Donald Trump Suspends EPA Grants, Blackouts EPA Media

[Shiranu]

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/trump-issues-epa-media-blackout-suspends-agencys-grants/

The Trump administration has instituted a media blackout at the Environmental Protection Agency and barred staff from awarding any new contracts or grants, part of a broader communications clampdown within the executive branch.


Emails sent to EPA staff since President Donald Trump’s inauguration Friday and reviewed by The Associated Press detailed specific prohibitions banning press releases, blog updates or posts to the agency’s social media accounts.

The Trump administration has also ordered what it called a temporary suspension of all new business activities at the department, including issuing task orders or work assignments to EPA contractors. The orders were expected to have a significant and immediate impact on EPA activities nationwide. EPA contracts with outside vendors for a wide array of services, from engineering and research science to janitorial supplies.

Similar orders barring external communications have been issued in recent days by the Trump administration at other federal agencies, including the Agriculture and Interior departments.

Staffers in EPA’s public affairs office are instructed to forward all inquiries from reporters to the Office of Administration and Resources Management.


“Incoming media requests will be carefully screened,” one directive said. “Only send out critical messages, as messages can be shared broadly and end up in the press.”

A review of EPA websites and social media accounts, which typically include numerous new posts each day, showed no new activity since Friday.

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Tuesday he had no information on the blackout. He said aides were looking into the circumstances.

Doug Ericksen, the communications director for Trump’s transition team at EPA, said he expects the communications ban to be lifted by the end of this week.

“We’re just trying to get a handle on everything and make sure what goes out reflects the priorities of the new administration,” Ericksen said.

Beyond what was stated in the internal email, Ericksen clarified that the freeze on EPA contracts and grants won’t apply to pollution cleanup efforts or infrastructure construction activities.

Officials at state and local agencies that rely on EPA for funding said they were left in the dark, saying they had received no information from EPA about the freeze.

“We are actively seeking additional information so we can understand the impact of this action on our ability to administer critical programs,” said Alan Matheson, executive director of Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

The executive director for the advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, Jeff Ruch, said the orders go beyond what has occurred in prior presidential transitions.

“We’re watching the dark cloud of Mordor extend over federal service,” Ruch said Tuesday, referring to the evil kingdom in the epic fantasy “The Lord of the Rings.”

Ruch noted that key posts at EPA have not yet been filled with Republican appointees, including Trump’s nominee for EPA administrator, Scott Pruitt. That means there are not yet the new senior personnel in place to make key decisions.

Environmentalists said the orders were having a chilling effect on EPA staff, many of whom were suffering from low morale. Trump and Pruitt have both been frequent critics of the agency and have questioned the validity of climate science showing that the Earth is warming and man-made carbon emissions are to blame.

Liz Perera, climate policy director for the Sierra Club, said Trump’s move to freeze all EPA communications and contracts should be “a major red flag for all Americans.”

“EPA was created to ensure that all Americans can enjoy clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and have their health protected from environmental and climate threats,” Perera said.

Some staff at the Agriculture Department also received orders not to release any documents to the public.

“This includes, but is not limited to, news releases, photos, fact sheets, news feeds and social media content,” read an email to staff at the agency’s Agricultural Research Service, which was obtained by the AP.

ARS spokesman Christopher Bentley said the ban would not include scientific publications released through peer-reviewed professional journals.

“As the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific in-house research agency, ARS values and is committed to maintaining the free flow of information between our scientists and the American public as we strive to find solutions to agricultural problems affecting America,” Bentley said, according to a statement.

It was not immediately clear whether similar instructions were given to others within the department.

The AP reported over the weekend that staff at the Interior Department were temporarily ordered to stop making posts to its Twitter account. The prohibition came after the official account of the National Park Service, a bureau of the department, retweeted a pair of posts to its 315,000 followers that seemed to be a swipe at Trump on his initial day in office. The first was a photo that compared the crowd gathered on the National Mall for Trump with the much larger gathering that stood in the same spot eight years earlier for President Barack Obama’s swearing-in.

Trump later falsely claimed that more than 1 million people attended his inauguration, which Spicer insisted was the most watched in history.

Severely hamstringing our environmentalism and making sure any information coming out of the Department is heavily screened and regulated to say exactly what he wants it to say...

Is it still too soon to judge Trump?

[Baruch]

He is only doing what his party wants.  Did you expect him to act like a Democrat?  As far as I am concerned, he can burn the Federal Government down ... now that I am near retirement ;-)

[fencerider]

every day that goes by Trump gets negative points for me. Gotta stop listening to political radio and put on some country music.

Just to be clear, I thought agencies are created by Congressional authority, and they need Congressional authority to be destroyed. yes or no?

I can understand that a republican Congress may support deauthorizing EPA. But can he legally do it on his own?

[Baruch]

every day that goes by Trump gets negative points for me. Gotta stop listening to political radio and put on some country music.

Just to be clear, I thought agencies are created by Congressional authority, and they need Congressional authority to be destroyed. yes or no?

I can understand that a republican Congress may support deauthorizing EPA. But can he legally do it on his own?

Failure to fund agencies, and to enforce existing laws .. is a gambit used for years.  It is unnecessary to abolish an agency, just have sympathetic management, or defund it.

[Munch]

He is only doing what his party wants.  Did you expect him to act like a Democrat?  As far as I am concerned, he can burn the Federal Government down ... now that I am near retirement ;-)

one should care for the youth of tomorrow. Part of me doesn't want to give a dam, but having nephews, yeah I want them to not live in a shitty future at least.

[Baruch]

one should care for the youth of tomorrow. Part of me doesn't want to give a dam, but having nephews, yeah I want them to not live in a shitty future at least.

Then the youth need to abandon extremes, both R and D.  They are the best thing since 1861.  Time to end this feud.  I can care all I want, and that won't do a damn thing.  And burning down the West might be the best thing ... though not something I want.

[Atheon]

Once the Republican Paty is destroyed (we missed our chance to kill their party again), then the Dems will split apart naturally. But it can only be accomplished once the GOP is history. The Republicans hate America and all it stands for while wrapping themselves in the flag and projecting their evils onto liberals.

[Baruch]

Once the Republican Paty is destroyed (we missed our chance to kill their party again), then the Dems will split apart naturally. But it can only be accomplished once the GOP is history. The Republicans hate America and all it stands for while wrapping themselves in the flag and projecting their evils onto liberals.

Democrats hate America and condemn everything it stands for (rhetoric only).  You D folks need to arm, and start killing people ... get your Cheka together.

[MooHamHead]

It is refreshing to see the cult of the tree huggers get shit kicked to the curb. America First.  MAGA!

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[MooHamHead]

Democrats hate America and condemn everything it stands for (rhetoric only).  You D folks need to arm, and start killing people ... get your Cheka together.

They are defenseless anti human biatches. They are weak and dependent.  Our great Republican form of government must always stand vigil against those who would allow our greatness to be diminished.

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