The Environmental Protection Agency in the Early Trump Administration

"EDGI formed after the US elections in November 2016 to document, research, and respond to the new administration’s effects on federal environmental agencies, science, and policy."

> We explore and contextualize changes at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the first 6 months of the Trump administration, arguing that its pro-business direction is enabling a form of regulatory capture.

> Under Administrator Scott Pruitt, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has undergone rapid shifts in its stated priorities, policies, and other practices that have broken with not only the Obama administration but all its past history.

> Scholars, policymakers, and activists have long questioned the degree of corporate influence at the EPA. Our study demonstrates a decisive shift to the overt and systematic influence of regulated industries in the first year of the Trump administration

> Although currently available evidence cannot prove regulatory capture, it does show an ambitious, intensifying movement to cripple the EPA’s capacity to confront polluting industries and promote public and environmental health

I’m at a loss of words. What is the point of capitalism if it negatively effects public and environmental health?