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Urging the United States Congress to reject the Trump Administration’s plan to make severe cuts to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
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WHEREAS, The Trump Administration announced on Monday, February 12, 2018 a proposed federal budget that would slash the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) budget by over 25 percent. This proposed cuts include a more than 20 percent reduction of the EPA’s workforce, the majority of whom work as engineers, scientists, and environmental protection specialists; and
WHEREAS, The EPA was created in 1970 when signed into law by Republican President Richard Nixon. The goal of the EPA is to assist the government in protecting human health and the environment by maintaining and enforcing national environmental standards. The EPA also conducts environmental assessments, research, and education throughout the United States and its territories. Local and state governments rely upon the EPA to provide critical data, research, systems and guidance for their own monitoring and enforcement of environmental rules and regulations; and
WHEREAS, The Trump Administration’s plan would cut several dozen EPA programs altogether. The plan slashes state and tribal assistance grants that help carry out a number of federal directives such as monitoring toxic substances and inspecting brownfields. The plan would eliminate programs designed to support state radon-detection initiatives, fund water system improvements along the US-Mexico border, and develop partnerships to monitor and restore water quality in the Gulf of Mexico, Puget Sound, and other bodies of water. In addition, the plan reduces funding for the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and the Great Lakes by almost 90%; and
WHEREAS, The Trump Administration’s plan takes particular aim at initiatives addressing climate change. After withdrawing the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, signed by 99% of the world’s nations, the Trump Administration now proposes to fully eliminate a dozen programs specifically designed to respond to climate change and global warming; and
WHEREAS. The Trump Administration’s plan would eliminate the budget for the ENERGY STAR program, which helps consumers determine the energy efficiency of refrigerators, electronics and heating systems. ENERGY STAR certified products helped save American families and businesses 503 billion kilowatt hours of energy and $34 billion on their energy bills in 2015 alone; and
WHEREAS, The Trump Administration announcement has been widely criticized by environmental groups as a thinly veiled attempt to gut federal regulations. Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp offered a view shared by many when he stated “The Trump administration budget released today is a blueprint for a less healthy, more polluted America”; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, By the Council of the City of Philadelphia, That we hereby urge the United States Congress to reject the Trump Administration’s plan to make severe cuts to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
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