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Greenpeace activists hung an enormous banner across the White House on Wednesday inscribed with the word “resist.” The meaning of the banner is succinctly clear, as Trump’s people and policy choices reflect his conviction that global warming is a hoax.
Resist
The Greenpeace move comes as Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline and took measures to marginalize the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The pipeline project had been halted by the administration on environmental grounds. EPA is one of the most prestigious institutions in the world when it comes to research and environmental protection. It is an institution vehemently opposed by the oil and gas lobby, which has now been handed its administration.
Media blackout
Since Monday, President Trump ordered the freezing of all EPA contracts and grants, which will disrupt environmental testing, cleanups, and ongoing research. The White House also has ordered the agency to stop issuing press releases, engage in social media, or otherwise contact the press.
Transition team communications director, Doug Ericksen, said the EPA’s media blackout could be lifted by the end of this week.
Oil industry takes over environmental agency
Following the President’s inauguration, the White House published an “America First Energy Plan” that made clear the EPA was to “refocus” on protecting air and water, while the administration expands oil, gas and shale drilling and “revives” the coal industry.
Henceforth, the EPA will be run by a 10-member team, all of whom come from the oil and gas lobby. The EPA’s director will be led by Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who is an outspoken denier of the global warming phenomenon.
Oil industry takes over US Department of Energy
Another key position for the protection of the environment was handed to Rick Perry. Perry will lead the US Department of Energy (DOE). The former Texas governor proposed eliminating DOE during his bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
Perry is not new to politics. He is an oil man that has lobbied for petroleum for many years. At the time of his selection in December 2016, Perry was seating on the board of directors of two oil companies, namely Energy Transfer Partners LP and Sunoco Logistics Partners LP.
Meanwhile, Trump’s transition team asked DOE to provide the names of individuals that have worked on climate change or attended international climate change conferences. The agency refused. The agency’s spokesman admitted that the question was unsettling for many of the employees. One member of staff told the German public broadcaster (DW) at the time that the Trump transition team was seeking a “hit list.”
After the inauguration, it appears their fears were not exaggerated.
The post Trump hands over environmental policy to the oil and gas sector appeared first on New Europe.