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Scott Pruitt at House Appropriations subcommittee hearing June 15. C-SPAN3
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress said Thursday that the Trump administration’s proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cuts are too harsh.
In a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, lawmakers criticized the administration’s plan to slash the agency’s budget by 31 percent.
Many representatives worried that cuts to EPA programs like Superfund site cleanup and pesticide testing would hurt their home states. “You’re going to be the first EPA administrator that has come before this committee in eight years that actually gets more money than they ask for,” Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK) told Pruitt.
“We heard what we expected to from Scott Pruitt today: old ideas and industry-influenced propaganda,” said Green for All’s deputy director Michelle Romero.
“It’s clear that the Trump administration is all in on destroying vital protections that keep our kids safe and our communities green,” Romero continued. “Cutting the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget as much as this administration proposes will destroy its ability to enforce our clean air and water laws, or to engage the in the science research required to determine the safety of chemicals in the products we bring into our homes.”
Trump's Planned @EPA Cuts Will Hit America's Most Vulnerable https://t.co/JoOTmPXux6 @EJinAction @VanJones68 @HipHopCaucus @NaomiAKlein @350
— EcoWatch (@EcoWatch) June 16, 2017
“We know that 61 percent of Americans do not support this administration’s work on climate and nearly three quarters of Americans think it’s a bad idea to cut funding that supports the agency’s work,” she added. “This will not make America great, it will make America dirty. This does not create jobs, it threatens a future for our kids.”
For a deeper dive:
Washington Post, AP, Bloomberg, CNN, Politico Pro, The Hill, Cleveland.com, InsideClimate News, Mother Jones, ThinkProgress
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