EPA

Senate Confirms Industry Lobbyist to Lead EPA Chemical Safety Division

| Importance: 8/10

The Senate approved Douglas Troutman, chief lobbyist for the American Cleaning Institute, to lead EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. Troutman previously fought California’s hazardous ingredient disclosure laws on behalf of chemical manufacturers, representing …

Douglas Troutman American Cleaning Institute Senate EPA institutional-capture regulatory-capture conflicts-of-interest corruption
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EPA Fires At Least 8 Employees Who Signed Letter Criticizing Trump's Environmental Rollbacks

| Importance: 7/10

The Environmental Protection Agency fired at least eight employees who signed a letter criticizing Trump’s environmental rollbacks, in clear retaliation for exercising free speech and whistleblower protections. The terminated employees were career scientists and policy experts who raised …

EPA Lee Zeldin Trump whistleblower-retaliation institutional-capture environmental-policy political-purge free-speech
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EPA reconsiders 2009 Endangerment Finding underlying all climate regulations

| Importance: 7/10

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced formal reconsideration of 2009 Endangerment Finding on July 29, calling repeal “largest deregulatory action in history of America.” Finding declared CO2 and 5 other GHGs endanger public health. Repeal would eliminate legal basis for all climate …

EPA Lee Zeldin Donald Trump Department of Energy climate environmental-rollback deregulation endangerment-finding
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EPA reverses bans on TCE, asbestos, and ethylene oxide under industry executives

| Importance: 7/10

Under Nancy Beck (former American Chemistry Council) and Lynn Dekleva (ex-DuPont), EPA moved to reverse bans on trichloroethylene, asbestos, and ethylene oxide - chemicals linked to cancer and neurological disorders.

Nancy Beck Lynn Dekleva EPA American Chemistry Council regulatory-capture environmental-rollback chemical-industry health-safety
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EPA implements '31 historic actions in greatest day of deregulation'

| Importance: 8/10

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announces 31 historic deregulation actions in “the greatest and most consequential day of deregulation in U.S. history,” including reconsidering the 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding. Chemical industry veterans Nancy Beck (American Chemistry Council) …

Lee Zeldin Nancy Beck Lynn Dekleva EPA American Chemistry Council epa deregulation chemical-safety regulatory-capture environmental-rollback
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EPA Administrator Zeldin Plans 65% Workforce Cut While Terminating $20 Billion Climate Grants

| Importance: 8/10

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced plans to cut EPA workforce by approximately 23% and reduce the agency’s budget by 65%, representing the most aggressive environmental deregulation in agency history. The cuts would return EPA staffing to Reagan-era levels, eliminating scientific research …

lee-zeldin EPA jbs Environmental Protection Agency lee-zeldin epa environmental-destruction workforce-cuts climate-denial +3 more
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Trump administration purges 8,000+ climate web pages from federal agencies

| Importance: 6/10

Within first two weeks of Trump’s term, administration removed over 8,000 web pages from 12+ government websites including EPA removing “Climate Change” from homepage navigation and EJScreen environmental justice tool. NOAA climate data also targeted. 70% more changes than first …

Trump Administration EPA NOAA CDC Environmental Data and Governance Initiative climate-science information-suppression website-removal environmental-justice
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SCOTUS stays EPA 'Good Neighbor Plan' for cross-state smog program

| Importance: 6/10

The Supreme Court granted a 5-4 stay on June 27, 2024, blocking the EPA’s Good Neighbor Plan addressing interstate ozone pollution while litigation proceeds. Justice Gorsuch’s majority opinion found EPA failed to reasonably explain its methodology after some states left the program. The …

Supreme Court of the United States EPA Justice Neil Gorsuch (majority opinion) Justice Amy Coney Barrett (dissent) State of Ohio (applicant) +2 more administrative-law courts environment clean-air-act good-neighbor-provision +3 more
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Trump Environmental Rollbacks Cause 80,000 Excess Deaths Per Decade

| Importance: 8/10

Harvard researchers calculated that Trump’s environmental rollbacks would cause 80,000 excess deaths per decade from increased air pollution, with 18,000 deaths from repealing the Clean Power Plan alone. The administration reversed or weakened over 100 environmental regulations, including …

Donald Trump EPA Scott Pruitt Andrew Wheeler David Bernhardt +1 more environmental-destruction public-health climate-change mass-death regulatory-capture
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Scott Pruitt Dismantles EPA While Taking Industry Money

| Importance: 8/10

Scott Pruitt, who sued the EPA 14 times as Oklahoma Attorney General while taking 00,000+ from fossil fuel companies, became EPA Administrator and immediately began dismantling environmental protections. He installed a 3,000 soundproof phone booth, took 30+ first-class flights costing taxpayers …

Scott Pruitt EPA Andrew Wheeler Donald Trump Fossil Fuel Industry regulatory-capture environmental-destruction corruption climate-denial industry-influence
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Snyder Finally Declares State of Emergency After Federal Investigation and Public Outcry

| Importance: 8/10

Governor Rick Snyder declares a state of emergency for Genesee County due to the ongoing health and safety crisis caused by lead in Flint’s drinking water—21 months after the initial water switch and three months after independent researchers forced the state to acknowledge the lead poisoning. …

Rick Snyder Barack Obama EPA flint-water-crisis Rick-Snyder government-accountability federal-oversight
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LeeAnne Walters' Water Tests Show Lead at 104 ppb—Nearly 7 Times EPA Limit

| Importance: 9/10

The City of Flint tests water at the home of LeeAnne Walters, a mother of four who has been complaining about health problems since the water switch, and finds lead levels at 104 parts per billion (ppb)—nearly seven times greater than the EPA action level of 15 ppb. Walters had first informed the …

LeeAnne Walters Marc Edwards City of Flint EPA flint-water-crisis whistleblower lead-poisoning public-health
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Energy Task Force Recommendations Become EPA Policy Without Review

| Importance: 9/10

Vice President Cheney’s Energy Task Force recommendations were implemented as EPA environmental policy through executive orders, bypassing Congressional oversight and public comment periods required by the Administrative Procedure Act. Task force members from ExxonMobil, Chevron, and other oil …

Dick Cheney EPA ExxonMobil Chevron Energy Task Force +2 more media-licensing-leverage corporate-compliance-incentives regulatory-propaganda-facilitation administrative-procedure-act energy-companies +4 more
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