The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will no longer give letter grades to some of the projects being considered for permits—effectively removing a clear way to flag problems for the public as well as the White House. The process of grading proposals, which has been in place since the Reagan administration, is to make jargon-filled environmental reviews (which are often hundreds of pages long) easier to understand. The agency’s move is just the latest in the Trump administration’s string of attempts to shortcut review processes that are necessary to protect the environment and public health but that it sees as burdensome for its industry pals. We give that a big, fat F.
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