On March 16, 2017, the Trump administration revealed their budget proposal. The budget proposal provides the first look into the new administration’s top energy and environmental priorities, which include broad themes like reining in major environmental rules and spending on clean energy technologies and boosting energy production on public lands.
Below is a list of how the budget will affect the environment and water issues:
EPA: The Environmental Protection Agency would take the biggest percentage cut of all Cabinet departments and major agencies if Trump’s proposed plan is accepted as is. The EPA’s budget would be reduced by 31 percent and about 3,200 EPA employees would lose their jobs. Employees would not be the only thing affected by the budget cuts; some programs would also receive cuts. The programs listed for cuts include climate change regulations, the Superfund program, enforcement efforts, the science office and environmental grants.
Climate change programs: Trump’s proposed budget would get rid of climate spending across the government. The funding for the Clean Power Plan implementation would be gone as well as the EPA’s international climate change and climate change research programs would be discontinued. The State Department’s Global Climate Change Initiative would no longer exist, and funding for the Green Climate Fund would stop.
Water infrastructure: The budget proposal outlines an increase in cash for state revolving funds. The outline states that “robust” funding for drinking and wastewater infrastructure promotes the administration’s “ongoing commitment to infrastructure repair and replacement.”
EPA science office: The administration’s budget proposal would cut the EPA’s Office of Research and Development’s budget from about $483 million annually to about $250 million. This is an almost 50 percent cut in funding. If these cuts were to take place, the science office would prioritize activities related to “core environmental statutory requirements,” as opposed to “extramural activities,” the outline says.
Clean energy research: Clean energy, smart grid and electric vehicle initiatives would be eliminated or sharply cutback. These actions would be taken because the president believes that research aimed at jump-starting new technology should be left to the private sector.
To learn more about the Trump administration’s proposed budget and to see a complete list of ever sector, visit https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf.
What are your thoughts regarding the proposed budget? What areas do you agree with? What areas do you disagree with? How would you like you Congressional representatives to address Trump’s budget proposal?
Source: Bravender, Robin. “Big Winners and Big Losers in Trump’s Budget.” Greenwire. E&E News, 16 Mar. 2017. Web. 16 Mar. 2017.