Earth Matters: If Zeldin really wanted a Reagan-sized EPA, he would boost the agency's budget by 50%

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced in his reorganization meeting last Friday that, among other things, the Office of Research and Development will be dissolved (as expected), with 400 of its 1,500 employees posted to other positions at the agency and the rest of them told “thanks for your service, you’re on your own.” That would bring the total EPA staff down to 13,600 employees. At its peak, in 1999, it had 18,100 employees. 

As part of the administration’s slash-and-burn budgeting, Zeldin has said he wants to cut the EPA budget by 62%. But he hasn’t come within miles of that in the proposed 2026 budget. Nor has he offered what he thinks should be the optimum number of EPA staffers other than to say he wants the agency to be at the level it was when President Ronald Reagan was in office. Trouble is, during Reagan’s two terms, the agency had 10,800 employees in 1982 but 14,400 in 1989 when he left office. 

The chart above tells only one part of the story. While the EPA staff is now just 300 employees larger than it was upon Reagan’s departure from the White House, the agency’s tasks have expanded tremendously since it was signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1970. As E&E News reports:

“Do you know how many hazardous air pollutants there were in the 1980s? Four,” said David Doniger, a senior attorney and strategist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “And in the 1990 Clean Air Act, Congress listed 187.”

Doniger, who worked at EPA in the late 1990s, said the amendments also boosted the industries EPA was compelled to regulate from a handful to dozens.

Perhaps Zeldin can haul out the expression that corporate managers have irked their employees with for 90 years when shrinking staffs or adding tasks without adding resources: “work smarter, not harder.” Working smarter is, in fact, going to be a lot harder at the EPA given the dismantling of data collection and interpretation operations. For instance, no more collection of greenhouse gas emissions data from corporate polluters. Without data, protective laws are moot. But that’s one of the goals of an administration that seeks U.S. “energy dominance” by extracting more fossil fuels while placing obstacles in the path of solar and wind. 

Definitely meant for demolition is anything EPA has previously had to do with climate. In his Friday announcement, Zeldin noted that by the end of the fiscal year September 1, he plans to have ditched the Office of Atmospheric Protection (OAP) and Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS). These now do most of the EPA’s climate work under the Office of Air and Radiation (OAR). In its 900-page blueprint for shrinking and remaking the federal government—1,671 mentions and 150 pages of it devoted to the EPA alone—the rightwing Project 2025 called for OAR to move away from greenhouse gas regulations and focus instead on "limiting and minimizing criteria and hazardous air pollutants in partnership with the states." The devil is somewhere in the details of whatever “limiting and minimizing criteria” ultimately means.

Killing or crippling the EPA has been a right-wing dream since the mid-1970s when the Sagebrush Rebellion emerged in the western states and suburban and rural voters in the South and elsewhere opposed the implementation of rules designed to protect the environment. Talk of “federal overreach” began to be voiced. 

The late Anne Gorsuch Burford, whose anti-environment son now sits on the U.S. Supreme Court, became EPA Administrator under Reagan in 1981. She said she wanted to slash the agency budget by half. She managed to cut it by 22% and reduced staff during her 22 months at the agency, which she left under a political cloud. She was replaced by William Ruckelshaus, who also had been the first EPA chief. He was replaced by Lee Thomas. By the time George H.W. Bush took office in 1989, the EPA budget under those two administrators had risen to $5.1 billion. Adjusted for inflation, that would be $13.8 billion in today’s dollars. But the actual EPA budget last year was just $9.1 billion.    

—Meteor Blades

WEEKLY ECO-VIDEO

RESOURCES & ACTION

• Six Environmental Mapping Tools the White House Doesn’t Want You to See
• Civil Eats Food Policy Tracker

GREEN BRIEF

Worldwide EV Sales Report for March

Although some figures are immediately available, getting the full picture of electric automobile sales typically lag a month or so. At Clean Technica, José Pontes has posted its March EV report. It’s good news.

Global registrations of plug-in vehicles—fully electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrids (PHEV)—hit 1.6 million in March. BEVs grew 32% over March 2024 to 1.1 million units with PHEVs growing 14% to some half a million units. Overall, plug-ins took a 25% share of the overall car market, with BEVs alone at 17%. 

Chinese manufacturer BYD, the world’s No. 1 EV seller, has been mostly confined to the Chinese market. But, showing what a juggernaut the company is becoming, in March, it made 21% of its sales in overseas markets. In 2024, that figure for the whole year was just 10%. BYD’s sales targets for this year are 5.5 million units, 800,000 of them in export markets. That would be a 29% increase over the 4.3 million sold in 2024. Of those, 1,764,992 were battery electrics, 41.5% of the total. 

At No. 2, Tesla is still selling lots of cars, with 151,000 registrations in March. But that’s a 10% drop since March 2024. 

—Meteor Blades

RESEARCH & STUDIES

• Smoke from U.S. wildfires killed 15,000 over 15 years. Published Nature Communications, the researchers focused on deaths linked to exposure to fine particulate matter, or PM2.5 — the main concern from wildfire smoke.
• The rich bear their fair share of climate costs. Published at Nature Climate Change, the researchers found that the richest 10% have contributed two-thirds of the global heating impacts since 1990. “Our study shows that extreme climate impacts are not just the result of abstract global emissions; instead we can directly link them to our lifestyle and investment choices, which in turn are linked to wealth,” said Sarah Schöngart, a climate modeling analyst and the study’s lead author. (No free access, but The Guardian discusses here.)
• All of the biggest US cities are sinking: Groundwater pumping is the main cause in most cases. Published in Nature Cities, the study looked at the 28 most populous cities.

HALF A DOZEN OTHER THINGS TO READ (OR LISTEN TO)

World’s Researchers Say They Will Resist Attacks on Science and Support Beleaguered U.S. Colleagues by Bob Berwyn at Inside Climate News. The global science community promised last Friday that it would rally around American researchers against the wave of anti-science propaganda and disinformation swamping global media and misguiding decision-making around topics like global warming, plastic pollution, agriculture and pandemics. Leaders of the largest Earth science organizations in the U.S. and Europe voiced those concerns at a “Great Debate” event during the European Geosciences Union (EGU25) annual conference, which was attended by 18,000 scientists from more than 130 countries. The session was added in response to recent political shifts, including the U.S. election, organizers said. “Generally, in the geosciences, when we have a late breaking Great Debate, it’s because there has been a disaster somewhere, like an earthquake or a tsunami,” EGU president Peter van der Beek said, opening the session. “I think we can say that we are also organizing this great debate because of a disaster going on, in this case the suppression of science.”

EPA Plans to Shut Down the Energy Star Program by Lisa Friedman and Rebecca F. Elliott at The New York Times. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate Energy Star, the popular energy efficiency certification for dishwashers, refrigerators, dryers and other home appliances, according to agency documents and a recording of an internal meeting. “The Energy Star program and all the other climate work, outside of what’s required by statute, is being de-prioritized and eliminated,” Paul Gunning, the director of the EPA Office of Atmospheric Protection, told employees during the meeting, according to the recording obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Gunning’s office itself is also slated for elimination. For the past 33 years, Energy Star has been known for its recognizable blue label, which shows that an appliance has met energy efficiency standards set by the federal government. Related: See Tik Root’s piece under Ecopinion below.

The Latest Trump and DOGE Casualty: Energy Data by Peter Elkind at ProPublica. The Energy Information Administration has seen major staffing cuts and the suppression of analytical content from its flagship Annual Energy Outlook. The agency canceled the International Energy Outlook for 2025 due to staff shortages after over 100 employees left following buyouts, firings or resignations driven by DOGE. Critics, including energy experts and former EIA staff, warn the changes undermine objective data crucial for industry leaders and policymakers to evaluate energy trends and policies. For the record, EIA has been great at providing historically accurate data on what has happened asn is happening in energy. But, especially when it comes to forecasts of renewables, EIA has consistently missed the mark. 

Pennsylvania health advocates say Trump’s first 100 days in office have caused “100 harms” to local communities. “They're terrorizing these scientists because they want to keep them silent.” By Kristina Marusic at EHN. On April 30, the morning after hurricane-like weather conditions killed at least four people and caused power outages at more than 400,000 homes in southwestern Pennsylvania, community advocates and scientists held an event to discuss how President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office have set back climate action and harmed environmental health and research. “Climate change has created numerous dangerous realities for families in Pennsylvania,” said Vanessa Lynch, an organizer with Moms Clean Air Force who spoke at the event. “Severe storms are becoming more frequent and more severe, like yesterday's storm with winds ripping out trees, tearing off roofs, and causing hundreds of thousands of people to be without power.” The event was part of a series of actions across the country by advocates for health, human rights, and the environment dubbed “100 days, 100 harms,” intended to highlight the on-the-ground impacts of the Trump administration’s first 100 days in office.

Neighboring states’ nuclear debacles loom over North Carolina bill by Elizabeth Ouzts at Canary Media. Proposed legislation in North Carolina that would allow utility Duke Energy to charge customers for power plants still under construction is taking heat from opponents across the political spectrum, in part because similar schemes have left residents in neighboring states holding the bag for pricey abandoned nuclear projects. The failed expansion of South Carolina’s V.C. Summer nuclear plant is the most notable example. After nearly a decade of ballooning costs and construction delays, utilities gave up on the project in 2017, and consumers are still paying down a $9 billion price tag, a situation that was dubbed “Nukegate.” South Carolina Rep. Nathan Ballentine, a Republican, wrote in a recent opinion piece for The Butner-Creedmoor News, a North Carolina outlet: “The pay-up-front provision was a key factor leading to the catastrophe on the customer side. We learned the hard way that this type of provision benefits only the utility, while the cost of its failure is borne by every hardworking family and business that pay their electric bills,” Ballentine wrote. ​

USAID cuts are hitting global conservation projects hard by by Adam Welz at Yale Environment 360. Budget cuts and firings that have dismantled the USAID and eliminated billions of dollars of life-saving assistance around the globe. The devastating impacts of these cuts are already being felt, as programs to provide food to people in conflict zones and critically needed medicines, vaccines, and medical care in poor countries have been abruptly halted. But while USAID is best known for its humanitarian work, it has also been one of the world’s largest supporters of wildlife conservation and environmental protection, backing a diverse portfolio of projects in dozens of countries — projects that protected elephants in Tanzania, great apes and national parks in Central Africa, giant fishes and watersheds of the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia, and rainforests in the Amazon, among many others. The elimination of USAID funding has left conservationists and environmentalists without one of their most important and reliable sources of support. Some nonprofits have shut down, while others are scrambling to find ways to keep vital activities running.

WEEKLY BLUESKY SKEET

ECOPINION

For Real Energy Dominance, We Need the IRA by Jennifer Granholm (former Energy Secretary and previously two-term governor of Michigan) at Heatmap. What if — despite the news — America is in fact the world’s most promising country to invest in right now? What if now is actually the best time to build a manufacturing facility in the U.S., particularly for the new energy economy? What if hundreds of communities could be rejoicing in fresh opportunities to work in future-facing industries? And what if the reason comes down to the combined efforts of Joe Biden and Donald Trump? I’ve always said that to reshore and rebuild manufacturing in America, we have to play two parts offense and one part defense. The Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in 2022, is the biggest offensive play the U.S. has ever made, with tax credits and incentives that are unleashing a clean energy arms race right here at home. Tariffs can be defense, provided they’re phased in and negotiated smartly to allow for U.S. supply chains to develop. We now face a choice: Abandon our offensive strategy by gutting those IRA tax incentives, or play to win by building on the work we did during the Biden administration.

How They Do It in "Foreign Lands" by Bill McKibben at The Crucial Years. Every once in a while our mad king hits on an accidentally poetic turn of phrase in one of his strangely punctuated missives. In one of this week’s movie-based announcements (not the one about reopening San Francisco’s notorious island prison, which apparently followed a showing of Escape from Alcatraz on the Palm Beach PBS station) (not PBS’s fault, support them here), he declared that he was henceforth “instituting a 100% Tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands.” It was the last phrase—’foreign lands’—that attracted me; it conjures up European monarchs of earlier centuries dispatching sailors to see if fountains of youth or dragons or some such might be found off the edges of existing charts. (No, as it turned out, just indigenous people who could be forced to part with their “foreign lands”). It’s a reminder that for Trump, and for many of us, a myopic focus on what’s happening here is a mistake, because we’ve long assumed that we’re at the head of the world. That unconscious supremacy—born in the actual enormous lead we had in living standards in the rubble of World War II—no longer makes much sense. So just a quick survey of what those funny people in other places are up to.

How Trump’s latest rollback could raise your utility bills by Tik Root at Grist. “Energy Star has saved American families and businesses more than half a trillion dollars in energy costs,” said Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the ranking member of the committee, in a statement to Grist. “By eliminating this program, [Trump] will force Americans to buy appliances that cost more to run and waste more energy.” Energy Star sets efficiency specifications for products ranging from dishwashers to entire homes. Those standards are beyond government-mandated minimums, and Energy Star’s website says the goal is to provide “simple, credible, and unbiased information” people can use to make better decisions. While Energy Star certification is voluntary, most major manufacturers participate. According to the government, around 9 in 10 households recognize the Energy Star label. Depending on the year, as many as 80% say the label “very much” or “somewhat” influenced their purchases. Overall, consumers have bought more than 300 million appliances with the Energy Star label and the program has cumulatively helped avoid 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

New reports tell us cattle and sheep farming can be sustainable – don’t believe them, it’s all bull by George Monbiot at The Guardian.  In reality, beef and lamb are the most land-hungry and climate-damaging of all farm products. Their climate impacts range from the methane and nitrous oxide the animals produce to the huge areas they need for grazing, which could otherwise support wild ecosystems far richer in carbon, such as forests and wetlands. As usual, Brandolini’s law applies: refuting such stories requires an order of magnitude more effort than spreading them. So here we go again, with the publication of two reports in the space of a week. I’ve visited the farm that commissioned the first one, FAI Farms in Oxfordshire, and found the staff sincere and well-meaning. Their “study” was funded by McDonald’s, “to support McDonald’s belief that well-managed beef production has an important role to play in a thriving global ecosystem.”

Reject the Budget Bill That Sells off Alaska and Our Rights Along With It. Buried in Congress’ latest budget proposal is an unprecedented power grab that threatens both wild Alaska and the foundations of public oversight. By Kristen Miller at Common Dreams.Then comes the most egregious power grab: The bill attempts to strip away judicial review of government decisions in the Arctic Refuge. Only the State of Alaska or oil companies could sue. The Gwich’in people, who have stewarded this place as their cultural homeland since time immemorial? Silenced. The basic democratic rights of the American public? Quashed. The same gag order appears for the Western Arctic, attempting to halt litigation over the Willow project and prevent future legal challenges to drilling by Iocal Indigenous communities or others. And the hits keep coming. The bill would require another six offshore oil and gas lease sales over the next 10 years in the waters of Cook Inlet, each covering no less than a million acres. Once again: environmental review sidestepped, public legal challenges all but erased.

The Chickens and the Eggs. Avian flu outbreaks are exacerbated by the consolidated structure of the poultry industry. By Janelle Carlson at The American Prospect. Two firms, Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s Pride, control 45% of the market for broiler chickens in the U.S. and a huge chunk of the international market. Together with Sanderson Farms (which is owned by agricultural giant Cargill) and Perdue, they control over 60% of the U.S. market. The other 40% is owned by relatively small local processors, like Wisconsin-based Pine Creek Processing, which may only operate seasonally. This consolidation leaves little room for a mid-level processor like Pure Prairie Poultry to enter the market. The few firms with market power are able to set prices at the farm and at the grocery store, process more and more birds, and exert incredible control over their employees by setting the speed of processing. It also makes the industry incredibly vulnerable to avian flu or other shocks. Even if the dominant companies are able to bear the costs, farmers and consumers may not be able to. A main reason for this is the lack of farmer control over the flock. Farm Aid has noted that large firms often own the genetic patents on the birds, as well as the birds themselves. They also are responsible for providing the feed and medicine a flock may require. The farmer then becomes bound to a contract where they provide the space for the birds, labor, and utilities, and are responsible for dead birds—including those killed in a cull due to avian flu.

OTHER GREEN STUFF

More than 40% of electricity used in Australia’s main power grid at start of year was renewable • First-of-its-kind Hawaii bill raises tourist taxes to fund climate relief • Genetic-engineered bacteria break down industrial contaminants • US House Is Likely to Kill EV Tax Credit, Speaker Johnson Says