Washington, D.C. — President Donald Trump is expected to sign a sweeping executive order at 4:30 p.m. today declaring an economic crisis as part of an effort to authorize agency heads to disregard community input and environmental review of infrastructure and other projects. In response to the announcement, Christy Goldfuss, senior vice president for Energy and Environment at the Center for American Progress, released the following statement:
While the Center for American Progress has closed its doors today in observance of a National Day of Mourning for the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others who have lost their lives to police violence, the Trump administration is spitting out an executive order that will only serve to further silence these same communities.
The American public knows it’s a false choice to pit expediting projects against protecting our clean air, water, and communities. The real problem is funding. Senate Republican leadership won’t come to the table to talk about support for those who need it most. Instead, this administration is removing phantom barriers that are, at their essence, protections for the very communities that are struggling most from the health impacts of air and water pollution. The Trump administration is trying to divert attention away from the crisis of racial injustice happening around the country by giving agency leads the excuse to ram through polluting projects that will prop up the dying fossil fuel industry, all while destroying the very same communities that are dying at higher rates from COVID-19 and police violence. Until the Trump administration and its allies in Congress put real funding on the table, nothing will get built.
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