EPA Cuts Will Leave Environmental Research in the U.S.A. back to R.Reagan Levels

The Paris Agreement was already a sign from the start.

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) flag waving outside of a governmental building symbolizing needed environmental justice (The Verge).

All that environmental research for what? Just for it to be precluded?

Budget cuts have been directed on many governmental agencies; however, some have been affected more than others. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) will be impacted by a 20% budget cut by a bill which roughly equates to 1.8 Billion dollars. Defunding environmental research will put climate change initiatives in the U.S.A in a detrimental spot.

In an ordinance with AP News, “Major staffing reductions for jobs such as monitoring air and water quality, responding to natural disasters [,]and lead abatement, among many other agency functions.”

Changes to the EPA will become a crucial problem in further research about air and water quality.

Staff will be laid off while checking water quality in certain areas, like Detroit, Michigan, which will slow down. Moreover, around 1,155 biologists, toxicologists, and other scientists’ jobs will be lost with the 20% defunding bill.

Environmental objectives will become diminished due to spending time and effort. The EPA might not establish as many propositions or initiatives for the next four years.

Rewinding Back Earlier this Year to the Paris Agreement

Actions to diminish climate change’s damaging effects are dwindling like a slow cooker heating up a stew–slowly but surely. It is those comparisons that truly portray how much time we have left. Climate change is inevitable, but human causes exacerbate1 the problem further.

We still have time to mitigate many of the fundamentals of climate change.

However, the U.S withdrew from the Paris Agreement earlier in the year. The Paris Agreement is an international and collective agreement for nations to not go over 35.6F° (2C°) from pre-industrial times.

This helps nations ensure that they are not emitting too much C02 into the stratosphere. Referring back to the withdrawal of the Paris Agreement, Trump signed it into an executive order earlier this year. However, it will not take place until January 2026.

This was their first prominent decision of the second term Trump Administration to weaken the U.S’s environmental initiatives. This reflects off the EPA, which is why the agreement is consequential–it is an international consensus.

America’s Plans on Defunding the EPA in the Future

Referring back to defunding the EPA, conservatives and some political authorities–especially the administrator of the EPA, Lee Zeldin, desires to defund the EPA even more by 65%. However, this is just a proposal still in the works, and right now is sparking more controversy for the sake of vexation. In addition, the plan has not been adequately deliberated; therefore, it will likely take a while to construct the executive order or bill. Nevertheless, it is still plausible for American society.

The current layoffs are comparable to Ronald Reagan’s levels of the number of employees left in the EPA, around a fluctuating number between 11,000 and 14,000. At the moment, the EPA holds around 15,000 staff members. The layoffs of chemists, other scientists, and other staff members in different departments will contribute to similar Reagan levels of the EPA.

There are so many statements that we are urged to say; however, the trajectory for the next four years has not been promising. We should stay hopeful and keep being vociferous about environmental issues that are happening globally and in the U.S.A. Consequently, we also rely on this case internationally from other nations such as the U.K., Canada, India, China, South Africa, Brazil, Sweden, and more.

Americans need to show support for other countries as well with their environmental initiatives–we shall keep enduring the fight against climate change.

Glossary of Terms:

Exacerbate – make (a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling) worse. (Google)

Written By: Om Patel

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