Trump budget leaves environment in cold

Administration has proposed to cut $2.5 billion, or about a quarter, from the annual budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It said the proposal will help "return the EPA to its core mission (of ensuring clean air, land and water)"; reduce "unnecessary reporting burdens"; and eliminate programmes that "have served their purpose and accomplished their mission".

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Environmental groups have termed it a thinly veiled attempt to shrink the reach of the agency. Fred Krupp, president of US-based non-profit Environmental Defense Fund, called the budget "a blueprint for a less healthy, more polluted America". The same day the government unveiled a $1.5 trillion plan to modernise USA'S infrastructure. The plan had no mention of climate change.

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