The Trump administration has installed signs inside the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) headquarters celebrating “environmental achievements” by the EPA in President Trump’s first year in office.
The “Year of Great Environmental Achievements” poster highlights five actions by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, mostly in rolling back Obama administration policies: his proposal to repeal the Clean Power Plan, his proposal to repeal the Clean Water Rule, “cleaning up contaminated sites,” providing “confidence for American families” and providing “certainty” for the economy.
It also has four photos of Trump, three of which also have Pruitt. {mosads}
The New York Times’s Eric Lipton first publicized the posters on Twitter, and an EPA source confirmed that they are in the building.
“The posters speak for themselves and all EPA employees should take pride in the good work they’ve achieved this past year, and will continue to achieve over the next 7 years,” EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said in a statement.
Environmentalists have argued that Trump’s first year in office has been disastrous for the environment.
The League of Conservation Voters, which annually grades lawmakers for their environmental votes, gave Trump an F in December for his first year, compared with B+ for President Barack Obama’s first year and D- for President George W. Bush’s first year.
The Trump administration has advanced very few new environmental policies, including an EPA rule to limit mercury pollution in water from dental offices and Energy Department efficiency standards, both of which the Obama administration started.
Cleaning up contaminated Superfund sites is one of Pruitt’s stated priorities for his time in office, and one of the accomplishments highlighted on the poster.
Earlier this month, Pruitt boasted that he removed seven sites from the EPA’s Superfund list, signifying that their cleanups are complete.
The cleanups took decades and were completed before Pruitt arrived at the agency.
Pruitt is also working on a handful of fronts to expedite cleanups at Superfund sites and otherwise make the program more effective.