Without Scott Pruitt on the ground at the Environmental Protection Agency to provide the appropriate set of alternative facts, there’s a chance someone at the EPA might reveal an actual fact. And Donald Trump is having none of that.
- No press releases will be going out to external audiences.
- No social media will be going out. A Digital Strategist will be coming on board to oversee social media. Existing, individually controlled, social media accounts may become more centrally controlled.
- No blog messages.
- No new content can be placed on any website. Only do clean up where essential.
And while the flow of information out of the EPA has been locked down, it’s far more than press releases that have ceased to flow.
EPA staff has been instructed to freeze all its grants ― an extensive program that includes funding for research, redevelopment of former industrial sites, air quality monitoring and education, among other things ― and told not to discuss this order with anyone outside the agency, according to a Hill source with knowledge of the situation.
These grants power everything from sampling pollution around Superfund sites to community recycling programs and environmental education programs used in schools. The grant lockdown follows reports that Trump intends to cut $815 million from the EPA’s budget, destroying not only the ability to fund research, but to enforce existing standards.
Requests for comment from the EPA drew no response. Of course.
Because giving clean air and clean water to everyone has got to stop.