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Media Contact: Caren Kagan Evans, 301-998-6114 (office), 301-467-6337 (cell)  

 

NEWS RELEASE

 

EPN ANALYSIS: TRUMP’S 2021 BUDGET WOULD CONTINUE TO TURN THE CLOCK BACK

ON 50 YEARS OF ADVANCES IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS

 

WASHINGTON, DC (February 13, 2020) – Today, the Environmental Protection Network (EPN) released a preliminary analysis of President Trump’s proposed EPA budget for fiscal year (FY) 2021, which calls for a 27% cut and continues the ongoing effort to dismantle the EPA program by program, and undermine our nation’s system of environmental protection. If enacted, it would severely damage programs that have protected America and its children for decades, threatening the health of families and communities across America.

 

READ EPN’S ANALYSIS OF TRUMP’S PROPOSED 2021 EPA BUDGET 

 

The environmental and public health protections provided by EPA contribute tremendous benefits to society: a Trump administration draft report to Congress estimated the annual benefits of EPA regulations to our nation’s people over the last decade at between $196 and $706 billion, dwarfing costs to polluters of $54 to $65 billion.

 

Further, the cuts to essential EPA programs and staffing levels and to critical funding for state programs would make it increasingly difficult for federal and state environmental professionals to carry out their legally mandated responsibilities to protect public health and the natural environment; these efforts are essential for community well-being and long-term economic growth.

 

It is also cynical and disingenuous for the Trump/Wheeler administration to claim it wants to shift more responsibility to the states, even as its budget proposes to starve them of the help they need to exercise such responsibility.

 

Trump’s 2021 proposed budget largely echoes the administration’s FY2018, FY2019 and FY2020 budgets and will likely be superseded by Congress as those were. However, repeatedly suggesting cuts of this magnitude sends a strong message that EPA’s budget should be reduced dramatically, particularly when it is accompanied by incendiary and destructive rhetoric that attacks EPA and its mission, undermining agency morale and eroding public confidence in EPA and the laws it administers, and in the value of protecting public health and the environment.

 

To speak to our experts on Trump’s proposed EPA budget, as well as proposed cuts to specific air and water, Superfund, chemicals, pesticides, research and other programs, please contact Caren Evans.

 

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ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION NETWORK (EPN)

Founded in 2017, the Environmental Protection Network (EPN) harnesses the expertise of almost 500 former EPA officials to provide an informed and rigorous defense against efforts by the Trump administration to undermine EPA’s mission to protect public health and the environment.