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Timeline of Damage – Assault on Planet Earth by the Trump Administration 

(Thanks @AltNPS – bless those Feds!)

On January 20, 2017, Trump silenced the National Park Service from using social media, after a brave US Park Ranger at Badlands NPS tweeted out Climate Change Data. On the same day the Fed’s all over started a “resistance” movement on Twitter. Look for the ALT accounts – follow, support, and amplify their voices. Most of the entries in the following table are from the @AltNPS site.

And here’s another great inventory of damaging actions, provided by the Harvard Environmental & Energy Law Program:  Regulatory Rollback Tracker

DateNature of the Damage Event
June 15, 2020The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Forest Service has the authority to grant the Atlantic Coast Pipeline right of way under the Appalachian Trail in the George Washington National Forest, after extensive environmental activism and litigation against such a decision. The decision removes a major source of delay in the multibillion-dollar project, being constructed by Dominion Energy and Duke Energy.
April 29, 2020Trump's inept handling of the coronavirus outbreak and his insistence that the economy get back to work sooner than medical wisdom allows likely has led to many additional deaths from the virus and now threatens increased damage come the fall in the likely event that there is a resurgence of Covid-19 infections on top of those from seasonal flu.
April 14, 2020The Trump administration opted not to set stricter national air-quality standards, despite a growing body of scientific evidence linking air pollution to lethal outcomes from respiratory diseases such as covid-19 (Washington Post.) The ruling was associated with limits on fine particulates; opponents of the ruling estimated that lowering the limit to its proposed level would save 12,200 lives per year.
April 11, 2020A Washington Post article on the second of two major locust infestations in eastern Africa says that the UN attributes the events in part to cliamte change.
April 11, 2020A Washington Post editorial noted several of the environmental regulations being reduced or even stripped using the current coronavirus pandemic as an excuse, particularlly dropping the average fuel economy of new vehicles, a move that will add greatly to our greehnouse-gas emissions and reduce our ability to sell vehicles worldwide over the next few years. A letter to the Washington Post a few days later from EPA head Wheeler objected to the wording of the editorial but confirmed that EPA will forgive penalties case-by-case, a giveaway to polluters from this weak, pro-industry environmental egency.
March 30, 2020Trump announces the roll back of Obama-era tailpipe pollution rules, which reduces the goal of a 5 percent annual improvement in fuel efficiency to only 1.5 percent through model year 2026, a move that will greatly increase greenhouse-gas emissions.
March 28, 2020Trump's EPA suspends enforcement of environmental laws , using the coronavirus crisis as cover to help polluters. To their credit, the Virginia DEQ issued a ruling that required all regulated entities to continue to comply with environmental-compliance requirements, although they left the door open to review non-compliance events under the circumstances.
March 3, 2020An Idaho magistrate required that the standard full 30-day comment period for issuing oil and gas leases be reimposed, after the Bureau of Land Management reduced the period to 10 days. It sounds like a win but actually brings attention to the Trump administrations long-term "efforts to cut the public out of public lands decision-making."
February 18, 2020A study reported in Nature estimates that 4.2 million premature deaths are linked to outdoor air pollution, and in the U.S. this primarily comes from electric-power plants spewing sulfur dioxide, leading to 75 percent of the premature deaths in the U.S. Since 2005 regulatory changes to curb emissions has reduced premature deaths by 30 percent. Trump's efforts to limit controls on power-plant emissions may reverse this welcome trend.
January 15, 2020The National Weather Service reported that climate change is making Washington, D.C.'s climate more southern, to the extent that this winter if most resembles Atlanta's. YOu need to go to New York City or Providence, R.I. to experience the typical Washington winter of old.
January 14, 2020Although U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions fell slightly in 2019, this was due to a sharp drop in coal consumption. In fact, Coal-industry emissions were down some 18 percent in 2019 but that drop was largely offset by increases in emissions from the use of natural gas and other sectors of the economy. The U.S. is well off its 2009 Copenhagen Accord goal of reducing emissions by 17 percent by 2020.
January 9, 2020Trump proposed to sharply reduce environmental reviews of pipelines and other federally permitted infrastructure projects, opening the environment to increased damage and giving a green light to fossil-fuel development.
January 7, 2020A report from the Center for Biological DIversity shines light on the fact that EPA is freely approving pesticide products that contain chemicals known to harm human health or the environment, such as chloropyrifos, which it had committed to phasing out.
January 1, 2020An L.A. Times article reported that 2019 was the second-warmest year on record (after 2016) and the last decade was the warmest in modern human history. In fact, each decade since the 1960s has been warmer then the previous decade. There is no reason to expect that this trend will change anytime soon.
December 15, 2019U.N climate talks in Madrid ended with few results and new doubts about the global unity needed to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement - limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F.) The lack of leadership from the U.S. and other large carbon-emitting countries led to the failure of the talks.
December 10, 2019Published in Nature, research based on 26 separate satellite analyses support the conclusion that ice losses from Greenland have increased greatly recently, nearly doubling each decade since the 1990s. Melting of the land-based ice on Greenland leads directly to an increase in sea level. Rapidly increasing losses of land-based ice have been observed similarly for Antarctica. The Trump administration continues to deny the issue, contributing to the problem.
December 10, 2019NOAA's 2019 Arctic Report Card documents near-record high air and sea temperatures, melting of the Greenland ice sheet, low sea-ice extents and thicknesses, lower snow covers, increases in tundra greening, increases in emissions of greenhouse gases from melting permafrost, and shifts in the distribution of commercially valuable marine species.
November 18, 2019A study from the GAO found that climate change threatens 6 in 10 Superfund toxic-waste sites. This is at least 945 sites threatened by rising sea level, inland flooding, forest fires, and other natural processes. The Trump administration, of course, denies there is any need to protect such sites from chaning climate conditions.
November 14, 2019The highest tidewaters in 50 years flood Venice, and the mayor attributes them to climate change.
November 2, 2019In a new study published in Nature Communications, reportedly rising seas will threaten three times as many people as previously thought, based on revising the estimate of the number of people potentially in harms way.
November 2, 2019Extreme climate change is transforming the land and water along parts of some Quebec islands, leading to strong erosion and loss of homes and infrastructure. The Washington Post examined the fastest-warming places around the world and found that temperature changes around the Magdalen Islands are among the highest anywhere.
November 1, 2019Ecowatch reported that the EPA soon will release several new rules intended to relax regulations meant to protect the environment from industrial pollution, including contamination of drinking-water supplies from toxic heavy metals derived from coal-ash piles.
October 29, 2019Climate change likely will cause more "super" El Ninos, periodic warming of ocean waters along with shifts in trade winds and precipitation patterns in the equatorial tropic Pacific Ocean. such "super" events help push glocal temperatures to record highs and weak havoc with weather patterns worldwide, such as increased storm occurrence along the coast of California. The study was reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
October 23, 2019At many locations in along the world's coasts, the number of baby marine turtles that are females is steadily exceeding those that are males. Projections show that females may constitute 100 percent of offspring, at which time reproduction will stop. The cause is increased temperatures of the sand in which turtle eggs are laid, due to climate change.
September 12, 2019The GOP Administration repealed Obama-era clean-water protections in the form of the Clean Water Rule. The rule was intended to protect 60 percent of the nation's waterways from pollution by including smaller streams and wetlands under its protection. Lifting the rule allows farmers, developers, and landowners to pollute these waterways without a permit.
August 13, 2019Trump announced a sweeping rollback of elements of the Endangered Species Act that will, among other things, make it easier to removed a species from the list, weaken protections for threatenend species, and allow regulators to consider economic cost when making decisions about protection status.
August 9, 2019EPA unveiled a notice of proposed rulemaking for the Clean Water Act that will greatly reduce the ability of states and tribes to assess the potential impact infrastructure projects might have on rivers and other navigable waters within their borders. The plan conflicts with decades of legal precedents and face inevitable legal challenges. In particular, the rulemaking could affect pipeline planning and construction.
June 19, 2019The GOP administration officially replaced Obama's Clean Power Plan with an alternative entitles the Affordable Clean Energy rule. The rule allows states to set their own emissions limits to cut greenhouse gases, or to have no limits at all. There are other negative impacts discussed in the rule.
June 14, 2019Trump signs an Executive Order requiring all Federal agencies to terminate at least one-third of its current advisory committees. Supposedly an effort to reduce costs and increase efficiency, it's a thinly veiled effor t to further erode science-based decision making in government.
May 29, 2019A newly released study between Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia, and the Navy recommends sweeping changes that would reshape areas to prevent floodwaters from cutting off military bases. The flooding is attributed to climate change.
May 27, 2019The Trump administration creates an ad hoc group of select federal scientists to reassess the government's own analysis of climate science and counter conclusions that the continued burning of fossil fuels is harming the planet. The House soon moves to prohibit funding of the group.
April 10, 2019Executive Order 13868 calls for the EPA to review a section of the Clean Water Act that requires applicants seeking federal permits for energy-infrastructure projects that might pollute protected waters to get certification from the states where any potential contamination could happen. The order also seeks to make it easier to transport natural gas when a pipeline can't be used. Both of these will lead to increased development, transport, and use of fossil fuels.
April 2, 2019Milder winters due to climate change reportedly are inducing earlier flowering of temperate tree fruits, exposing the blooms and nascent fruit to increasingly erratic frosts, hails, and other adverse weather. Work is underway to produce more climate-resilient varieties.
March 27, 2019A Washington Post special report ducumented several significant results of climate change: devastation of Montana forests that is sending masses of CO2 back into the environment prematurely, rapid warming of the Gulf of Maine and its negative impacts on fishery patterns, historically high storm flooding along the North Carolina coast, and the change of the California fire season to start earlier and last longer.
February 22, 2019 The Bramble Cay melomys, a small rodent living on an island off the coast of Australia, is the first mammal eradicated by climate change, due to rising seas that lead to frequent ocean inundation of their island home.
February 21, 2019The Trump administration pulled out of vehicle fuel-efficiency talks with California and is on track to roll back standards set by President Obama, resulting in higher vehicle emissions in the future.
February 19, 2019More-rapid than expected melting of some Antarctic glaciers due to climate change could lead to more than 3 feet of sea-level rise during this century.
February 14, 2019EPA announced an historic effort to limit exposure to the long-lasting pollutants PFAS, starting with a big plan. That sounds good but the plan falls well short of the need to define national limits for exposure in drinking water.
February 8, 2019EPA reports that they have made progress in cleaning up air and water, and are committed to the rule of environmental law. However, the Washington Post (February 9, 2019) reports that there has been a sharp drop in inspections and evaluations during the Trump administration, leading to some $69 million in civil penalties in 2018 versus an inflation-adjusted annual average of $500 milion in past years. This continues the trend reported on December 10, 2017 in the New York Times about slowed actions against polluters and limits put on enforcement officers. A Post article on January 25, 2019, also reported that EPA penalties for polluters fell significantly during Trump's first 2 years in office.
January 17, 2019A report from the Defense Department evaluated U.S. bases worldwide that are vulnerable to climate-fueled disasters such as rising seas, floods, and wildfires. However, the report was criticized by Democratic legislators as lacking adequate analysis and ignoring several of the most-vulnerable sites.
December 25, 2018Statistics show that white Christmases around Washington, D.C., which used to occur 1 in 5 winters, now occur only 1 in 10 winters.
December 15, 2018EPA dismissed its particulate matter review panel, which has provided vital input into EPA's particulate standard updates for more than a decade. This will lead to increased emissions and soot from corporate polluters and coal plants.
December 9, 2018Huge swaths of forest in the Rockies, Tetons, Cascades, and Sierra Nevada have been damaged by mountain pine beetles and spruce bark beetles, both taking advantage of drought and warm winters caused by climate change. (Washington Post)
December 9, 2018In 2017 there were more than 10,000 cold-temperature records broken across the U.S. but more than 36,000 high-temperature records broken in the U.S. in the same year (Washington Post.)
December 3, 2018Dramatic declines in fisheries and health of aquatic life in the Baltic Sea may portend the future of the oceans as climate change impacts ecosystems (Washington Post.)
December 3, 2018GOP lawmakers are increasingly skeptical about climate change (Washington Post.)
December 1, 2018The GOP administration approved seismic testing of areas off the Atlantic shore that may contain oil and gas resources. The seismic testing likely will harm dolphins, whales, and other marine animals. (Washington Post)
November 28, 2018Trump claims "I don't see it" when presented with the results of a report from his own administration about how damage from global warming is intensifying across the country. Most people know better but such statements continue to embolden his base and Republican lawmakers to resist needed changes in environmental policy.
November 27, 2018A U.N. report claims that the "world is well off its promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions," and will not meet goals set for 2020 by the Paris Accord. The U.S. is one of those countries condemned in the report for failure to achieve its goals. The report further noted that the Paris Accord goals were to low to accomplish the intended result, and more-stringent goals are needed.
November 23, 2018The U.S. Geological Survey published a report declaring that "extracting and burning of fossil fuels from federal lands made up nearly a quarter of all carbon-dioxide emissions in the U.S. between 2005 and 2014." So the federal government could do much more to curb carbon-dioxide emissions by ending new fossil-fuel leasing on public lands, but the Trump administration has done just the opposite.
November 21, 2018The Interior Department's Inspector General cleared Secretary Zinke in a probe about adjusting national-monument boundaries to aid the financial interests of a private citizen (a Republican Utah lawmaker and Trump supporter" due to lack of evidence. The fact that a cabinet secretary is even being investigated for such a thing suggests corrupt ethical attitudes similar to those of EPA's late head Pruitt and further erodes confidence in the decision-making abilities of our highest officials. Add to that the fact that Zinke is undergoing probes on at least two other potentially unethical activities.
October 29, 2018A Washington Post article reports that climate change appears to be impacting the growing season of Italian grapes, with harvesting beginning many weeks earlier than 20 to 30 years ago. Plans to adapt are being made.
September 16, 2018The exodus of both experienced veteran employees and promising young environmental experts from EPA continues, leading to an 8 percent reduction of professional staff in 18 months. Read more about the issue in this article:
EPA Staff Reduced 8 Percent Since Trump Entered White House
August 19, 2018A new study from the University of California-Berkeley documents an average 43 percent decline in the number of bird species encountered in a large area along the California-Nevada border. The study notes that "California deserts have experienced quite a bit of drying and warming because of climate change."
July 17, 2018EPA has eased rules associated with coal-ash storage in ponds at power plants. Read more about the issue in this article from the Washington Post:
Coal-ash rules revised in the wrong direction
July 12, 2018For the last several years, air quality in the US has improved, thanks to laws and technology. More recently, air quality has begun to decline, and actions taken by the GOP-led congress and EPA are to blame. Read more about the issue in this September 2017 article:
The list of diseases linked to air pollution is growing
June 27, 2018The U.S. Forest Service offerred Nestle a 3-year, $524 permit to continue taking millions of gallons of water from the San Bernadino National Forest in California despite the state suffering from years of recurring drought. Nestle removes some 162 million gallons per year and sells it back to the public in single-use plastic bottles.
June 22, 2018
The number of investigators at EPA looking into serious potential violators of anti-pollution laws has fallen by 10 percent since Trump's election, according to an article in the Washington Post. This continues a trend that began once Congress was taken over by the GOP.
June 4, 2018EPA posted on their official Twitter site the following announcement: During the first 500 days of the @POTUS President Trump Administration, EPA proposed to repeal the so called "Clean Power Plan", a proposal that will save American jobs.

See comments on the announcement at: Repeal of the Clean Power Plan
May 16, 2018The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration disbanded a federal advisory committee on climate change in 2017 because it had too few industry representatives. It's unclear whether the obvious option of adding more industry representatives was considered.
May 11, 2018The White House no longer has a team of experts that monitors potential risks from global health issues such as ebola and malaria, thanks to National Security Advisor John Bolton's efforts to streamline Trump's National Security Council. This leaves the US less protected against pandemic diseases. (Washington Post, May 11, 2018)
April 30, 2018The Washington Post reported on the decline of the introduced red wolf population in North Carolina due to Fish and Wildlife Service indifference to the program. The future of the species is further threatened by the Republican-led Congress's efforts to weaken the Endangered Species Act.
April 30, 2018The decline of right whale populations along the U.S. Atlantic coast continues. The decline is attributed to several human factors, including climate change and sewage polluting their habitat. The Washington Post chronicled the decline.
April 27, 2018The Washington Post ran a short article that summarized the many sins committed by EPA's Scott Pruitt, including contributing to degradation of the environment and human health, the rejection of basic science, and the spreading of misinformation.
April 25, 2018Science Advances reports that thousands of low-lying tropical islands (some the locations of U.S. military facilities) are at risk of becoming uninhabitable by the mid-21st century due to both flooding and contamination of limited fresh groundwater resources by encroaching seawater.
April 24, 2018EPA head Pruitt moved to allow only studies in which the underlying data is publicly available to be used in policy decisions. Although this decision appears to disallow important health-oriented studies based on confidential personal or medical histories or proprietary information, privacy protections are included in the rule.
April 23, 2018EPA head Pruitt revealed that the agency would consider burning wood and other biomass as a carbon-neutral energy source, ignoring the fact that burning the materials releases carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere immediately compared to the slow release of carbon dioxide during decay and the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by plants .
April 19, 2018The Washington Post reported that in 2016 alone, about 30% of the Great Barrier Reef 's corals were lost, and in 2017 another 20% were lost, all due to warming ocean waters. The diversity of the remaining corals is greatly reduced.
April 19, 2018The Senate confirms non-scientist and climate-change denier James Bridenstine to head NASA.
April 17, 2018The Washington Post reported that work published in Nature Communications identified increasing incidence of ocean heat waves, which have a significant impact on sea life.
April 2018In another attempt to restrict researcher's communications with the public and fellow scientists, per Trump's campaign to downgrade the value of science, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) refused 14 of 17 scheduled presenters, all employees of BLM, to attend the annual meeting of the Society of American Archaeology, a major scientific conference for archaeologists. (Washington Post, May 4, 2018.)
April 12, 2018The Washington Post reported that climate change is leading to sea-level rise in the Gulf of Mexico at rates that will exceed efforts by the State of Louisiana to rebuild wetlands by redirecting flow of the Mississippi River.
April 11, 2018The Dept, of the Interior began gutting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by no longer holding landowners liable for the destruction of birds if the destruction of the birds is not the intent of the action. For example, an oil company would not be liable for the destruction of birds that occurred during an oil spill associated with that company's activities. Fortunately, Interior could pursue claims under the Natural Resources Damage Assessment program if it chose to.
April 5, 2018The Senate confirmed coal lobbyist and climate-change denier Andrew Wheeler to be deputy head of EPA.
March 15, 2018On this day, NPR rreported that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the federal government's first responder to floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters, has eliminated references to climate change from its strategic planning document for the next four years.
February 2018Climate change is real – In just eight days in mid-February, nearly a third of the sea ice covering the Bering Sea off Alaska's west coast disappeared. That kind of ice loss and the changing climate as the planet warms is affecting the lives of the people who live along the coast. https://insideclimatenews.org/news/17022018/arctic-sea-ice-record-low-extent-alaska-bering-hunting-whales
February 2018More than a year into his term, Trump hasn't identified a potential nominee for the key position held by prominent scientists in Republican and Democratic administrations alike. That means the job falls to Michael Kratsios, the deputy assistant in the Office of Science and Technology Policy – a 30-year old who graduated from Princeton in 2008 with a political science degree and a focus on Hellenic studies. He previously served as chief of staff to Peter Thiel, the controversial Silicon Valley billionaire and Trump ally.
January 19, 2018The Washington Post reported that Earth had its hottest 4-year stretch since taking records was begun. In the meantime, the Trump administration continues to reverse many efforts to forestall the effects of climate change.
January 16, 2018Water Online reported that Pruitt's EPA has overstated the Trump administration's work on Superfund cleanups, taking credit for work performed by previous administrations. In the meantime, Trump's budget calls for significant cuts in funding of toxic-waste cleanup.
January 16, 2018NPS Memo states that buyouts are coming to the National Park Service. We already have staff shortages, low morale, an $11.3 billion maintenance backlog. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will soon ask employees to accept voluntary early retirement.
January 15. 2018Ten of twelve members of the National Park System Advisory Board quit, claiming that their advice had not been sought by Department of the Interior head Zinke. The NPS Advisory Board are unpaid, volunteer, citizen advisors chartered by Congress to help the NPS care for special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage.
January 12, 2018The EPA is targeting two rules designed to prevent exposure to toxic chemicals by workers under the age of 18. The agency has filed notices with the federal register of its intent to either tweak or eliminate these protections for underage workers. These two rules the agency is looking to change is was adopted in 2015 which prohibited farmworkers under the age of 18 from handling and dispersing certain pesticides deemed too toxic for public sale.
January 12, 2018HR 518 becomes law. This bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to exclude from energy conservation standards for external power supplies any power supply circuit, driver, or device designed to power light-emitting diodes (commonly known as LEDs) or to power ceiling fans using direct current motors.
January 9, 2018Interior memo says grants should promote Trump priorities. The Interior Department has implemented a new policy that asks staff awarding federal grants to ensure the awards "promote the priorities" of the administration. The approval process is unprecedented in the department. In some cases, it would be in violation of federal law. The memo warns that employees who do not follow the new process will be subject to “greater scrutiny” from higher-ups.
January 8, 2018On January 8th, Regulators kill Perry’s proposal to prop up coal, nuclear power plants
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Monday rejected Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s proposal to prop up coal and nuclear power plants. In a unanimous order released Monday afternoon, the five-person commission said Perry and other supporters of the proposal failed to show that current electricity markets are not just or reasonable.
January 7, 2018The Interior Department approved a land swap that allows a remote Alaskan village to construct an access road through the Izembeck National Wildlife Refuge. Besides violating the 1964 Wilderness Act and probably violating the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the move sets a dangerous precedent for fragmenting and developing wilderness-designated areas.
January 7, 2018Daniel Smith has been chosen for the deputy director post. He was a former National Parks Service official whom improperly helped the owner of the Washington Redskins cut down more than 130 trees around Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. That deal skirted environmental laws and opened up the National Parks Service to accusations that it had acted out of special interest.
January 5, 2018The Interior Department issued Secretarial Order 3360, signed by Interior Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt, it wipes away four separate directives and policy manuals aimed at showing departmental employees how to minimize the environmental impact of activities on federal land and in federal waters.
January 4, 2018Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke created a five-year leasing plan that opens our oceans to drilling. The plan will replace the current five-year plan which made the Arctic and Atlantic oceans off-limits to drilling through 2022.
January 1, 2018The EPA is proposing to Rescind the 2015 Clean Water Rule This rule—particularly important in the arid West—mandates, for example, protecting tributaries that connect to navigable waterways and adjoining wetlands, even if they flow only part of the year. If it’s revoked, those tributaries could be filled in, ditched, or diverted for construction or farming without federal review.
January 1, 2018The GOP has created a new bill House Resolution 3990. This bill is called "National Monument Creation and Protection Act." The name is completely misleading and deceptive it should be called, "No More Parks Act." The bill was created by Rep. Rob Bishop the same person who dismantled Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. This bill is being co-sponsored by eight other Republican representatives (including Congressman Doug Lamborn, Tom McClintock, and Paul Gosar.)
December 29, 2017On December 29th, Trump administration proposed to remove offshore-drilling safety regulations put in place after the deadly Deepwater Horizon disaster.
December 28, 2017On December 28th, the administration announced a plan to repeal an Obama-era rule that governed fracking standards on federal and tribal lands. The rule would have required companies to disclose chemicals used in their fracking fluids, set standards for well construction, and required surface ponds holding fracking fluids to be covered.
December 27, 2017On December 27th, the administration allowed oil and gas leasing and development near and even inside greater sage-grouse habitat management areas.
December 27, 2017On December 27th, a plan was announced to consider increasing the use of neonicotinoid insecticides known as thiamethoxam, which is proven to be deadly to bees.
December 23, 2017On December 23rd, It was reported that hundreds of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists were barred from attending an industry conference this month.
December 22, 2017On December 22nd, Reversed a previous Obama-era Interior Department decision to withdraw permits for a proposed $2.8 billion copper mine in Minnesota.
December 22, 2017On December 22nd, Ruled that "incidental" killings of 1,000 migratory bird species are not illegal under the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act. This legalizes the incidental killing of birds as long as there is no effort "to render an animal subject to human control." Later, a number of ex-Interior officials (under both Republican and Democratic presidents) protested the move.
December 22, 2017On December 22nd, The Republican “tax reform” bill was signed and included opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

December 21, 2017On December 21st, Independent studies were halted that would improve the safety of offshore drilling platforms and another to look at health risks of mountaintop-removal coal mining in central Appalachia.
December 21, 2017On December 21st, Revoked the Obama-era Resource Management Planning Rule (Planning 2.0 Rule), which advocated new technologies to improve transparency related to mining on public lands. A Federal Register filing said this rule "shall be treated as if it had never taken effect."
December 20, 2017On December 20th, Toxic chemical bans were indefinitely postponed for methylene chloride, N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) and trichloroethylene (TCE).
December 19, 2017On December 19th, in the emergency supplemental funding bill language was hidden that would exempt Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) from following requirements set by the Endangered Species Act.
December 19, 2017On December 19th, EPA has ended a contract with a group (Definers Public Affairs) that had been investigating any EPA employees who disagreed with the Trump administration agenda.
December 18, 2017On December 18th, Trump announced the US will no longer regard climate change by name as a national security threat.
December 16, 2017On December 16th, Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from using a list of words, including "fetus," "entitlement," "diversity," "transgender," "vulnerable," "evidence-based" and "science-based."
December 15, 2017 (estimated)Trump greatly reduces the size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments to make way for potential energy-resource development and mining
December 15, 2017On December 15th, It was reported that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke brought David Smith the superintendent of Joshua Tree National Park to his office to reprimand him for climate change-related tweets the park sent via Twitter.

December 14, 2017On December 14th, Trump administration removed net neutrality. This now allows broadband providers to block websites like ours. The Internet has played an increasingly vital role in political expression and organizing. Groups like ours have used social media to share information, plan events, and motivate participation.
December 10, 2017The New York Times reported on the decline, during the Trump administration's first year, in enforcement actions by EPA on polluters, leading to a 60 percent decline in civil penalties since the Obama administration's first year.
December 8, 2017On December 8th, the Trump administration will suspend a rule to limit methane leaks from oil and gas operations on federal land.
December 7, 2017On December 7th, Trump administration drops rule requiring mining companies to have money to clean up pollution, despite an industry legacy of abandoned mines that have fouled waterways across the U.S.
December 4, 2017On December 4th, Trump gave a speech in Salt Lake City announcing his intentions to reduce two Utah national monuments Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Bears Ears would be reduced by 1.35 million acres (-85%) and Grand Staircase Escalante would be reduced by 1.88 million acres (-50%).
November 28, 2017On November 28th, the Trump administration has approved an oil company’s request to explore for oil in the Arctic Ocean.
November 28, 2017On November 28th, The Cause of Action Institute (a group aligned with GOP mega-donors Charles and David Koch) have filed suit accusing EPA employees of using an encrypted messaging services to protect their jobs. They report that EPA employees were using an encrypted messaging app to determine how to respond to a feared purge of climate science from the new Trump administration.
November 25, 2017On November 25th, Oil drilling in a vast Alaskan wildlife refuge moved a step closer to reality after the U.S. Senate energy and natural resources panel voted 13-10 to open part of the reserve
November 24, 2017On November 24th, Tucked away in the Senate report accompanying the funding bill for the Department of the Interior is a directive to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to end the Red Wolf recovery program and declare the Red Wolf extinct.
November 16, 2017On November 16th, The Keystone pipeline has leaked and spilled about 210,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota. TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone pipeline has been temporarily shut down.
November 16, 2017On November 16th, The Trump administration has reversed the ban on elephant trophy imports. They have agreed to allow the remains of elephants killed in Zimbabwe and Zambia to be brought back to the U.S.
November 15, 201710 Senators sign letter demanding protection of EPA Science Boards.  Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, is poised to make wholesale changes to the agency’s key advisory group by jettisoning scientists who have received grants from the EPA and replacing them with industry experts and state government officials
November 15, 2017November 15, The EPA is bringing in Robert Phalen as an adviser , an air pollution researcher who holds a pretty controversial view: that air quality can, in fact, be "too clean" for people's health. Back in 2012, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS),   Phalen claimed American children should be inhaling more pollution in order for their bodies to learn to handle it. According to a write-up on the AAAS official website, Phalen said “Modern air is a little too clean for optimum health.”
November 9, 2017November 9th, FEMA to transport Puerto Rico’s Hurricane survivors to US mainland
November 9, 2017November 9th, 80% of Puerto Rico lost power again The power line that has failed in Puerto Rico –issue appears to be a line where @WhitefishEnergy did work, as recently as October 25th. Municipalities in the North have been affected.
November 9, 2017November 9th Tesla Restores Power to Children's Hospital in Puerto Rico in 'First of Many' Solar + Storage Projects
November 8, 2017November 8, Last week: Gov report unequivocally states human-caused climate change is existential threat. This week: Pruitt reiterates plan to do absolutely NOTHING about it.  EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said that the report won't deter him from continuing to roll back the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, a major rule aimed at combating climate change.
November 7, 2017November 7th, Syria signs Paris Accord; only US is not on board.  Donald Trump will not be invited to the big summit.
November 3, 2017November 3 :  Scott Pruitt issued a directive to prohibit individuals from serving on the agency's independent scientific advisory boards if they also receive research grants from the agency.
November 3, 2017November 3 . The Environmental Protection Agency has removed six university researchers — whose expertise ranges from economics to environmental health — from the agency’s Science Advisory Board, replacing them with advisers with more industry-friendly views.   Pruitt said:   To ensure that EPA is receiving the best independent scientific advice, I am appointing highly-qualified experts and scientists to these important committees,” The list of new appointees to the Science Advisory Board includes industry representatives, red-state officials, and independent scientists who share Pruitt’s critical views of major federal environmental regulations.
November 2, 2017On November 2nd , Rick Perry stated that fossil fuels help prevent sexual assault in Africa
November 1, 2017Nov 1 , Bridenstein (R-Okla) – climate denier and Science illiterate had Confirmation hearing in Scinece committee to be Next NASA Chief
October 31, 2017October 31, 2017 - For the new chair of the EPA's Science Advisory Board, Pruitt selected Michael Honeycutt, who is well known to environmental activists and mainstream researchers for questioning the scientific evidence tying health risks to smog.
October 13, 2017October 13 th , Puerto Rico still in the dark (30% electricity), and trucked in water
October 13, 2017October, Pruitt Nominated Michael Dourson, to run the agency’s chemical office.  Dourson’s consulting company, Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment, or TERA, was paid by Dow Chemical, CropLife America, the American Chemistry Council, the American Petroleum Institute, Koch Industries, and other companies and industry groups to study dozens of chemicals. Fortunately, Dourson withdrew his nomination on
September 29, 2017On September 29, Rick Perry, , asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to adopt a new rule to pay certain coal and nuclear plants more than they would otherwise earn in a competitive market.
September 20, 2017On September 20 th , Maria wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico.Trump claimed a success far exceeding Obama’s response to Sandy.
September 18, 2017On September 18 th , it was reported – “More national monuments should be opened for exploitation, Zinke says In leaked memo, 10 protected areas be modified to allow for ‘traditional uses’ such as mining, logging and hunting”
September 17, 2017In September , Appropriations Bills will be Considered with massive cuts to science, and the Agencies responsible for protecting Air, Water, and Natural Resources
September 14, 2017On September 14th, passed bill prohibiting House CDC from conducting research on the causes of gun violence and effective ways to prevent it
September 11, 2017On September 11 th ,  Trump administration halts pollution controls at Utah coal plants - An appeals court granted a request Monday from Admin to halt plan for new pollution controls at Utah's oldest coal-fired power plants aimed at reducing haze near national parks.
September 8, 2017On September 8 th , even woman who falsely claimed “air is clean” at 9/11 site, Christie Whitman, compelled to write op-ed in NYTs in defense of the EPA Christine Todd Whitman: How Not to Run the E.P.A. SEPT. 8, 2017
September 7, 2017On September 7 th , “Climate Change” as a term exists still on the Federal Register and Regulations.Gov and Congress.Gov Websites (Democrats introduce many bills in Congress in favor of protecting the planet – will die in Committee).
August 22, 2017On August 22nd, the trump administration has suspended a study of health risks to residents who live near mountaintop removal coal mine sites in the Appalachian Mountains......
August 18, 2017On Aug. 18, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine received an order from the Interior Department that it stop work on what seemed a useful and overdue study of the health risks of mountaintop-removal coal mining. The $1 million study had been requested by two West Virginia health agencies following multiple studies suggesting increased rates of birth defects , cancer and other health problems among people living near big surface coal-mining operations in Appalachia. The order to shut it down came just hours before the scientists were scheduled to meet with affected residents of Kentucky. The Interior Department said the project was put on hold as a result of an agencywide budgetary review of grants and projects costing more than $100,000.
August 7, 2017On August 7th , The DOI relaxes aspects of sage grouse protection to help with the Trump administration’s efforts to increase energy production on federal lands.
August 2017In August, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke repealed a 2016 Obama rule designed to ensure that taxpayers get a fair return on oil, gas, and coal. The Obama administration estimated the rule would have increased the royalties that fossil fuel industries pay to mine and drill federal lands and waters by about $80 million a year. The rule was meant to eliminate a loophole that allows companies to sell to affiliated companies that then export and resell the minerals at higher prices, reducing royalties. Zinke said it was too complex and plans to draft a new rule.
August 2017Lobbyist for Junk Food Now Works at USDA Writing Dietary Guidelines. In late August of 2017, White House counsel Donald McGahn issued a waiver for a new member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), previously a lobbyist for the corn syrup industry, to advise the department on dietary guidelines. http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/corn-syrup-lobbyist-helping-set-usda-dietary-guidelines-2649307
July 19, 2017On July 19th the DOI called for re-examination of rules that protect bears and wolves in national preserves in Alaska.
June 26, 2017On June 26th , the administration called for the repeal of the Clean Water Rule
June 20, 2017June 20th - The Environmental Protection Agency gave notice to dozens of scientists that they will not be renewed in their roles in advising the agency, continuing a scientific shakeup that has already triggered resignations and charges from some researchers that the administration is politicizing the agency.
June 19, 2017On July 19th , the DOI called for re-examination of rules that protect bears and wolves in national preserves in Alaska from egregious hunting methods, including baiting bears with grease-soaked donuts and killing mother bears with their cubs.
June 18, 2017On June 18 , Seventeen Sites were removed by US Government from UN Biosphere Reserve Network
June 12, 2017On June 12th , Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended that Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah’s red rock country be shrunk by President Trump.
June 8, 2017On June 8th , Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Wednesday ordered a review of an Obama administration conservation plan to protect the greater sage grouse to determine if that plan interferes with Trump administration efforts to increase energy production on federal lands.
June 6, 2017Over 1.5 million comments on National Register in favor of keeping national monuments.
June 6, 2017On July 6th , U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved a permit that would allow Dominion Energy, to build 17 enormous transmission towers near Colonial National Historical Park, the site of the United States first English colony.
June 1, 2017On June 1st , POTUS announces he will pull us out of the Paris Climate Accord. LaMar Smith’s committee tweets exultantly:  Spontaneous protests with Bill Nye at the White house, and across the world!
May 15, 2017May 15, President’s budget zero’s out major science and environment programs – 31% cut in EPA budget
May 5, 2017On May 5th , the EPA dismisses several members of the Board of Scientific Counselors.
April 29, 2017On April 29th , the Resistance marches across the Globe in support of Climate Science and the Environment
April 28, 2017On April 28th , EPA scrubs climate change from their website.
April 27, 2017On April 27th , the EPA delayed a lawsuit over a rule regulating airborne mercury emissions from power plants.
April 26, 2017On April 26th , Trump instructs Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review as many as 40 national monuments created since 1996 to determine if any of Trump’s three predecessors exceeded their authority when protecting large tracts of already-public land under the Antiquities Act of 1906.
April 22, 2017On April 22nd , Scientist March on Washington, voicing support for science’s role in society.
April 19, 2017On April 19th , An Interior Department official updates the department’s climate change website, deleting much of its content in the process.
April 16, 2017On April 16th , Trump issued an executive order calling on the DOI to reopen its five-year plan for offshore drilling.
April 7, 2017On April 7th , staff members at EPA’s headquarters who specialized in climate change adaptation have been reassigned.
April 7, 2017On April 7th Rolled back limits on toxic discharge from power plants into public waterways.
April 3, 2017April 3rd , Overturned a ban on hunting of predators in Alaskan wildlife refuges, including the hunting of bear cubs in and around their dens, aerial hunting of bears and wolves, and bear-baiting in Alaska.
March 29, 2017On March 29th , against the advice of the EPA’s chemical safety experts, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt rejects a decade-old petition asking that the EPA ban all use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos. Research suggests that chlorpyrifos may be associated with brain damage in children and farm workers, even at low exposures.
March 29, 2017On March 29th , Ryan Zinke, the interior secretary, revoked the freeze and review on new coal leases on public lands.
March 28, 2017On March 28th , Trump issued an executive order charging the DOI with reviewing rules for oil and gas drilling inside the boundaries of our national park sites. Trump's executive order also made the EPA start the process of rewriting the Clean Power Plan.
March 27, 2017HR Joint Resolution 44 passes, nullifying the rule finalized by the Department of the Interior on December 12, 2016, relating to revising regulations that establish the procedures used to prepare, revise, or amend land use plans pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. This effectively halted Obama administration plans to protect millions of acres of public lands, particularly in the West.
March 16, 2017On March 16th , the Trump administration proposed a 13 percent budget cut to the Park Service funding. These budget cuts would lose 1,242 full-time equivalents (FTE) staff, leading to significant challenges at almost every park.
March 13, 2017March 13th , White House releases its first preliminary budget under Trump. The budget outlines deep cuts to U.S. science and environmental agencies
March 9, 2017On March 9th , EPA admin Scott Pruitt stated that carbon dioxide’s role in the Earth’s changing climate remains unclear.
March 7, 2017On March 7th , EPA’s Office of Science and Technology removed the word “science” from its mission statement.
March 2, 2017On March 2 , U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spends his first day on the job rescinding an Obama-era prohibition of lead ammunition on federal lands and waters.
March 2, 2017On March 2 , the EPA, Scott Pruitt, canceled a requirement for reporting methane emissions.
February 28, 2017February 28th , President Trump issues an executive order formally asking the EPA to review the “Waters of the United States” rule.
February 22, 2017February 22nd , New record! We’ve found 7 Earth-sized planets around a single star outside our solar system; 3 in habitable zone – No comment
February 17, 2017On February 17th , U.S. Senate confirms Scott Pruitt as the head of the U.S. EPA. In his prior role as Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt frequently sued the EPA over its regulations, notably leading a 27-state lawsuit against the Clean Power Plan
February 16, 2017On February 16th , Trump signs a joint resolution passed by Congress revoking the U.S. Department of the Interior’s “Stream Protection Rule.” The stream protection rule, which prevented mining companies dumping their waste into streams, is axed under the Congressional Review Act.
February 9, 2017On February 9th, A grade-school girl brought the house down at Chaffetz's UT town hall with this question: "Do you believe in science? Because I do."
February 7, 2017On February 7 th , Trump administration giving final green light to Dakota Access pipeline.  The Army Corps of Engineers will grant the final approval needed to complete the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline
February 2, 2017On February 2nd , GOP House votes to reject Stream Protection Rule
February 1, 2017On February 1st , U.S. Senate confirms ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state
January 24, 2017On January 24th , Trump issues several memoranda aiming to hasten permitting from the Dakota Access and Keystone XL oil pipelines.
January 20, 2017On January 20th , National Park Service starts a “resistance” movement on social media accounts. And other Fed’s Follow (Look for AltEPA, AltCDC, AltUSDA, AltETC)