“This is a release that is propaganda,” said Tim Whitehouse, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and a former senior enforcement attorney at the EPA. “It doesn’t reflect reality in a number of ways.”
One example: The EPA has stopped enforcing the Clean Air Act, Whitehouse said, negotiating only one settlement since the Trump administration took office, compared to 26 in the first year of Trump’s first term and 22 in Biden’s first year. Clean Air Act enforcement actions often involve the fossil fuel and motor vehicle industries that account for most air pollution. Superfund cleanup settlements, Whitehouse said, have also hit new lows.