Donald Trump is stacking his proposed Environmental Protection Agency leadership with former industry lobbyists, executives, and attorneys who have spent their careers attacking protections covering everything from water quality to greenhouse gas emissions to toxic chemicals.
A Guardian review of new political appointees also finds the president is largely reappointing officials from his first term. Since 2016, while working at the EPA or for industry, environmental campaigners say these veterans have led efforts to shred Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan, kneecap drinking water limits for toxic PFAS, ram through new chemicals without proper review, undo an asbestos ban, or defend the nation’s biggest polluters.
