Trump’s 2018 budget would slash EPA spending by 30 percent: report

President Trump is weighing a cut to the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget that would trim its funding by more than 30 percent, CNN reported Friday.

The cut, outlined in a budget blueprint for fiscal year 2018, would similarly reduce the EPA’s operational budget by 35 percent, according to CNN. What’s more, it would end funding to states for environmental clean-up efforts and nonpoint source pollution control, among other initiatives. 

On the campaign trail and in his first months in office, Trump has assailed environmental regulations and the EPA, which he has deemed a hindrance to business and development. 

{mosads}

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has also voiced similar disdain for environmental regulations. In his previous role as Oklahoma attorney general, Pruitt sued the EPA more than a dozen times over various rules and regulations. 

Pruitt came under fire in March when he rejected established climate science during an interview on MSNBC’s “Squawk Box,” arguing that carbon emissions are not primary contributors to climate change. In fact, scientists overwhelmingly agree that they are.

While the cuts to the EPA are outlined in a 2018 budget proposal, such plans are not final and are usually seen as a presidential wish-list of sorts, and Congress is ultimately responsible for passing appropriations bills that are then signed by the president.