Yevgeny Shrago, “Re-Fund the EPA"

Shrago argues that, in the decades leading up to Trump, EPA’s budget and workforce has faced stagnation and austerity even as its responsibilities and ambitions have grown. The Trump-era hiring freeze only aged and decreased the EPA’s workforce. To reverse the situation, the Biden administration must reject austerity with environmental policies and increase the EPA’s staff to 25,000 permanent employees. To hire and maintain this number, $2.2 billion must be added to the EPA’s budget.