Topline
The White House science office lists environmental protection as one of the Trump administration’s greatest achievements during its first term despite a record that includes pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, systematically rolling back environmental regulations and opening protected lands for resource exploitation.
The White House says Trump saved the environment.
Key Facts
In a press release and report Tuesday celebrating the “Science and Technology Accomplishments” of the Trump administration’s first term, the White House’s science policy office touted its record on environmental protection, saying it will ensure a “resilient environment” with clean air and water for “generations to come.”
The administration’s behavior says otherwise, favoring coal over greener alternatives, moving to reverse nearly 100 environmental rules, according to the New York Times, as well as introducing a number of new regulations opening up public lands for exploitation.
The report issued by the White House science office does little to substantiate its lofty claim, focusing almost exclusively on policies governing the identification and exploitation of resources in the ocean, Great Lakes and coastal areas.
Clean air is mentioned just once in the 56-page report and only in the context of an initiative the U.S. joined, not one it led (the World Economic Forum’s One Trillion Trees Initiative).
Climate change, arguably the single most important factor determining long-term environmental stability, is not mentioned in the report.
Key Background
Trump became president with a reputation for climate change denialism. He has shown a preference for energy and the economy over the environment, prioritizing rolling back regulations that his administration claims have been stifling economic growth. Federal bodies intended to serve as environmental stewards, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, were filled with energy lobbyists and made hostile environments for experts. Trump’s first EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt, who boasted of being “a leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda,” slashed Agency budgets, rolled back clean air and water rules and removed climate change-related content from the agency’s website. His tenure was also plagued with scandal, with numerous ethics violations that ultimately drove him from office.
Tangent
The report also listed “ending” the Covid-19 pandemic as one of Trump’s top achievements, a bizarre claim given that new coronavirus cases are rising steeply throughout the country.
Further Reading
How Trump damaged science — and why it could take decades to recover (Nature)
White House Lists ‘Ending’ Covid-19 Pandemic As Trump Accomplishment (Forbes)
Advancing America’s Global Leadership In Science & Technology (Office of Science and Technology Policy)
White House science office takes credit for ‘ending’ pandemic as infections mount (Politico)
The Trump Administration Is Reversing Nearly 100 Environmental Rules. Here’s the Full List. (NYT)
