Dear John,
Last week, as the coronavirus crisis escalated in communities across the country, Donald Trump’s EPA announced a sweeping, indefinite suspension of environmental rule enforcement.
That’s right -- while people are faced with an unprecedented public health threat, the EPA is making it easier for polluters to poison communities.
Trump’s EPA is exploiting this crisis to make polluters richer. We need your help demanding the agency enforce environmental rules during this crisis.
Tell the EPA: Don’t let polluters poison our communities during the coronavirus crisis!
With former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler at the helm, Trump’s EPA was already far too cozy with Big Polluters. But this is a new level of corruption. The decision to suspend enforcement of environmental rules came directly from requests by oil lobbyists.
With environmental rules suspended, pesticide companies can use COVID-19 as an excuse to dodge environmental standards. Superfund sites will be ignored by regulators. And the EPA won’t penalize polluting industries for certain violations of monitoring, testing, and sampling.
That means polluters could poison the air and water of nearby communities without repercussions.
This would be despicable under normal circumstances, but it’s even worse when nurses and healthcare providers are running out of supplies to keep people healthy.
Trump’s EPA is handing out a free pass to pollute while the country is reeling from a pandemic. This is unacceptable. We need your help pressuring the agency to put people first!
Tell the EPA to protect people and our planet over Big Polluter profits!
The EPA could never get away with suspending environmental enforcement during normal circumstances. But with the public’s attention on coronavirus, the Trump administration thinks it can sneak this change through under the radar.
This could be the beginning of even broader cuts to our bedrock environmental protections. Rumors are swirling that the Department of the Interior -- the agency that protects our public lands and National Monuments -- could be next.
Our leaders must do everything possible to protect the health of our communities through this crisis. With your help, we can pressure the EPA to change course.
Help send 30,000 messages to the EPA: Demand the agency enforce environmental regulations during the coronavirus crisis!
Standing with you,
Liz Butler,
Vice president of organizing and strategic alliances,
Friends of the Earth
