Trump Administration Lets Polluters Pollute Away During Pandemic

Citing coronavirus pandemic, EPA indefinitely suspends environmental rules. 
The EPA uses this global pandemic to create loopholes for destroying the environment. This is a schoolbook example for what we need to start looking out for.
The Environmental Protection Agency, headed by former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, announced on Thursday a sweeping and indefinite suspension of environmental rules amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic, a move green groups warned gives the fossil fuel industry a “green light to pollute with impunity.”
 Under the new policy (pdf), which the EPA insisted is temporary while providing no timeframe, big polluters will effectively be trusted to regulate themselves and will not be punished for failing to comply with reporting rules and other requirements. The order—applied retroactively beginning March 13, 2020—requests that companies “act responsibly” to avoid violations.

Also:

Former President Barack Obama issued a rare criticism of the Trump administration Tuesday after it announced it's rolling back his signature fuel standards aimed at combating the climate crisis, saying Americans "have to demand better" of their elected leaders. 

"We've seen all too terribly the consequences of those who denied warnings of a pandemic. We can't afford any more consequences of climate denial. All of us, especially young people, have to demand better of our government at every level and vote this fall," Obama wrote in a tweet. 

The comment is notable as the former President seldom publicly criticizes his successor, who has focused on undoing his legacy -- particularly his environmental and climate policies. Three years ago, Obama similarly lamented President Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out of the landmark Paris climate agreement, saying the move adds the administration to "a small handful of nations that reject the future." 

Earlier Tuesday, the Trump administration, which has already nixed a number of Obama-era environmental protections, announced it is replacing fuel standards rolled out in 2012 with a plan that calls for substantially lower annual increases.