Trump’s proposed budget cuts deep into the funding for the EPA and other enviro, health agencies

President Trump wants to make reckless spending reductions across federal environmental agencies, slashing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by nearly a third. The U.S. Department of the Interior would take a hit of nearly 11 percent; the Army Corps of Engineers would see its funding shrink by 16 percent; and spending at the U.S. Department of Energy would drop 18 percent (excluding nuclear security). As for the EPA, Trump proposes a 31 percent cut—by closing regional offices, reducing enforcement, and eliminating more than 50 programs, including Energy Star and restoration funds for the Great Lakes, Puget Sound, and the Chesapeake Bay. The EPA’s budget for curbing air pollution could also be slashed, in line with the Trump administration’s wishes to weaken and repeal current standards. Not surprisingly, climate science at the agency—which Trump’s budget czar, Mick Mulvaney, dubbed “crazy stuff”—got a big, fat zero. Even the Superfund program, recently promoted by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, would lose 30 percent of its annual funding. This draconian budget would effectively dismantle the EPA, despite the fact that 60 percent of American voters oppose cutting the agency’s budget and 78 percent of Trump voters want the same or stronger clean air protections. But Mulvaney defended the budget by slandering the EPA, saying, "You can't drain the swamp and leave all the people in it. So, I guess the first place that comes to mind will be the Environmental Protection Agency." Americans have a right to clean air and water, and Trump’s “polluter first” budget is a blatant attack on our  health and our country’s natural heritage.