Adele Peters, “How to Rebuild the EPA after Trump Trashed It"

The Trump era initiated an exodus of EPA employees and 78 reported deregulatory actions, leaving behind a daunting task for the new EPA administrator, Michael Regan. Peters writes that there are a number of actions that Regan and the EPA should, and likely will, take. First, the EPA will likely create a new map of pollution hotspots that focuses on communities hit hard by pollution, climate change, poverty, and systemic racism. Second, the EPA should overturn Trump-era policies, such as “secret science” regulation which limits which studies the EPA can utilize in creating environmental regulation. Third, the EPA should wield the power it was given in the Clean Air Act to limit air pollution and create new standards for car emissions. Fourth, credibility must be restored to the EPA by rehiring scientists and staff and adding actual experts, not industry consultants, to science advisory boards.