White House abandons goal of cleaner air, water

The Trump administration has abandoned the American people in our quest for cleaner air and water.

Since President Trump took office, the (new) Environmental Protection Agency has been chipping away at progress we’ve made protecting the environment.

First the administration put Scott Pruitt in charge of the EPA — a corrupt, incompetent official who previously sued the EPA and resigned his job amid reports of unethical activities.

Next, Trump put Andrew Wheeler, the former coal lobbyist, in charge of the EPA as acting administrator and recently nominated him for the permanent job.

Wheeler has close ties to Robert Murray, the Ohio coal baron and climate change denier who paid $2.7 million in fees to a lobbying firm when Wheeler worked there.

After Trump took office, Murray met with Energy Secretary Rick Perry, who, during his 2012 presidential campaign, wanted to eliminate the agency.

Murray handed Perry an action plan to revive the coal industry by eliminating the Clean Power Plan, pull out of the Paris climate accord and overturn regulations on mercury and other dangerous toxins from coal plants, including 12 other items which the Trump administration and the EPA are trying to do.

EPA now stands for Energy Producers Association.

Gary Schuster Milford Township