Trump Just Ordered the EPA to Make Terrifying Changes To Its Website
Maybe Donald Trump has a “First 100 Days” accomplishment after all. He may have just ended climate change. That’s the impression one gets now when visiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s website.
The EPA announced Friday night that it had removed whole sections its website that had anything to do with the Obama administration’s heavy focus on climate change and man-made contributions to it.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that:
One of the websites that appeared to be gone had been cited to challenge statements made by the EPA’s new administrator, Scott Pruitt. Another provided detailed information on the previous administration’s Clean Power Plan, including fact sheets about greenhouse gas emissions on the state and local levels and how different demographic groups were affected by such emissions.
The changes to the EPA’s website were apparently approved by new Administrator Scott Pruitt, a known climate change denier. In a statement issued last night, the agency’s associate administrator for public affairs, J.P. Freire, said, “As the EPA renews its commitment to human health and clean air, land, and water, our website needs to reflect the views of the leadership of the agency. We want to eliminate confusion by removing outdated language first…”
In other words, they don’t think it’s wise for the EPA to serve as a repository for the preponderance of scientific data that recognizes climate change and supports government policy to limit man’s contribution to it, as the President proceeds to dismantle environmental protections that will allow industry to increase emissions of the greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change and global warming.
Science doesn’t support the President’s policies, so better to remove the science than adjust the policies.
More from the Post:
The website overhaul appears to include not only policy-related changes but also scrutiny of a scientific Web page that has existed for nearly two decades, and that explained what climate change is and how it worked.
What was once a detailed EPA website dedicated to climate change now redirects to an empty page with a notice that reads, “We are currently updating our website to reflect EPA’s priorities under the leadership of President Trump and Administrator Pruitt.”
The EPA’s climate page website was launched in 1997 and had been live and continuously updated – until last night. Even President George W. Bush’s decidedly environment-unfriendly administration didn’t remove the page, although they did heavily regulate how and when it was updated with new studies and research.
In addition to a general assault on climate change, the Administration’s immediate battle plan involves a frontal attack on Obama’s Clean Power Plan, his sweeping set of policy initiatives designed to address climate change and, over time, move to replace fossil fuels with clean and renewable energy.
That attack is now underway as well. The old www.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan website now redirects to www.epa.gov/Energy-Independence, where visitors are treated to a photo of President Trump signing his executive order that aims to eliminate power plant emission restrictions and other Obama-championed green regulations.
The Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council, David Doniger, however, didn’t mince words in his stark reaction on Twitter to the EPA’s moves:
Cleansing has begun. EPA website scrubbed of pages on "so-called" Clean Power Plan. Now only alternative facts. https://t.co/Zi3EphwU7v
— David Doniger (@ddonigernrdc) April 29, 2017
Despite the EPA’s moves, the earthy will continue to warm. The administration shouldn’t expect the American people to warm to their policies, however.
Day 100 folks.
