The EPA's new four-year plan doesn't mention "climate change" once

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a draft of its strategic plan for 2018 through 2022, and climate change is conspicuously absent from the agency's priorities. Instead, the 38-page document highlights goals like "accelerate permitting-related decisions" (a seeming nod to industry). Also MIA are plans to limit the driving forces behind global warming—namely, human sources of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, such as methane. "Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, and it doesn't even appear in the strategic plan for this agency—that's stunning," Rachel Cleetus, climate policy manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told CNN. "This wasn't an oversight; this is a deliberate strategy by this administration." The EPA's previous four-year plan, published under the Obama administration, outlined five primary goals. No. 1? "Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality." In fact, the words "climate change" appeared 43 times in that document, while "greenhouse gas" showed up 25 times. Ignoring climate change doesn't make it go away. The EPA is accepting public comments through October 31 before it submits its plan to Congress in February, so let's remind the agency to do its job of protecting the public health and the environment, shall we?