Trump EPA's pollution, waste reduction numbers are lowest in a decade

The pounds of pollutants and waste that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reduced under the Trump administration are at their lowest levels in a decade, according to an analysis by the Environmental Data and Governance Initiative (EDGI) published Friday.

EPA’s 2018 reduction of pollution and hazardous waste is the second-lowest amount on record, dating back to 2008. President Trump’s first year in office, 2017, was the worst year, according to the analysis.

According to numbers released in EPA’s annual year in review this week, EPA in 2018 was responsible for the “treatment, disposal, or elimination of 809 million pounds of pollutants and waste.”

The number is nearly double the 462 million pounds of waste EPA discarded in 2017. However, both are in stark contrast to levels reported in previous years under the Obama administration and the last year of the Bush administration.

Between 2008 and 2016, EPA reduced an average of 11,438 million pounds of pollutants per year, according to EDGI’s analysis of EPA data.

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/428078-trump-epas-waste-reduction-numbers-are-lowest-in-a-decade