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The Future Of Environmental Policy

A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representative works in a residential area which burned in the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California.
Mario Tama
/
Getty Images
A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) representative works in a residential area which burned in the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California.

It's safe to say the Trump administration has shaken up the federal government.

Environmental policy and the Environmental Protection Agency are no exception. President Richard Nixon founded the EPA in 1970 after yielding to public pressure to address unchecked pollution across the U.S. Now, the Trump administration is making deep cuts to the department. The agency's top official, Lee Zeldin, says he wants to cut 65 percent of its budget.

The EPA has already slashed jobs at the environmental justice office, which addresses disproportionate environmental and health effects on minority and low-income populations. The agency is now bracing for more cuts.

The administration has already rolled back regulations, frozen funds, and made larger moves like pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate agreement. What's next?

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