EPA Budget Cuts Would Endanger Our Health, Well-Being

WASHINGTON – The Trump Administration today signaled its plan to drastically slash the Environmental Protection Agency's budget―by as much as 24 percent, according to the press. The following is a statement by Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

"Slashing the EPA's budget will be dangerous to our health and the well-being of our children. We cannot afford to abandon the historic progress we are making together. We must not return to an era when mercury, smog, lead, hazardous wastes, acid rain, sulfur dioxides, radon and pesticides galore went unregulated. To curtail testing our water or monitoring our air quality is to court disaster. Since its creation in 1970, EPA has proven to be a health-protection agency extraordinaire, providing us with clean air, water and lands. There is no turning back."

Here is an overview of some of EPA's most essential duties.
 

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The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City; Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; Bozeman, Montana; and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.