The Trump administration is massively rolling back environmental protection policies, accelerating an already heated race to the bottom.Trump's appointed Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin announced 31 regulatory changes allegedly the "biggest deregulatory action in US history" in an apparent effort to maximize the amount of harmful pollution generated in the United States.The changes include the removal of emissions limits for existing gas and coal-fired power plants and a rollback of limits set on toxic metal emissions of coal plants. The EPA is also looking to loosen Biden-era rules limiting the amount of hazardous metals, including mercury and arsenic, that can be released into wastewater from power plants.The agency is also planning to reconsider air quality standards, vehicle emissions standards, and rules aimed at reducing the release of hydrofluorocarbons.In all, the Trump administration has declared war on decades of scientific evidence warning of an environmental andclimate crisis that's already hitting. It's a self-defeating rollback that could have dire consequences forthe country andplanet.It could also prove incredibly unpopular. According to a recent update to the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication's Climate Opinion Maps, most Americans support at least some environmental regulation, including support for renewable energy research.But to Trump's EPA, more pollution and global warming is a win for the average American despite the considerable threats to human health, loss of land, and debilitating extreme weather events."We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the U.S. and more," Zeldin said in a statement.The Trump administration has declared war on climate change and has been actively trying to eliminate any evidence of the ongoing climate crisis.Earlier this year, the USDA scrubbed any mention of "climate change" from its website. Grants for climate research have also since been pulled.Trump himself has called climate change a "hoax" and called to "drill, baby, drill" at his 2024 presidential campaign events.His administration's naked efforts to line the pockets of oil and gas executives have never been more explicit. Last year, Trump promised that any "person or company" investing $1 billion or more in the US would "receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental [sic] approvals."The utterance was greeted with an outpouring of excitement by Tesla CEO and richest person in the world Elon Musk, who called the move "awesome"in spite of a previous public commitment to environmentalism.The latest gutting of EPA environmental rules follows confusion regarding purported mass layoffs at the agency. After Trump announced the EPA would reduce its staff by 65 percent, a White House spokesperson had to clarify later that the figure was concerning spending cuts, not staffing levels.At the time, however, Zeldin promised to gut the agency later."We dont need to be spending all that money that went through the EPA last year, Zeldin told Fox News last month. "We dont want it. We dont need it. The American public needs it and we need to balance the budget."Unsurprisingly, the science community was shocked by the EPA's complete disregard for common sense."The Trump administrations ignorance is trumped only by its malice toward the planet," Center for Biological Diversitys Climate Law Institute legal director Jason Rylander told The Guardian. "Come hell or high water, raging fires and deadly heatwaves, Trump and his cronies are bent on putting polluter profits ahead of peoples lives.""Zeldins EPA is dragging America back to the days before the Clean Air Act, when people were dying from pollution," Moms Clean Air Force director Dominique Browning added. "This is unacceptable. And shameful. We will oppose with all our hearts to protect our children from this cruel, monstrous action."To former EPA officials, it's a dark day."Today marks the most disastrous day in EPA history," said Obama-era EPA administrator Gina McCarthy in a statement. "Rolling these rules back is not just a disgrace, its a threat to all of us."More on environmental policy: Elon Musk Gloats as Trump Announces Billionaires Will Be Exempt From Normal Environmental RulesShare This Article