The Environmental Polluters Agency: Trump's Giveaway to Big Oil Takes Shape
Yesterday, Trump's EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced what he's proudly calling the "largest deregulatory announcement in U.S. history” - a wholesale handover of the EPA to corporate polluters.
The EPA - once dedicated to safeguarding our environment and health - has been openly repurposed with a new priority: "lower the cost of buying a car, heating a home and running a business." Nowhere in Zeldin's announcement did he mention protecting public health or the environment - the very reason the agency was created in 1970.
A Blueprint for Polluter Profits
This isn't just policy change - it's a complete rewriting of the EPA's purpose in order to serve industry interests. The announcement targets over two dozen critical environmental protections, including:
Stripping away the EPA's authority to regulate climate-disrupting greenhouse gases
Gutting vehicle pollution standards designed to boost electric vehicles.
Closing all EPA environmental justice offices protecting communities hardest hit by pollution
Rolling back mercury emission limits that protect children’s development
Eliminating carbon emission limits on power plants
Eliminating the "good neighbor rule" designed to stop pollution from crossing state lines
Perhaps most tellingly, Zeldin announced these rollbacks as he prepares to address oil and gas executives at CERA Week in Houston - the fossil fuel industry's annual gathering to celebrate their massive wealth and expansion.
The Polluter Payoff
This radical shift in one of our nation’s most fundamental agencies isn't about energy independence or reducing costs for Americans. It's a direct payoff to the fossil fuel executives who have bankrolled Trump's campaign. By gutting regulations, Trump's EPA is transferring massive costs from polluters to the public:
Higher medical bills from increased air pollution and toxins in our water
Rising insurance premiums and property taxes to cover the growing costs of climate disasters
More extreme weather events causing billions in damages
Growing taxpayer burden for cleaning up corporate pollution
Higher energy bills as fossil fuel companies maintain their price-gouging monopoly with less competition from cleaner alternatives
Meanwhile, fossil fuel companies continue raking in billions in profits.
(Cue Harold Hamm maniacally laughing)
Countering Trump’s Polluter Agenda and Making Polluters Pay
As this polluter agenda takes shape, our communities face growing threats. But there's a clear alternative path forward: holding polluters accountable and ensuring they pay their fair share.
To effectively counter Trump's Polluter Agenda, we need to:
Brand the Corruption Clearly: Trump isn't delivering "energy independence" - he's rolling back basic protections so Americans drink dirtier water and breathe dirtier air while fossil fuel executives get richer. Every regulation being cut has a human cost that far outweighs corporate profits.
Connect to Kitchen Table Issues: These aren't abstract environmental policies - they directly impact family budgets. Rising healthcare costs from pollution, increasing insurance rates, and the growing price tag of climate disasters all hit working families hardest.
Expose the Revolving Door: When Zeldin steps on stage at CERA Week surrounded by Trump's biggest donors, he's demonstrating exactly who this EPA serves. This isn't governance - it's a return on investment for the fossil fuel industry.
Right now our country has two choices: continue subsidizing fossil fuel executives with our health and safety, or demand that polluters finally pay for the damage they've caused. Every environmental rollback should be framed as exactly what it is - a transfer of health and wealth from working Americans to corporate polluters.
P.S - While we’re here, shout out to all our amazing activists putting in the work at CERA week - reminding these CEOs we will not go quietly.
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