Tracking Trump’s Attack on Environmental Protections

Climate One

News, Social Sciences, News Commentary, Science, Earth Sciences

4.7 • 583 Ratings

🗓️ 9 May 2025

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

About fifty years ago, multiple environmental disasters forced a reckoning with how we care for the Earth. President Richard Nixon signed numerous environmental protection bills into law in the 1970s, including what is considered to be the nation’s green Magna Carta: the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Among many other moves to eliminate or weaken federal environmental regulations and laws, the Trump administration is trying to fundamentally change NEPA, a bedrock rule that requires federal agencies to analyze environmental and cultural impacts of any major development. Critics point out these changes will result in fewer protections for citizens, natural resources and communities. What other regulations are being rolled back and going unnoticed? Guests: Sam Wojcicki, Senior Director, Climate Policy, National Audubon Society Olivia N. Guarna, Climate Justice Fellow, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Jared Huffman, U.S. Representative (D-CA 2nd District) and Ranking Member of the House Natural Resources Committee On June 4, Climate One is hosting a special screening of the documentary “Good Grief: The 10 Steps” to be followed by a climate anxiety workshop. Join us for this intimate conversation about the importance of mental health live at The Commonwealth Club. Tickets are available through our website. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	AI is incredible. They can teach you how to fry an egg and even write a poem, pirate style.
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0:28.8	to learn more. I'm Ariana Brocious. I'm Kusha Navadar. And this is Climate 1.
0:38.1	Kusha, I've been thinking back on your recent interview with former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy
0:42.6	and how she talked about getting tar balls on her legs while swimming in the Boston Harbor as a kid.
0:48.9	And I think it's stuck with me because that's the kind of thing we don't really expect to happen today. Yeah, I was
0:54.8	interested in knowing what tarballs were in the first place. And I mean, not all of our waterways
0:59.8	are pristine, but they're for sure a heck of a lot better than they were back in the 1960s.
1:04.9	And that's not by accident. Americans really started paying attention to how polluted some places
1:09.7	were becoming when they were seeing the harm happen in real time.
1:13.6	And so back in the 60s and 70s, there was this whole movement to start regulating industry to protect people and nature.
1:20.2	Exactly. I mean, there were a few laws on the books, but the 1970s were kind of a banner decade for environmental protections.
1:27.2	Ariana, two wit. The Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the establishing of the Environmental
1:32.4	Protection Agency, and so on. And fun fact, all of these were signed by President Nixon.
1:37.9	A Republican. And that's because things got so bad that it didn't use to be controversial
1:43.0	to want to protect our air and our water
1:45.3	and our public health. But over the years that's changed, there's been a slew of new regulations
1:50.1	put on industry, and that's not always welcome. And right now, President Trump is intent on
1:55.0	eliminating or rolling back a huge number of these fundamental regulations. And one that's really important and kind of flying under the radar right now is the National
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