There is no room for environmental justice in Trump's dictatorship.

Among the areas that were decided to be eliminated "for reasons of efficiency" is the area of ​​environmental justice, which is the responsibility of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). During 2025, 171 EPA employees were sent on administrative leave - 160 of whom worked on environmental justice issues such as monitoring air and water pollution near neighborhoods of disadvantaged citizens

Youth protest for climate justice. Illustration: depositphotos.com
Youth protest for climate justice. Illustration: depositphotos.com

Among the areas that were decided to be eliminated "for reasons of efficiency" is the area of ​​environmental justice, which is the responsibility of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). As with all other areas, this is also an area that hinders Trump's donors, who will now be able to pollute water and air without any consideration for local populations.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) places special emphasis on environmental justice – Ensuring equitable distribution of environmental burdens and benefits to all communities in the United States, regardless of race, ethnicity, or income level. The EPA's role in this area has become central in recent decades, amid growing awareness that disadvantaged groups bear a heavier burden of pollution and environmental hazards. These are primarily minority communities and underserved areas, which suffer from higher air and water pollution and a lack of effective environmental protections.

In the 90s, the EPA established the Ministry of Environmental Justice The now-closed Office of Environmental Justice is responsible for integrating environmental justice considerations into all of the agency’s operations. Among other things, the office examines how new regulations may disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities and ensures that these considerations are taken into account before regulatory decisions are made. In addition, the EPA operates grant programs specifically for environmental justice projects, such as funding for air quality monitoring projects in neighborhoods near polluting plants. Examples include helping local communities purchase air monitoring sensors and conducting studies on the health effects of industrial pollution.

"Environmental Justice: Ensuring Equal Protection for All Communities"

One notable example is the treatment of “Cancer Alley” in Louisiana—an area of ​​petrochemical plants in predominantly African-American neighborhoods that suffered from high levels of carcinogens in the air. The EPA increased oversight there, supported health studies on the long-term effects of pollution on residents, and assisted with emissions reduction programs. This case illustrated the agency’s commitment to environmental justice and the protection of disadvantaged populations.

However, EPA budget cuts in recent years have directly affected these programs. Budget freezes and staff reductions in the Office of Environmental Justice have limited the agency’s ability to help the most vulnerable communities. Trustees have reportedly been appointed to eliminate the unit that dealt with civil rights and environmental justice. In 2025, 171 EPA employees were placed on administrative leave—160 of whom worked on environmental justice issues. Former agency managers have warned that ending the office’s operations would mean “more toxic chemicals, dangerous air, and unsafe water in communities already suffering from industrial pollution.”

Furthermore, the cuts have also hit the EPA's education and outreach programs. Educating communities about environmental rights and training on the safe use of chemicals are essential actions to reduce risks and improve quality of life. Reduced education budgets could lead to residents in disadvantaged communities being less aware of their rights and the environmental dangers surrounding them.

At the national level, the dilution of environmental justice efforts means that federal policies and programs do not take into account disparities and inequalities as they once did. Thus, projects designed to correct historical injustices, such as cleaning up contaminated sites in minority neighborhoods or connecting rural communities to clean drinking water, may be delayed or canceled due to a lack of funding.

Promoting environmental justice is an integral part of EPA’s mission. However, significant budget cuts are hampering the agency’s ability to implement policies that protect all communities equally. To ensure a clean and safe environment for all citizens, funding for environmental justice programs must be restored and protection of the most vulnerable populations must remain a high priority on the U.S. environmental agenda.

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10 תגובות

  1. Regardless of your support or opposition to Trump, you mark the goal "This is a dictatorship" and then look for what will reinforce this statement.

    Scientific logic is probably not

  2. This is not politics in Shekels, this is my humble response to the total destruction of science in what was once the most powerful power in the world.

  3. My father freed this site from politics with a shekel.
    It's not enough that Hebrew is full of radicals, you're also polluting this place.

  4. I've been covering the field of science for forty years and it's always a step forward. Suddenly, a couple of deranged people came and began to destroy in thirty days everything that had been built with great effort over eighty years, only to replace it with ignorance. For example, they fired all the NOAA forecasters, all the health researchers who only wanted to protect the global consensus, and including the research budget that fueled progress and brought about the Internet through which you write your anti-scientific response.
    To Alex, databases of scientific measurements have been deleted, science has been destroyed because of politics. It's okay to be defensive. What's happening now is on an apocalyptic level, what happens when idiots take over the world.

  5. This section has degenerated, in typical unbridled, self-critical leftist madness, to the status of a low-level tabloid news outlet.
    That's not why I came here, and I assume that's the case with many like me (and, in fact, with most of the public, as you know). I don't need your inferior propaganda, and I'm certainly not a despicable ungrateful person (that's the worst of human shortcomings), whose hatred for his only benefactor in world leadership drives him crazy, "and takes all the good out of him"...
    Let's be alone with the dictatorship of quasi-scientific madness, and imagine what kind of influence this garbage has on the general public.
    In our era, you have many, and even much better, alternatives.
    Peace be upon you.

  6. Social justice.. mutual guarantee.. progressivism.. dictatorship.. longing for Lenin.. Father, you have been insisting lately on tarnishing the precious and important scholar in politics of a certain kind, stop it.

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