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Budget Cut Series: Trump Proposes Slashing EPA Budget by 31%
In Smart Dissent's Budget Cuts Series, we are detailing as many of the White House proposed budget cuts as we can keep up with. We seek to learn and share what's hidden beneath the surface which are so many programs, facilities, and people that don't receive proper headlines and focus.
Since Trump and his cronies aiming for societal destruction released the White House 2020 budget earlier in March, we've been reviewing numerous details we'll discuss in the coming weeks. First up are savage proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Trump on Monday (3/11/19) proposed significant budget cuts to the government agencies responsible for overseeing the nation’s energy and environmental policies, including a 31 percent reduction in spending at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)..... where former energy lobbyist Andrew Wheeler recently took over as the top administrator after being confirmed by the Senate.
The fiscal 2020 budget proposal to Congress marks the latest effort by the administration to slash funding for science and enforcement programs. The proposed reductions at EPA are in line with the steep cuts — about 25 percent — that the White House's Office of Management and Budget proposed for the agency for fiscal 2019, which began Oct. 1. The year before that, the administration proposed cuts that exceeded 30 percent.
.... it's unlikely that drastic EPA cuts will be enacted by Congress this year, especially since Democrats are now in the majority in the House.
Specifically, certain programs we all take for granted that anti-government Republicans liek Trump and those who surround him seek to end:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is responsible for monitoring weather systems and oceanic temperatures, would see its funding cut under Trump's proposed budget, with the recommended elimination of the Sea Grant, Coastal Zone Management Grants and Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund.
....seeks to slash other key science and renewable areas, including a repeal of the tax credit for electric vehicles. Other cuts to the Department of Energy include well-known clean energy research and development grant programs such as ARPA-E.
Not the focus of this post but also of note are a few other cuts:
....$31.7 billion for the Department of Energy, an 11 percent decrease from current funding, while the Interior Department would see a 14 percent cut, to $12.5 billion.