Hi everyone – please find below and attached message and social guidance responding to today’s Washington Post story on EPA fines for polluters dropping 85 percent under the Trump administration. Let us know if you have questions.

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A new bombshell report shows the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Trump has been letting polluters off the hook, with fines for polluters dropping 85 percent since the start of the Trump administration. This new data follows additional studies showing that that criminal enforcement at EPA has hit the lowest levels in 30 years. The numbers don’t lie; former coal lobbyist and Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is intent on doling out favors to his polluter allies at the expense of American families, and he is unfit to permanently lead the EPA.

• According to the EPA’s own Enforcement and Compliance History Online database, civil penalties for polluters under the Trump administration plummeted during the past fiscal year to the lowest average level since 1994.
• In the two decades preceding the Trump administration, EPA civil fines averaged over $500 million per year. Last fiscal year, that number dropped dramatically to $72 million.
• Adjusted for inflation, this drop represents the lowest level of fines collected since the agency’s enforcement office was established.
• Additionally, the amount of money companies must pay to comply with federal environmental laws also declined during last fiscal year to nearly $5.6 billion. That’s the lowest amount of injunctive relief since 2003, and is below the roughly $7.8 billion average for the two decades before Trump took office.
• This bombshell analysis comes on the heels of a recent report by the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which revealed that EPA’s criminal enforcement has hit its lowest levels in 30 years.
• The 166 cases referred for prosecution in Fiscal Year 2018 stands as the lowest number since 1988 under Ronald Reagan.
• Of those 166 cases referred for prosecution, only 62 convictions were made, the fewest since 1992.
• Under Wheeler’s tenure as EPA Acting Administrator, criminal prosecution has slowed dramatically to only 24 case referrals for the first two months of Fiscal Year 2019.
• During his Senate confirmation hearing, Andrew Wheeler tried to paper over this abysmal record, but the numbers don’t lie. Former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler is intent on doling out favors to his polluter allies at the expense of American families.
• The EPA is the agency most responsible for protecting our health and environment, and Americans deserve an administrator who will fight for America’s health and wellbeing by holding polluters accountable for harming our communities, our air, our land, and our water.

SOCIAL GUIDANCE

TWITTER:

• “The public expects @EPA to protect them from the worst polluters. The @realDonaldTrump @EPA is not doing that.” – former @EPAJustice head Cynthia Giles #StopWheeler https://wapo.st/2Rb6r1U
• “The troubling lack of enforcement not only threatens the water we drink and the air we breathe, but also sends a dangerous message to polluters that @EPA will continue to turn a blind eye.” – @FrankPallone on why we must #StopWheeler https://wapo.st/2Rb6r1U
• NEW: Bombshell report shows that @realDonaldTrump and ex-coal lobbyist @EPAAWheeler are letting polluters off the hook at unprecedented rates. #StopWheeler https://wapo.st/2Rb6r1U
• Under the @realDonaldTrump administration, fines for corporate polluters have dropped a whopping 85%. If ex-coal lobbyist @EPAAWheeler is confirmed as @EPA head, things will get worse. #StopWheeler https://wapo.st/2Rb6r1U
• Criminal enforcement at the @EPA under @realDonaldTrump and ex-coal lobbyist @EPAAWheeler isn’t just bad – it’s at its lowest level in 30 years. This is UNACCEPTABLE: we must #StopWheeler to hold corporate polluters accountable. https://wapo.st/2Rb6r1U
• The American people deserve an @EPA administrator committed to holding corporate polluters accountable. Ex-coal lobbyist @EPAAWheeler’s dismal enforcement record proves he’s unfit for the job. #StopWheeler https://wapo.st/2Rb6r1U

FACEBOOK:

• NEW: Bombshell report shows that [TAG] Donald J. Trump and [TAG] Acting EPA Administrator Wheeler are letting polluters off the hook at unprecedented rates. #StopWheeler https://wapo.st/2Rb6r1U
• The American people deserve an EPA administrator committed to holding corporate polluters accountable. Ex-coal lobbyist [TAG] Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s dismal enforcement record proves he’s unfit for the job. #StopWheeler https://wapo.st/2Rb6r1U

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Thank you,

Andrew Postal

Communications Manager

Climate Action Campaign

(805) 390-3684

apostal@cacampaign.com